When high profile people come calling in Salt Lake City, Church Hosting volunteers move into action.

Since 1965, when Church Hosting began, dozens of volunteers have hosted thousands of VIP guests visiting Church headquarters.Church Hosting, a division of the Church Public Communications Department, is directed by Boyd and Jean Christensen, called to the post in March 1988. Hosting volunteers strive to increase positive awareness of the Church and build bridges of friendship and understanding with non-members.

Ten couples serve under Brother and Sister Christensen, responding to specific assignments. Some couples host two or three times a week from an hour to several hours a day. Sometimes, they serve only once a month.

They represent a variety of professional fields and experiences, including law, medicine, business, military and education. Some speak foreign languages.

"Most of the people hosted by the couples are top-level leaders in business, government, education and other world religions," Brother Christensen said. "We also host members of royalty, military leaders and officers of organized service clubs and heads of other private groups. Celebrities and media personalities also come our way.

"We try to match our hosting couples with the backgrounds and interests of our guests."

Typically, hosts accompany guests to Temple Square, Welfare Square, the Church Office Building, Relief Society Building, Museum of Church History and Art, Family History Library, Tabernacle Choir rehearsals or broadcasts, and to BYU and other sites of Church interest. Guests often visit in the hosts' homes, attend Church meetings and family home evenings.

Making visits enjoyable works both ways, according to Nolan and Lois Oswald, a couple with 11 years of Church Hosting service.

She told of a couple they hosted who, when they were ready to leave Salt Lake City, invited the Oswalds to visit in their California home.

Nearly all host couples maintain some kind of contact with guests long after visits end. Quite often, hosts and guests exchange Christmas and other seasonal greetings, and announcements of weddings, births and other significant events.

While host couples hope their guests receive favorable impressions about the Church, some visitors surprise them by responding very quickly.

"We took a group of Chinese educators to Temple Square," related Brother Oswald. "Just as soon as we entered the gate, one of the men stopped. He looked around and then said, `This is holy ground.' He did not ask, `Is this holy ground?' He declared it was."

Sister Oswald said guests often want to do something in return for the kindness shown them. "We hosted a Japanese lady and her two daughters quite some time ago," she related. "As she left, she asked what she could do to repay us. I told her nothing was expected.

"Later, I received a letter from her. She wrote, `I decided what I can do is to make your missionaries welcome when they call.' "

Tens of thousands of visitors go to the Church Office Building who do not fall into the realm of those hosted by the couples. A volunteer staff of some 150 hostesses take turns serving four-hour shifts to greet these visitors.

Under supervision of Mary Louise Rawlings, who reports to the Christensens, the hostesses give tours of the building. They also answer questions about the building and, upon request, provide information about nearby sites of interest.

"We mix secular and religious information in a light conversational style," Sister Rawlings said. "We adapt our information to the needs, interests and time of our guests.

"While we're not called to serve as missionaries, we see our responsibility as doing all we can to further missionary work by making friends.

"Our volunteers represent some of the finest people in the world. They are intelligent, devoted, spiritual women."

She said the well-poised volunteers help clear up some distortions about the Church, particularly about LDS women.

"A visitor said he wanted to see what a Mormon looked like and asked one of the hostesses to point one out to him. She said, `I'm a Mormon.' That was quite a revelation because he had some kind of idea that perhaps we were of another vintage."

Building hostesses also greet members who visit from throughout the world. "Members come here with high expectations," said Sister Rawlings. "We want to do all we can to assist them."

Host couples and hostesses in the Church Office Building share a common objective: let guests know they are always welcome.