In Kiribati, a language spoken in the Pacific Islands, the international magazine of the LDS Church is called "Riaona." In Haitian, it's "Lyawona."In Samoan, the name looks a bit more familiar to the English reader — "O Le Liahona." In languages that don't use a Latin-based alphabet, like Chinese, Japanese, Russian or Thai, the words on the cover look entirely unfamiliar to English-only speakers. But the content inside is always the same.From the initial planning meetings to when it is mailed out in up to 51 languages, teams of writers, editors, designers, artists, translators and production staff spend about a year preparing a typical Liahona issue.Elder Spencer J. Condie of the Quorums of the Seventy, who oversees the magazines along with other members of the quorum, said the reaction to the publication is positive."I think it's become a well-accepted church magazine," Elder Condie said, adding that from the feedback he has received, "they love it in the islands of the sea."International magazinesInternational church magazines date back to the mid- to late 1800s. According to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, they were published through the missions or local leaders outside of Utah and in several European counties in a half-dozen languages, including Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German and Spanish. Each had its own title, like Der Stern in German and L'Etoile in French. The Spanish magazine in Mexico was called the Liahona.In the mid-1960s, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began unifying the international magazines and coordinating the messages. A few years later, editorial staff at the Ensign, New Era and Friend began selecting articles to add to original material for the unified magazine, which was published in 16 languages.Until the late 1980s, each magazine was designed separately, creating a lag time, sometimes several years, from when an article appeared in one of the three English magazines to when it was in the international magazines, said Val Johnson, the Liahona's managing editor.Now, all of the magazines have concurrent content, with articles in the Liahona published in the Ensign, New Era and Friend magazines in the same month. The Liahona also has news pages that are tailored for a particular area of the world, Elder Condie said.Many of those magazines kept their original names until a few years ago when all were changed to Liahona, Johnson said.'An impressive process'These days, the magazines are designed just once.Artists and designers allow enough white space around articles in the layout for each language, Johnson said. A template is laid out in English, and designers allow for space within captions and sidebars, too, said Allan Loyborg, director of editing and graphic design. Some languages take up more space."We always have to be aware of text gain," Loyborg said.His staff of designers works with a team of artists and photographers locally, nationally and internationally for images that reflect the diversity of the church, Loyborg said.Most languages end up being longer than English. The Filipino languages, like Cebuano and Tagalog, and some languages spoken in the Pacific Islands, including Tongan, take up the most space, said Jane Ann Peters, a senior production coordinator.The Scandinavian languages, like Danish, are usually a little shorter than English, Peters said.Another thing that helps keep printing costs down is that all of the text, from headlines to captions, are in black.When the magazine gets to the printer, the press is configured in four colors — black, cyan, magenta and yellow for the graphics, photos and background art. Then another black template is configured for the text. That is the only one that needs to be changed as different languages are printed, Loyborg said."They don't stop the press," Elder Condie said. "It's really quite an impressive process."Almost all the languages are printed in Salt Lake City. Three languages, Thai, Korean and Japanese, are printed in Asia, while Spanish and Portuguese are printed in both Salt Lake City and South America.How often the Liahona is printed in a particular language depends on the number of church members, Elder Condie said. There are a half-dozen languages, including Greek, Icelandic and Croatian, that are printed once a year. Another six languages have two or three issues a year, and 14 languages have four issues. Four languages receive six editions, and there are 21 languages, including English, Spanish, Thai and Finnish, that are published monthly.More languages are added as there are members, translators and resources to support it, said Victor D. Cave, the church magazine editorial director.The April magazine is printed in 51 languages. The First Presidency message and the visiting teaching message are printed in about 30 additional languages. The October issue is printed in 45 languages. (In March 2008, the special issue on the Savior was printed in the most languages instead of April.)For months when the Liahona isn't translated into a particular language, church members receive the First Presidency and the visiting teaching messages through local leaders, Loyborg said.'A spiritual process on deadline'There are about 130 full-time translators with 500 contract translators who helped translate more than 14,000 projects last year, including the magazines, letters and other material, said Martin Hill, manager of translation services.Translating the Liahona comes with its own set of challenges as the magazine includes material for young children to doctrinal articles for adults, Hill said."Translation is a revelatory function," Hill said. "It's a spiritual process on deadline."The translators have to understand English as well as they do the language they are translating into, and they must be aware of cultural sensitivities, idioms and jokes that may make sense in one language but not in another, Hill said. Time, distance and available technology can add their own complications."It's a great, professional staff who are extremely dedicated and make things happen," Hill said.And they do.The designers work with the translators, e-mailing proofs back and forth as the production staff makes the appropriate changes, Peters said. The conference editions in May and November go out in 33 languages, and the staff has about three weeks to pull it all together. The planning process for a typical issue starts about a year in advance.Planning the LiahonaIn planning the magazines, editors try to strike a balance of articles that are doctrine-focused and those featuring church members. Editors also look at where an article is based so it can be put in a magazine that is produced in that language. For example, an article about members in Fiji would need to be scheduled in one of the four issues translated in Fijian, and two of those are the conference issues.The magazine staff also receives direction from Mormon general authorities on topics or themes the staff should center on, Johnson said.Most magazines typically start with a niche to appeal to, Johnson said. The Liahona is designed and planned to be read by people of all ages in a wide variety of cultures."Our audience is the whole world," he added.Still, they pay attention to the demographics of the church as it has grown internationally and many new members are young adults, he said.The Liahona is being rebuilt to have a greater appeal to young adults worldwide, while still meeting the needs of its child, teen and older adult readers. The first issue with that emphasis will come out in January 2010.As they receive direction on topics and pray before they put the magazine together, the staff often feel promptings that result in a sense of timeliness in the issues."Go back in the last couple of months and see the number of articles on provident living," Elder Condie said. "They plan these magazines six and eight months in advance. ... How could (they) have anticipated (recent events)?" he added of recent economic conditions.
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