What’s in the October 2026 World Report? Six Months of Faith in Action

For a mother raising five boys near Chinle, Arizona, a Church-funded solar installation meant her children could finish homework after sunset and read bedtime stories with the lights on. Her family’s experience is among the stories in the October 2026 World Report from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which reviews six months of humanitarian work, temple developments and ministry around the world.

The report follows food deliveries reaching all 50 U.S. states, hearing care for children in Argentina and preparations to welcome visitors inside the Salt Lake Temple. It also covers President Dallin H. Oaks’ call for peacemaking at Washington National Cathedral, temple dedications across several countries and new resources for learning about faith and Church history.

Homework and Bedtime Stories After Sunset

Before the solar installation, Colynn Begay and her sons relied on a single light after dark, with its brightest setting lasting only about 20 minutes. Their home became the 100th to receive electricity through a grant from the Church of Jesus Christ to Heart of America, a national nonprofit.

“So I usually try to do their homework the moment they get back from school,” Begay explained. The limited lighting meant the family needed to use the remaining daylight for schoolwork.

Heart of America identified more than 14,000 homes across the Navajo Nation without electricity. The organization has equipped more than 450 homes on the reservation, including the 100 supported by the Church’s donation.

A four-person team can install a system in one day that supplies a family with solar power for the next decade. Each installation includes solar panels, a battery, a low-wattage refrigerator, lights and educational materials.

“We have lights, and we get to charge our laptops,” Begay said after the installation. “I’m filled with joy and love.”

250 Truckloads of Food, 50 States

The Church’s effort to donate 250 truckloads of food to 250 food banks during America’s 250th anniversary has reached all 50 states. Each load helps at least 1,400 families, with deliveries continuing beyond that nationwide reach.

The report follows shipments to Joe’s Food Pantry in Dallas, Texas, and the Food Basket in Hilo, Hawaii, where food arrived from Utah. In Fairbanks, Alaska, workers unpacked a shipment and routed its contents to other parts of the state.

A June 17 delivery to Catholic Charities in Boston, Massachusetts, brought the effort to its halfway point. The Church works with organizations from multiple faiths and other charities to distribute the food to people in need.

The deliveries draw on a broader welfare program that includes farms, facilities and transportation. The report describes that work as an ongoing response to the Savior’s call to feed His sheep.

Helping Children Hear and Families Get Care

The World Report includes a $65 million commitment to an initiative involving seven global humanitarian organizations. That commitment brings the Church’s investment in the initiative’s first three years to more than $184 million for child nutrition, maternal and newborn care, immunizations and education.

In rural Cambodia, participating organizations provide agricultural training, high-quality seeds and nutrition education. They also help women develop sustainable farm businesses through entrepreneurial programs.

In Ghana, motor tricycle ambulances help women reach maternity care from remote communities with difficult terrain. The report places those efforts alongside the global challenges of unaffordable healthy diets and malnutrition, which accounts for nearly half of deaths among children younger than five.

Giving Machine donations have also helped children in Argentina receive medical evaluations, custom hearing aids and continued care through the nonprofit FANDA. The kiosks arrived in South America for the first time last November, allowing donors to support dozens of charitable causes.

Among the children featured is Abigail, who could clearly hear her mother’s voice after years of waiting. The report also follows Aixa, a young woman from San Luis whose hearing aids now help her study at a university and pursue her goals.

Following earthquakes in the Philippines, Venezuela, Japan and Colombia, Church members gathered and distributed food, clothing, hygiene kits and medical supplies. The Church also opened meetinghouses as shelters and supplied bedding for hard-hit areas.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Elder Neil L. Andersen visited Spokane, Washington, on August 23 after wildfires destroyed hundreds of homes in eastern Washington. They met with affected Church members three weeks after the fires.

“You are heroes for us,” President Uchtdorf told survivors, recognizing their efforts to help one another through the disaster. The visit included messages about God’s presence through illness, loss, pain and suffering.

Salt Lake Temple Prepares for Visitors

Crews working on the Salt Lake Temple transferred the building’s weight onto its new base isolation system in June. The system’s 98 isolators allow the temple to move as much as five feet in any direction during an earthquake, reducing damage.

Workers then removed the steel plates that had held the isolators in place during installation. Restoration crews also returned the temple’s doors in June after carefully restoring them.

The renovation, which began in 2019 after two decades of planning, is nearing completion. Public tours will run from April through October as part of a celebration themed “Rejoice in Christ,” with additional experiences across Temple Square.

