Fantastic as always. Thank you for this update--lots of good news from June!
On another topic, any news on what the new language publications of the Book of Mormon will be this year? I'm spending the summer in Tbilisi, Georgia, and the local missionaries have given me the update on the Georgian translation. They said that the Book of Mormon has been translated into Georgian, but it will not be published until the translations of the Pearl of Price and Doctrine and Covenants have also been completed. They said that they will be published together to ensure continuity between all three.
This has been a very positive month. I am quite encouraged by the creation of districts in Russia and the Caribbean. This seems to suggest that local leadership development is picking up in those places. New stakes in Argentina and Brazil are good signs. The new stake in Thailand suggests the Church has finally managed to develop strong leadership outside the capital. The stake in Vanuatu is quite exciting.
I am also very encouraged by the branch in Port St. Lucie. This looks to be a true Church planting initiative, which was carried out in urban areas of the north-east and mid-west in the 1990s, but has since been backed off from. For a short time in 1995 there were 11 branches and the outlying parts of 4 wards in Detroit, today there are 2 branches, 1 ward heavily based in Detroit, another ward with its relief society president living in Detroit, but most of its other leadership in the suburbs, and 3 of the 4 other wards take in parts of Detroit, one has had its boundaries shift south. 2 of those 3 wards also take in more areas in the suburbs, while the Southfield Ward actually takes in less suburban areas than it did in 1995 but has more of the city of Detroit. It is hard to compare, since Southfield Ward has more non-Detroit resident African American members than it did in 1995, and Roseville Ward with a Detroit-resident African-American relief society president has many African-American members outside Detroit. In some of the suburban cities in that Wards boundaries the African American percentage of the population went from 5% to 25% from 2000 to 2010, with the outmigration from Detroit having started by 1998.
Even the branches that exist have much higher attendance than the ones that existed in 1995. My guess is that active membership is higher in Detroit today than it was in 1995. However I know at times the changes caused by boundary changes and having to go to Church in the suburbs have caused some to go inactive. By area there is no LDS Chapel in the western 3rd or more of the city, even though there are 3 chapels in the city. I think it would help to create a new branch in the western part of the city. Since that is where the schools I have worked at for Detroit Public Schools are, I might move there from Sterling Heights soon. We shall see.
If I read the figures above correctly there are 11 sensitive districts in the world, 4 sensitive wards, and 91 sensitive branches. That is a lot of sensitive branches.
How many of the sensitive branches are in China? How many are in the Persian Gulf? How many are in/around the Holy Land and Cairo?
Does anyone know the average number of missionaries per mission now? Should be easy to calculate with overall numbers, but some missions are smaller...
Like the two in India are not that big. Maybe the Russian missions are down in numbers. And how many missions in Ukraine needed to downsize? Only one?
June and first half of 2015 cdol reported net growth in church units:
June + 50 w&b, + 59 w- 9 b + 6 st + 0 d US + 18; + 18 w + 0 b + 1st Outside US + 32; + 41 w - 9 b + 5 st + 0 d Brazil + 9, greatest June growth outside US
First Half 2015 + 201w&b, + 209 w - 8 b +21 st - 2 d + 3 temples US + 66, + 69 w - 3 b + 5 st Outside US + 135, + 140 w - 5 b + 16 st - 2 d
Countries with greatest congregational growth: US + 66 Ghana + 32 Nigeria + 21 Brazil + 17 Cote d'Ivoire + 14 Mexico + 11 Philippines + 7
By continent: Africa +96 North America + 84 Pacific + 13 Asia + 4 South america + 6 Europe - 2
First half 2014 + 179 w&b 2015 pace in increase highest in 10 years. Since 1998 only 2005 has exceeded 2015 rate of congregational growth.
I'm counting 11 sensitive districts, 4 sensitive wards, and 89 sensitive branches. I have been able to identify all of them except 12 of the branches. While it would be tempting to list them all, it wouldn't be appropriate, since they are sensitive for a reason, and I wouldn't want to be responsible for any setbacks in these locations, but perhaps it would be okay to break them out by Area:
Africa Southeast Area: 2 sensitive branches Asia Area: 11 sensitive districts, 64 sensitive branches Asia North Area: 1 sensitive branch Europe Area: 3 sensitive branches Europe East Area: 3 sensitive branches Middle East/Africa North Area: 4 sensitive wards, 4 sensitive branches
Would it be okay to list the sensitive countries? I can figure some out easily (like China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, etc.). I was unaware there were so many congregations in sensitive countries.
Could someone tell me what temple the Falkland Islands (Administrative) Branch belongs to? It won't show a temple on LDS Maps. Geographically, I would put it with Buenos Aires, but since it is part of the Europe Area, I would put it with London (since it is owned by the U.K.).
