The epic migration of thousands of Mormon pioneers traversing the frontier of America in the mid-1800s is a well-known chapter of history, but according to President Gordon B. Hinckley, the Church has never ceased pioneering.

Speaking to a group of news media representatives July 13, President Hinckley said, "We are still reaching out across the world into places that scarcely seemed possible to access a few years ago."President Hinckley was in Council Bluffs to participate in the 150th anniversary commemoration of the Mormon Trail and to dedicate the reconstructed Kanesville Tabernacle. (See July 20 Church News for articles on the commemoration.)

At a news briefing on the campus of the Iowa School for the Deaf, where the celebration was held, President Hinckley told the news media: "We have never ceased pioneering from the time . . . our people left Nauvoo and came here and then moved from here up the Elkhorn and the Platte and the Sweetwater, over the highlands of Wyoming and eventually down into the valley of the Great Salt Lake. We are reaching out everywhere and that takes pioneering. Our missionaries . . . go forward and do their work, and it is a pioneering effort and it bears fruit. Before long we have a handful of members, then a hundred members and then 500 members and then a thousand members and so on."

In response to a question as to what are the three greatest challenges facing the Church today, President Hinckley replied: "One word sums it all up and that is growth.

"Now the three great, specific challenges are to increase the momentum of our work, which I . . . am confident we can do. Second, to accommodate the growth with new buildings, which are required wherever we go, and

thirdT the training of local leadership.

"This is the same challenge that Brigham Young faced. We have faced it all through the years and will continue to face it as the Church grows across the world. But thus far we have met that challenge and I think handled it very, very well. We are building buildings in many countries, at the rate of about 375 new buildings a year across the world, which is really phenomenal."

President Hinckley told the news representatives that the Church is growing at the rate of about a million new people every three and a half years. "That is a great challenge, particularly in nations where we have not been established very long.

"Wherever we go," President Hinckley explained, "we go in the front door. We establish our credentials with government officials and move in an open way, nothing secret or clandestine about the way it is done. It is all done open and above board with full knowledge of public officials."

In response to another question about the Iowa celebration translating into a positive relationship between Mormons and non-Mormons in the area, President Hinckley replied: "I think the very fact that the vast majority of those who are participating in these celebrations have been non-members of the Church says a very great deal of brotherhood, of openness, of an outreach, of love and respect for our people and for the mark which they made on the history of Iowa as they crossed this state.

"We are so grateful for those who have joined in this celebration. There is a great, growing love for history that seems to be everywhere and it is manifest here. It is a great salute, really, to our people and the events of 150 years ago."

President Hinckley summed up his feelings at the news briefing by saying: "I have a great enthusiasm for this work and a tremendous feeling of optimism. It is growing, it is spreading. It is marvelous to see what is happening everywhere."