The Temple Visitor Center opened to the public in May with interactive exhibits, information about temples worldwide and full-scale replicas of temple rooms. President Uchtdorf and Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman led journalists through the space on April 13.

“This is the visitor center where we show the house of the Lord,” President Uchtdorf said. The center gives visitors an opportunity to learn what temples look like inside and how Church members use them.

For people unable to travel to Salt Lake City, teams are using 3D scanning to create a virtual model of the visitor center and the entire temple. The experience will become available through the Temple Square website and app in spring 2027.

The Church will also release “Dedicate,” a six-episode series following seven young adults from different countries as they explore the Salt Lake Temple and questions of faith, purpose and spiritual growth. The first episode premieres October 4 in 12 languages, followed by four weekly episodes and a final episode in spring 2027.

New Temples and a Return to Ohio

President Oaks dedicated the Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple on August 16 during his first international trip as president of the Church. Brazil now has 12 dedicated temples, with another 12 planned or under construction.

That same day, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the Cleveland Ohio Temple. Its 11-acre site lies about 30 miles from Kirtland, where early Latter-day Saints built the first temple of the restored Church.

Latter-day Saints gathered in Ohio in the 1830s, making Kirtland the Church’s headquarters. Today, the Kirtland Temple operates as a Church historic site with daily public tours.

President D. Todd Christofferson of the First Presidency rededicated the San Diego California Temple on August 23 after nearly two and a half years of renovation. Workers replaced cracked art glass and addressed other needs during the closure, including exterior staining from freeway exhaust and growth associated with humid coastal conditions.

“It’s one of the most beautiful of our temples throughout all the world,” Elder Andersen said in the report. The coverage shows the temple’s celestial room and grand staircase, including the natural light entering the interior.

Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated Cambodia’s first temple in Phnom Penh on August 30. Before the dedication, Elder Gerrit W. Gong toured the temple with government and interfaith leaders, including the country’s deputy prime minister.

Nearly 800 journalists, government and interfaith leaders, Church members and friends attended the ceremony opening the temple’s public open house. Visitors toured the temple before its dedication.

The report also reviews the May 3 dedications of the Lindon Utah Temple by President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency and the Davao Philippines Temple by Elder Dale G. Renlund. Elder Andersen dedicated the Bacolod Philippines Temple on May 31.

On June 7, President Uchtdorf dedicated the Willamette Valley Oregon Temple, while President Christofferson dedicated the Yorba Linda California Temple. The report also includes plans for new temples in Marysville, Washington, and Otavalo, Ecuador.

President Oaks Calls for Peace and Fairness

Speaking at Washington National Cathedral on the eve of Constitution Day, President Oaks emphasized compassion, understanding and fairness in the constitutional pursuit of freedom and unity. He called for people to address their differences while preserving core values.

“People of goodwill, compassion, and a desire to understand and help one another are at the core of peacemaking,” President Oaks said. He added, “Knowing that we are all children of God gives us a divine vision of the worth of all others and the will and ability to rise above prejudice and racism.”

The report reviews his first year as prophet and president alongside continued Church growth. More than 90,000 full-time missionaries were serving in September.

“We were a local church when I was young many years ago,” President Oaks said. “Now it’s quite clear we’re a worldwide church.”

In Philadelphia, President Christofferson and Elder Gary E. Stevenson joined other faith leaders and religious freedom advocates at the Canterbury Medal Gala. Becket, a nonprofit law firm that defends religious liberty, hosted the gathering.

President Christofferson also visited missionaries and Church youth in Toronto. In Europe, President Uchtdorf dedicated stake centers in Salzburg, Austria, and Prague, Czech Republic, and met with German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin.

While in Berlin, President Uchtdorf paid his respects at a Holocaust memorial near a Church meetinghouse. His visit to Prague returned him to the country where he was born and where he organized its first stake in 2016.

Church Leaders Meet With Faiths and Communities Around the World

Elder Bednar met with Chilean President José Antonio Kast at La Moneda Presidential Palace in May. Their discussion addressed needs the Church could help the government meet.

“We tried to determine if there are needs in Chile that we can assist the government in fulfilling,” Elder Bednar said. In late August, he and his wife, Susan, also visited South Korea, the islands of Micronesia and Japan, where they planted a tree commemorating the Church’s 125th anniversary in the country.

Elders Quentin L. Cook and Clark G. Gilbert ministered in London, Preston and Edinburgh during a weeklong visit in May. They addressed thousands in a devotional broadcast throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland and participated in an interfaith gathering hosted by Coptic Orthodox Archbishop Angaelos.