Even though I know that a precise answer to that question is unlikely and probably inappropriate, I wonder what the three sensitive branches in the Europe Area are. I can't think of a place in that Area (not one) where this categorization would make sense.
As to Ryan's question, Argentina makes about as strong of a political claim on the Falklands as the UK does, and it is not at the other end of the world (literally). I'm pretty sure that the few members on the islands would travel to Argentina, regardless of which temple district they actually belong to.
Turkey is possibly a sensitive area, or maybe Azerbaijan. Yes, we don't want to endanger anyone or jeopardize legal status. Just heard about President Packer; I think a Spanish or Portuguese speaking apostle is possible.
Pascal, good catch. The three branches I had marked as sensitive in the Europe Area aren't actually sensitive: Skopje, Sarajevo, and Banja Luka. At one point, these appeared on LDS Maps, then they were removed, but I knew the branches were still functioning, so I assumed they were marked sensitive for some reason. I wasn't aware that they were again showing on LDS Maps, so I've updated my records. Which means there are at least 15 sensitive branches, instead of 12, that I am unaware of.
To answer Ryan's request, some of the countries include China, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Laos, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, and Belarus. The Church has previously published information about the existence of the Church in all of these nations. For example, there was a Church article about the Saints in the Kathmandu Branch following the recent earthquakes in Nepal. There are a handful of other countries that have branches that I don't think would be wise to identify, for security reasons. Suffice it to say, there are faithful members of the Church living in nearly, if not every country.
The Falkland Islands Branch may be assigned to the Montevideo Uruguay Temple, at least that's what LDS Maps appears to show when clicking on the islands in general.
Thank you Matt for your continued efforts to keep us informed.
I am glad to see some districts returning to Russia. When the districts were discontinued I wondered if that reflected the great distances between branches in the districts.
I am also glad to see that a branch has been named for Port St. Lucie, Florida. It cuts across the southern half of city, and extends to the east and west (about half of the city is still in the Fort Pierce Ward to the north. While LDS maps shows the boundary for the branch, it doesn't show it assigned to a meeting house. I suspect it meets in the Stuart building immediately to the south. It looks like there has been enough growth in the Stuart ward to allow a branch to split off.
Out of curiosity, what is the next largest US city without an LDS congregation named for it?
I am not sure if it is the next largest city, but Warren, Michigan has 135,000 or so people are does not have a ward named for it. It is in the Roseville Ward. Roseville is a city of 47,000 that borders Warren on the east. Up until just over a year ago there was a Warren Ward.
The ward also includes a sizeable chunck of Detroit (Which is where the Relief Society President lives) I would peg the population of that area at 50,000 or so, but that is a very rough estimate, Center Line (a city of 8,000 surrounded by Warren), Madison Heights (a city of just under 30,000), Harper Woods (15,000), Eastpointe (32,000), Fraser (14,000) and St. Clair Shores (59,000). So Warren is provides the largest population to the ward. The chapel is in Roseville, but close for those in east Warren, but those in Madison Heights are a distance.
Turkey is in the Europe East Area, as in Azerbaijan. However Bosnia and Kosovo are in the Europe Area, and especially since missionaries have been attacked in Kosovo, the Church may be reluctant to publicize too much the location of all units in that country. Cyprus is also in the Europe Area, although I am not sure that would be a place of concern.
I will guess Claudio R. M. Costa or Ulises Soares and Walter F. Gonzalez or Benjamin De Hoyos as the new apostles, although I really hope one is Edward Dube or Joseph W. Sitati. Tad R. Callister would not surprise me, nor would Ronald A. Rasband. My guess is at least one will not be American, but what do I know. Since 4 of the last 5 new members of the Quorum of the 12 were in the presidency of the 70 at the time of their call to the 12, I am guessing that Ulisses Soares will be a new apostle, and will go with Ronald A. Rasband as the other. However I have no clue. Since Elder Bednar was an Area Seventy at the time of his call, there are lots of potential people.
I guess I should have waited out the sensitvie discussion. It appears that Bosnia was on the right track, but the brnaches there were not sensitive at all. Although Skopje is in Macedonia.
I wonder how long until Bosnia gets a distinct mission of its own. There was a couple from my stake that served as Church service missionaries in Bosnia about 15 year ago.
At least half of Cyprus would be sensitive due to Turkish Muslim control, while the Greek side wants to be lower profile to begin with. Lots of political strife leads to tough missionary prospects. I read the article about hard times w/growth in Croatia, but I would submit Greece proper is as tough a place that can be for LDS.
