Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Potential New Missions in 2017

Below is a list of potential new missions that may be created in 2017. Criteria for identifying potential new missions include recent LDS membership, congregational, and organizational (stakes and districts) growth trends, trends in new missions created within the past decade, population size, and the boundaries of current missions. Several new missions appear likely to be organized despite the number of full-time missionaries falling to 72,000 as of early November 2016. The average number of missionaries per mission is currently approximately 171 - a number within the range of historical averages during the past couple decades. The number of missionaries serving will likely steadily increase in the coming years and necessitate the creation of additional missions. The double cohort that resulted from lowering the minimum age of missionary service appeared to end in 2016. Going forward, there should not be any artificial increases in the number of members serving full-time missions that are related to changes in the 2012 decision to lower the minimum age for missionary service. Missions included with an asterisk appear most likely to be organized in 2017.
  • Australia Brisbane (2nd mission)*
  • Brazil Aracatuba
  • Brazil Manaus (2nd mission)
  • Brazil Porto Velho
  • Brazil Sao Luis
  • Brazil Sorocaba
  • Cameroon Yaounde*
  • Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan (3rd Mission)*
  • Cote d'Ivoire Yamoussoukro*
  • Democratic Republic of Congo Kinshasa (2nd mission)*
  • Ethiopia Addis Ababa*
  • Ghana Kumasi (2nd mission)
  • Malawi Lilongwe
  • Mexico Chilpancingo
  • Mexico Juchitan
  • Mexico Toluca
  • Nigeria Ibadan*
  • Nigeria Uyo
  • Philippines Bacolod (2nd mission)
  • Philippines Cabanatuan
  • Philippines Davao (2nd mission)
  • Philippines Dumaguete
  • Philippines Lucena
  • Philippines Ormoc
  • Philippines Santiago
  • Rwanda Kigali
  • Samoa Apia (2nd mission)
  • Slovakia Bratislava
  • Solomon Islands Honiara
  • Spain Alicante
  • Taiwan Kaohsiung
  • Tanzania Dar Es Salaam*
  • Texas Austin*
  • Texas El Paso
  • Texas Plano*
  • Thailand Bangkok (2nd mission)
  • Tonga Nuku'alofa (2nd mission)
  • Zimbabwe Bulawayo

64 comments:

Aaron and Kamyra said...

How many discontinued wards/branches this year. In all the years I have watched this blog and Ricks temple site I have never seen so many discontinued. Any one know how many ward/branches discontinues Vs created?

Eduardo said...

Are there positive indicators of growth in Spain that would make a new mission likely? Hopefully a generation having the temple in Madrid is having its good effects, but I wonder about a new mission in a nation that has an unemployment rate of close to 20%, one of the highest in the whole continent. I do expect the Slavic countries to continue to grow and expand, good to see.
I think the islands of Oceania continue to develop, too.
Great to see the growth in the 3 biggest LDS countries.

miro said...

The missions in spain have the most converts in europe, at the moment.

Eduardo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Eduardo said...

That is excelente to hear about Espana. My wife and her youngest sister served in Malaga seven years apart, the latter having done the MTC in Madrid.
I did a short high school exchange in Castellon de la Plana about 27 years ago, I met some nice members of the Church.
I wonder if Alicante is a center of gravity for membership strength. Also, I figure there must be high numbers of Latin Americans there. I knew a Chilean member who was a barber in 1990 who by 2005 was working in Spain, maybe iron pieces...
I heard about Latino converts in Rome, Italy throughout the 1990s.
African growth is constant and needs to expand in new countries and regions. I was interested to read the post regarding Nigerian church leaders evangelizing in Cote d'Ivoire, a place with foreign French as the lingua franca.
With a mission in Rwanda and Burundi the Church would be maybe 75% placed in countries that are not Muslim dominant. Even Sierra Leone, with majority Islam, has seen a lot of positive growth.
Still wish the Church would be more active in Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, the Gambia.
It'll be great to see a temple in Cabo Verde, islands that deserve their own geographic place of the highest sacraments.

Dave said...

What a list of prospective new missions is all about is maximizing the number of souls the church can save within its existing resource base. That means redistributing missionaries from places where receptivity is low to where it is high.

