The Mormon Land newsletter is The Salt Lake Tribune’s weekly highlight reel of news in and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Join us on Patreon to receive ad-free podcast episodes, the full newsletter and access to all of our religion content.

Hot ticket

Starting on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 11 a.m. Mountain time, guests can reserve a time to tour the seismically retrofitted and renovated Salt Lake Temple.

Just go to TempleSquare.org to reserve up to six free tickets.

Next year’s open house will stretch from April 5 through Oct. 1.

This is a rare opportunity. The iconic six-spired edifice, the global faith’s flagship and most visible temple, has been closed to outsiders since just before its original dedication in 1893.

It’s sure to be a hot ticket — an estimated 3 million to 5 million visitors are expected over those six months — so don’t cool your heels.

Latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: The new Sunday schedule

Anticipation and angst are building as members worldwide prepare for next month’s switch to a new Sabbath meeting schedule. Will the shortened lessons and foyer times give rise to a “drive-thru” church? Will scripture understanding, gospel knowledge and community connections be casualties?

Listen to the podcast.

Around the world

• Apostle Patrick Kearon urged hardworking, highly driven, goal-oriented Latter-day Saints to add one more item to their already lengthy to-do lists:

Slow down.

“My wish is that you and I might slow down and turn more easily and comfortingly to Christ, and bask in his promised peace,” Kearon told a Marriott Center crowd recently at BYU Education Week. “Find peace in your actual life — not the life you think you would have if you were able to finish your to-do list, have three extra hours in a day and finally achieve your goals.”

People young and old need time to pause, ponder, marvel and daydream, he said. “Achievement for the sake of achieving does not result in a lasting peace.”

Goals are important, Kearon acknowledged, but they should not become all consuming.

“Can we be at peace,” he asked, “just being peaceful?”

• Why is Utah a good place for Knoops, the British chain of hot chocolate cafes, to locate its first U.S. outlet?

Simple. Latter-day Saints. They don’t drink alcohol, coffee or tea, but they have an affinity for sweet beverages (think dirty sodas).

“Chocolate would be just so appreciated here,” founder Jens Knoop told The Tribune, “as a different way to [come] together and [have] joy in a food environment.”

CEO William Gordon-Harris told The Times of London that the presence of church headquarters in Salt Lake City made it “a good place to learn” and test the U.S. waters.

And remember, despite what even some Latter-day Saints think, consuming chocolate (hot or cold) is not against the faith’s Word of Wisdom health code.

The Salt Lake City shop is located at 907 E. 900 South.

• Speaking of sweets, Fortune recently profiled Crumbl cookie co-founder and CEO James McGowan.

“[At Crumbl], we don’t open on Sundays. Not just for religious purposes, but for time to reset,” the Latter-day Saint father of seven told the magazine. “Everyone thinks that life is just go, go, go…[but] for me, success isn’t only about building the biggest company — it’s also about creating meaningful moments with those who matter most.”

From The Tribune

• Our special series exploring how and why people, including Latter-day Saints, convert to other faith traditions continues. The second installment is about becoming Catholic.

• In a related matter, Religion News Service columnist Jana Riess discovers that most former Latter-day Saints do not join other religions.

• Could the church’s rebrand end up sinking its legal case against John Dehlin’s “Mormon Stories.” Listen to our “Mormon Land” podcast. Read the excerpts.

• In its latest court filing, the church insists it is not trying to silence Dehlin’s podcast.

• Latter-day Saint students at Dallin Oaks’ law school alma mater tackle LGBTQ+ issues, gender and more in their new journal.

• Remember “baseball baptisms”? Don’t lose “sight of the Savior” in quest for converts, Latter-day Saint historian warns.

• Tribune guest columnist Eli McCann recalls his visits as a Latter-day Saint missionary to a poor Ukrainian village, where he encountered the “best people” he has ever met.

• New attractions, including shows projected onto the ceiling of the domed Salt Lake Tabernacle, are coming to Temple Square.

• Tribune guest columnist Natalie Brown shares an exclusive excerpt from her new book, “After Happiness: Living with Faith in a Time of Crisis.”

Temple updates

The church has been extra busy of late on the temple front:

• President D. Todd Christofferson rededicated the renovated San Diego Temple on Sunday.

• Utah’s Ephraim Temple will stage a Sept. 2-19 open house before an Oct. 11 dedication by apostle Ronald Rasband.

• Wyoming’s Cody Temple, which ran into grassroots opposition, is welcoming public tours through Sept. 12 in advance of an Oct. 25 dedication by apostle Clark Gilbert.

• In Guatemala, the Miraflores Guatemala City Temple is also welcoming visitors through Sept. 12 before an Oct. 11 dedication by apostle Gerrit Gong.

• Apostle Patrick Kearon is scheduled to dedicate the Phnom Penh Temple, the church’s first in Cambodia, on Sunday after an open house that drew officials, interfaith leaders, other dignitaries and the general public in the overwhelmingly Buddhist nation.

“Cambodia is a country that treasures temples,” apostle Gerrit Gong told hundreds of invited guests on media day. “There are many temples across Cambodia. Temples are also special to us.”

• Apostle Quentin Cook is poised to dedicate the Pago Pago Temple, the faith’s first in American Samoa, on Dec. 13 after a Nov. 4-21 open house.

• Ceremonial groundbreakings launched construction of temples in Victoria, British Columbia; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Huntsville, Alabama.

• An Oct. 17 groundbreaking has been announced for the Vienna Temple, the church’s first in Austria.