The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its investment arm have been fined $5 million for using shell companies to obscure the size of the portfolio under church control, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday.

The faith, widely known as the Mormon church, maintains billions of dollars of investments in stocks, bonds, real estate and agriculture. Much of its portfolio is controlled by Ensign Peak Advisers, a nonprofit investment manager overseen by ecclesiastical leaders known as its presiding bishopric.

MJ was a tiny, black-haired girl, just 5 years old, when her father admitted to his bishop that he was sexually abusing her.

The father, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an admitted pornography addict, was in counseling with his bishop when he revealed the abuse. The bishop, who was also a family physician, followed church policy and called what church officials have dubbed the “help line” for guidance.

Utah Republican State Sen. Dan Thatcher sees the 2016 election in dire terms.

"It's like choosing between getting shot or poisoned," he said in a back hall of the Utah State Capitol building. "We know that Hillary Clinton is the worst,

Donald Trump had a question about Mitt Romney for his Salt Lake City supporters Friday night: "Are you sure he's a Mormon?"

"Do I love the Mormons? OK, I love the Mormons," Trump told the rally, held in the Utah city where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is headquarter

Thirty-seven years ago Monday, President Kimball, then prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said that black men of African descent who were members of the church would be allowed to be ordained to the priesthood and black men and women of African descent would be allowed to participate in ordinances in LDS temples.

For most

It's a day more than five years in the making for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sunday, church leaders and members gathered in Payson to dedicate the newest temple.

President Thomas S. Monson publicly announced the Payson temple in January, 2010.
Members of the church who live in the area have waited all their life for a temple in their back yard.

"We can walk, that's what is going to be wonderful. We are going to be able to walk down the street and be able to go as a family together, husbands and wives and parents," said Liz Worthen.

Thirty-seven years ago Monday, the LDS Church announced a momentous decision: Its priesthood would henceforth be open "to all worthy male members," ending a centurylong ban on black men and boys in its ranks.

The June 8, 1978, change was celebrated throughout The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, leading many Mormons to believe past racial issues were now over.

It was his first chance to sell himself as a presidential candidate, and Mitt Romney was determined to make it memorable. The Massachusetts governor stood before a gathering of Southern conservatives in Memphis who knew little, if anything, about him.

And he began to sing.

"Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, greenest state in the land of the free. …"

When it comes to keeping the earth populated, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are making more babies than members of any other faith.

That’s according to new data out of the Pew Research Center, which revealed the average Mormon will have 3.4 children in his or her lifetime. Protestants, Catholics and Jews fell in the middle of the pack, each averaging around 2 children.

Atheists and Agno

On May 5, The Salt Lake Tribune reported the story of Brian Dawson, a Caucasian man in an interracial marriage who answered a student's question about how his wife could be a member of the LDS Church, given its history with people of African descent.

Dawson used t