With the successful creation of a new orthographic system by the Board of Regents, it was time to introduce the alphabet to the public. On January 19, 1854, the Deseret News unveiled the characters in an article titled “The New Alphabet.”

Unfortunately, Snow's efforts were cut short when he received news of the evolving Utah War. Concerned about the escalating conflict, Snow abandoned his mission and returned home empty-handed. It wasn't until 1859 that the St. Louis firm, "Ladew and Peer" finally provided the necessary punches and matrices, which allowed the pioneers to cast the type themselves. The stage was finally set for the Deseret Alphabet’s broader use. In the years that followed, the script appeared in newspapers, books, and even on coins, reflecting growing curiosity and support.

While the Latter-day Saints were developing their own orthographic and educational systems in the Utah Territory, educators across the United States were experimenting with new strategies to strengthen English literacy. A key tool in this effort was the primer, a small instructional book designed to teach children foundational reading and language skills. Primers, or readers as they were commonly referred to, often emphasized moral instruction alongside phonetic lessons, memorization exercises, and engaging illustrations.

Popular series such as the McGuffey's New Eclectic Primer and the Franklin First Reader circulated widely and likely accompanied some pioneer families west. Yet, Utah’s geographic and political isolation meant textbooks were often scarce. Robert Lang Campbell, Superintendent of Common Schools, recognized this and pushed for standardized materials. In 1863 his efforts produced The Deseret Primer. Printing soon halted, however, when Brigham Young insisted that schoolbooks be printed only in the Deseret Alphabet, declaring he would not allow his “type, ink, or paper” to print English characters.

With the Utah War over, Deseret type in hand, and the need for schoolbooks growing, the next step was clear: It was time to print reading primers in the Deseret Alphabet. The Board of Regents began preparing what would become the Deseret First and Second Readers, but progress stalled when Church leaders, mainly President Young, grew dissatisfied with the moveable type produced by Ladew and Peer in St. Louis. The project, largely, faded into the background until 1867 when the University of Deseret reopened. The following year, Regent David Orson Calder traveled to New York to secure improved type from the Russell Brothers Printing House. The books were printed in New York and sent to Salt Lake City where they arrived in 1868.

Following the arrival of the readers, implementing the Alphabet in schoolhouses across the territory became a top priority. Brigham Young had encouraged teachers to experiment with the Deseret Alphabet in their classrooms as early as 1854, but teaching the alphabet effectively only became possible once printed readers were available. When the two books arrived in 1868, Young insisted that every child in the territory should have a copy.

The responsibility for distributing the readers fell to the Board of Regents, who worked to organize wide-spread circulation. The Regents reportedly spent several evenings each week studying the alphabet and developing lessons for educators. One of the strongest advocates for the program was Superintendent of Common Schools, Robert Lang Campbell, who promoted the effort in Annual Reports to the legislature between 1868 and 1870.

By the time Superintendent Campbell gave his last recorded speech on the Deseret Alphabet in front of the Legislative Assembly in 1870, the alphabet was not only being taught to children throughout the territory but also taught in public night classes and at the newly reopened University of Deseret, embedding it, at least briefly, into the educational foundation of the territory.

Riding the wave of progress that came with the Deseret readers, the Board of Regents and Brigham Young quickly launched new projects. Alongside plans for a University of Deseret Library, many regents began transcribing new works into Deseret characters.

Perhaps the most significant transcription effort was the complete Book of Mormon, transcribed almost entirely by Regent Orson Pratt. While individual biblical verses had appeared in the Deseret News, Pratt's Book of Mormon marked the first full religious text prepared in the new alphabet. On March 1, 1869, Pratt reported the finished manuscript and traveled to New York to supervise printing, which was once again done by the Russell Brothers Printing House. The book was issued in two formats. The first, an excerpted edition intended to generate funds for subsequent volumes, while the second was a complete translation.

In the end, these were the only copies of the Book of Mormon that were published. Though there were plans to print the remaining two parts of the divided edition, they never came to fruition.

Although the Deseret Alphabet was originally designed to simplify English learning for residents of the Utah Territory, Brigham Young also recognized the potential impact it could have beyond his own community. Because the alphabet was phonetic, he believed it could serve as a tool for communicating with people who spoke other languages. This idea gained importance as Latter-day Saint missionary work expanded. Brigham Young wanted his people not only to proselytize to the increasing numbers of immigrants that were arriving in the Salt Lake Valley because of the transcontinental railroad, but also the Indigenous people who had inhabited the land long before Young and his followers arrived in the Great Basin.

Along with Isaac Bullock, Marion Jackson Shelton was another missionary who used the Deseret Alphabet to transcribe Indigenous languages. This missionary work was revisited in 2014 with a publication from the University of Utah Press. 

Though these efforts never developed into a widespread system, they reflect the project’s broader ambitions. Supporters saw the alphabet not merely as a new way to spell English, but as a practical linguistic tool to advance missionary work and spread the gospel.