I just looked up the Wyoming Mormon Trails mission on LDS maps. It seems to only consist of the historical sites. The Orem/Provo mission split appears to be on the city line between those two cities, or pretty close. Provo Canyon is in the Provo Mission, and so is the Heber City area, so the boundary esseintially runs along the mountain peaks, until you hit Utah Highway 92, which is in the Higland 11th ward, although it is not clear how many people live up the Higway, I am guessing most of that ward lives in the small portions in Highland. The Draper Suncrest Stake is in the Orem Mission, as are the 2 Bluffdale Stakes, 3 Riverton Stakes and 4 Herriman Stakes. Herriman and Riverton have other stakes that are in the Salt Lake South Mission still. On the west side of the Lake Eagle Mountain/Saratoga Springs is in the Orem Mission but Goshen Stake is in the Provo Mission. The Provo Mission also now takes in the Nephi and Delta Stakes. I am pretty sure at least the Delta Stakes used to be in the St. George Mission. Tooele County is now all in the Salt Lake West Mission, when that mission was formed Tooele County was left in the Salt Lake Mission, creating a mission that was non-contiguous unless you used a boat to cross the Great Salt Lake.
The Salt Lake Mission now takes in most of Salt Lake north of Highway 201/2100 South. I think the Avenues used to be in the East Mission, so that was a transfer. I really wish I had the old maps to compare with the current ones.
The boundary between the Salt Lake and Ogden Missions is the boundary between the Layton stakes in Ogden Mission and the Kaysville Stakes in Salt Lake Mission. I do not remember what it was before.
The Huntsville Stake and even a few Ogden stakes are in the Logan Mission. Farr West, Plain City and Ogden Utah Weber North are the furthest north stakes in Ogden Mission, with essentially the north-east corner of Metro Ogden being in the Logan Mission. The only Idaho based stakes in the Logan Mission are Preston and the two Franklin stakes, so Bear Lake is still in the Pocatello Mission.
I was looking at the map of church boundaries in Mozambique. I had not realized how concentrated the church was in the south, with only sporadic presence in the north. However at least in Tete, Moazmbique I have a strong suspecion that there is at least one group there besides the branch. This is because the branch appears to only take in one side of the while at least half the city is on the other side. So there may have been multiple groups formed in the city, and only one has progressed to being a branch as of yet.
The best idea for old mission boundaries would be to do a search on LDS Church News articles with maps. It might reach back to the 1980s. Yet, the cities covered may not be too precise. It would be cool to see more before/after mission maps, like Brazil with its 7 newest missions.
The Lodi, Stockton, and Manteca Stakes were part of the Sacramento mission. I served in all three stakes as a missionary. The Modesto and Turlock Stakes belonged to the Fresno mission.
I wonder how the new stake would work? The Valparaiso Chile Stake has 6 wards, and the Valparaiso Chile West District has 3 branches, together making 9 congregations. I guess if all 3 branches became wards, and a new ward created, that would make sense. I guess it would also take a couple of wards from the Vina del Mar Chile Stake.
Also, great news for the possible stake in Cartago, Costa Rica! My mom remembers living in Panama and being a part of the Costa Rica Stake. I could see a possible stake also in Guapiles, since there are 4 wards in the area. I definitely see the Limon Costa Rica District being discontinued to accommodate either situation. The Puntarenas Costa Rica District could also get discontinued and mixed with the other stakes. A stake in Cartago would easily rope in the San Isidro del General Branch, the only part of the country not in a stake or district.
There are many mission branches in close proximity to stake or district branches, but oddly aren't part of a stake or district.
It is great to see trends of reversing negative growth around the world!
I was reading the Church news biography of M. Joseph Brough, the son of Monte J. Brough who was just called to the Young Men General Presidency. Joseph Brough served his mission in Guatemala but was actually called to Mexico but unable to get a visa. That was in the early 1980s. His mission president was Jorge H. Perez, whose nationality I do not know but was probably not American, but most likely either Mexican or Guatemalan.