This list reflects that. Every part of South America, e.g., has mission support, but Brazil is easily the country the church is growing the most on in the continent. So it would be really nice if all the suggested new missions for the nation get established.

In The United States, the listed new missions for Texas, and in NO other state, are perfect places for new missions. So far this year Arizona has organized 11 new stakes and Texas is second with 9, but there are far more missions per capita in Arizona than there are in Texas.

So Texas is where the new missions should be placed.

Anonymous said...

The missions that I would like to see most that I think are likely in the short term are in Ibadan, Ethiopia, Kinshasa 2, Cameroon, Tanzania, Malawi. 4 decent to large countries without missions and two large countries where resources are low compared to realistic opportunities. Would love to see more in India of course and if we could get one in Abuja to split the enormous Enugu mission. Safety must still be a concern in Abuja otherwise that is a no brainer.

Ryan Searcy said...

I think a Texas El Paso Mission is highly likely. The New Mexico Albuquerque Mission is pretty long and narrow along the Rio Grande River. That mission saw two new stakes recently, one in Albuquerque and one in El Paso. Las Cruces also has a fairly large stake that could split in the coming years. I figure a mission in El Paso would easily rake in Las Cruses and probably Silver City, making an easy 5 stakes. Extreme cases, the mission could also include Fort Stockton, Roswell, and Duncan.

Ryan Searcy said...

But, yes, I agree, the 3 Texas Missions on the list are all highly likely. I had imagined Frisco to be a mission instead of Plano. Texas has seen some amazing growth in the past few years. It would be amazing if Austin, Fort Worth, and El Paso all got temples in the long run. I say El Paso because a temple there would easily take 4 stakes (including Las Cruces), and doesn't involve a border crossing or a long journey to Albuquerque.

Eduardo said...

The Ciudad Juarez Temple is so close to El Paso that it seems less likely for El Paso to get another temple, but that would be really amazing. Perhaps Las Cruces could get one because of distances?
I wonder if there has been an uptick in baptisms around Philadelphia since the new temple? No more missions for the east coast, hopefully just more stakes. Anything going on down in Florida or the Carolinas?

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

Several of my friends who've served missions in Spain have said that many of the converts are Nigerians or from other African nations.

John Pack Lambert said...

Part of me wonders if it would not make more sense to split Ivory Coast with 2 missions in Abijan and then 2 missions in the rest of the country. However it is hard to work this out. Daloa and Bouake which seem like good other mission headquarter candidates are fairly close to Yamoussoukro. I have to admit I would be surprised if the Church split off more than one new mission in Ivory Coast next year, although I think it is justified. I think it is also needed to continue growth.

Currently the missions have unequal administrative loads. The Abijan Mission has 4 districts and 2 branches directly under it. The west mission has 6 districts and 6 branches. Only the Gagnoa and San Pedro districts in the West Mission existed before the stat of 2015 of all 10 districts.

One possibility I see is making the 4th mission besides the 2 Abijan and the new Yamoussoukro mission the San Pedro Mission. San Pedro is the 2nd largest port and 6th largest city in Ivory Coast.

John Pack Lambert said...

Austin would be a great place to create a mission. I think 3 of the 9 new stakes in Texas this year have been in the San Antonio Mission boundaries.

The 5 counties defined by Wikipedia as Greater Austin have risen from 1.2 million to 2 million inhabitants since 2000. For Greater San Antonio the figure is 1.7 to 2.3 million. The Waco and Killeen Stakes could probably be taken from the Fort Worth Mission to go with the I think 5 Austin Area stakes to form an Austin Mission. Dallas Mission has 14 stakes if I counted right, so it could bare splitting.

The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has 6.4 million inhabitants. Yet it essentially has 2 missions to Maricopa County Arizona having 4 million people and six missions. So a 3rd mission in Dallas-Fort Worth would seen more than justified.

Mike Johnson said...

