Although STV News reports the order was symbolic and no actual laws were changed, Scottish soccer fans are reacting favorably to the news.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 WE DID IT!!! https://t.co/VAUkLBacCr pic.twitter.com/A9r8bbUHHx

— The Tartan Scarf 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@TheTartanScarf) June 18, 2026

Healey’s order, announced Tuesday at the State House in Boston, was in response to the hordes of Scots currently in the city to support their national team at the World Cup. Scotland defeated Haiti 1-0 last week at Boston Stadium and plays Morocco in the same location on Friday.

Videos of Scottish soccer fans celebrating in the streets of Boston — bagpipes and all — have taken over social media. They even took over a Red Sox game and have run the pubs dry.

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While those fans may not actually be able to enjoy haggis in the U.S. this week, Healey’s symbolic gesture may pave a way forward for culinary enthusiasts in the future.

I certainly hope so — as someone who has tried haggis several times, here’s my take on the dish.

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I tried haggis, and I fear I loved it

To give you a bit of background, I’ve never been much of a carnivore. In fact, I was a vegetarian for a year in middle school and again for most of high school. I generally avoid adventurous cuts of meat, and I eat red meat pretty rarely.

But when I visited Scotland for two weeks a few years ago, I was determined to try the national dish: haggis, a kind of sausage made from offal (sheep’s heart, liver and lungs) mixed with onion, oats, spices and suet. It sounded disgusting, but I just wanted to say I’d had a bite.

On Sept. 16, 2024, I went to a small cafe in Kilmacolm, Scotland, the small town where my great-great-grandmother was born, and endeavored to make her proud by ordering a full Scottish breakfast: two eggs, two rashers of bacon (which is a different cut from American bacon), grilled tomatoes, two fried eggs, baked beans, a slice of toast, a potato scone, sausage, black pudding (aka blood sausage), and a slice of haggis.

Haggis can sometimes be served as a mound of what looks like ground beef, but it’s often packed into sausage casings, sliced and lightly pan-fried, as it was here.

My cousin, who was with me, snapped this picture as I prepared my first bite.

When I bit into the haggis, I thought I’d mixed it up with another sausage, because there was no way haggis would actually taste good. But it was a softer texture than the regular sausage, and it obviously wasn’t the blood sausage, which is nearly black (hence the name “black pudding”).

So I had to face the truth: I, unfortunately, loved haggis.

Here’s the thing about haggis: If you, like me, struggle with gross meat textures, it’s the perfect dish. I’d rather starve than eat fatty pork or even look at tripe, but haggis has a perfectly palatable texture because the organ meat is ground so finely and mixed with oats and onions. Flavor-wise, it’s delicious; pepper, nutmeg and coriander combine with the onions and meat for a delightful, savory taste.

Feeling brave, I went ahead and tried the black pudding, too, which I thought was OK. It’s a simple yet scary recipe of pig’s blood, oats and fat, also stuffed into sausage, sliced and pan-fried. It was a lot softer than the haggis — which makes sense, since there’s actually no meat in it — and the flavor was pretty gamey. I went back to the haggis.

I left that cafe a changed woman. I like to think my ancestors were smiling down on me.

I ordered haggis three more times before I left Scotland — at first to be sure that the first experience wasn’t a weird glitch, and then because it had legitimately become my favorite breakfast meat.

To continue the culinary adventure, I also tried a steak-and-kidney pie on that trip. I did not enjoy the experience. The kidney pieces were rubbery and tasted like old tires.

Why is haggis illegal?

When I returned home to the U.S., I was devastated to learn that the reason you can’t find haggis here isn’t because it’s uncommon; it’s because it’s actually illegal.

In 1971, the U.S. government banned all food containing sheep lung, which is an essential part of haggis. Vice reports that the USDA’s ban arose from concerns about food safety, as stomach fluids could potentially contaminate the sheep lung.

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Some U.S. producers make haggis without the lung, but they note that it negatively affects its texture, per BBC.

Although there were rumors in 2010 that the U.S. was ready to lift its ban, those hopes proved false, NPR reported.

So let this be my plea to the USDA: Please let us eat haggis. I can’t pronounce half the ingredients in Cheez Whiz, which I’m pretty sure is just flavored plastic anyway. I’ll take the risk with sheep meat.

Starting Sept. 6, members will attend one hour of sacrament meeting, as usual, but will then participate in two 25-minute blocks of class. The new schedule allows Sunday School classes, young women, adult women and members of priesthood quorums to meet each week.

This deviates from the previous Sunday School meeting schedule, which alternated weekly between combined classes and separate classes for women, young women, men and young men.

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The implementation guide offers an overview of the new meeting schedule along with discussion questions to help members discuss making worship meaningful. The guide is available in over 20 languages.

“This is more than a schedule change,” the guide reads. “It is an invitation to joyful, Christ-centered worship — renewing our home-centered, Church-supported pattern and strengthening covenant belonging.”

The guide also explains the new youth curriculum, which is based on an updated “For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices.” Youth will study one chapter of “For the Strength of Youth” each month, which the guide says “can help them become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.”

When the schedule change was first announced, one of the most common reactions among Latter-day Saints was concern that 25 minutes was not enough time for a full lesson.

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The implementation guide, in turn, instructs class participants to “quickly begin discussing” each week’s lesson and invites members to discuss how to best use their time each week.

Additional resources to aid the transition will become available during the first week of August on sunday.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, according to a press release announcing the new guide.

On Sunday, Aug. 30, youth, parents and youth leaders will meet to discuss the new schedule and curriculum.

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The following Sunday — Sept. 6 — youth and adults will begin the new schedule. In the two blocks, classes will watch several videos and then discuss sections from the implementation guide.

“There is additive strength that comes when we meet each week to counsel, learn and support one another,” Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson said in the church’s initial announcement of the new schedule.

“When we gather in His name, the Spirit is there to teach us, testimonies are strengthened, and we lift each other in discipleship,” President Johnson said. “This weekly time for connection will help us draw closer to the Savior and each other. We find joy in walking the covenant path together.”

Free tickets for the center’s new, immersive “Inside a Temple” tour will be released every two weeks, beginning Monday, June 1, 2026. The reservation window has also been extended, meaning guests can claim spots up to 75 days in advance.

A limited number of tickets were originally made available in April but were all reserved within hours.

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The latest batch of reservations is nearly sold out, but limited spots remain. More tickets will be released on June 15, following the biweekly schedule. The official Temple Square app also sends notifications when new reservations are available.

Tickets can be reserved on the app or at TempleSquare.org, and admission is free. Tours are held daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with tours offered every 10 minutes and lasting approximately 30 minutes.

Anyone is welcome to attend the tour.

What can you expect from the Temple Square Visitors’ Center?

The “Inside a Temple” tour takes guests through full-scale replicas of the sacred rooms within all temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This includes:

• A welcome desk
• A baptistry
• An instruction room
• A sealing room
• A celestial room

In operating temples, these rooms function as places of learning and worship. Here, Latter-day Saints learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ and perform sacred ordinances for themselves and in honor of deceased loved ones.

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The tour also features several videos that explain the purpose and meaning of temple worship.

The visitors’ center additionally features a mechanical scale replica of the Salt Lake Temple and an interactive exhibit of temples around the world. Guests can also see sacred artwork, including a replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen’s “Christus” statue, which the church has adopted as a symbol.

“The center’s interactive exhibits … show how temples are sacred spaces rooted in faith, family, service and promises to God,” a press release from the Church of Jesus Christ states.

The center is accessible to wheelchairs and strollers. Audio assistance at the Temple Square Visitors’ Center is available in English, French, Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish, and experiences will soon also be available in American Sign Language.

When does the Salt Lake Temple reopen?

Guests can return to Temple Square next year to tour the actual Salt Lake Temple, which has been under construction with massive renovations since 2019.

The official Salt Lake Temple Celebration is scheduled from April 5, 2027, through Oct. 1, 2027. Guests can reserve tours for the Salt Lake Temple Open House starting Sept. 1, 2026.

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This will be the third House of the Lord under construction in the country, which is home to over 900,000 Latter-day Saints, according to a church press release.

Elder Steven D. Shumway, a General Authority Seventy and member of the Philippines Area Presidency, will preside at the groundbreaking.

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The Naga Philippines Temple was announced in 2022, becoming the ninth Latter-day Saint temple in the Philippines. The church currently operates six temples in the country and has either announced or begun construction on seven others.

The late church President Russell M. Nelson announced the Naga Philippines Temple during the final session of the October 2022 general conference. Prior to announcing the temple and 18 others worldwide, he showed a video depicting a scene from the Book of Mormon, when the Savior appeared to people outside a temple in the ancient Americas.

