Headliners

Michael Ballam performed in the major concert halls of America, Europe, Asia, Russia, and the Middle East, with command performances at the Vatican and the White House. His operatic repertoire includes more than 600 performances of over 70 major roles. Currently serves as the General Director of the Utah Festival Opera, a company he f.. Read More

Current professor of Church History and Doctrine, author of 100 books including Joseph Smith: Praise to the Man; Joseph, Exploring the Life and Ministry of the Prophet; The A to Z of Church History and Doctrine and Covenants, popular BYU Ed. Week speaker, and the only woman to have received the prestigious Karl G. Maeser Distinguished.. Read More

Popular BYU Education Week speaker; in demand youth speaker; author of the What I wish I”d Known.. series and many other recordings and books; scholar of a variety of subjects. John Bytheway”s captivating teaching methods will leave you hanging on for every word as he expounds gospel topics using humor and amazing insights.

Who is Murat Cakir? Murat is an amazing person—he helped translate the Book of Mormon into Turkish (it took 6 years) and has been working on translating the Doctrine and Covenants. Did I mention that he is also in the Mission Presidency? Murat comes to Utah twice a year to be a Turkish translator for Conference. He has kindly agreed.. Read More

Jeffrey R. Chadwick is an archaeologist and university professor. He serves as Professor of Archaeology and Near Eastern Studies and also as Religious Education Professor of Church History and Jewish Studies at Brigham Young University in Utah and Jerusalem Israel. Professor Chadwick earned a BA in political science from Weber Stat.. Read More

T.C. Christensen is a film director and writer best known for films such as The Other Side of Heaven 2, The Fighting Preacher, The Prophet of the Restoration; 17 miracles, The Cokeville Miracle and  Ephraim’s Rescue, just to name a few. He has also worked on the films Forever Strong, Roving Mars (Disney) and Lewis & Clark (National.. Read More

Stan Crippen has been a popular teacher/lecturer for Especially for Youth, Education Week, Know Your Religion, and Youth Conferences for over 4 decades and has spoken to over 40,000 youth and adults through the US and Canada. He has had 3 audio CD’s published by Covenant Communications on a variety of topics and co-authored the “T.. Read More

PATRICK DEGN has been an instructor in the Seminaries and Institutes of Religion for more than 25 years. He has traveled and taught in the Holy Land and loves the people and their culture. He holds degrees in classical history, Latin, and Military History specializing in ancient Greek and Roman warfare. He teaches adult religion class.. Read More

STEVE DENSLEY, Jr. is a Utah attorney (J.D., Brigham Young University). He graduated with University Honors from BYU with a combined B.A./M.A. in public policy and political science. He has published articles in the Utah Bar Journal, the Journal of Law and Family Studies, Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture, and Meridian Magazi.. Read More

Current sealer at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple; author of more than 50 books including the popular Love at Home—Starring Father and Don’t Forget the Star; has taught religion at BYU; worked in many capacities for the Church Education System; and also served as director of Priesthood Genealogy. He served as president of the Kentucky T.. Read More

Received his BA in Communications from Souther Utah University and then his MA in Communications from Ball State University. Has been conducting tours of LDS sites for over 17 years around the UK. He specializes in finding unique gems off the beaten path frequently missed by the average traveler. He is not only a knowledgable and educ.. Read More

Dr. Lawrence R. Flake has taught in the Church Education System for 57 years. His most recent assignment was as a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. In 2014, he retired from BYU-Provo and was called on a mission to teach religion classes at BYU-Hawaii where he is presently teaching each Winter Semest.. Read More

Alonzo L. Gaskill is a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University, where his primary teaching focus is World Religions. Brother Gaskill converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints–from Greek Orthodoxy–in November of 1984. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the temple, symb.. Read More

Marvin Goldstein is one of the world’s most traveled pianists and entertainers. Beginning his musical training as a 9-year-old child, he was awarded a music scholarship to Tel Aviv University School of Music in Israel nine years later. He continued his studies at the famed “Mozarteum” of Salzburg, Austria and earned bachelor’s.. Read More