I think an Austin Mission would take 5-6 stakes from San Antonio (Austin, Austin Oak Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Round Rock East, and maybe Kyle) and 2 from Fort Worth (Killeen, Waco). Of the 8 Texas stakes created so far in 2016 3 are from San Antonio and 2 from Fort Worth (numbers are Matt's from this blog):

Texas San Antonio Mission
1. San Antonio Texas Cibolo Valley - Jan. 10th, 2016
8. San Antonio Texas La Cantera - January 24, 2016
42. Cedar Park Texas - June 5th, 2016 

Texas Fort Worth Mission
73. Burleson Texas - September 11th, 2016
81. Fort Worth Texas North - November 6th, 2016

This would leave San Antonio with 7-8 stakes and a district and leave Fort Worth with 10 stakes.

I do think Austin is a good location for a new mission.


The Dallas Mission covers 15 stakes, including 2 stakes created this year:

10. Irving Texas - February 7th, 2016
21. Sherman Texas - March 20th, 2016

west and north of Dallas respectively. Plano makes a lot of sense for a new mission. It is rapidly growing and is the largest city in Collin County--the third largest in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It is also the fourth largest city in the metroplex after Dallas (in Dallas County) and Fort Worth and Arlington (both in Tarrant County).

A Plano mission would take in the five stakes based in Collin County (Plano, Frisco, Frisco Shawnee Trail, Allen, McKinney) plus Sherman to the north and could take in the two Denton County stakes (Denton and Lewisville) for a total of 8 stakes leaving Dallas with 10 and in combination with an Austin Mission would leave Fort Worth with 8.

A bold move would be to put a mission in Longview covering the Longview, Gilmore, Tyler, and Shreveport, LA stakes that are far from the mission that currently serve them (3 in the Texas Dallas and 1 in the Mississippi Jackson missions).

Jim Coles said...

I could see the Heath stake being in a Plano Texas mission as well.

Mike Johnson said...

Possibly. And not that my guess is any better than anybody else's, I thought Heath would be left in the Dallas Mission because:

(1) Heath is closer to Dallas (distance and time) than to Plano, if Google Maps is correct.
(2) Two major routes from Dallas to Heath both of which would stay in the Dallas Mission in how I proposed the mission split would be, while putting Heath in the Plano Mission would mean cutting across the Richardson Stake for the Plano to Heath route, which I assumed would be in the Dallas Mission.
(3) If Heath went to Plano then Gilmer and Longview probably should go into Plano as well.
(4) My proposed split resulted in 8 stakes in the Plano mission that are growing fast and leaving 9 stakes in Dallas in generally slower growing areas. I thought that was a reasonable split (and with two stakes going to each of a new Austin and a new Plano mission, Fort Worth would have 8 stakes as well.

But my guess may not be worth much.

Rsouthwest said...

I've enjoyed the comments regarding new Missions in Texas. My predictions bellow include my thoughts on population distribution and (near) future stakes (2-3 years). Again my thoughts--could be way off!

Plano Texas Mission:
1.6 mullion population
Plano, Frisco, Frisco Shawnee Trail, Allen, McKinney, Carrollton, Sherman, Denton, Stakes
Near future Stakes--Denton 2nd, Prosper.

Dallas Texas Mission:
3.5 million population
Dallas, Dallas East, Richardson, Irving, Heath, Tyler, Longview, Gilmer, Stakes
Near future Stakes --Wylie, Forney

Fort Worth Texas Mission:
2.4million population
Fort Worth, Fort Worth North, Colleyville, Hurst, Arlington, Burleson, Wetherford, Alliance, Lewisville,Stakes

Austin Texas Mission:
3.2 million population
Austin, Austin Hill Country, Killeen, Waco, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Round Rock East, Kyle, Stakes
Near Future Stakes-Austin 3rd

San Antonio Texas Mission:
3.7 million population
San Antonio, San Antonio East, San Antonio North, San Antonio West, San Antonio Hill Country, San Antonio La Cantera, San Antonio Cibolo Valley Stakes. Laredo district
Near future Stakes-New Braunfels, Laredo

David Todd said...

I wouldn't be surprised to see the alliance Texas Stake split in about 3-5 years, too. That area is growing nearly as rapidly as the Frisco area. It might be part of a Denton split, though.

Bryansb1984 said...