July 1 (Missions +10 -3) Argentina Buenos Aires East Mission (1 Dist, 6 Stakes) Santa Teresita Argentina District Buenos Aires Argentina Avellaneda Stake Florencio Varela Argentina Stake La Plata Argentina East Stake La Plata Argentina South Stake La Plata Argentina Stake Quilmes Argentina Stake
Argentina Santa Fe Mission (3 Dist,3 stakes) Concordia Argentina District La Paz Argentina District Rafaela Argentina District Paraná Argentina Stake Santa Fe Argentina North Stake Santa Fe Argentina Stake
Barbados Bridgetown Mission (5 Branches, 2 Districts) Calliaqua Branch Castries Branch Kingstown Branch St George's Branch Vieux-Fort Branch Christ Church Barbados District Guadeloupe District
Bolivia La Paz El Alto Mission (1 Branch, 3 Districts, 5 Stakes) Patacamaya Branch Achacachi Bolivia District Llallagua Bolivia District Titicaca Bolivia District El Alto Bolivia Litoral Stake El Alto Bolivia Los Andes Stake El Alto Bolivia Satélite Stake El Alto Bolivia Stake Oruro Bolivia Stake
California Modesto Mission (6 Stakes) Lodi California Stake Manteca California Stake Modesto California North Stake Modesto California Stake Stockton California Stake Turlock California Stake
Costa Rica San José West Mission (2 districts, 3 Stakes) Liberia Costa Rica District Puntarenas Costa Rica District Alajuela Costa Rica Stake Heredia Costa Rica Stake San José Costa Rica La Sabana Stake
Perú Trujillo South Mission (2 Districts, ) Casma Perú District Virú Perú District Chimbote Perú Buenos Aires Stake Chimbote Perú South Stake Chimbote Perú Stake Huaraz Perú Stake Trujillo Perú Laureles Stake Trujillo Perú Palermo Stake
Washington Yakima Mission (7 Stakes) Ephrata Washington Stake Moses Lake Washington Stake Othello Washington Stake Selah Washington Stake The Dalles Oregon Stake Wenatchee Washington Stake Yakima Washington Stake
June 28 Agnissankoi Ward, Belle Cite Ward, Colatier Ward, Abobo Cote d'Ivoire East Stake (12 Wards) Domboshawa 2nd Branch, Zimbabwe Harare Mission (8 Branches, 2 Districts, 6 Stakes) Montana Ward, Mabopane South Africa Stake (5 Wards)
Moscow Russia North District Branch, Moscow Russia North District (7 Branches) Tafo Branch, Koforidua Ghana District (8 Branches)
YTD 317(11.74/week 27) Africa 105, 33.1% Asia 9, 2.8% Europe 12, 3.7% North America 88, 27.8% Pacific 22, 6.9% South and Central America 26, 8.2% Utah & Idaho 56, 17.7%
I looked in my 2013 LDS Almanac and saw Jorge Herminio Perez C. as the first stake president of the Quetzaltenango (713th) stake in 1975, certainly Guatemalteco.
Well, there is a very small chance that it was a different Jorge H. Perez, but I doubt that. That is more interesting because Elder Brough served in the Quetzaltenango Mission, so his mission president had at one time been resident in the mission, and may have been called from that mission boundaries. That tends to be rare when dealing with countries with more than one mission, as Guatemala then had.
33 comments:
Fantastic as always. Thank you for this update--lots of good news from June!
On another topic, any news on what the new language publications of the Book of Mormon will be this year? I'm spending the summer in Tbilisi, Georgia, and the local missionaries have given me the update on the Georgian translation. They said that the Book of Mormon has been translated into Georgian, but it will not be published until the translations of the Pearl of Price and Doctrine and Covenants have also been completed. They said that they will be published together to ensure continuity between all three.
I just became aware of this blog this month, it is fantastic, thank you for all the work you put into this!
Whats going on in Russia? I understand that there were several changes in the last few weeks with Districts and mission boundary changes.
Update for June 28
Mabopane South Africa Stake
Atteridgeville Ward
Mabopane Ward
Saulsville Ward
Soshanguve Ward
Moscow Russia North District
Gor’kovsky Branch
Lotoshino Branch
Ryazan Branch
Tverskoy Branch
Yaroslavsky Branch
Zarechny Branch
Fanling Ward, Hong Kong Tolo Harbour Stake (7 Wards)
Grasslands 3rd Ward, Springville Utah West Stake (7 Wards)
Lumbia Branch, Cagayan de Oro Philippines Stake (2 Branches, 5 Wards)
Mountain House Ward, Manteca California Stake (11 Wards)
Orem YSA 31st Ward, Orem Utah YSA 3rd Stake (11 Wards)
Port St Lucie Branch, Stuart Florida Stake (3 Branches, 6 Wards)
Sogefiha Ward, Abobo Cote d'Ivoire East Stake (10 Wards)
29 June
Bratislava Slovakia District
Bratislava Branch
Kosice Branch
Trenčín Branch
Žilina Branch
7 June
Samara Russia District
Avrory Branch
Bezymyansky Branch
Kazan' Branch
Novokuybishevsk Branch
Toliatti Branch
Ulianovsk Branch
YTD 305(11.73/week 26)
Africa 97
Asia 9
Europe 9
North America 87
Pacific 22
South and Central America 26
Utah & Idaho 56
Totals no-sensitive
Areas Temples Miss Stakes Dist Wards Branch Totals
Global 25 147 409 3,137 548 22,374 7,342 33,989
Us/Can 11 80 130 1,587 11 12,500 2,076 16,396
US n/a 72 123 1,540 8 12,164 1,924 15,832
Utah n/a 15 11 576 1 4,661 328 5,591
Canada n/a 8 7 47 3 336 152 553
Out 14 67 279 1,55 537 9,874 5,266 17,593
With Sensitive
Global 25 147 409 3,137 559 22,378 7,431 34,093
Interesting developments in Russia. What is happening, does anyone know?
