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In the Almanac
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Trent Toone

Trent Toone is a journalist and feature writer for the Deseret News and Church News. He was raised in northern Utah and graduated from the University of Utah. He has worked for several newspapers and received a number of awards over his career. Toone is the author of “No Excuses, No Regrets,” a sports biography of NFL football player Eric Weddle. Toone served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Santiago, Chile, and spent a year teaching seminary. Like his father before him, he is a proud Eagle Scout. Trent and his wife Lisa are the proud parents of four children.

Andrew Gentry of the Michigan Wolverines walks toward the tunnel after a game.
Living Faith
How football and faith have come together for this University of Michigan lineman
Michigan offensive lineman Andrew Gentry is a giant on the field; off the field, he’s a leader in his Latter-day Saint congregation. Here’s how he is balancing it all.
Utah Utes safety Sione Vaki intercepts the ball against the Florida Gators.
Members
How Utah’s dual threat Sione Vaki is striving to honor his faith, team and late mother
After serving a Latter-day Saint mission, Utah safety Sione Vaki has become one of NCAA football’s most versatile players.
Rescue teams work at a tunnel collapse in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Global
Church responds to help those affected by torrential rains, flooding in the Dominican Republic
At least 21 people have reportedly died and more than 13,000 people have been evacuated to secure areas in the Dominican Republic.
Joseph Smith’s journals on display.
History Revisited
New online Joseph Smith Papers content features Nauvoo-era tithing records
Hundreds of pages of 1840s tithing records, with images and searchable transcripts, are now available for free on the Joseph Smith Papers website.
Crews are fighting a fire that started in a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Living Faith
Fire burns through Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Chevy Chase, Maryland
A fire started in a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Chevy Chase, Maryland, Monday afternoon. The roof collapsed on firefighters but they were rescued and none were injured.
The BYU men’s cross-country team poses with their trophies after the 2023 NCAA-cross-country championships.
Members
BYU men’s cross country team places third at NCAA championships for second year in a row
For the second straight year, the BYU men’s cross country team placed third in the NCAA cross-country championships while the BYU women’s team finished 14th.
Family members take a photo on the beach.
Global
RootsTech launches video and social media campaign to promote 2024 theme ‘Remember’
RootsTech organizers have launched a video and social media campaign to promote its 2024 theme, “Remember.”
President M. Russell Ballard stands by the Trent River in England.
Leaders & Ministry
Watch the funeral services for President M. Russell Ballard on Friday, Nov. 17, at 11 a.m. MST
Funeral services for President M. Russell Ballard, who served as the Church’s Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, are scheduled to be held in the Tabernacle on Temple Square on Friday, Nov. 17. Watch it here.
Wayne and Bernice Ursenbach stand outside the Laie Hawaii Temple.
Members
Latter-day Saint who fought in WWII’s Battle of the Bulge set to celebrate his 100th birthday
Latter-day Saint Wayne Ursenbach is a veteran of World War II. He will turn 100 years old in less than a month.
Elder Ulisses Soares speaks to Latter-day Saints during a special devotional broadcast in the Caribbean.
Leaders & Ministry
Focus your lives on the Savior, Elder Soares encourages Caribbean Latter-day Saints
Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke to Caribbean Latter-day Saints in a devotional and encouraged them to focus their lives on Jesus Christ.
Jake Eichorn is an offensive lineman for the BYU Cougars.
Members
How prayer, good friends and ‘divine design’ led this BYU football player to baptism
BYU offensive lineman Jake Eichorn tells about his recent decision to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A FamilySearch team member, shares FamilySearch archivist solutions with a congress delegate in the United Arab Emirates.
Global
FamilySearch announces new initiative for digitizing Ottoman Empire family histories at ICA Congress
FamilySearch participated in the ICA Congress in the United Arab Emirates where representatives announced a new initiative to digitize Ottoman Empire family histories.
President M. Russell Ballard smiles for the camera at a special recognition event.
Leaders & Ministry
President M. Russell Ballard returns home following short hospital stay
President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote on social media that he spent time in the hospital with respiratory issues.
Hannah Speirs participates in a media interview.
Members
Latter-day Saint with Down syndrome has become a ‘dancing’ usher at Texas Rangers home games
Hannah Speirs is a Latter-day Saint with Down Syndrome who likes to dance while working as an usher at Texas Rangers’ home baseball games.
Lynne M. Jackson, a descendant of Dred and Harriet Scott.
Global
Descendant of Dred and Harriet Scott announced as first keynote speaker for RootsTech 2024
FamilySearch has announced that Lynne M. Jackson, a descendant of Dred and Harriet Scott, will be a keynote speaker at RootsTech 2024.