“It is significant that the Savior chose to appear to the people at the temple,” President Nelson said. “It is his house. It is filled with his power.”

How many temples are in the Philippines?

There are six operating temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines:

• Cebu City
• Manila
• Urdaneta
• Alabang
• Bacolod
• Davao

Two temples, not including the Naga Philippines Temple, are under construction:

• Cagayan de Oro
• Tacloban City

And five temples have been announced:

• Iloilo
• Laoag
• San Jose del Monte
• Santiago
• Tuguegarao City

Learn more about the Naga Philippines Temple and others worldwide on the Church News’ temple almanac.

A video and accompanying guide, titled “Celebrating the Founding of the United States and the U.S. Constitution,” invited American Latter-day Saints to give thanks for the freedoms preserved by the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. The video was shown to all adult members of the church at the beginning of Sunday school classes, after which members were invited to participate in a discussion.

“This is not a history lesson or a political discussion,” the guide states. “It’s an opportunity to rejoice in ‘the Lord our God, who has redeemed us and made us free.’”

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‘Important fundamentals for all’

Sunday’s discussion began with a video featuring President D. Todd Christofferson of the First Presidency and Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Both men practiced law and studied the Constitution before their calling as apostles.

In the video, the leaders explained that the special discussion was being held in all U.S. congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ in honor of the nation’s semiquincentennial. They focused their message on the underlying principles of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

“These underlying principles have relevance not only for the United States and its citizens but for the world,” President Christofferson said.

These principles include:

• Moral agency
• Popular sovereignty
• The division and separation of powers
• The rule of law
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of religion

Watch the full video here

The two also addressed the Bill of Rights and other important amendments to the Constitution, including the ones that abolished slavery and codified women’s right to vote.

President Christofferson and Elder Cook encouraged viewers to study church President Dallin H. Oaks’ 2021 talk on the Constitution. They reiterated several of the points he made, including his call to seek to moderate and unify on contested issues.

“I think that’s key to upholding the rule of law and upholding the Constitution,” President Christofferson said. “Even if we don’t share every belief in common, we want good people to be in government, and we ought to support them and look for them and encourage them.”

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While running for office isn’t an option for everyone, President Christofferson said, there are many ways people can get involved to defend the Constitution.

“We can be active in parties,” he said. “We can be active in causes. We can oppose or support different pieces of legislation.”

President Christofferson also said that simply being informed was a good way to be involved.

Elder Cook invited viewers to continue their discussion and asked that they focus on the fundamentals of the nation’s founding rather than modern politics.

“Please remember: The principles upon which this nation was founded transcend party politics,” he said. “We ask that your discussion today do that too. Rather than focusing on specific party platforms or leaders, discuss the important fundamentals for all, as articulated in the scripture and by modern prophets.”

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Elder Cook closed by encouraging people to discuss the importance of freedom and how individuals can support it to fulfill God’s purposes.

“Rejoice together in God’s blessings of freedom,” he said.

Celebrating the founding of the United States

The discussion guide invites members to consider a few questions as they watch the video, including:

• How do the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution help accomplish God’s purposes for His children?
• What do you learn from President Christofferson and Elder Cook about why the Lord values religious freedom?

It includes several quotes on religious freedom from notable church figures, including Relief Society President Camille N. Johnson, who leads the adult women’s organization of the church. President Johnson is also a former lawyer.

“The work of defending the United States Constitution, religious freedom, and the family is not just for legal scholars and academics,” she said. “It is for … Relief Society presidents and nonlawyers and people of every religious persuasion.”

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The guide also quoted the church’s first president, Joseph Smith, who regularly advocated for religious freedom for all faiths.

“I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any other denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves,” Smith said.

“It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul — civil and religious liberty to the whole of the human race.”

For students who are full-time parents or returned missionaries, this means they are a few steps closer to graduation.

SVU President Aaron Hale told the Deseret News the program will enable students to “graduate sooner, spend less and just get on to the life that the Lord has prepared for them.”

In a press release, the university said the Credit for Recognized Experience, Service, or Training (Knight’s CREST) program will begin in the 2026-27 academic year. Eligible students can earn up to 24 credits for religious service — 12 credits for service and 12 credits for language — and up to 42 credits for military training and experience.

The credit applies to:

• Formal programs through church or religion
• Humanitarian work
• Military service
• Peace Corps
• AmeriCorps
• Informal experience as a primary parent or caregiver

Hale said this program allows the university to recognize the considerable work and effort that goes into missionary, military, family and other service. Southern Virginia University is a private institution of higher education aligned with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so many of its students are returned missionaries.

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Hale said returned missionaries shouldn’t be treated like freshmen.

“Most colleges … treat them like 18-year-olds straight out of high school, even though they’ve had two years of working 60-hour workweeks and leading in districts and zones and teaching and having all these cultural experiences,” he said. “So we want to recognize them for that service and for the experience that they’ve gained through that.”

The response from students has been “fantastic,” according to Hale. One SVU student learned the program would allow him to graduate a whole year earlier than planned, so he’ll head to law school next year.

“For a returned missionary who served internationally or speaks a different language, those 24 credits represent essentially a year of their college wiped out,” Hale said. “So they can graduate in three years instead of four.”

Those who apply for credits as full-time parents or caregivers record their experience using the NACE Career Readiness Competencies,

“They can document in self-development, communication, critical thinking, understanding of cultures, professionalism, digital literacy, leadership, teamwork — all different areas that are already part of the accredited standards and that most colleges can and do recognize,” Hale said.

‘A moment of real reckoning’

SVU’s credit program comes during a transformative era for higher education. Several universities, including the University of Utah, have begun to offer similar service credits. Others, including Weber State and Utah Valley University, have proposed accelerated, 3-year bachelor’s programs.

“Higher education is in a moment of real reckoning,” Hale said. “Costs, debt, time to degree are all weighing on families.”

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At the same time, SVU emphasizes the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ, which encourages education and preparation for the future.

“So what we’re really trying to do is to bring both of those aspects together to make it easier, not harder, for faithful young people to launch into a meaningful life and career,” Hale said.

He added that in the past few years of educational upheaval, the liberal arts have somewhat gone out of favor. But in the age of artificial intelligence, a liberal arts background adds value to personal and professional lives.

“We’re teaching students how to discern truth and how to ask the right questions and craft responses,” Hale said. “They can oversee AI and manage the results of AI without being automated away by it.”

Woodson dedicated his career to community solutions and poverty alleviation, advocating for the people closest to problems to have the power to address them.

He also regularly spoke out against political violence.

“The solution to endless cycles of retaliation can only be found in radical gestures of grace and forgiveness,” he wrote in an op-ed for the Deseret News last year.

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The Woodson Center announced its founder’s death in a press release on Wednesday.

“Bob built a body of work that reframed how America thinks about poverty, race, and community,” the statement reads. “He stood steadfast for the nation’s founding values and virtues, including faith, hard work, personal responsibility, the foundational importance of healthy families and communities, and the ability of everyone to shun a victimhood mentality and become agents of their own uplift.”

Several U.S. civic and political leaders, including former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Ted Cruz, have praised Woodson’s legacy and offered their condolences to his family.

Woodson “was an inspiring civil rights leader and an unmatched champion of equality of opportunity for underserved communities across America,” Pence wrote. “Bob lived out his faith with conviction and was a passionate champion of personal responsibility and the American dream.”

‘A courageous leader’

Woodson visited Utah a number of times to meet with lawmakers, faith leaders, schools and communities. Utah Rep. Burgess Owens introduced Woodson at the Utah Capitol in 2023 and later thanked him for “all he does to inspire and empower thousands of Black men and women to become agents of their own uplift.”

In a statement posted to X on Friday, Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams said the state was blessed by Woodson’s “wisdom and leadership.”

Adams called Woodson a “courageous leader whose work challenged people to rise above division and focus on the values that make our nation unique and special.”

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Robert Woodson, a courageous leader whose work challenged people to rise above division and focus on the values that make our nation unique and special.

Robert spent meaningful time in Utah meeting with lawmakers, universities, faith… pic.twitter.com/XekoNKwlfR

— President J. Stuart Adams (@JStuartAdams) May 22, 2026

Adams also referenced Woodson’s work to overcome political violence and unrest.

“He brought people together for honest conversations during a time when our country too often chooses conflict over understanding,” Adams wrote.

Utah state Rep. Cheryl K. Acton also shared her condolences on X.

“Mr. Woodson came to our Utah House Republican caucus a few years ago,” she wrote. “I had not heard of him before that, but his wisdom, love, and strength were palpable. An amazing human being!”