This has been a very positive month. I am quite encouraged by the creation of districts in Russia and the Caribbean. This seems to suggest that local leadership development is picking up in those places. New stakes in Argentina and Brazil are good signs. The new stake in Thailand suggests the Church has finally managed to develop strong leadership outside the capital. The stake in Vanuatu is quite exciting.
I am also very encouraged by the branch in Port St. Lucie. This looks to be a true Church planting initiative, which was carried out in urban areas of the north-east and mid-west in the 1990s, but has since been backed off from. For a short time in 1995 there were 11 branches and the outlying parts of 4 wards in Detroit, today there are 2 branches, 1 ward heavily based in Detroit, another ward with its relief society president living in Detroit, but most of its other leadership in the suburbs, and 3 of the 4 other wards take in parts of Detroit, one has had its boundaries shift south. 2 of those 3 wards also take in more areas in the suburbs, while the Southfield Ward actually takes in less suburban areas than it did in 1995 but has more of the city of Detroit. It is hard to compare, since Southfield Ward has more non-Detroit resident African American members than it did in 1995, and Roseville Ward with a Detroit-resident African-American relief society president has many African-American members outside Detroit. In some of the suburban cities in that Wards boundaries the African American percentage of the population went from 5% to 25% from 2000 to 2010, with the outmigration from Detroit having started by 1998.
Even the branches that exist have much higher attendance than the ones that existed in 1995. My guess is that active membership is higher in Detroit today than it was in 1995. However I know at times the changes caused by boundary changes and having to go to Church in the suburbs have caused some to go inactive. By area there is no LDS Chapel in the western 3rd or more of the city, even though there are 3 chapels in the city. I think it would help to create a new branch in the western part of the city. Since that is where the schools I have worked at for Detroit Public Schools are, I might move there from Sterling Heights soon. We shall see.
If I read the figures above correctly there are 11 sensitive districts in the world, 4 sensitive wards, and 91 sensitive branches. That is a lot of sensitive branches.
How many of the sensitive branches are in China? How many are in the Persian Gulf? How many are in/around the Holy Land and Cairo?
Does anyone know the average number of missionaries per mission now? Should be easy to calculate with overall numbers, but some missions are smaller...
Like the two in India are not that big. Maybe the Russian missions are down in numbers. And how many missions in Ukraine needed to downsize? Only one?
June and first half of 2015 cdol reported net growth in church units:
June + 50 w&b, + 59 w- 9 b + 6 st + 0 d
US + 18; + 18 w + 0 b + 1st
Outside US + 32; + 41 w - 9 b + 5 st + 0 d
Brazil + 9, greatest June growth outside US
First Half 2015 + 201w&b, + 209 w - 8 b +21 st - 2 d + 3 temples
US + 66, + 69 w - 3 b + 5 st
Outside US + 135, + 140 w - 5 b + 16 st - 2 d
Countries with greatest congregational growth:
US + 66
Ghana + 32
Nigeria + 21
Brazil + 17
Cote d'Ivoire + 14
Mexico + 11
Philippines + 7
By continent:
Africa +96
North America + 84
Pacific + 13
Asia + 4
South america + 6
Europe - 2
First half 2014 + 179 w&b
2015 pace in increase highest in 10 years. Since 1998 only 2005 has exceeded 2015 rate of congregational growth.
I'm counting 11 sensitive districts, 4 sensitive wards, and 89 sensitive branches. I have been able to identify all of them except 12 of the branches. While it would be tempting to list them all, it wouldn't be appropriate, since they are sensitive for a reason, and I wouldn't want to be responsible for any setbacks in these locations, but perhaps it would be okay to break them out by Area:
Africa Southeast Area: 2 sensitive branches
Asia Area: 11 sensitive districts, 64 sensitive branches
Asia North Area: 1 sensitive branch
Europe Area: 3 sensitive branches
Europe East Area: 3 sensitive branches
Middle East/Africa North Area: 4 sensitive wards, 4 sensitive branches
Would it be okay to list the sensitive countries? I can figure some out easily (like China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, etc.). I was unaware there were so many congregations in sensitive countries.