TYLER GRIFFIN is currently an instructor in the Department of Ancient Scripture at BYU. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering and, after marrying an Angel named Kiplin Crook, he began teaching seminary in Brigham City, Utah. He then began teaching at the Institute adjacent to Utah State University. One.. Read More

Andrew Horton graduated from BYU with a degree in Zoology. He has taught religion since 1995, part of which was spent at the Church Office Building where he helped produce films for the Church. He currently teaches at the Utah Valley Institute at UVU. Bro. Horton loves woodworking, violent storms, family time, discovering and teaching.. Read More

Eric D. Huntsman is a Professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, where he also directs the Ancient Near Eastern Studies Program in the Kennedy Center for International Studies. Professor Huntsman and his family lived in the Holy Land from 2011-2012 while he was teaching at the BYU Jerusalem Center. He was a coauthor o.. Read More

Kent Jackson is a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. He has a B.A. in ancient studies from BYU and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in ancient Near Eastern studies from the University of Michigan. His research interests include Latter-day Saint scripture, doctrine, and history, with emphasis on the intersection of Mormo.. Read More

Devan Jensen tells fascinating stories to bring Church history to life. He has more than thirty years of experience working with books, journals, magazines, and (more recently) social media. Hired in 2001 at the BYU Religious Studies Center, he has led talented teams to edit about 250 books or book-length projects, which garnered many.. Read More

President of Cruise Lady. Diane has been leading groups for over 12 years and travels over 6 months of the year helping ensure each group has an unforgettable journey. She and her husband Larry, will add their expertise and excitement to make this a MUST-DO experience.

Cruise Lady is excited to offer a fun and relaxing opportunity to learn from many top LDS scholars and in-demand speakers. Normally we only have a chance to hear from 1 or 2 speakers as they come with us on our trips. For this cruise, we will have the opportunity to watch several different headliners as they expound on a variety of su.. Read More

Boris was born in St. Petersburg and has lived there for all of his live save two years. It is his favorite city. He joined the LDS Church in 1993. He was a full time in Rostov on Don in Russia mission. He has served as district young men’s president, branch president, member of the district high counsel, counselor in the stake pres.. Read More

C. Robert Line has worked full-time with religious education for the past twenty four years. In addition to teaching with the BYU Religious Education faculty, he has been a presenter at BYU Education Week, Women’s Conference, Especially for Youth, and has worked for CES programs as an instructor and director for Institutes of Religi.. Read More

Jared has been teaching in the Ancient Scripture Department at BYU since 2006. Previous to that, he spent six years teaching Religion and History at BYU Hawaii. Jared received his Bachelor’s degree from BYU in Near Eastern Studies, his Master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley in Biblical Hebrew, and his PhD .. Read More

Victor L. Ludlow is a scholar of Isaiah and Judaism. He graduated with high honors from BYU and was a Danforth Fellow at Harvard and Brandeis Universities, where he received a Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. Professor Ludlow”s scholarship explores the areas of Bible studies, the Middle East, Jewish history, and theology, a.. Read More

John Lund author of Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon is this the place?, Avoiding Emotional Divorce, Art of Giving and Receiving Criticism, How to Hug A Porcupine; and many others; has served for more than thirty years as a marriage and family mediator; relationship expert; BYU Education Week speaker, Retired Institute Director; avi.. Read More

Jack Marshall taught for the LDS Church Educational System for forty years. He is an author, and has had audio CD”s produced. Jack has taught at religious and family conferences such as Especially for Youth, Know Your Religion, Education Week, Especially for Parents, BYU Family Conference and for BYU-TV programming. He has lectured .. Read More

Bio coming soon...