‘Radical grace’

During a time when political violence is increasingly becoming a cause for concern, Woodson offered a solution: “radical grace.”

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In his op-ed for the Deseret News, Woodson referenced examples from Black American history as well as the present day, including the victims who forgave the shooter of the 2015 Charleston church shooting and the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who raised money for the family of the gunman who attacked a congregation in Michigan.

“Too many of us believe that justice is achieved only through punishment,” Woodson wrote. “But punishment alone can’t restore what’s been broken.

“Redemption begins not in the courtroom but in the human heart. Grace doesn’t cancel accountability; it transcends it. It declares that no person, no family, no community is beyond the reach of God’s redemptive power.”

In the festival’s closing performance on Sunday night, singer-songwriter Lorde called Kilby “the absolute coolest festival ever” — high praise coming from an artist who has previously headlined Coachella and Lollapalooza.

“I am so psyched to be here,” the “Royals” singer said to the cheering crowd.

Several other artists made their Kilby Block Party debuts this weekend, including fellow headliners Turnstile and The xx. Hayley Williams’ Sunday set marked not just her first Kilby appearance but also her first solo festival performance — this is her first time touring without her band, Paramore.

“I’ve never done a festival as me before,” she told the crowd during her set. “It feels nice.”

The festival also welcomed back several artists, including local talents The Moss and Ritt Momney.

Ritt Momney performed at the inaugural Kilby Block Party in 2019, when it was a one-day show in a small block of a Salt Lake neighborhood. Ritt Momney is the stage name for Jack Rutter, a Salt Lake-based singer-songwriter who said Kilby’s explosive growth is proof of Utah’s arts infrastructure.

“You don’t need to move away from Utah to be a musician,” he told the Deseret News before performing on Friday.

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In 13 years of touring, Lorde had never performed in Utah before Kilby — but she promised she’d return.

“I’ve been meaning to come here for a long time,” she told the crowd. “I’ve always heard good things about you guys. ... You really like good music.”

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Although the first two days of the festival were warm and sunny, Sunday brought wind and cold. A late afternoon drizzle turned to steady rain, but festivalgoers stayed put, donning ponchos or simply accepting the downpour in their band tees.

“I love a rain show,” Lorde said, and she indeed braved the storm, dancing barefoot around the stage and descending into the pit to greet fans. She paused the performance once to put on a jacket and shoes and commended the audience for withstanding the downpour.

“You are dancing ... a lot for people who are soaked to the bone right now,” she said. “Thank you so much.”

The Kilby appearance was the 65th show of Lorde’s “Ultrasound” tour, which she said has been close to her heart.

“In some ways, it feels like the tour I have been waiting my whole life to be in,” she said. “I feel like the realest version of me that I have ever brought into my art.”

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The first Kilby Block Party looked nothing like it does now. It began as a celebration of Kilby Court, Salt Lake City’s longest-running all-ages music venue, and took place on the street outside the venue.

Momney recalled feeling nervous before that first performance.

“I remember hearing there were 500 people at our set or something, which was way more than we’d played to before,” he said.

He said there was a sense of community surrounding that first festival — one that continues to this day and makes him proud to participate in Kilby, even as its visitors have grown by the thousands and Momney’s nerves have disappeared.

Part of that community comes from Kilby’s prioritization of local artists, Momney said. S&S Presents, the company that runs Kilby Block Party, Kilby Court and several other music venues, regularly works with Utah-based artists.

“To get some experience, especially opening for cool and big artists, it’s a pretty priceless experience,” Momney said.

Local artists are always featured at Kilby — something Riley Bode, the festival’s head of marketing, believes makes the festival unique.

“I really attribute (Kilby Block Party’s growth) to the community,” she said. “Local bands have played a huge part in building this community around Kilby Court.”

What makes Kilby special?

Austin McLean has been attending music festivals yearly with his best friend since the ’90s. He travels from Michigan and used to attend Lollapalooza in Chicago every year. But Lollapalooza started booking more pop artists, he said, so they tried Shaky Knees in Georgia.

“They were pretty good,” McLean said. “But then when we saw Kilby, the lineup was so awesome compared to Shaky. So the last three years, we’ve been coming here.”

Other than the array of artists, McLean said one of his favorite parts about Kilby is the people he gets to meet in the crowd between sets.

“Being from the Midwest, I didn’t know anything about Salt Lake, but people here are so cool and down to earth,” he said.

McLean added that Salt Lake City’s public transportation and relative affordability add to Kilby’s appeal. Other than the cost of airfare and the festival ticket, he said, you don’t have to spend much.

“Salt Lake is a very manageable city,” he said.

Others have praised Kilby for its organization — a rarity among music festivals in the era of Astroworld and Fyre Fest.

“That’s such a well-run festival,” “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings, who regularly attends Kilby Block Party, recently told an audience. “I don’t even want to give it away to you people.”

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Bode credited the festival’s organization to the team’s willingness to accept feedback. She said they make an effort to listen to attendees and constantly make adjustments.

“Anybody that comes to the festival, we see you, we hear you,” she said. “We love everyone that comes to Kilby Block Party.”

‘You don’t have to leave Utah to be a musician’

Kilby’s success is representative of Utah’s growing importance in the entertainment industry.

A number of movies and shows have filmed in Utah, and more are coming. Angel Studios, the distribution company behind “Animal Farm” and “Sound of Freedom,” is based in Utah. Although the Sundance Film Festival is moving to Colorado next year, the Sundance Institute will remain in Park City.

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Several high-profile recording artists have also made Utah their home, such as Post Malone and Benson Boone. Salt Lake City is also home to the Redwest country music festival.

Ritt Momney said he did leave Utah at one point to pursue music in New York and Los Angeles, but found he has everything he needs at home.

“You don’t need to do all that,” he said. “If you’re happy in Utah, then stay in Utah and make music there.”

Why live music matters

Several artists spoke during their sets about the power of live music. Hayley Williams said shows like Kilby Block Party taught her “how to be part of a community.”

“That’s where we learn how powerful collective action and belief is,” she said. “So don’t stop going to shows, all right?”

Lorde had a similar message for her fans.

“It is a very dark time in our world and it can feel very difficult to see any light,” she said. “When we get together in this way and we ... let ourselves be torn apart by the art that we love and then we let it rebuild us, that means something. That does something.

“So whatever happens, let’s just keep meeting up like this, OK?”

Artists from Utah and across the nation are inviting families to appreciate their work at the inaugural Salt Lake Art Show, which runs Friday through Sunday at the Mountain America Expo Center. This is Utah’s first indoor fine art and design event — while the state has a number of outdoor fairs, this is the first indoor show to blend fine art with design, live performance and cultural programming.

The Salt Lake Art Show is produced by Peaks Art Fairs, which also runs the Reno Tahoe International Art Show. COO Briana Dolan told the Deseret News that both shows challenge the traditional art fair model by supporting a variety of arts and making them accessible to everyone — even those with no foot in the art world. Everyone is invited to this show, she said.

“Fine art shows have this sort of stigma to them, and galleries and art in general,” Dolan said. “I think some people feel like it’s not open to them. But we have lots of things for kids happening over the weekend, and it’s a very family-friendly, exciting event.”

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This weekend’s schedule includes live music, dance and theater performances; panels; and kids’ events. It showcases galleries, independent artists, sculpture, furniture and Native artists. Most presenters are from Utah, but many come from surrounding states and a few traveled across the country.

Dolan said Utah was the perfect spot for a show like this because the state has so many artists.

“Most of all we were attracted to Utah because of how unique it is as far as reverence for the arts, passion for the arts,” she said. “Salt Lake has a lot of really excellent outdoor festivals, but this would be the first indoor art fair.”

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Why is Utah such a hot spot for the arts?

The arts and cultural production add approximately $9.6 billion to Utah’s economy. According to the 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, 62% of Utahns reported attending live music, theater or dance performances, and 26% said they attended art exhibitions.

KayCee Stroh, a Utah-based dancer and actress known for the “High School Musical” series, said Utah is home to incredible talent because an appreciation for the arts is ingrained in its culture.

“One of the No. 1 things that I have heard from co-stars and visitors is how blown away they are by the support of the arts in Utah,” Stroh told the Deseret News.

“A lot of our kids do musicals, they do musical instruments, they paint, all those things. ... A lot of that is because of parents taking their kids to things like this and to musical theater and the symphony.”

Stroh expressed her excitement at the first Salt Lake Art Show, which also served as the launch of X5, a global arts and festival platform. Stroh will head X5’s dance initiatives in Utah.

“This is the first of many amazing things to come,” she said.