Could someone tell me what temple the Falkland Islands (Administrative) Branch belongs to? It won't show a temple on LDS Maps. Geographically, I would put it with Buenos Aires, but since it is part of the Europe Area, I would put it with London (since it is owned by the U.K.).
Even though I know that a precise answer to that question is unlikely and probably inappropriate, I wonder what the three sensitive branches in the Europe Area are. I can't think of a place in that Area (not one) where this categorization would make sense.
As to Ryan's question, Argentina makes about as strong of a political claim on the Falklands as the UK does, and it is not at the other end of the world (literally). I'm pretty sure that the few members on the islands would travel to Argentina, regardless of which temple district they actually belong to.
Turkey is possibly a sensitive area, or maybe Azerbaijan. Yes, we don't want to endanger anyone or jeopardize legal status.
Just heard about President Packer; I think a Spanish or Portuguese speaking apostle is possible.
Pascal, good catch. The three branches I had marked as sensitive in the Europe Area aren't actually sensitive: Skopje, Sarajevo, and Banja Luka. At one point, these appeared on LDS Maps, then they were removed, but I knew the branches were still functioning, so I assumed they were marked sensitive for some reason. I wasn't aware that they were again showing on LDS Maps, so I've updated my records. Which means there are at least 15 sensitive branches, instead of 12, that I am unaware of.
To answer Ryan's request, some of the countries include China, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Laos, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, and Belarus. The Church has previously published information about the existence of the Church in all of these nations. For example, there was a Church article about the Saints in the Kathmandu Branch following the recent earthquakes in Nepal. There are a handful of other countries that have branches that I don't think would be wise to identify, for security reasons. Suffice it to say, there are faithful members of the Church living in nearly, if not every country.
The Falkland Islands Branch may be assigned to the Montevideo Uruguay Temple, at least that's what LDS Maps appears to show when clicking on the islands in general.
Thank you Matt for your continued efforts to keep us informed.
I am glad to see some districts returning to Russia. When the districts were discontinued I wondered if that reflected the great distances between branches in the districts.
I am also glad to see that a branch has been named for Port St. Lucie, Florida. It cuts across the southern half of city, and extends to the east and west (about half of the city is still in the Fort Pierce Ward to the north. While LDS maps shows the boundary for the branch, it doesn't show it assigned to a meeting house. I suspect it meets in the Stuart building immediately to the south. It looks like there has been enough growth in the Stuart ward to allow a branch to split off.
Out of curiosity, what is the next largest US city without an LDS congregation named for it?
I am not sure if it is the next largest city, but Warren, Michigan has 135,000 or so people are does not have a ward named for it. It is in the Roseville Ward. Roseville is a city of 47,000 that borders Warren on the east. Up until just over a year ago there was a Warren Ward.
The ward also includes a sizeable chunck of Detroit (Which is where the Relief Society President lives) I would peg the population of that area at 50,000 or so, but that is a very rough estimate, Center Line (a city of 8,000 surrounded by Warren), Madison Heights (a city of just under 30,000), Harper Woods (15,000), Eastpointe (32,000), Fraser (14,000) and St. Clair Shores (59,000). So Warren is provides the largest population to the ward. The chapel is in Roseville, but close for those in east Warren, but those in Madison Heights are a distance.
Turkey is in the Europe East Area, as in Azerbaijan. However Bosnia and Kosovo are in the Europe Area, and especially since missionaries have been attacked in Kosovo, the Church may be reluctant to publicize too much the location of all units in that country. Cyprus is also in the Europe Area, although I am not sure that would be a place of concern.
I will guess Claudio R. M. Costa or Ulises Soares and Walter F. Gonzalez or Benjamin De Hoyos as the new apostles, although I really hope one is Edward Dube or Joseph W. Sitati. Tad R. Callister would not surprise me, nor would Ronald A. Rasband. My guess is at least one will not be American, but what do I know. Since 4 of the last 5 new members of the Quorum of the 12 were in the presidency of the 70 at the time of their call to the 12, I am guessing that Ulisses Soares will be a new apostle, and will go with Ronald A. Rasband as the other. However I have no clue. Since Elder Bednar was an Area Seventy at the time of his call, there are lots of potential people.
I guess I should have waited out the sensitvie discussion. It appears that Bosnia was on the right track, but the brnaches there were not sensitive at all. Although Skopje is in Macedonia.
I wonder how long until Bosnia gets a distinct mission of its own. There was a couple from my stake that served as Church service missionaries in Bosnia about 15 year ago.
