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The biggest stories
There were many tears (for the death of a beloved prophet, an articulate apostle and lives lost in Michigan and Africa) and a few cheers (for sleeveless garments and a lower mission age for women) from Latter-day Saints in 2025.
With that preface, here are the biggest stories in the global church from the past 12 months:
• Reformer Russell Nelson, the oldest ever Latter-day Saint prophet-president, died at age 101.
• Dallin Oaks, Nelson’s right-hand man for more than 40 years, became the faith’s 18th president. As part of the leadership shuffle, Oaks elevated apostle D. Todd Christofferson to the governing First Presidency and subsequently named Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé as an apostle.
• Acclaimed apostle Jeffrey Holland, known for his eloquent and evocative sermons, died two days after Christmas at age 85, leaving an opening for yet another new apostle.
• Six Latter-day Saint girls, two Young Women leaders and a branch president and his wife — all from a small congregation in Lesotho — were killed in a collision while en route to a church gathering.
• An attacker killed four Latter-day Saints in a Sunday shooting and arson attack on a meetinghouse in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
• Members flocked to Deseret Book shops and distribution centers — and flooded the church’s online store — as sleeveless garments finally went on sale in Utah and across the U.S.
• Young Latter-day Saint women rejoiced as well, with news that they could now serve full-time missions at age 18 — just like their male counterparts. The announcement came a month after the church revealed plans to open 55 new missions in mid-2026 and seven months after it reported the largest jump in new converts in nearly three decades.
The most-read stories
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Then-general authority Seventy Joseph W. Sitati speaks at a conference in Rwanda in 2018. Sitati helped gain recognition for the church in his native Kenya.
It is hardly surprising in this digital age, of course, that the year’s most-read Latter-day stories at sltrib.com do not necessarily match the most important ones — as this tally shows:
• An emeritus general authority Seventy reflected on the countless prayers and 18 months of fasting that preceded his African homeland finally recognizing his religion.
• A “Mormon Land” podcast explored the status of women in the church two years after female leaders were ordered off the stand in the Bay Area.
• A Tribune special report exposed the “dark days” at Brigham Young University amid a tug-of-war over orthodoxy for faculty, staff and students.
• At least one big story did crack this list as sleeveless garments became available in the U.S., and a new, eco- and labor-friendly way to dispose of old styles came on line.
• New guidelines emerged to help keep members safe from unhealthy air at church.
The latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: Is that really Joseph Smith?
December marks the 220th anniversary of the birth of church founder Joseph Smith.
In recognition, revisit this “Mormon Land” podcast about one of the most significant developments in the research surrounding this major American religious figure: the stunning announcement that a descendant had discovered what is purported to be the only known photograph of Smith.
Listen to the podcast. Read the excerpts.
Also • What makes Whitney Leavitt a better “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” villain than Demi Engemann? Listen to the podcast.
Best books
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) John Turner, left, and his book, "Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet." It has been recognized as a top 10 religion book in 2025.
• Historian John Turner’s biography “Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet” made Religion News Service’s list of top 10 books on religion and spirituality in 2025.
Learn more in our “Mormon Land” podcast with Turner, excerpts from that interview, and an exclusive excerpt from the book about Smith’s final General Conference sermon.
Honorable mentions also went to “Doing Small Things With Great Love: How Everyday Humanitarians Are Changing the World” by Sharon Eubank, director of the church’s humanitarian services, and “The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues” by Latter-day Saint scholar Dan McClellan.
BYU-Hawaii president on leave
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) BYU-Hawaii President John “Keoni” Kauwe and his wife, Monica.
• BYU–Hawaii President John Kauwe has been granted a temporary leave, the school reported on Instagram, as the 45-year-old university leader undergoes cancer treatments.
From The Tribune
(Courtesy) From left: Miguel Cano, Sara Sumsion, Amara Seegrist and Adam Millett.
• Latter-day Saint singles speak out on the challenges they face in a marriage-focused faith, especially during the holiday season.
• The church makes subtle but significant language changes to its abortion policy.
• Tributes pour in for apostle Jeffrey Holland after news of his death.
• With Holland’s death, Dallin Oaks, not even three months into his presidency, will select his second new apostle.
• Why some star Latter-day Saint athletes choose one-year missions. Listen to the podcast. Read the excerpts.
• The aftermath of a pandemic, the rise of artificial intelligence, an unfolding climate crisis, the erosion of democratic norms. Is this the end of the world? For these Latter-day Saints, the act of faith is in pressing on and rejecting despair.
• The church returns sacred petroglyphs to a Native American tribe.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Conservators from the Midwest Art Conservation Center carefully clean and preserve this lichen-covered petroglyph on December 9, in Provo. Ancestors of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation created the engraving 1,200 years ago.