How bout
Maryland Ocean City
Pennsylvania Harrisburg

Bryansb1984 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ryan Searcy said...

(Slightly off topic)

I imagine the Washington DC YSA Stake will have at least 7 wards and 2 branches, with 8 wards and 5 branches being the maximum.

Highly Likely
Braddock YSA Ward
Colonial YSA 1st Ward
Colonial YSA 2nd Ward
Glenn Dale YSA Ward
Langley YSA Ward
Sgebabdiag YSA Ward
Washington DC YSA 2nd Ward
Columbia YSA Branch
Gaithersburg YSA Branch

Less Likely
Baltimore YSA Ward
Cumberland Valley YSA Branch
Frederick YSA Branch
Rappahannock YSA Branch

Ryan Searcy said...

That's what I get for typing without looking.

*Shenandoah YSA Ward

Mike Johnson said...

The Washington DC YSA Stake will have "the seven Washington DC Area YSA wards." There are 7 Washington DC area YSA Wards, but there are also YSA branches.

The Shenandoah YSA Ward members were informed last week that they will be part of it. I did verify that today.

I had asked here about whether the Gaithersburg YSA Branch in the Seneca Stake would be included. I think they will, but I have not seen confirmation.

I had not considered the Columbia YSA Branch because the Columbia Stake is in the Baltimore Mission and in the Baltimore Area Coordinating Council. Ryan, do you know for sure that the Columbia YSA Branch will also be included?

I don't think anything has been mentioned about the Rappahannock YSA Branch which covers my stake and the Fredericksburg Stake.

Ryan Searcy said...

The congregations listed are my guesses. I included Columbia because it looked like it was "close enough."

Mike Johnson said...

Gaithersburg YSA Branch is NOT going to be part of the Washington DC YSA Stake.

Mike Johnson said...

I asked on the Friends of Seneca Stake facebook page and received the answer:

"No, it is not. Due to the distance we opted out. However, we are tapped into all of the activities."

Michael Worley said...

Gaithersburg YSA Branch is very new-- maybe 6 months old? 8? I would suspect that stake president wanted to keep an eye on it. The branch president is his former counselor in his stake presidency,

Ryan Searcy said...

Well, if Gaithersburg is out, than Columbia must be too, reducing the potential stake to just 7 wards.

phxmars said...

AZ Goodyear Stake will be split in two weeks.

Unknown said...

I anticipated that happening. I predict Buckeye, Surprise and possibly Surprise North Stakes to be involved in the split or at least involved in the realignment of the other Stakes involved.

phxmars said...

One of the Surprise stakes...

Unknown said...

Yeah, Buckeye is a rather small Stake. Surprise Stake will make a significant contribution, 2 or 3 of its wards are less than 4 years old, it has had significant growth. If wards were realigned from the Surprise North to Surprise, I would pick Sierra Mountana or Kingswood Park. Some of the Neighborhoods are finally getting finished and having move-ins. However there are miles and miles of empty lots in the Buckeye Stake.

Nathanial said...

A few questions of curiosity: Matt, in August it was reported that a stake would be created in Belize. Is that no longer so? IS there any new information on the potential for a 2nd Moses Lake Washington Stake.? Also, with the growth in Africa, what information is there about the additional stakes in West Africa listed on the side bar? Thanks!

Matt said...

Nathaniel Warenski-

I received a report in mid-2016 that provided good evidence that a stake would be organized in Belize. However, I have not found any more information about a stake in Belize since then. It seems like this original report was inaccurate, but I want to wait a few more weeks before I officially report that a stake will not be organized in Belize.

I have not heard anything about the second stake in Moses Lake, Washington either. I will likely keep this on the list until the end of the year in case another report surfaces. It is also looking like a stake in Rajahmundry, India will not happen either, but I will wait a few more weeks before I remove it from the list. The same is also case with Cauayan, Philippines.