At least half of Cyprus would be sensitive due to Turkish Muslim control, while the Greek side wants to be lower profile to begin with. Lots of political strife leads to tough missionary prospects. I read the article about hard times w/growth in Croatia, but I would submit Greece proper is as tough a place that can be for LDS.
I just looked up the Wyoming Mormon Trails mission on LDS maps. It seems to only consist of the historical sites. The Orem/Provo mission split appears to be on the city line between those two cities, or pretty close. Provo Canyon is in the Provo Mission, and so is the Heber City area, so the boundary esseintially runs along the mountain peaks, until you hit Utah Highway 92, which is in the Higland 11th ward, although it is not clear how many people live up the Higway, I am guessing most of that ward lives in the small portions in Highland. The Draper Suncrest Stake is in the Orem Mission, as are the 2 Bluffdale Stakes, 3 Riverton Stakes and 4 Herriman Stakes. Herriman and Riverton have other stakes that are in the Salt Lake South Mission still. On the west side of the Lake Eagle Mountain/Saratoga Springs is in the Orem Mission but Goshen Stake is in the Provo Mission. The Provo Mission also now takes in the Nephi and Delta Stakes. I am pretty sure at least the Delta Stakes used to be in the St. George Mission. Tooele County is now all in the Salt Lake West Mission, when that mission was formed Tooele County was left in the Salt Lake Mission, creating a mission that was non-contiguous unless you used a boat to cross the Great Salt Lake.
The Salt Lake Mission now takes in most of Salt Lake north of Highway 201/2100 South. I think the Avenues used to be in the East Mission, so that was a transfer. I really wish I had the old maps to compare with the current ones.
The boundary between the Salt Lake and Ogden Missions is the boundary between the Layton stakes in Ogden Mission and the Kaysville Stakes in Salt Lake Mission. I do not remember what it was before.
The Huntsville Stake and even a few Ogden stakes are in the Logan Mission. Farr West, Plain City and Ogden Utah Weber North are the furthest north stakes in Ogden Mission, with essentially the north-east corner of Metro Ogden being in the Logan Mission. The only Idaho based stakes in the Logan Mission are Preston and the two Franklin stakes, so Bear Lake is still in the Pocatello Mission.
The Washington Yakima Mission includes 6 Washington Stakes plus The Dalles Oregon Stake. It stetches all the way to the Candian border.
California Modesto has Lodi, Stockton, Manteca, the two Modesto and Turlock stakes. I am not sure what missions these came from.
I was looking at the map of church boundaries in Mozambique. I had not realized how concentrated the church was in the south, with only sporadic presence in the north. However at least in Tete, Moazmbique I have a strong suspecion that there is at least one group there besides the branch. This is because the branch appears to only take in one side of the while at least half the city is on the other side. So there may have been multiple groups formed in the city, and only one has progressed to being a branch as of yet.
The best idea for old mission boundaries would be to do a search on LDS Church News articles with maps. It might reach back to the 1980s. Yet, the cities covered may not be too precise.
It would be cool to see more before/after mission maps, like Brazil with its 7 newest missions.
The Lodi, Stockton, and Manteca Stakes were part of the Sacramento mission. I served in all three stakes as a missionary. The Modesto and Turlock Stakes belonged to the Fresno mission.
Another stake in Chile, formed from the Valparaiso West District...
http://www.elfaromormon.org/se-organiza-la-estaca-de-chile-n-77-en-valparaiso/
Article is in Spanish.
Chile! Chile! Chile!
They are being blessed now, parece.
I wonder how the new stake would work? The Valparaiso Chile Stake has 6 wards, and the Valparaiso Chile West District has 3 branches, together making 9 congregations. I guess if all 3 branches became wards, and a new ward created, that would make sense. I guess it would also take a couple of wards from the Vina del Mar Chile Stake.
Also, great news for the possible stake in Cartago, Costa Rica! My mom remembers living in Panama and being a part of the Costa Rica Stake. I could see a possible stake also in Guapiles, since there are 4 wards in the area. I definitely see the Limon Costa Rica District being discontinued to accommodate either situation. The Puntarenas Costa Rica District could also get discontinued and mixed with the other stakes. A stake in Cartago would easily rope in the San Isidro del General Branch, the only part of the country not in a stake or district.
There are many mission branches in close proximity to stake or district branches, but oddly aren't part of a stake or district.
It is great to see trends of reversing negative growth around the world!
I was reading the Church news biography of M. Joseph Brough, the son of Monte J. Brough who was just called to the Young Men General Presidency. Joseph Brough served his mission in Guatemala but was actually called to Mexico but unable to get a visa. That was in the early 1980s. His mission president was Jorge H. Perez, whose nationality I do not know but was probably not American, but most likely either Mexican or Guatemalan.