ROBERT L. MILLET is Professor Emeritus of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University. He joined the BYU Religion faculty in 1983 and retired from teaching at BYU in January 2014. He is the former Dean of Religious Education at BYU and has also served as the Richard L. Evans Professor of Religious Understanding. Since 1997 he has be.. Read More

Roger P. Minert is a professor of Church history and family history at Brigham Young University, specializing in central Europe. He has studied all things German since he was eleven and is classified as a native speaker of German. During his six years in Germany and Austria, he has traveled more than 100,000 miles, much of that as a t.. Read More

Kerry received his B.S. from BYU in Psychology with a Hebrew minor. As an undergraduate he spent time at the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies in the intensive Hebrew program. He received an M.A. in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from BYU and his Ph.D. from UCLA in Egyptology. He taught courses in Hebrew and Religion part ti.. Read More

D. Kelly Ogden has taught courses in Hebrew, Old and New Testament, writings of Isaiah, the Bible as literature, history of the ancient Near East, biblical and modern geography of the Holy Land, Pearl of Great Price, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants. He is the author or co-author of several books, including “The Holy Land .. Read More

Daniel C. Peterson is a religious educator and professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages. He received a bachelor”s degree in Greek and Philosophy from BYU and, after several years of study in Jerusalem and Cairo, earned his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the Univ.. Read More

HELAMAN PETLACULCO has been a tour guide for over 35 years in Mexico. He speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, and German. He has guided thousands of LDS tourists visiting the archaeological sites in Mexico. He has served as Branch President, in the Mission Presidency, and on the Stake High Council. His favorite calling was being .. Read More

President and CEO, Next Phase Leadership International (India, Singapore, UK, EU, Japan). Brett has taught in the seminary & institute program, at BYU Education Week for 18 years, at Know Your Religion series, and was a BYU faculty member in Department of Ancient Scripture, Department of Psychology, and Department of Family, Home & So.. Read More

Daniel Smith is a Biblical history enthusiast whose dream in life is to help visually teach about the scriptures in a way never done before. To achieve this, he has created the YouTube channel Messages of Christ (with 100 videos and over half a million views), has created numerous ancient artifacts (including the clothing of the High .. Read More

After serving a mission in Nagoya, Japan, Martin Tanner obtained a BA in Finance from the University of Utah, then a JD, from J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. Martin contributed to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism and has written articles for the FARMS, now the Maxwell Institute.  He is on the Board of Editors of The Interpreter Fou.. Read More

Hany Tawfeek has been escorting groups in Egypt since 1987. He holds a Master’s degree in Egyptology and is an international lecturer in his field. He was awarded the title of Egyptian Ambassador of Tourism in 2007 and was the President of the Tourist Guides Union of Alexandria from 2007 until 2014. He is THE top guide in Egypt and .. Read More

Vickey Pahnke Taylor is a wife, mom, grandmother, professional speaker, author, and songwriter. Her undergraduate study at BYU was musical theater. She has a Masters degree in communications. She has taught for CES programs for more than 35 years. A Billboard award winning songwriter with hundreds of songs to her credit, her favori.. Read More

Brent L. Top is the Dean of Religious Education at BYU and a professor of Church History & Doctrine. He has authored or co-authored 20 books and numerous articles on doctrinal, historical, scriptural and sociological subjects. He and his family lived in the Holy Land when Dr. Top taught at the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near-Eastern Stu.. Read More

John W. (Jack) Welch is well-known and highly regarded in LDS circles for his insightful studies of the Bible and Book of Mormon, including numerous works on Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, temple studies, the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the Good Samaritan, the trial of Jesus, and the legal and cultural backgrounds of the New Tes.. Read More

Brad Wilcox was born and raised in Provo, Utah. He served a mission to Chile and married Debi Gunnell who served her mission in Guatemala. They have four children. Brad is a professor at BYU and has participated in programs such as Especially for Youth, Education Week, and Know Your Religion. He wrote his first book when he was 18 yea.. Read More

Randal Wright has a Ph.D. from BYU in Family studies and has been a CES Coordinator, Instructor in the Religion Department at BYU and an Institute Director at the University of Texas. He is currently a life coach working with business executives, entertainers, educators and other highly motivated individuals. He speaks yearly at BYU E.. Read More