two missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they return to their apartment. September 1: George P. Lee, the first Native American general authority is excommunicated. November 25: Announcement that local ward and stake budgets will be funded by general Church funds, from tithing, and will no longer have assessments. LDS Church membership surpasses seven million. 1990s 1990 March 31: Helvécio Martins becomes first black general authority. April 2: The release of FamilySearch software, which allows Family History Centers to access the church's genealogical resources on CD-ROM. April: Wording of endowment and temple ceremony altered, and wording changed to remove penalty oaths. November 20: Costs are equalized for all missionaries, so all pay the same amount regardless of where they are serving, effective January 1, 1991. 1991 May 1: The 500,000th LDS missionary is called. May 31: LDS Church membership surpasses eight million. June 8–29: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs through a tour of Eastern Europe and Russia, amidst the thaw in the Cold War, fostering goodwill and publicity just months before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. June 24: The LDS Church is granted formal recognition in Russia. December: The Encyclopedia of Mormonism is published. A joint production of BYU and Macmillan, it holds 1,500 entries from over 730 contributors. December 26: Collapse of the USSR, end of Cold War and start of CIS. Missionaries increase in the region. 1992 March 14: The Relief Society celebrates its 150th anniversary with a worldwide satellite broadcast from the Salt Lake Tabernacle. At this meeting, the Gospel Literacy Effort is announced, which endorsed UNESCO's International Literacy Day. October 3: Gordon B. Hinckley announces Harrison New York Temple. Construction never started and all efforts for this project were eventually suspended; it was removed from the list on the LDS Church's official temple website soon after the dedication of the Manhattan New York Temple. December 26-January 6: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs for a tour of Israel. 1993 February 7: Howard W. Hunter is taken hostage while preparing to speak at a fireside in the Brigham Young University Marriott Center. Cody Judy rushed onto the rostrum and threatened Hunter and the audience of 15,000–17,000, claiming the briefcase he held contained a bomb. Judy demanded that Hunter read a document over the pulpit, which Hunter refused to do. The audience spontaneously sang We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet, during