As for the several additional stakes to be organized in West Africa, I received a report from a senior missionary couple in April indicating that there would be possibly as many as 16 new stakes organized in the Africa West Area in 2016. Thus far, there have been 12 new stakes organized in the Africa West Area in 2016. I had a member survey filled out from Port Harcourt, Nigeria a few months ago indicating that a fourth stake would be organized soon (especially since there are 14 wards in the Port Harcourt West Stake). I am not sure whether we will have four new stakes created before the end of 2016, but it appears that a new stake has been organized in the Africa West Area sometime in the past couple weeks based upon reports from senior missionaries on the total number of stakes in the Africa West Area. There is a strong possibility that a new stake or two will be created in eastern Accra, Ghana were there are four stakes that collectively have 40 congregations (30 wards, 10 branches). A second stake in Togo also appears imminent as the stake has 10 wards and seven branches. Another stake or two also appear likely in Cote d'Ivoire as the Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Niangon South Stake has 13 wards (even though it was only created two years ago!) and two other stakes in the Yopougon area have 10 or more wards. Also, several additional stakes in Nigeria appear likely, such as in Aba, Port Harcourt (two new stakes appear possible), Abeokuta, Ibadan, and Warri. Some districts may also become stakes before the end of the year as well in Nigeria and Ghana. We will just have to see.

Josh said...

If you search facebook there are several reports of 2 stakes created in the port harcourt area this weekend just gone.

Mike Johnson said...

>>> Ruskin Amadi: Today 27th November 2016.history was made as the port Harcourt stakes were collapsed and 5stakes were created this is an unprecedented event. https://www.facebook.com/ruskin.amadi.5/posts/755738121231807

>>>Sophia Uge: The Happy Day At Last Has Come saints in port Harcourt have five stake now what joy in my heart https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=port%20harcourt%20stake

>>>Uzoma Martins Agwu Port Harcourt now has five Stakes. Good news and good work. (same link as the last one).

It sounds like the three previously existing Port Harcourt stakes were discontinued and five new stakes were created. The three had had 33 wards and 5 branches.

Mike Johnson said...

It looks like the Rajahmundry India Stake is to be created on 18 December
https://www.facebook.com/reema.terupalli?hc_ref=SEARCH

Matt said...

Thanks Mike! I have updated the list of New Stakes Created in 2016.

We have a solid 96 new stakes for 2016 with these recent confirmations. I am sure we will have over 100 by the end of the year. There have been eight stakes discontinued in 2016. Within the past decade or so, the Church has very consistently discontinued one stake for every 10 new stakes created. So we might have another stake or two discontinued by the end of the year.

Mike Johnson said...

Matt, how do you count three Port Harcourt stakes being discontinued and five then created?

Matt said...

I doubt any stakes in Port Harcourt were discontinued. The three original stakes were probably renamed.

Mike Johnson said...

Its been done before. Mexico City and London are classic examples.

Just trying to suggest away to get to 10 or more discontinued stakes without having any more actually discontinued.

James G. Stokes said...

This has been a most interesting discussion to follow, to be sure. The possibility of several new missions, stakes or wards within the next year is most intriguing to me. As part of my effort to keep those who follow or visit my blog informed regarding the latest Church News, I have done several blog posts about the growth of the Church just tonight. In the posts, I discuss Matt's two most recent posts and the ensuing insightful discussions that have followed, a Church news conglomeration, a temple progress report, and the latest apostolic age averages. I am very grateful to Matt for giving me permission to post links to my blog posts and to all those who have started to either regularly or even occasionally check out and comment on my work. I would appreciate any continued blog visits or comments. I hope you find them enjoyable.

http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com

As a personal take on the latest posts here, I will say that I am very glad to see that Rick and Matt do their best to keep us informed on all these important matters and for their constant and continuous response to all contributions. If I, in my own labor of love, such as it is, can be even in part the success of that which has been so willingly undertaken by Matt and Rick, I will be eternally grateful.

I will also say that I look forward to having 100+ additional stakes by the end of the year, to say nothing of the increase in wards, missions, and branches. In preparation for April General Conference, I have prepared a list of estimated year-end statistics for the Church which I will attempt to verify, expand, and correct before conference. As with my predictions for speaking order and Church Leadership changes, these are not just wild, off-the-cuff, unverified statistical guesses, but my best estimate based on what I have observed about Church growth as long as I have dabbled in doing so. If there is enough demand for it in comments on my blog posts, I would be happy to post my educated guesses for these predictions on my blog and open them to consistent feedback correction, and tweaking as my readers feel would be appropriate. If enough interest is expressed in that, it may happen sooner rather than later. Thanks again to Matt and Rick and all of you.