At the University of Oxford’s Corpus Christi College, the apostles visited the room where translators worked on the King James Bible more than 400 years ago. They also participated in a theology discussion hosted by Reverend Andrew Teal.

Elder Ulisses Soares met with Christian and Jewish leaders in New York City in late August. His visits focused on relationships among religious communities and ways they could support one another in shared initiatives.

“We do this because we love God, and we love our neighbors,” Elder Soares said. He described working with the city’s diverse religious community to find ways to support good initiatives together.

Elder Gérald Caussé visited Indonesia in April, meeting with Catholic leaders and visiting the Communion of Churches, the Indonesian Bible Society and Istiqlal Mosque. His ministry also included meetings with Church members, government officials and religious leaders in Vietnam and Singapore.

“The message of uniting families is very relevant here,” Elder Caussé said. “They love their ancestors, they love their family, and so we have a message for that.”

Sister Freeman visited Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Guadeloupe, French Guiana and the Bahamas in May. She joined youth in preparing hundreds of meals for families in need and taught seminary classes broadcast across the region.

“My time here has reminded me how much the Lord loves all of His children everywhere,” Sister Freeman said. She also spoke about the young people’s efforts to walk with Jesus Christ, speak of Him and testify of Him.

Degrees, Songs of Hope and Stories Worth Preserving

BYU–Pathway’s growth in Africa receives attention in the report, which returns to Accra, Ghana, where the organization began serving African students 15 years ago. In Nigeria alone, enrollment has grown from fewer than 3,000 students four years ago to more than 20,000 today.

“Talent around the world is equally distributed, but opportunities aren’t,” Elder Gilbert said. “And BYU Pathway is infusing opportunities into the lives of these students.”

The report contrasts an early cohort of students gathered around one shared computer with global education centers offering more than 100 computers at a single location. Students also describe completing degrees, finding employment and developing their faith through their education.

At the Krisan refugee camp in western Ghana, a Church donation helped establish a 3D printing lab. Residents use the technology for education, employment opportunities and practical solutions to camp needs.

Sister J. Anette Dennis, first counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, announced five humanitarian projects in late May that will help more than half a million people in Central America. The work includes children’s vision care in El Salvador, computers and tablets for schools in Guatemala, a mobile mammography unit in Panama and specialized equipment for a children’s hospital in Nicaragua.

The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square performed two nights at the Hollywood Bowl with Elder Caussé accompanying them. The performances formed part of the Songs of Hope World Tour, which has reached millions over the past four years.

In April, the choir also began broadcasting “Music and the Spoken Word” across Africa through television networks. Senior Church leaders gathered in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for the inaugural live broadcast to the continent.

Tribal elders and Church historians have worked together on “Native Saints: The Washakie Ward,” a digital collection documenting a Shoshone congregation in northern Utah. The archive includes essays, biographies, photographs, maps and a database of community members.

The collection traces the experiences of survivors of the 1863 Bear River Massacre and the approximately 200 Shoshone Church members who formed the Washakie Ward in 1880. Those members established homes, learned to farm and built a place of worship.

Elder Gong dedicated the new Nauvoo Visitor Center and the historic Brigham and Mary Ann Young Home on June 27. Both locations, along with other historic sites in Nauvoo, offer daily tours.

“Nauvoo is central to our history, to our past, to our present, to our future,” Elder Gong said. His visit included his wife, Susan, Church Historian Kyle S. McKay, Sister Tamara Runia of the Young Women General Presidency and other Church leaders.

The Church’s updated illustrated scripture resources now include more than 200 stories and videos covering the Old and New Testament, the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. The stories are available in more than 60 languages, with videos in 27 languages and the final New Testament print edition scheduled for Church distribution in November.

A Worldwide View of the Church’s Work

Taken together, these stories show the range of the Church’s work: places of worship, emergency relief, education, healthcare and relationships across religious communities. They also show how that work reaches into daily life, helping families meet basic needs, students pursue opportunities and communities care for one another.

The report connects those individual experiences with the efforts of Church leaders, members and partner organizations across continents. That broader view helps put six months of news into perspective, showing both the scale of the work and the people it serves.

Watch the October 2026 World Report to hear from those involved and explore these stories in greater detail. Full-length versions of individual stories are also available on the Church Newsroom YouTube channel and website.

Holly Wallace

Holly Wallace is a writer and storyteller drawn to meaningful questions and overlooked details. Her work explores Latter-day Saint life and culture through faithful inquiry, inviting readers to pause, consider, and engage more deeply with what matters most.