BYU Army ROTC cadets line up to board a Black Hawk helicopter as part of a 2-day exercise at Camp Williams on Oct. 26, 2023.
Living Faith
BYU administrators join Army ROTC cadets in Black Hawk helicopter ride from Provo to Camp Williams
BYU administrators joined Army ROTC cadets in a Black Hawk helicopter ride as part of a two-day exercise to enhance the students’ soldiering skills.
People visit the FamilySearch booth at the Frankfurt Book Fair held Oct. 18-22, 2023.
Global
FamilySearch provides discovery experience for nearly 4,000 at book fair in Germany
Nearly 4,000 visitors gained new insights about themselves and their families by stopping at a FamilySearch booth at the international Frankfurt Book Fair.
A woman speaks to other women sitting at church in a video from the Church’s October 2023 general conference leadership meeting.
Leaders & Ministry
Summaries and videos from October 2023 general conference leadership meeting now available as resource for members
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released summaries and videos from select presentations of the October 2023 general conference leadership meeting.
Members of the BYU men’s cross country team start a cross country race in the rain.
Members
BYU cross-country athletes ready for ‘championship season’ and first Big 12 conference race
The BYU men’s and women’s cross-country teams are ready to compete in the school’s first-ever Big 12 championships.
Philadelphia’s Britain Covey reacts after an NFL football game against the New England Patriots.
Members
Latter-day Saint Britain Covey and family featured in Philadelphia Eagles ‘Unscripted’ video
Philadelphia Eagles’ punt returner Britain Covey, a Latter-day Saint returned missionary, was featured in a team video with his young family.
People sit in church pews and sing as a congregation.
Leaders & Ministry
What is the Latter-day Saint Sunday meeting schedule for Christmas Eve 2023?
See what the Church’s First Presidency has said about the Sunday meeting schedule for Latter-day Saints on Christmas Eve.
The Paul and Emily Schumann family takes a photo.
Members
How one Latter-day Saint chaplain’s family found comfort and hope after their son’s tragic death
Navy Chaplain Paul Schumann spoke to Church-endorsed chaplains about coming to know the ‘God of all comfort’ at the Chaplain Training Seminar.
The Feather River Temple.
Living Faith
Trent Toone: How the Feather River California Temple was built on the faith and service of members
Latter-day Saints in northern California reflect on the growth and impact of the new Feather River California Temple.
FamilySearch has renovated a 1932 revival-style Tudor chapel to create a new center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Members
FamilySearch opens new center in Las Vegas
FamilySearch has renovated a 1932 revival-style Tudor chapel to create a new center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
BYU students watch the sunset at the BYU Jerusalem Center in Jerusalem, Israel, on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
Global
BYU Jerusalem Center announces students and faculty will continue studies in Greece
Students, faculty and staff have remained safe, with the center’s evacuation coming one week after the conflict in southern Israel began on Oct. 7.
Elder Lance B. Wickman speaks at the 2023 Chaplain Training Seminar.
Leaders & Ministry
How chaplains are like ‘angelic’ medevac helicopter pilots, Elder Wickman teaches at seminar
Elder Lance B. Wickman, an emeritus general authority and military veteran, taught that chaplains are like angelic medevac choppers that ‘lift a badly wounded soldier to safety and care,’ at the 2023 Chaplain Training Seminar.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles holds two great-grandchildren.
Leaders & Ministry
After his wife’s death, the ‘wonder of life goes on,’ Elder Holland writes on social media
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles posted on social media that misses his wife Pat following her death, but he finds hope and joy in a new generation of their family.
Sister Rosana Soares and Elder Ulisses Soares, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles waving to members prior to the dedication of the Feather River Temple in Yuba City, California.
Temples
The Feather River California Temple will be a ‘beacon in this area,’ Elder Soares says at dedication
Five years and one day since the day it was announced, Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the Feather River California Temple in Yuba City, California.
Hunter Davis, center, prepares to take a group of young men and young women on a tour of the Feather River California Temple.
Temples
How the Feather River temple has already been a blessing to Latter-day Saints in California
Latter-day Saint youth have played a role in helping Church members to prepare for the dedication of the Feather River California Temple by Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Elder Ulisses Soares and C. Todd Linton, director of the Church’s Military Relations and Chaplain Services Division, greet chaplains.
Leaders & Ministry
Elder Soares shares his witness of the ‘God of all comfort’ with Church-endorsed chaplains
Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles was the concluding speaker at the 2023 Chaplain Training Seminar.