TempleRick said...

So very kind. Thank you, James, for all your contributions to the online discussion of Church growth and events.

J S A said...

Port Harcourt Nigeria North Stake

Isiodu Branch
Rumuji Branch
Choba Ward
Emohua Ward
Eneka Ward
Igwuruta Ward
Omoku Ward
Rukpokwu Ward
Rumuodumaya Ward

J S A said...

Port Harcourt Nigeria South Stake

Alase-Ama Branch
LoLo-Ama Branch
Abo-Ama Ward
Borokiri Ward
Bundu Ward
Diobu 1st Ward
Township Ward

J S A said...

Stakes of Port Harcourt Nigeria

Port Harcourt
Port Harcourt North
Port Harcourt South
Port Harcourt East
Port Harcourt West

J S A said...

Central Branch Branch Honduras
Freiberg 2nd Branch Branch Germany
Poás Branch Branch Costa Rica
Steinbach Branch Branch Canada

Clifton Ward Ward Virginia
Clinton 2nd Ward Ward Mississippi
Irho Ward Ward Ivory Coast
Jean-Folly 2nd Ward Ward Ivory Coast
La Joya Ward Ward Ecuador

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

Are these the new wards and branches that were created on Nov. 27?

J S A said...

Yes.

Mike Johnson said...

The Clifton Ward was created on 20 November.

James G. Stokes said...

TempleRick, you are most welcome. Your continuously updated labor of love has been my greatest resource in keeping people informed of the latest temple developments, to say nothing of your consistent and seemingly instantaneous updates to the latest Church statistics and unit information. When others posted questions here, I could not have even ventured any answer without the excellent and timely information I found on your site. You should be proud of the work you do. It has made a difference for me personally, as has this blog in keeping me informed on developments related to Church growth. I can never hope to be as good at doing my blog updates on Church developments as you guys have been. If others enjoy my posts or if they have made a difference for someone in even the very smallest way compared to the difference you guys have made for me in doing what you do, I will be the luckiest man alive. J S A, and Mike Johnson, thanks for the unit updates. They were most informative. I still don't know how in demand my predictions for year-end statistics for the Church will be, but I owe my ability to make these predictions better and more effective to those who have, through their labors of love, kept me in the loop with the latest Church growth and temple milestones. Rick, you can bet I will be relying on your excellent website for the actual year-end stake, district, ward and branch totals well before they are made public. Thanks again to all.

Eduardo said...

I would like to see what percentage of the worldwide missions are spoken in which primary language. Also, what percentage of missionaries speak what primary and even secondary languages they use.
Would a second Thai mission cater more to Burma?
What work with Laos is going on now that Vietnam has a mission? How are convert baptisms so far?
When is there going to be an affordable Church growth again? I miss the Almanac. :(

James G. Stokes said...

Eduardo, in regards to your comment about the Church Almanac, I share your frustration that it has stopped being put together and distributed. For many years, I loved buying and then marking my Church almanac with all sorts of notes and updates. When I first heard that the Deseret News was going to discontinue producing and distributing those almanacs, I wrote to the Deseret News staff member that oversaw every facet of that production and distribution and asked why this was being done. The reply I got was that because the whole Alamanac creating and distributing processes took much time and staff effort. That production and distribution, he said, had also proven to be, in many ways, a waste of that time and effort because technology has expanded to the point that any and all information compiled in the Almanac can now easily be accessed by so many online sources. In fact, they said that because the latest information and developments are posted by some so fast that, by the time each year's Almanac was compiled and printed, the data was already old news. I can accept that. Between the many websites that feature Church news and information, such as the labor of love undertaken by Matt, Rick, and, if I may so so, myself, the information in the Almanac would be outdated and useless before it ever got into anyone's hands. So, we must be content to follow Church news on such sites religiously (pardon the pun), and, where necessary, to do the math to figure out any information that is not available (like up-to-the-minute Church statistics). Would I be overjoyed if the Deseret News staff reconsidered and decided to resume compiling and printing a yearly Almanac? Absolutely. But recognizing the validity of the reasons that led to the decision to no longer print the Almanac, and because of the ever more abundant amount of Church news and growth information online, I am not bothered any more about the fact that we will likely never have such a thing again. And I will gladly hold on to the Almanacs I do have and will hold on to them for as long as I can. Even if I were to get rid of them one day, the one thing I would like to retain from them would be the yearly featured article. But we don't even need that anymore because historically significant milestones are being easily covered by the many resources now available. Hope that answers your question.

