Tuesday, March 1, 2016

February 2016 Monthly Newsletter

Click here to access the February 2016 edition of our monthly newsletter for cumorah.com. Many notable church growth developments are mentioned in this edition, including the re-opening of Sierra Leone to missionary work; the organization of three new branches in Sierra Leone; the creation of three new branches in Luanda, Angola; the organization of a new district and two new branches in Kiribati; the organization of a new branch and the opening of a previously unreached city in Albania; the creation of two new districts in Cote d'Ivoire; the creation of the first branch in the Upper East Region of Ghana; the creation of a new branch in a province of Thailand where no LDS wards or branches previously operated; the opening of a third city to missionary work in Iceland; significant increases in sacrament meeting attendance in a city in Sri Lanka; and details on 2014 LDS membership statistics reported for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.

21 comments:

John Pack Lambert said...

I am quite excited about the continued substantial growth of the Church in Ivory Coast.

Porter said...
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Eduardo said...

Nothing to add or detract, Porter? Maybe next time. I am excited for some new converts coming up in my ward.

Eduardo said...

Nothing to add or detract, Porter? Maybe next time. I am excited for some new converts coming up in my ward.

Porter said...

Glad to see some growth in Sri Lanka. It's been quite stagnant over the last decade. Last time I went to church there in 2012, attendance was quite low.

Ryan Searcy said...

I would have posted this earlier, but my map for this is going through serious reworking right now. This is my prediction for the temple district for the Provo City Center Temple. Considering my map is being reworked, I will just adapt the proposed district according to LDSChurchTemples. It projects 28 stakes will be served by the new temple. I will add 1 stake to that.

Provo Utah Bonneville Stake
Provo Utah Central Stake
Provo Utah East Stake
Provo Utah Married Student 3rd Stake
Provo Utah North Park Stake
Provo Utah South Stake
Provo Utah Stake
Provo Utah Sunset Stake
Provo Utah West Stake
Provo Utah Wasatch Stake (Tongan) - 1 added stake. Based on geography, it makes sense.
Provo Utah YSA 1st Stake
Provo Utah YSA 3rd Stake
Provo Utah YSA 5th Stake
Provo Utah YSA 7th Stake
Provo Utah YSA 12th Stake
Provo Utah YSA 13th Stake
Provo Utah YSA 14th Stake
Provo Utah YSA 15th Stake
Provo Utah YSA 16th Stake
Provo Utah YSA 17th Stake
Provo Utah YSA 19th Stake
Springville Utah Dry Creek Stake
Springville Utah Hobble Creek Stake
Springville Utah Hobble Creek West Stake
Springville Utah Kolob Stake
Springville Utah Spring Creek South Stake
Springville Utah Spring Creek Stake
Springville Utah Stake
Springville Utah West Stake - missing from list, but not totals

James Anderson said...

Only one stake north of Provo's Center Street not associated with the YSA stakes is in the Provo City Center temple district, that one is Provo North Park. There might be something to the east that goes a little north of Center, but North Park is the only one all north of Center STreet to be in the temple district.

Ryan Searcy said...

I think we could very well see a temple announced soon in the English Midlands, probably Birmingham. I estimate a temple in Birmingham would take roughly 13 stakes. I also think it would be called the Midlands England Temple to avoid confusion with the Birmingham Alabama Temple.

Birmingham England Stkae (Preston)
Bristol England Stake (London)
Cheltenham England Stake (London)
Coventry England Stake (London)
Leicester England Stake (London)
Lichfield England Stake (London)
Newcastle-Under-Lyme England Stake (Preston)
Northampton England Stake (London)
Nottingham England Stake (Preston)
Plymouth England Stake (London)
Sheffield England Stake (Preston)
Cardiff Wales Stake (London)
Merthyr Tydfil Wales Stake (London)

Ryan Searcy said...

It looks like the Barranquilla Colombia Temple will only service northern Colombia.

Mike Johnson said...

Ryan, the City and Metropolitan Borough of Birmingham might be too congested to find good land for a temple. The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull to the Southeast makes a good choice--that is where the Europe West Area (and the UK Area before that and the UK/South Africa Area before that) had its headquarters, before merging with the Europe Central Area to form the current Europe Area headquartered in Frankfort.

Although probably not in the cards, it would be cool if a temple in the area were located in the area where Wilford Woodruff baptized 600 men and their families and that would be more central to all the stakes you list.

Ryan Searcy said...

Well, it doesn't have to be exactly in Birmingham. The London Temple isn't in London, and the Preston Temple isn't in Preston.

Mike Johnson said...

Ryan, thank you for the list of stakes that may end up in the Provo City Temple.

Except for YSA Stakes, there are only four stakes on the list with stake center north of Center Street. One is Provo North Park which is identified by James as being an exception. Another is the Provo Utah Married Student 3rd Stake. This stake straddles Center Street and is immediately east of the temple. The other two are the East and Central stakes. The Provo Utah East Stake has a stake center north of Center Street, but if you cross State Street from the temple to the east you enter the Provo 3rd Ward of the Provo Utah East Stake. And there is another ward in the stake south of the Provo 3rd Ward. It would seem strange if this stake were not to go into the Provo City Temple District when it is an easy and short walk from any point in the stake to that temple. Similarly, if you walk north from the temple and cross Center Street, you enter the Provo 4th Ward of the Provo Utah Central Stake and again the entire stake is within close walking distance. So, it is easy for me to see that these four states, albeit with stake centers north of Center Street would be in the Provo City Temple District.

The Provo Utah Wasatch Stake (Tongan) stake has a stake center south of the temple. But the stake covers pretty much all of Utah county and different wards are and probably will be in different temple districts with no dominant trend for the stake.

Ryan Searcy said...