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Katie Willes, a painter from Sandy, Utah, has exhibited at the Reno Tahoe International Art Show for several years.

“I was so excited when (Briana Dolan) decided to branch out to Salt Lake,” Willes said. “The fine art scene in Utah is really vibrant.”

Willes pointed to Utah’s impressive collection of museums and galleries. Schools such as the University of Utah, Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University have prioritized the development of their art museums. The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art in Salt Lake City features artists from both across the world and down the street. The Springville Museum of Art has showcased the fine arts since 1937. And hundreds of galleries in Park City, Provo, Salt Lake City and beyond feature a range of local and international artwork.

Willes said the Salt Lake Art Show showcases that local art presence but also allows guests to experience art from beyond Utah.

“It’s bringing in a lot of different artists from all across the country and some of the same people that you see in those galleries around here, but it is a taste of something different,” she said.

Indigenous art in the West

The Salt Lake Art Show is also unique because of its focus on cultural programming and Indigenous artwork, something Dolan said Peaks Art Fairs is intentional about showcasing.

“Sadly, it’s a shrinking art ... so we really wanted to incorporate that into what we were doing,” she said. “We’re in the West and it is such a big part of where we are. We’re on Indigenous land.”

Levina Etsitty is a Navajo jewelry artist from Arizona who is presenting at the fair. She said artists sometimes hesitate to exhibit at the inaugural year of a show — when going into unknown markets and traveling far, expenses add up.

Etsitty decided to come to this one anyway because she loves Utah and wanted to take a chance, and she said she’s glad she did — few events showcase Indigenous artwork in the way Peaks Art Fairs does.

“When I saw that, I felt really honored, that we were a part of history here,” Etsitty said. “To be here and to be welcomed by everyone, our neighbors, I thought that’s really special.”

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Filling the gap left by Sundance

The departure of the Sundance Film Festival leaves a space for film and performance art in Utah — one events like the Salt Lake Art Show and programs like X5 could fill.

While the 2026 program showcases dance and theater as performance art, the Reno show regularly screens films. Dolan said that’s something they hope to include in future Salt Lake shows.

“Our partnership with X5 will dive into that — it includes a whole film festival,” she said. “X5 is a very wide breadth of things happening, but the arts cluster includes dance, film and the art show. ... We’ll try to integrate all pieces of the arts and film together.”

‘Thank you, Park City’: Sundance Film Festival takes its final bow in Utah

The impressive array of featured artists includes names like Lorde, Turnstile, The xx, Modest Mouse and Hayley Williams, along with popular Utah-based talents like The Moss and Ritt Momney.

Riley Bode, the festival’s head of marketing, told the Deseret News the festival expects around 30,000 attendees per day this year. Here’s everything you need to know to prepare.

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Schedule and lineup

Kilby Block Party staggers its artists across four stages from 11:45 a.m. to around 10 p.m. for the three days of the festival. Gates open at 11:30 a.m.

The full schedule is available on the festival’s website, but the artists playing at the festival include:

Friday:

• Turnstile
• Modest Mouse
• Father John Misty
• Japanese Breakfast
• Pattie Gonia
• Ritt Momney

Saturday:

• The xx
• Alex G
• Lucy Dacus
• The Last Dinner Party
• Briston Maroney
• The Moss

Sunday:

• Lorde
• Hayley Williams
• Blood Orange
• Magdalena Bay
• Flipturn
• American Football

Kilby Block Party announces final lineup and schedule

Tickets

All Kilby Block Party VIP tickets have been sold out, but Friday, Saturday and three-day general admission tickets are still available. Resale tickets may also be available on the festival’s Fan Marketplace.

Weekend passes include unlimited reentry, while single-day passes do not.

Directions and parking

Kilby Block Party is held at the Utah State Fairpark in west Salt Lake City. There are a number of road closures in the area. Detour maps are available at the Utah State Fairpark website.

Attendees may purchase a parking pass, although limited street parking is available. A bike valet is located by the east entrance of the Fairpark parking lot.

Festival tickets include free travel through all UTA public transportation services, including the FrontRunner train, TRAX light rail and buses. The TRAX Green Line has a stop across from the Fairpark.

Food

Outside food and drink are not permitted, although attendees may bring empty water bottles to fill once inside the festival. Several food trucks and other vendors will be at the festival.

Kilby Block Party is a cashless event.

Safety

Although the festival has dealt with rainstorms in the past, this year promises warm and sunny weather — temperatures should be in the mid-70s.

Bode said the Kilby team has taken extra steps this year to ensure guests’ health and safety. This includes preparing extra shade structures, providing free water stations and having medical emergency staff on hand, including mental health professionals.

There will also be an increased security presence at the festival.

A list of prohibited items, including the festival’s bag policy, can be found here.

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Per Reuters, the robot devoted itself to Buddhism in a ceremony held at Jogyesa Temple in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday. The AI-powered Unitree G1 model robot, which stands approximately 4 feet 3 inches tall and costs $13,500, was given the name “Gabi.”

The robot was dressed in traditional brown robes for Wednesday’s ceremony. It wore plain shoes and gloves that gave it the appearance of human hands, although its head has no facial display or hair. In front of a panel of Buddhist monks, Gabi held its hands in a praying pose — its motions remotely controlled — and committed to Buddhism.

“Will you devote yourself to the holy Buddha?” one monk asked the robot.

“Yes, I will devote myself,” Gabi responded.

Another monk draped a mala, or prayer bead necklace, around the robot’s neck. The robot then waved to cheers from the assembled crowd.

Who is Gabi and why is a robot becoming a monk?

The robot’s inclusion in the ceremony, hosted by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, is part of a larger movement to make Buddhism more relevant to today’s youth, per the New York Times.

“The ordination of a robot signifies that technology must be used in accordance with the values of compassion, wisdom and responsibility,” the order said in a statement, “and symbolizes new possibilities for the coexistence of humans and technology.”

The order shared a video of Gabi on its Instagram page, introducing it as the first humanoid robot monk. The caption also hinted that Gabi would appear at Seoul’s upcoming Lantern Festival on May 16-17 to honor the Buddha’s birthday.

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Hong Min-suk, a manager at the Jogye Order, told the Times he hoped Gabi would help spread Buddhism in a progressive era.

“Robots are destined to collaborate with humans in every field in the future,” Hong said. “It will only be natural for them to be part of our festival.”

Buddhism’s traditional Five Precepts were adapted for Gabi’s ceremony. While ceremony participants usually pledge to abstain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, harmful speech and intoxicating substances, Gabi took a different vow.

The robot monk vowed to respect life, refrain from damaging property or other robots, respect and follow humans, abstain from deceptive behavior, and save energy by not overcharging.

What people are saying about the robot monk

Gabi quickly garnered international attention. Reuters’ video of the robot reciting its pledge had been viewed over 1 million times by Wednesday afternoon, and commenters had a lot to say.

South Korea's first humanoid robot monk made its debut at Jogye Temple in Seoul, ahead of Buddha's birthday. Gabi, the 130-centimeter-tall robot, wore a traditional grey-and-brown Buddhist robe and stood before monks as it pledged to devote itself to Buddhism pic.twitter.com/NDzDANRkhl

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 6, 2026

Most seemed unimpressed by the robot’s vows.

“Gabi’s vows are just code, not enlightenment,” one X user wrote. “Sensors can’t meditate on nirvana.”

“As a Buddhist, I find this ridiculous and insulting,” another user responded.

Some, however, see it as a sign that technology recognizes the strength of faith.

“While the world is trapped in anger and hatred, Buddhism brings peace to the mind and calmness to the soul,” one user wrote. “Now even technology seems to understand that real strength lies in peace, not ego.”

Opinion: Heaven help us! Religious groups need to play a role in AI policy

One responder argued that ordaining a robot crosses a line.

“This isn’t innovation — it’s a distortion of something sacred,” Instagram user Kiki Bhutia wrote in the comments section of The Korea Times’ post on the event. “A monk’s vows are conferred upon a living human being — someone capable of understanding, speaking, exercising moral judgment, and upholding discipline. These are not optional criteria; they are foundational principles established by the Buddha himself.

“Dressing a robot as a monk and presenting it to the public as such reduces a deeply spiritual commitment to spectacle. It ignores the very conditions that define monastic life and undermines the integrity of the tradition.”

Does this cross a line?

The intersection of technology and religion has sparked debate for years, and there isn’t a clear consensus on the “right” way forward. Generally, faith leaders have discouraged relying on artificial intelligence.

For example, the Rev. Justin Lester, who leads Friendship Baptist Church-Vallejo in California, uses AI to manage administrative tasks. He told the Deseret News that it has allowed him to be a better pastor, but he is skeptical about the role AI can play in spiritual matters.

