LDS Scene

Relief Society has been in New Zealand for a hundred years in December. And to celebrate, the Christchurch New Zealand Stake will stage a musical and sponsor a parade and ball. The roles of Relief Society in the lives of women will be the foremost messages of the celebrations.

The upcoming World Conference on Records is getting worldwide notice. The conference, scheduled for 12–16 August 1980 in Salt Lake City, is a sequel to the successful 1969 World Conference on Records. At least 10,000 participants are expected—many of them from around the world.

Representatives of the Genealogical Society have traveled throughout Asia, the South Pacific, and Europe distributing information about the conference. Despite language barriers, physical limitations, and difficult means of communication, the word has spread through the news media.

“We publicized the conference to whatever news media would take the stories,” says Tom Daniels, director of the conference. In some countries, the representatives were interviewed by the major news media of the country. And often members of the Church assisted in contacts with the media.

“We had evidence that the Lord was opening doors and guiding our paths,” Brother Daniels says. “It was difficult work—the press handles things differently in different places. We had to convince them that we had a story.”

Countries visited included Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Samoa, New Zealand, Tahiti, the British Isles, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, and the United States.

The Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists elected a new president at its fifth annual convention. Dr. Allen E. Bergin, professor of psychology at Brigham Young University and an associate in the BYU Institute for Studies in Values and Human Behavior, was elected at the Salt Lake City convention. Although not sponsored by the Church, the association supports principles and standards of the Church.

Enrollment at BYU is both up and down. Fall semester student enrollment at the Provo, Utah, campus is down 44 students from last year’s record. 26,373 are enrolled for fall semester, the first decline in enrollment since 1975. The drop was expected, however. “The LDS freshmen figures are declining the same as the remainder of the country,” says Dr. Robert W. Spencer, dean of admissions and records. “BYU will probably follow that natural trend.” BYU’s enrollment ceiling has been 25,000 since 1970. Statistics are different at the BYU—Hawaii campus at Laie, Hawaii. There, enrollment is at a record high for the fourth consecutive year, with 1,790 students registered for the current semester. BYU—Hawaii has had an eighty-eight percent increase in enrollment since 1974, when the school became part of Brigham Young University.

In his annual address to faculty and staff, BYU—Hawaii President Dan W. Andersen said that the school’s board of trustees has given approval for enrollment to increase to 2,000. “We could reach that total within the next two or three years.”

The cornerstone-laying service for the Seattle Temple was held November 3. President N. Eldon Tanner, first counselor in the First Presidency, presided at the service. In place atop the temple was a gold-leafed statue of the Angel Moroni, which was installed October 18.