The stakes I listed for the Provo City Center Temple were all listed on LDSChurchTemples.com except for the Tongan Stake. I merely had that stake listed because the stake center is closest to that temple. Looking at my map, the district looks kind of funky with the YSA stakes that were listed.

John Pack Lambert said...

Many of the members of the Provo Utah East Stake are married BYU students, especially those who live close to the new temple. So whatever way they are assigned I am guessing they will go to either temple based on factors other than their residence, since they might head over to a temple after class or work, which might in a few cases be less of a distance to the Provo Temple. Although I have to admit that except for my class up at the BYU conference center I would have gone from anywhere on campus to the City Center Temple if I lived south of campus and was walking. That is because the Provo Temple is so much up hill. Although it is also because I think the City Center Temple with its long back history is just plain cooler.

John Pack Lambert said...

One of the newly called mission presidents, Alexander A. Odume, is the first I can remember who is a former temple president. He was the first president of the Aba Nigeria Temple after it was reopened after its closure when they pulled out all American temple missionaries due to security concerns.

President Odume is going to preside over the Benin City Nigeria Temple. He may work to move them with a vision of having their own temple in that city.

I have to admit that I would not be surprised if President Odume becomes the first Nigerian general authority.

Ryan Searcy said...

I know this is a long ways away, but I predict that after the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple is dedicated, 2 stakes and 2 districts will be reassigned from Campinas to Sao Paulo.

Guaratingueta Brazil Stake - approx 6 min closer
Registro Brazil District - approx 52 min closer
Sao Jose dos Campos Brazil Stake - approx 6 min closer
Sao Sebasitiao Brazil District - approx 5 min closer

This may change by the time Rio is dedicated, most likely in 2020.

Joseph said...

note: we didn't pass 12 new units per week until well in to the 4th quarter last year.

Unit Update
14 Feb
Aboisso Cote d'Ivoire District(B:5), Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan Mission (B:8, D:2, S:4)
Aboisso Branch
Aboisso Cote d'Ivoire District Branch (New)
Ahoutoue Branch
Alepe Branch
Rive Gauche Branch

21 Feb
Adzope Cote d'Ivoire District(B:6), Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan Mission (B:8, D:2, S:4)
Adzope 1st Branch
Adzope 2nd Branch
Adzope 3rd Branch
Adzope Cote d'Ivoire District Branch (New)
Affery Branch
Akoupé Branch

28 Feb
Chandler Arizona South Stake (B:1, W:6)
San Tan Branch
Appleby Ward
Brooks Farm Ward
Grove 1st Ward
Grove 2nd Ward
Grove 3rd Ward
Lindsay 1st Ward

Maseru Lesotho District(B:3) South Africa Durban Mission(B:3, D:3, S:3)
Leribe Branch
Maseru Branch
Masianokeng Branch

Altiplano Ward, João Pessoa Brazil Torre Stake (W:8)
Beaumont 6th Ward, Beaumont Texas Stake (B:7, W:5)
Castlegate 1st Ward, Queen Creek Arizona East Stake (W:11)
Fountain Green 3rd Ward, Moroni Utah Stake (B:2, W:7)
Inverness Ward, Klein Texas Stake (B:1, W:12)
Kamphaeng Phet Branch, Chiang Mai Thailand District (B:6)
Legon Branch, Accra Ghana Adenta Stake (B:4, W:9)
Lewisville Ward, Winston-Salem North Carolina Stake (B:3, W:7)
Meridian YSA Ward, Gilbert Arizona YSA Stake (W:9)
Pecan Creek 3rd Ward, Queen Creek Arizona East Stake (W:11)
Spring Hollow 2nd Branch, American Fork Utah West Stake (B:1, W:11)
Sun River 4th Branch (Retirement), Bloomington Utah Stake (B:4, W:6)
Wimbledon Ward, Klein Texas Stake (B:1, W:12)

1 Mar
Vietnam Hanoi Mission(D:1)
Hanoi Vietnam District (B:4)
Hanoi Branch
Hanoi Vietnam District Branch
Tan Son Nhat Branch
Thao Dien Branch

YTD 114(12.67/week*9) +19 - Total 34,279(+22)
Africa 30, 26.3% (+6) - Total 1801 (+6)
Asia 3, 2.6% (+1) - Total 934 (+1)
America Central 5, 4.4% (0) - Total 3926 (0)
America North 48, 42.1% (+8) - Total 9366 (+7)
America South 6, 5.3% (+1) - Total 6340 (+1)
Europe 1, 0.9% (0) - Total 1714 (+2)
Pacific 4, 3.5% (0) - Total 2733 (0)
Utah & Idaho 17(13), 14.9(11.4)% (+3) - Total 6924(5712)(+4)

Totals no-sensitive (Net +21)
Areas Temples Miss Stakes Dist Wards Branch Totals
Global 25 149 419 3,186 544 22,627 7,353 34,303
Us/Can 10 81 131 1,606 10 12,615 2,058 16,511
US n/a 73 124 1,558 7 12,278 1,909 15,949
Utah n/a 15 10 579 1 4,713 326 5,644
Canada n/a 8 7 48 3 337 149 552
Out 15 68 288 1,580 534 10,012 5,293 17,792

Joe said...

Would you agree to the statement that once a mission area matures (say 20+ years), LDS church growth in that area equals general population growth there? Obviously there may be variations from one year to the next, but not when looking at a longer period of time? Would this be a correct observation?

Ray said...

Joe, that may be true in some areas, but it is certainly not the case in Africa, parts of Asia and Central America, and most of the US. The LDS percentage in Mid-Western, Southern, and Northeastern states goes up every year, while stagnant or slightly declining in many Western states.

Eduardo said...

I am not sure where mature mission areas equal the general population growth. Are there metrics on that?

Eduardo said...
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