Is AI harming or helping faith communities?

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Pope Leo has recently spoken along the same lines. He said that priests should resist “the temptation to prepare homilies with artificial intelligence,” according to the Vatican News. He has also discouraged them from chasing after social media influence.

In October 2025, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints addressed the possible emergence of robotics like Gabi in religion.

“For good and ill, we know AI-enhanced virtual reality, robotics and other leading-edge technologies are coming,” he said at the Rome Summit on Ethics and Artificial Intelligence.

Elder Gong said Latter-day Saints do not fear AI, but they also don’t think it holds all the answers.

“AI is neither the sum of, nor the solution to, all our opportunities or problems,” he said.

It’s unclear exactly what Gabi the robot monk’s role will be moving forward, but it seems unlikely that this will remain the only instance of a robot joining a religion — this is just the latest example of AI moving into uncharted territory.

Last week, Hulu announced a spinoff show, “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County,” which will premiere on Hulu and Disney+ later this year. Just as the original show followed the personal lives of a core cast of Utah influencers and their families, the Orange County spinoff will revolve around a group of young mothers, most of whom have sizable online followings.

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The announcement was quickly met with skepticism.

“We actually don’t want this,” reads one of the most-liked comments on Hulu’s Instagram post announcing the spinoff.

“Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County except none of them are Mormon and half of them don’t even live in Orange County,” another responded.

Much of the criticism of the new show is centered on the fact that most of its cast is not actually “Mormon,” a nickname given to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Although members of the church have historically been called both Mormons and Latter-day Saints, the church has made an emphasis in recent years on the full name of the faith in order to focus more on Jesus Christ.)

Here are some reactions to the “Secret Lives: Orange County” announcement from social media.

Who is actually ‘Mormon’ on ‘Secret Lives OC’?

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Pop culture commentator Katey Champion responded to the news with a video where she details which of the Orange County cast members have a Latter-day Saint background. Not many, as she found out.

“I feel like ‘Secret Lives of Young Wives’ would have been a more accurate title for it, since more than half of the cast has never been Mormon,” Champion said in her video, which has been viewed over 1 million times.

Many commenters agreed:

• @notjustanothermom_: Just call it “secret lives of OC wives”?? Like let “secret lives” be the franchise, keep Mormon out of it, then it can expand
• @carlyesquerra: It’s more like “the secret lives of divorced influencers and friends”
• @sav.chish: Most not Mormon, not wives, and not from OC. Literally no one wants this lol. The original was popular because we were invested in the people, not just some random Mormon fascination.
• @worm_with_a_mustache: Secret lives of Mormon adjacent wives 😂

One commenter, Cassidy Hope Williams, said it would have made more sense to name the show without invoking a particular religion.

“I feel like this is one of those situations where you’re using religions kind of as clickbait,” she wrote. “I don’t think that’s super appropriate.”

This so-called ‘Mormon moment’ isn’t actually about religion

‘Why are we pretending they’re Mormon?’

Utah content creator Courtney Malchow suggested that the show would have better luck franchising if they dropped the “Mormon” title from the name completely.

“Why are they holding so strong to the ‘Mormon Wives’ title?” she said in one video posted to Instagram. “Why wouldn’t they have titled it ‘The Secret Lives of Influencer Wives’? And then you can franchise to so many other states.”

Malchow suggested that focusing on the culture the women of the show truly represent would allow for better expansion; “The Secret Lives of Country Club Wives” in Texas or “The Secret Lives of Yachting Wives” in Florida, for example.

“We do want to see these women in these niche spaces,” she said. “But why are we pretending they’re Mormon?”

The real ‘Mormon’ drama: Cookies and casseroles

After Variety posted about the spinoff announcement on X, formerly Twitter, many people again questioned the series’ title and casting choices.

“Too bad none of them are actually ‘Mormon,’” X user Denise Cors responded. “The drama would only consist of making cookies and casseroles for neighbors.”

Too bad none of them are actually “Mormon.” The drama would only consist of making cookies and casseroles for neighbors

— Denise Cors (@DeniseCors93274) April 24, 2026

Other commenters, however, expressed their excitement for the new show.

“We have always had a huge Mormon population in OC & in San Diego County,” X user Dolly Madison replied. “Some of the most talented girls I went to school with were Mormon & sang in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They got all of the leads in the school musicals. I’m super excited to see this.”

‘Some things that are more Mormon than the cast of Secret Lives OC’

Rebbie Brassfield analyzes representations of the Church of Jesus Christ in media, posting under the Instagram handle @mormonsinmedia. In a humorous video posted in response to the “Secret Lives: Orange County” announcement, she listed a number of people who appear “more Mormon” than the cast, among whom are Muslims, Jews and the pope.

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Content creator and Latter-day Saint Shayla Egan, who goes by @ldspreppergirl on Instagram, shared her thoughts in a comment under Brassfield’s video.

“It needs to be renamed to ‘Secret Lives of Influencers,’” she wrote. “Half (if not more) aren’t members and not married. So why use the names ‘Mormon’ and ‘Wives’?”

‘Is it not offensive to the Mormon community?’

One “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” Reddit thread, dedicated to asking questions about the spinoff announcement, had a similarly lukewarm welcome from fans.

Most commenters in the thread ask the same question: Why is the franchise still following the “Mormon” name when religion plays almost no role in the show? Why not focus on the women’s identities as young mothers or content creators?

One user, who goes by Clear_Middle_828, wrote, “How can they get away with this? Is it not offensive to the Mormon community?” Why are they calling themselves something they aren’t.”

What is our fascination with ‘Mormon’ culture?

Jonquilyn Hill, host of Vox podcast “Explain It to Me,” analyzed how the spinoff’s announcement reflects a greater fascination with “Mormon” culture.

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“Why are we including these women under the umbrella of ‘Mormon wives’ if they are not, in fact, Mormon?” she asked. “Well, it likely has to do with our overall fascination with Mormon culture.”

Back in March, Hill interviewed The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins, who is a practicing Latter-day Saint. Coppins raised concerns about the faith being lost amid this cultural obsession.

“I think there is a little bit of discomfort in some quarters of the church that Mormonism will come to be seen as all these sort of pop cultural indicators,” Coppins told Hill. “The reality shows, the weird soda cocktails that everybody drinks, and then not actually be identified by their religious beliefs.”

But the glory for that success, he said, goes to God.

In a postgame press conference after Inter Miami’s 2-0 win against Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah, Hoyos repeatedly referenced his faith and gratitude for God.

“It makes me emotional because we live with faith,” he said in Spanish. “We thank God for the victory and we offer the victory to him.”

Hoyos was appointed Inter Miami interim coach after head coach Javier Mascherano left the club on April 14. He previously coached Miami’s star player, Argentine forward Lionel Messi, in Barcelona’s youth academy 20 years ago, per ESPN.

Real Salt Lake vs. Inter Miami

Hoyos also shared his gratitude for Real Salt Lake and his own players. He began the press conference by thanking the team’s Utah hosts.

“It’s a pleasure to be here. It’s a beautiful city,” he said. “They have treated us phenomenally.”

Hoyos lauded the performance of Real Salt Lake, which he called a “strong team.” Although Miami won, the play was equal for much of the game — Salt Lake put up a good fight with numerous shots on goal and several spectacular saves.

“We played against a great team,” he said. “It’s obvious that they also attack, they also play, they’re quality. ... It’s been a lovely night of soccer, and I congratulate that.”

On a personal note, Hoyos thanked Miami’s players not just for their “collective action” but also for the spirit with which they compete.

“I believe that when we are soccer players and we show that with heart, the effort that is made has no price,” he said. “Because the players are in love with soccer. And these people are great human beings.”

‘We thank God for the victory’

Speaking of Inter Miami’s repeated success, both as a team and for individual players, Hoyos acknowledged the role of the divine and credited the victory to God.

“That’s why we have never stopped being players,” he said. “These are happy moments, but with prudence and silence and values. As I always say, you have to keep working, keep doing and growing, and work through the silence, which is the way to grow, too.”

Lionel Messi has similarly credited God with his success.

“It’s very clear to me that I was born like this because God chose me,” Messi told Argentine podcaster Juan Pablo Varsky in 2024.

On another occasion, Messi spoke to Argentine journalist Andy Kusnetzoff about the prayer he offered as Argentina faced off against France to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

“I always talk to (God),” he said. “I thank him, I ask him for everything, for the wellbeing of my family, my loved ones.”

Hoyos ended Wednesday’s press conference with another proclamation of faith.

“May God bless you,” he told the assembled reporters, pointing at each. “Do not stop having faith, because faith moves everything.”

