3+ week, 2+ day ago (532+ words) SALT LAKE CITY " Tim Ballard, the founder and former CEO of Operation Underground Railroad, says he has been defamed and excommunicated as part of a "conspiracy" involving members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He made the statements in a video posted to Instagram late Wednesday night. The video shows Ballard at a desk with soft piano music playing in the background. He begins the video by announcing that he and his wife, Katherine Ballard, are not getting divorced. Ballard then proceeds to hold up a piece of paper, announcing that "Tim and Katherine Ballard vs. the Deep Church" will be "going to every outlet, every podcast around the world." "Deep State? Deep Church? You get it," Ballard said. "Children are literally being beaten and bloodied by ISIS and traffickers because of the lies." Ballard refers to…...

4+ week, 1+ day ago (506+ words) PROVO, Utah " Days after deadly Hurricane Melissa tore through the Caribbean, parents of missionaries in Jamaica with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are struggling to communicate with their loved ones. The Kingston, Jamaica, mission in particular has members spread across the island nation. "There's one mission for the whole island, and some other Caribbean islands, too," explained Provo resident Kyle Fuller. "So the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas are part of the mission, too. Mostly everybody is on the Jamaican island." The church's website shows that Jamaica holds 18 congregations, six wards and 12 branches, with a total membership of nearly 7,000 people. Fuller's son, Kampton, is currently serving a mission in the country's east side. Other parents have been worried as they wait to hear from loved ones stationed in the hard-hit western area of the country, some…...

1+ day, 17+ hour ago (411+ words) PROVO, Utah " In the wake of recent tragedies that have affected Utah County, a new interactive event offers a message of hope and healing this holiday season. "The Healer Nativity," a live walk-through experience, has been created on an abandoned road in Provo with the goal of unifying the community. "When you think of Provo, Orem, and Utah County, you think of a very religious community," said Corbin Church, the event organizer. "And then we have these tragic events take place, and truly, how did this happen in our community?" asked Church. Church said he was running the path where he and others are setting up the nativity, and felt compelled to build something that would bring people together. "I had a very strong impression to build something here that would bring this community together," said Church. Located at 5132 N. 300 West…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (127+ words) After 3 decades spent in the sunny (and humid) South Florida media world, Jeff has traveled to across the country to partake in the delights of The Beehive State. LDS Church lowers service age to 18 years old for women to serve missions SALT LAKE CITY " The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a major change to the age requirements for women serving missions, lowering the age to 18 years old. Friday's announcement makes the service age the same for both men and women. Previously, women were required to be 19, while men were able to serve at 18. While the age to serve a mission has been lowered to 18, a high school graduation or equivalent is still required. Recent Local Utah Stories...

3+ week, 5+ day ago (94+ words) The Salt Lake City Mission works year-round to help people who are experiencing homelessness or those who can't afford food or other necessities. Executive Director of the Mission, Pastor Shawn Clay, says the focus now is the colder weather that's coming and helping people get enough food to eat. They're fall "Harvest for the Hungry" drive is going on now and they're asking for donations, if you can help. Here are the most needed items: You can drop off donations at 1151 S. Redwood Road, Suite 106 in Salt Lake City, Utah 84104....

1+ week, 4+ day ago (305+ words) SALT LAKE CITY " The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops announced in October a year long campaign focused on mental health. The campaign is called Healing and Hope, an initiative that aims to amplify local conversations about mental health. The USCCB has a page on its website dedicated to different resources, showing a three-pronged approach to engage with the community. The church will offer a new digital campaign that shows different reflections and videos on the USCCB's social media pages. They have a page to help communities organize state conferences on mental health and provide an opportunity for everyone " from bishops to the congregation " to gather and have a conversation about local mental health realities. They're also inviting people to reflect and pray on Mental Health Sunday, which took place on October 12th. In Salt Lake City, Father Gabriel Mosher, the…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago (104+ words) After 3 decades spent in the sunny (and humid) South Florida media world, Jeff has traveled to across the country to partake in the delights of The Beehive State. Church ends Saturday evening sessions during General Conference SALT LAKE CITY " The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced a major alteration to its future General Conference schedules. Starting in April, the Church will no longer include a Saturday evening session on the calendar and will instead focus on four daytime sessions. General Conferences are held twice a year, occurring during the first weekends of April and October. Recent Local Utah Stories...

2+ week, 5+ day ago (905+ words) SALT LAKE CITY " In a candid interview following his historic call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder G'rald Causs' revealed to FOX 13's Dan Evans the profound personal experiences that shaped his understanding of prophetic leadership and his vision for ministry. Elder Causs''s reflections paint a vivid picture of his early spiritual formation in France, where encounters with church leadership were rare but deeply meaningful. "I grew up in France as a young boy and then a young man. I've only seldom seen apostles visiting my country just because there were 12 of them and there is a huge world," he recalled. "But I remember every one of those visits." Those formative experiences included sitting on the front row of his local chapel, listening intently to general conference broadcasts…...