Unit update for
July 1 (Missions +10 -3)
Argentina Buenos Aires East Mission (1 Dist, 6 Stakes)
Santa Teresita Argentina District
Buenos Aires Argentina Avellaneda Stake
Florencio Varela Argentina Stake
La Plata Argentina East Stake
La Plata Argentina South Stake
La Plata Argentina Stake
Quilmes Argentina Stake
Argentina Santa Fe Mission (3 Dist,3 stakes)
Concordia Argentina District
La Paz Argentina District
Rafaela Argentina District
Paraná Argentina Stake
Santa Fe Argentina North Stake
Santa Fe Argentina Stake
Barbados Bridgetown Mission (5 Branches, 2 Districts)
Calliaqua Branch
Castries Branch
Kingstown Branch
St George's Branch
Vieux-Fort Branch
Christ Church Barbados District
Guadeloupe District
Bolivia La Paz El Alto Mission (1 Branch, 3 Districts, 5 Stakes)
Patacamaya Branch
Achacachi Bolivia District
Llallagua Bolivia District
Titicaca Bolivia District
El Alto Bolivia Litoral Stake
El Alto Bolivia Los Andes Stake
El Alto Bolivia Satélite Stake
El Alto Bolivia Stake
Oruro Bolivia Stake
California Modesto Mission (6 Stakes)
Lodi California Stake
Manteca California Stake
Modesto California North Stake
Modesto California Stake
Stockton California Stake
Turlock California Stake
Costa Rica San José West Mission (2 districts, 3 Stakes)
Liberia Costa Rica District
Puntarenas Costa Rica District
Alajuela Costa Rica Stake
Heredia Costa Rica Stake
San José Costa Rica La Sabana Stake
Perú Trujillo South Mission (2 Districts, )
Casma Perú District
Virú Perú District
Chimbote Perú Buenos Aires Stake
Chimbote Perú South Stake
Chimbote Perú Stake
Huaraz Perú Stake
Trujillo Perú Laureles Stake
Trujillo Perú Palermo Stake
Utah Logan Mission (59 stakes)
Utah Orem Mission (89 Stakes)
Washington Yakima Mission (7 Stakes)
Ephrata Washington Stake
Moses Lake Washington Stake
Othello Washington Stake
Selah Washington Stake
The Dalles Oregon Stake
Wenatchee Washington Stake
Yakima Washington Stake
June 28
Agnissankoi Ward,
Belle Cite Ward,
Colatier Ward, Abobo Cote d'Ivoire East Stake (12 Wards)
Domboshawa 2nd Branch, Zimbabwe Harare Mission (8 Branches, 2 Districts, 6 Stakes)
Montana Ward, Mabopane South Africa Stake (5 Wards)
Moscow Russia North District Branch, Moscow Russia North District (7 Branches)
Tafo Branch, Koforidua Ghana District (8 Branches)
July 5
Clarksville YSA Branch, Hopkinsville Kentucky Stake (7 Branches, 6 Wards)
Zurich Branch (English), St Gallen Switzerland Stake (4 Branches, 8 Wards)
YTD 317(11.74/week 27)
Africa 105, 33.1%
Asia 9, 2.8%
Europe 12, 3.7%
North America 88, 27.8%
Pacific 22, 6.9%
South and Central America 26, 8.2%
Utah & Idaho 56, 17.7%
Totals no-sensitive
Areas Temples Miss Stakes Dist Wards Branch Totals
Global 25 147 416 3,137 548 22,374 7,346 34,001
Us/Can 11 80 131 1,587 11 12,499 2,075 16,394
US n/a 72 123 1,540 8 12,164 1,924 15,832
Utah n/a 15 11 576 1 4,661 327 5,590
Canada n/a 8 7 47 3 336 152 553
Out 14 67 285 1,550 537 9,874 5,266 17,593
With Sensitive
Areas Temples Miss Stakes Dist Wards Branch Totals
Global 25 147 416 3,137 560 22,385 7,435 34,105
I looked in my 2013 LDS Almanac and saw Jorge Herminio Perez C. as the first stake president of the Quetzaltenango (713th) stake in 1975, certainly Guatemalteco.
Well, there is a very small chance that it was a different Jorge H. Perez, but I doubt that. That is more interesting because Elder Brough served in the Quetzaltenango Mission, so his mission president had at one time been resident in the mission, and may have been called from that mission boundaries. That tends to be rare when dealing with countries with more than one mission, as Guatemala then had.
The Falkland Islands Branch belongs to the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple District.
Post a Comment