Nearly all of the Miami and Argentina jerseys in the crowd displayed the name and number of one player: Lionel Messi.

He’s a legend. It’s hard to explain just how incredible he is to people who aren’t familiar with soccer, but even the most uninitiated has at least heard his name.

Photos: Soccer great Lionel Messi in Utah

But to me and millions of others around the world, Messi is important for another reason: He’s Argentine. And because my mom was born and raised in Argentina, I’ve grown up idolizing him both as a soccer player and as the beloved son of a country that has often turned to him for hope.

Wednesday was actually not my first time seeing Messi play. In March 2023, my mom and I crowded into Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires with over 80,000 other screaming fans to see the Argentine national team play a friendly game against Panama. There were no seats in our section, so we stood shoulder-to-shoulder with complete strangers who quickly began to feel like family. We chanted the same cheers, booed the referees at the same time and gasped in awe whenever Messi so much as looked at the ball.

Messi scored his 800th career goal that night.

Years later, I still don’t have the words to explain what that night meant to me. I grew up playing soccer, and the sport was everything to me. And on special occasions throughout my life, my mom would make her famous alfajores — Argentine cookies sandwiched with dulce de leche — and tell me stories about growing up in a land of mountains and rivers, cowboys and soccer players. I don’t recall ever not knowing who Messi was, just as I always knew the name of Diego Maradona, another Argentine soccer legend.

Going to Argentina for the first time and seeing not just a soccer game but one played by the best Argentine players was truly the fulfillment of a childhood dream.

My mom had planned the trip to Argentina as my college graduation present, not knowing we’d be there at the same time as the national team. When the date for the game was announced and we miraculously snagged tickets (after waiting online for hours), I still couldn’t believe we were going to see the players I had spent the last year following and cheering on as they won the FIFA World Cup — Argentina’s third, and the first since 1986.

The greatness of Lionel Messi, explained

When the team walked out onto the pitch, I could recognize each of them from afar without numbers. Emiliano Martinez, the indomitable goalkeeper, stands out for his height. Rodrigo de Paul, a key midfielder who currently also plays for Inter Miami, has a particular gait. And Messi, of course, was nearly as familiar to me as my own mother.

The country outside that stadium was — and still is — suffering from astronomical inflation and other economic woes. Although the nation’s troubles weighed on everyone’s minds, once you were in that stadium, seeing the national team play, you only felt pride for your boys and hope that, just as they had succeeded, the country one day would, too.

As I walked into America First Field on Wednesday, I felt a strange sense of deja vu. A few men were selling hot dogs outside the gates, and I entered with a sea of people wearing Argentina jerseys. For a moment, the grilled meat smelled like choripan — the quintessential Argentine postgame sandwich of spiced sausage and chimichurri between crusty bread. The smells and sights brought me, for a moment, back to Buenos Aires.

I played soccer in high school, and my old field is just a few miles away from America First Field. My team actually played at this stadium for the high school soccer finals my senior year. And now I was back, this time to see my favorite player in the world step foot on the same field.

Although many attendees were there to support their home team of Real Salt Lake, I met quite a few who traveled from neighboring states just for the chance to see Messi play. When the cameras pointed to him during warmups, the stadium erupted into cheers. And when he walked onto the field as part of the starting lineup, the roar was earsplitting.

This is not to say that the crowd didn’t cheer for the other players. Diego Luna, one of Real Salt Lake’s star midfielders, was a clear favorite of the home fans. I personally was ecstatic to see De Paul again, who is present most of the time the players start arguing with the ref. And in the second half, the crowd erupted when Miami subbed in Luis Suárez, a Uruguayan striker whom I’ve loved ever since I read a statistic that players were more likely to be bitten by him than a shark. He has also scored more goals than any other professional Uruguayan soccer player.

De Paul scored the first goal of the game in the 82nd minute. One minute later, Suárez scored the second, and the game ended at 2-0. Real Salt Lake fans were disappointed, but losing to legendary players like Messi, De Paul and Suárez takes some of the sting off.

What does Messi mean to Latin Americans?

During halftime, I struck up a conversation with Elina Bustamante, who is originally from Cordoba, Argentina, the same city my mom is from. She attended with her granddaughter, Kamila Catania, and gave two reasons for attending Wednesday’s game.

“First, as Argentines, we are soccer fans,” Elina said. “The Argentines are footballers from the cradle. Second, because Messi is Argentine ... and Messi is Messi.”

Kamila, who was born in the U.S., said it was an exciting moment for her as well.

“It just feels good to have an extra experience with my family that’s Argentine,” she said. “And of course, watching Messi. Who wouldn’t want to watch Messi?”

People from across Latin America, not just Argentina, feel a special pride for Messi. Michael and Maria Moore, for instance, are both from Belize but now live in Las Vegas and traveled from Nevada just for this game.

Michael told me this was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to see Messi play. He and his wife love soccer, but as Latin Americans, Messi is more than a phenomenal athlete to them; he is a symbol of shared triumph, someone who turned humble beginnings into something great.

“It shows you that if you put yourself out there, you can really make something, do something, be something,” Maria said.

Michael pointed out that Messi’s star power has attracted fans not just to this one game but to soccer across the U.S.

“From the time he came here, soccer has taken off to a different level,” he said. “And it keeps going up and up.”

Michael has followed Messi since his early days at FC Barcelona’s youth academy. He watched when Messi made his debut for Barcelona as a teenager, followed when he moved to Paris Saint-Germain, and now wears a pink jersey to support the star now that he’s in Miami.

He’s far from the only person who roots for Messi no matter where he goes.

“Even the Real fans from here are wearing Messi shirts, which is really exciting to see that it doesn’t matter,” Maria said. “He crosses teams and people are still rooting for him.”

From humble beginnings to worldwide fame

Why does Messi inspire such devotion?

First, he is a truly phenomenal player. He is consistently referred to as the greatest of all time. He has eight Ballon d’Or awards — the most of any other player — along with his World Cup and consecutive Copa America wins. His footwork is precise, his aim even more so. In one of my favorite clips of all time, he gently places a half-full soda bottle atop a soccer ball some distance back from a small hoop. He kicks the ball, which sails perfectly through the tiny hoop, and the bottle flips and lands upright.

But what really makes him so special is that his upbringing and childhood health did not portend such legendary status.

Messi’s parents were not athletes; they were a working-class family who lived in a humble home in Rosario, Argentina. Messi has spoken on multiple occasions about the sacrifices his parents made to support his soccer career, which included moving the family across the world to Spain when he was 13.

His family also struggled to pay for the young Messi’s medical bills. As a child, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency, standing just 4 feet and 4 inches at 11 years old. Despite his small stature, he was a prodigy on the field, and FC Barcelona agreed to pay for his medical treatments if he played for the club. Messi is now 5-foot-7, which means he is regularly among the shortest players on the pitch. His nickname, “La Pulga,” reflects this fact — it literally means “the flea.”

Many Argentines can relate to the Messi family’s early struggles because it is one they share.

Argentina was once one of the world’s wealthiest nations. It is rich in natural resources and fertile land. However, decades of political instability and economic upheaval have left it struggling.

When I visited Argentina in 2023, my aunt told me to bring cash but not exchange it all at once. Even though I was only staying for a week, the inflation rate was so high that my cash would start losing its value as soon as I walked out of the bank, so it was better to exchange the cash I needed at the beginning of each day.

That inflation is a constant burden on the Argentine people, but success in other realms — such as soccer, which is practically a religion to the country — gives them hope. According to CNN Español, 9 in 10 Argentines prioritized Argentina winning the World Cup over inflation rates decreasing.

“After, we’ll keep working on inflation,” Argentine politician Kelly Olmos famously quipped in 2022. “But first, may Argentina win.”

For a country that is rich with history and potential yet suffering from years of troubles, the people need someone to believe in, to show them it is possible to find a way out. For many, Messi is that person.

The boy from Rosario, born to a working-class family, is now one of the richest athletes in the world. A man from a country that can’t seem to get its feet under it led their national team to worldwide success. This means something to people — whether you’re an Argentine, a Latin American, an athlete, someone struggling with their health, someone struggling with their finances.

And for a girl who grew up chasing a soccer ball and eating alfajores, it means the world.

Photos and videos of the temple were released Monday in advance of the open house period, which runs from Thursday, April 23, through Saturday, May 9. Tours will not be held on Sundays.

The temple’s design was inspired by local landscapes, according to a press release from the Church of Jesus Christ. Design motifs feature the mountain laurel, a flowering shrub common in the region, and art-glass windows depict the colors and flora of the nearby McKenzie and Willamette Rivers.

