The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will open 36 new missions on July 1, 2024, due to an increase in the number of missionaries serving, the church announced Wednesday.

In 2021, 56,000 missionaries were in service, which increased to 62,500 by the end of 2022. Now the total number of missionaries in service is more than 72,000 missionaries.

In Utah, missions will open in the following locations:

• Utah Salt Lake City East.
• Utah Saratoga Springs.
• Utah Spanish Fork.

Is Sen. Mitt Romney’s approval rating up after retirement news and new biography?

Sen. Mitt Romney has been dominating news headlines for the last few weeks with his retirement announcement in September and his bombshell biography "Romney: A Reckoning" released in October.  

Have his approval ratings gone up?

New Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll data finds nearly 50% of respondents said they strongly or somewhat approve of Romney’s performance, a small decrease from September’s 54%. 

Meanwhile, 41% said they strongly or somewhat disapprove of his performance, roughly three percentage points less than last month. And 10% said they did not know. 

Read more about who approves of Romney more: liberals, moderates or conservatives.

More in Politics

• Carolyn Phippen announces candidacy for Romney’s Senate seat (Deseret News)
• Why the Supreme Court discussed dog and baby pictures this week (Deseret News)
• Would a federal NIL law save college sports? (Deseret News)

FROM UTAH BUSINESS

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Designed exclusively for executives to discover cutting-edge strategies, engage with industry experts, and network with like-minded professionals. Tracks include Entrepreneurship, International Business, Marketing, People & Culture, and Strategy. Purchase tickets now at forward.utahbusiness.com.

Health

• Amid all the recalls, are eye drops safe to use? (Deseret News)
• What is ‘fried rice syndrome’? Health experts warn against eating food left out at room temperature (Deseret News)

Faith

• ‘The Chosen’ officially releases its Christmas special trailer — Andrea Bocelli and the Bonner Family will perform (Deseret News)
• Naomi Schaefer Riley: How churches can make a difference in the lives of children who need foster care (Deseret News)

Economy

• Meta launches ad-free subscriptions for Facebook and Instagram users in the EU (Deseret News)
• Dave Ramsey: Is it better to buy a house unmarried or married? (Deseret News) 

Culture

• How we went from ‘When Harry Met Sally’ to ‘What Happens Later,’ Meg Ryan’s newest rom-com (Deseret News)
  
• How Day of the Dead became mainstream (Axios Salt Lake City)
  

Education 

• Jay Evensen: How home-schooling became the biggest trend in American education (Deseret News)
• It sounds like UVU President Astrid Tuminez, but is it really her? (Deseret News)
  

Salt Lake County

• Utah therapist charged with sexually abusing patient with mental capacity of a child (KSL)
• Salt Lake City unveils concept design for 'Green Loop' proposed to surround downtown (KSL)

Grand and Washington Counties

• After destructive event, Utah town urges BLM to restrict weddings (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Vandals hit 3 homes under construction (St. George News)

The West

• Biden set to announce $5 billion for rural United States (Deseret News)
• A new Republican poll shows who's ahead in Arizona's Senate race. It's not Kari Lake (Arizona Republic)

The Nation

• Deseret News Editorial Board: Stop the biannual time-change madness (Deseret News)
• Republican George Santos faces expulsion vote in US House (Reuters)

The World

• First group of injured Palestinians, other foreign nationals cross into Egypt (Deseret News)
• Afghan refugees forced to leave Pakistan say they have nothing (BBC)

The Big 12 released its conference football schedule for 2024-2027. Who will BYU and Utah play?

On Wednesday, the Big 12 Conference unveiled its football scheduling matrix for the next four seasons, detailing the conference matchups set to take place.

The conference schedules are built, in part, around four existing rivalries that the Big 12 wants to keep intact: BYU-Utah, Arizona-Arizona State, Baylor-TCU and Kansas-Kansas State, according to Brett McMurphy of Action Network.

2024 BYU home games:

• Arizona
• Houston
• Oklahoma State
• Kansas
• Kansas State

2024 BYU away games:

• Arizona State
• Utah
• Baylor
• UCF

Read more about the 2024-2027 schedules for BYU and Utah.

More in Sports

• Did the Jazz break their two-game losing streak against the Grizzlies? (Deseret News)
• How Utah State transfer safety Crew Wakley went from sixth-stringer to starter for 5-3 Cougars (Deseret News)
• Utah offensive line — what needs to improve? (Deseret News)
• When assistant coaches behave badly, where does the buck stop? (Deseret News)