New Stake In The Philippines, District Dissolved in Brazil, Likely New Districts In Brazil

New Stake In The Philippines

A new stake was created on the Philippine island of Negros. The Sagay Philippines Stake was created from the Sagay Philippines District a couple weeks ago, becoming the seventh stake on the island and the 79th in the Philippines. The new stake includes four wards around the city of Sagay and three branches in villages around the city. There are now 85 districts in the Philippines.

Hopefully more of the 85 presently existing districts become stakes in the coming months and years. Many are working very hard for that goal such as the districts in Dumaguete and Naic, according to senior missionaries. I do not think we will see very many new districts organized in the the Philippines in the coming months. I imagine that a district will be created soon in the city of Baler, which is one of the only cities in the Philippines with multiple branches not part of a district or stake.

District Dissolved In Brazil

The Ariquemes Brazil District was discontinued. The district only had two branches in Ariquemes and Ji Parana and was created in 2004. Ariquemes in located in the state of Rondonia, which has one stake in Porto Velho and a district in Vilhena (which only has a couple branches).

Potential New Districts In Brazil

We are likely to see several new districts organized in Brazil in the coming months. There are now three mission branches north of Cuiabá in the state of Mato Grosso in the cities of Lucas do Rio Verde, Sinop and Sorriso. There are also two mission branches in the city of Gurupi (in the state of Tocantins) which, if another branch is organized in the city, will likely be organized into a district. In the southern portion of Bahia there are now four mission branches in the cities of Teixeira de Freitas, Eunapolis, Porto Seguro, and Santa Cruz Cabralia, some of which will likely be included in a future district based in Porto Seguro. In western Paraiba, a branch was just organized in the city of Cajazeiras which could be included in a potential district including the city of Sousa. Two branches are also in the city of Vitoria de Santo Antao which could become a district if another branch is organized or if units are taken from neighboring districts and stakes in the state of Pernambuco. Lastly a mission was just organized in northern Brazil in Teresina which will allow for dozens of cities, currently without a congregation, to open for missionary work and in the coming years, allowing for future growth in districts in this area of the country.

Last year three districts were created in Brazil in the cities of Caruaru, Mamanguape and Planaltina.