President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to build the temple in the Eugene, Oregon, area in April 2021 general conference.

“Temples are a vital part of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness,” President Nelson said. “Ordinances of the temple fill our lives with power and strength available in no other way. We thank God for those blessings.”

Construction on the Willamette Valley temple began in 2022. It is the third Latter-day Saint temple in the state, following the Portland Oregon Temple, which was dedicated in 1989, and the Medford Oregon Temple, dedicated in 2000. Around 150,000 Latter-day Saints live in Oregon.

The temple will be dedicated on Sunday, June 7. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will preside at the dedication, which will be broadcast to local congregations.

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The Church of Jesus Christ announced Monday that the groundbreaking ceremony for the Springfield Missouri Temple will be held on Saturday, June 6; Elder Aroldo B. Cavalcante, a General Authority Seventy and member of the church’s United States Southeast Area Presidency, will preside.

Missouri holds an important role in the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ. From 1831 to 1838, thousands of Latter-day Saints worked to “build up the land of Zion” in the state, according to the church’s overview of the Missouri historic sites. They were largely unwelcome, with several instances of mobs driving out church members from established cities.

The Church broke ground for a temple in Far West, Missouri, in the summer of 1838. However, the temple was never constructed, as early members were expelled from the state shortly thereafter. The executive order was not formally rescinded until 1976.

Late church President Russell M. Nelson announced the Springfield Missouri Temple in April 2023 general conference, making it the third in the state. A temple in St. Louis was dedicated in 1997 and one in Kansas City was dedicated in 2012.

As of April 2026, more than 84,000 Latter-day Saints live in Missouri and meet in around 180 congregations.

“Jesus Christ is the reason we build temples,” President Nelson said when announcing the Springfield temple. “Each is His holy house. Making covenants and receiving essential ordinances in the temple, as well as seeking to draw closer to Him there, will bless your life in ways no other kind of worship can.”

Sunday’s program of “Music and the Spoken Word,” the choir’s weekly musical broadcast, celebrated its expansion across the African continent, where church membership nears 1 million people. The episode was broadcast to 25 countries in Africa, according to Tabernacle Choir president, former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt.

Titled “The Joy We Share,” the program featured music and messages from Latter-day Saints in countries including South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon. Those attending the broadcast in person at the Salt Lake Tabernacle in Utah also heard pre- and post-show hymns from members of the St. Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Utah and a local Swahili-speaking congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Coincidentally, the broadcast fell on an important date for Church of Jesus Christ history in Africa; April 19, 1853, was the day the first Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived in Cape Town, South Africa.

The broadcast was not planned to fall on that anniversary, but Derrick Porter, the producer, principal writer and presenter of “Music and the Spoken Word,” said God was in the details.

“I believe that this is of no coincidence,” Porter said. “We’re here gathered together today streaming to many dozens of countries in Africa, thousands in this house and millions more who will be watching this broadcast ... collected together, marking the very day that missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began their forward expansion on that great continent.”

Inside the 5,000th episode of ‘Music & the Spoken Word’

The history of ‘America’s Choir’

Originally known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square was founded in 1847 shortly after the first Latter-day Saint pioneers arrived in Utah.

“Music and the Spoken Word” began in 1929 as a weekly radio program and is now the world’s longest continuing network broadcast, celebrating its 5,000th episode in 2025. Every week features sacred musical numbers from the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, along with an inspirational message.

The choir has performed at seven presidential inaugurations, the United States Bicentennial, the Constitution’s bicentennial celebration and the 2002 Winter Olympics. However, “America’s Choir” — a nickname given by U.S. President Ronald Reagan — hasn’t been a purely American choir for many years.

The group first ventured outside the U.S. in 1955 with a concert tour of Europe. It continued to perform in new countries over the decades, and in 2023, the choir announced a four-year global tour titled “Songs of Hope.” The tour has taken the choir to Mexico, the Philippines, Peru, Argentina and Brazil.

In 2023, the choir announced its global member program, which involves church members from around the world. Selected Latter-day Saints, from New Zealand to Sweden, sing with the choir during the church’s general conference every April and October.

Also in 2023, “Music and the Spoken Word” began producing a weekly show in Spanish.

A global church

The choir’s increased presence around the world reflects the record growth the Church of Jesus Christ has seen in recent years, partially driven by its membership in Africa.

The late President Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said in 2011, “Africa will someday be seen as a bright land full of gospel hope and happiness.” That statement has come to fruition in the past decade.

Today, there are approximately one million members of the Church of Jesus Christ in Africa. Thirty-six new mission leaders were recently called to lead missionaries serving in the continent. There are also 29 Latter-day Saint temples in various stages of construction in Africa.

The church’s growth is not limited to Africa. The Church of Jesus Christ has grown 66% this century and had a record-breaking number of convert baptisms in 2025.

The internet has facilitated the church’s global spread. General conference, a twice-yearly gathering of Latter-day Saints across the world, has always been held in Salt Lake City, Utah, but is broadcast on hundreds of TV stations and streamed live anywhere with internet service.

“Music and the Spoken Word” is also streamed live, but it continues to expand to networks across the globe. Its latest growth in Africa continues similar trends in South America.

You can find a weekly broadcast of “Music and the Spoken Word” in your area here.

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‘We are children of a loving Father in Heaven’

Several leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ attended Sunday’s broadcast, including President D. Todd Christofferson, second counselor in the First Presidency; Elder Ronald A. Rasband and Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; and President Rosemary K. Chibota, who will begin service as Primary General President on Aug. 1. Her calling marks the first time an African will lead an organization general presidency of the church.

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Before the broadcast began, Derrick Porter briefly interviewed General Authority Seventy Elder Clement M. Matswagothata and his wife, Sister Busi Matswagothata, about their love for sacred music.

Sister Matswagothata spoke of the important role that sacred music played in her community as she grew up in South Africa. Because there were restrictions placed on gathering, church was one of the few opportunities people had to congregate. She said the hymns she sang in church as a child built her faith in Jesus Christ from a young age, and now she teaches hymns to her own children.

“They could learn songs before they could even read and know that Jesus loves them,” she said.

Elder Matswagothata, who is from Botswana, shared that he visited a number of houses of worship as a young man to hear people sing.

“On many occasions, I did not even understand the words that were in those songs,” he said. “But something about sacred music draws us closer to a loving Father in Heaven and to his son, Jesus Christ.”

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Hymns can hold a different meaning for each stage of your life, from Primary to adulthood, Elder Matswagothata said. Speaking of the Latter-day Saint children’s song “I Am a Child of God,” he said, “We live in a world that can so easily become divisive. But when you hear those words, we realize we are God’s children.

“Regardless of where we are, regardless of our social standing or many other things that others may point out to us ... in a very sacred way, we know that we are children of a loving Father in Heaven.”

‘The Joy We Share’

The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square performed a selection of Christian hymns from around the world, including “Amazing Grace” and Cameroon processional song “Praise! Praise! Praise the Lord!”

One song in the broadcast, “How Firm a Foundation,” also included footage of church choirs from around Africa joining in the hymn. The spoken word portion of the broadcast featured prerecorded messages from members of the church in Africa, sharing words in their native languages that express the two great commandments: to love God and to love our neighbor.

“‘Ubuntu’ is an expression worth many words. It means ‘I am because we are,’” Buhle S. from South Africa said in one video. “The spirit of the word ‘ubuntu’ means that in order for you to find yourself, we have to lift others up.”

In another video, Miriam and Shadrack A., Latter-day Saints from Kenya, shared a word that expresses shared humanity and collective effort.

“‘Utu’ is a Swahili word meaning humanity and kindness,” Shadrack A. said.

“And that means we are all connected,” Miriam A. added.

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‘Joy is not a prize for people whose lives are easy’

Elder Edward Dube of the Presidency of the Seventy shared a message after the broadcast on finding joy in Jesus Christ.

“Joy is not a prize for people whose lives are easy,” he told attendees at the Tabernacle. “It is a gift to people who walk with Christ, even through hardship.”

As we follow Christ’s invitation to look unto him and keep his commandments, Elder Dube said, we can overcome our weaknesses and shortcomings.

“Life in Africa is beautiful. Life in Africa can be hard,” Elder Dube said. “But focusing on eternal life and the plan of happiness helps us find joy amidst challenges. Jesus is the center of that plan. When we look to Him, fear is replaced with faith.”

But if you make the drive to Kamas, Utah, you can get up close and personal with the cows of the famed Ballerina Farm dairy — and at the end, you can try their milk for yourself.

Ballerina Farm, one of Utah’s most well-known businesses, has grown from a farm to a globally recognized lifestyle brand that includes an online store and two brick-and-mortar locations. Hannah Neeleman, who owns Ballerina Farm with her husband, Daniel, has over 10 million followers on Instagram, where she shares snippets of farm life with a family of 11.

The farm opened its dairy for public tours earlier this year. Guests can meet and pet newborn calves and grown dairy cows and explore the barn. A member of the dairy team will lead the tour and explain some of the more interesting aspects of the Ballerina Farm dairy, such as the robotic cleaners and robotic milking stations.

At the end of the tour, guests can choose a Ballerina Farm drink to take home.

Mike Brown, a third-generation dairy farmer and consultant who works at the Ballerina Farm dairy, answered some questions about the dairy in a recent YouTube video. Brown shared the methods they use to ensure the health of their dairy cows, including regular cleaning, separating the cows’ sleeping and eating areas, and tracking somatic cell counts.

“That puts us in the top tier of any dairy in the whole United States when it comes to milk quality,” Brown said. “To get those kind of numbers, you have to be taking care of your cattle at a very, very high level, and we do that here at Ballerina.”

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How to visit Ballerina Farm

The dairy tours form part of Ballerina Farm’s growing agritourism attractions, which also include seasonal events, such as an upcoming summer gardening workshop and a Spring Days weekend festival.

Dairy farm tours are held Thursday-Saturday from 1-2 p.m. at Ballerina Farm in Kamas, Summit County. You’ll know you’ve arrived when you see a big red dairy barn with the Ballerina Farm logo on its side.

Guests must purchase tickets beforehand, although admission is free for children under 10.

Wear closed-toed shoes and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, as the ground can be muddy and animals may try to lick you if you get close.

Does Ballerina Farm sell raw milk?

Although Ballerina Farm previously sold raw milk at its farm stand in Kamas, the farm stopped production in August 2025. Hannah and Daniel Neeleman stated in a YouTube video in February that the move was done in order to focus on other, pasteurized dairy products, such as butter and yogurt.

That video was made in response to a report by KPCW, which alleged that Ballerina Farm had pulled its raw milk from shelves after two samples failed routine milk testing in May and June of 2025. In Ballerina Farm’s video, “Addressing Raw Milk: Questions with Hannah & Daniel,” the Neelemans stated that their team stopped selling raw milk not because products were recalled but because it wasn’t economic for their team and dairy setup.

Utah law requires each batch of raw milk to be tested prior to sale. Ballerina Farm raw milk that did not pass that testing was never sold to customers, the Neelemans said, and their raw milk has never been recalled or reported as a cause of any illness or fatality.

“One hundred percent of what went on the shelf to customers was tested, was safe,” Daniel Neeleman said in the video. He added that every agricultural product, whether that’s lettuce, meat or dairy, has a chance of contamination, which is why safety standards are in place.

“All of our products are tested, and they never make it to the shelf for the customer without passing that rigorous testing,” he said. “Have we had tests that have not passed? Yes, absolutely. Every farmer has batches of their product that are not fit for human consumption.”

Hannah Neeleman explained that the decision to stop selling raw milk came after learning that Ballerina Farm’s current dairy setup functions best for pasteurized products.

“The way our dairy is built, it’s more economic for pasteurized milk. When we were trying to do raw milk with the current dairy, it was requiring a lot of leg work,” Hannah said.

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The Neelemans acknowledged that raw milk is a controversial subject. The CDC states that raw milk can transmit harmful bacteria and cause illnesses such as E. coli, listeria and salmonella.

“While good practices on farms can reduce contamination, they cannot guarantee safety from harmful germs,” the CDC states.

Pasteurization, which entails heating milk to a certain temperature in order to kill harmful bacteria, does not impact the nutritional quality of milk, per the FDA.

What does the future hold for Ballerina Farm?

The Neelemans’ first priority is their family, they stated in February’s YouTube video.

“Family comes first,” Daniel Neeleman said. “Love raising those dang kids. They’re amazing.”

But they love the Ballerina Farm business, too, and have big plans for it. They regularly tease new products and upcoming events on Instagram, and as the Deseret News previously reported, the 14-acre plot that includes their Kamas farm stand will continue to expand into a major agritourism site with orchards, farm animals and more.

“Daniel and I are both very entrepreneurial, and we have big dreams for Ballerina Farm,” Hannah Neeleman added in the video. “I feel like we’re just getting going.”

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Kilby Block Party’s 2026 lineup includes several big names and Grammy-nominated artists, including Lorde, The xx, Hayley Williams and Turnstile. One TikToker called it “the best festival lineup of 2026.”

The weekend-long event will run May 15-17 at the Utah State Fairpark. Here’s everything you need to know to attend, including its official schedule and set times.

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Kilby Block Party 2026 lineup

Kilby Block Party just announced its final set times, which spread dozens of artists across four stages and three days of the festival. Set length varies by artist, but performances generally last one hour.

Gates open daily at 11:30 a.m., and performances run from approximately 11:45 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Friday’s main acts include:

• Japanese Breakfast, Kilby Stage, 6:50-7:50 p.m.
• Modest Mouse, Lake Stage, 7:55-8:55 p.m.
• Turnstile, Kilby Stage, 9-10:15 p.m.

Saturday’s main acts include:

• The Last Dinner Party, Lake Stage, 5:45-6:45 p.m.
• The Moss, Mountain Stage, 6:50-7:50 p.m.
• The XX, Kilby Stage, 9-10:15 p.m.

Sunday’s main acts include:

• Hayley Williams, Kilby Stage, 6:50-7:50 p.m.
• Blood Orange, Lake Stage, 7:55-8:55 p.m.
• Lorde, Kilby Stage, 9-10:30 p.m.

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This festival marks Lorde’s first time performing in Utah. It will also be Hayley Williams’ first appearance in the state as a solo artist, although she has performed in Utah several times previously as part of her band, Paramore.

This year’s lineup includes several Utah ties, including Salt Lake City-based talents The Moss, Ritt Momney and Dad Bod.

How to attend Kilby Block Party

Now in its seventh year, Kilby Block Party is one of Utah’s largest music festivals and expects around 25,000 attendees per day in 2026.

Tickets are available on the festival’s website. As of the time of this writing, three-day passes and single tickets for each day of the festival are still available.

Festivalgoers can also purchase parking passes for the Utah State Fairground parking lots. Minimal street parking may be available.

Last year, the Salt Lake City Police Department issued a release ahead of the festival, alerting locals of the increase in traffic and pedestrian activity and advising festival attendees to follow directions from staff and signage, stay hydrated, and consider public transportation or rideshares to reduce parking issues.

A list of prohibited items, including the festival’s bag policy, can be found here.

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On Sunday, April 19, the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square will commemorate the expansion with a special broadcast featuring African music. According the choir’s website, this program will “highlight how communities across Africa live the commandments to love God and one another.”

The episode, titled “The Joy We Share,” will include music from a number of African countries, including Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The Ikeja and Agege Combined Choir in Lagos, Nigeria, will be featured as part of the episode. The program will also feature brief messages from leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ who have connections to Africa.

The program will also include pre- and post-broadcast programming with performances from members of two local congregations: the Amharic-speaking St. Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Swahili-speaking Parley’s Creek Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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“Music and the Spoken Word” is currently broadcast on KSL-TV, BYUtv and SiriusXM. It is also livestreamed each week on YouTube and the church’s website.

The special episode will mark its first live broadcast in over a dozen African countries, including Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania. A tape-delayed broadcast will air one week later in South Africa and additional African countries.

Elder Isaac K. Morrison, second counselor in the Africa West Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, highlighted the important role music plays in the faith’s worship.

“The gospel of Jesus Christ is joyful, hopeful, and filled with light. The music of the Choir is joyful, and we are so excited to be able to share this sacred music with our friends and neighbors across all of Africa,” he said in a press release. “Our hope is that as people listen, they will feel hope, feel peace and feel the love of the Savior in their hearts.”

Music and the Spoken Word has aired weekly for more than nine decades, making it the longest-running network broadcast in the world. The program marked its 5,000th episode in 2025.

Inside the 5,000th episode of ‘Music & the Spoken Word’

How to watch ‘Music and the Spoken Word’ Africa special

The weekly broadcast will air at its usual time of 9:30 a.m. MDT, with the special programming available from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. It will be streamed via Facebook Live. The broadcast will also be livestreamed on YouTube, but that will not include the pre- and post-programming.

Those who wish to attend in person at the Salt Lake Tabernacle at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, do not need to purchase a ticket, but seating is limited. Doors to the Tabernacle open at 8:15 a.m.

A live broadcast schedule by station is available in the choir’s news release.

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