John Pack Lambert said...

Some of the information I have seen posted indicates to me we may be at a point where there is over a 6 month backlog between when stakes get approved in Salt Lake and when they actually get organized. If this is so, it might be that the stake in Belize will be organized soon.

Cory said...

I think that is correct. My ward had a boundary change a few years back. My dad, who was in the bishopric knew about the changes 6 months before. Usually leaders keep it hush when they begin the process and the members don't know until they are occur. When I was serving in The Tizimin Mexico Stake earlier this year, there were groups in Piste and Chemax Yucatan. I ran into the stake leaders as they were traveling to Chemax to call a branch president. My mission president reported that a branch is functioning there, but it has yet to appear on the list of new units. This was about 6 months ago. Perhaps the process is just slow or the plans were rejected. The Area presidency may be wary of reestablishing church presence there after the discontinuation of the branch a few decades back.

Cory said...

Opps, I spoke too soon. The Chemax branch just barely showed up on the list.

Alex said...

It almost seems that somebody should create an online church almanac that is continuously updated.

James G. Stokes said...

@Alexander Marvin: Such a thing already exists. Any and all information that might be contained in a physical or electronic Church Almanac already is available in rich abundance on such sites as this one, LDS Church Temples, and, (if I may be so bold), my own small labor of love. Some might find the most recent two posts I did today to be informative. I welcome all feedback about my work, whether that feedback is on this blog, or at the location of the posts themselves. Either way, please let me know if you do have any such feedback. Thanks.

http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com

James G. Stokes said...

For a variety of reasons (primarily additional research and study I have done and the many, many wonderful comments on my work), I have felt a need to revise, revisit, and post anew my updated list of locations that I feel are most imminent to have a temple soon announced. My previous post on the subject generated by far the most views and the most comments from any other posts I have done during the entirety of the time I have been blogging. I would very much appreciate any feedback on this updated and revised list. I would prefer, as I have always said, if that feedback was given directly at the location of that new blog posts, but, as I've also repeatedly said, I have no objection whatsoever, as long as Matt doesn't have a problem with it, if that feedback comes on any or all of Matt's most recent posts. Thanks to all who will so comment. Your feedback is the reason why I can do what I have been able to do, to whatever degree of success I have achieved. However that feedback comes, I hope that no one will hesitate at all to let me know their thoughts on my work. Such feedback helps me in my efforts to continue to fine-tune my predictions to be the very best they can be. Thanks for visiting!

http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2016/12/revised-list-of-cities-for-which-i-feel.html

James G. Stokes said...

After further consideration and comments, I have done another new blog post highlighting what i feel will be a probable timetable in which future groundbreaking announcements will be made and scheduled. Also, I have, upon recommendation from a comment on my blog, added three possible future temple sites in Chile (in either Antofagasta, Valparaiso, or Santiago (which would be a a 2nd temple for that city, and which I feel cannot be ruled out or overlooked, given the recent precedent set by the announcement of another temple fro Lima Peru)) I would welcome continued feedback on any or all of these points. Thanks.

James G. Stokes said...

Additionally, I have done a variety of rapid-fire posts commemorating my yearly Christmas tradition, and two personal ones regarding intense difficulties my wife and I are having on health and financial fronts. I sent out in these personal posts a request for prayers, which I reiterate here. I would welcome any and all feedback about these posts, and am including the address below for any who might not have seen or remembered reading my previously advertised posts. I thank Matt profusely for allowing me to advertise any and all such posts here. Thanks.

http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com

James G. Stokes said...

We have had a most happy, unexpected, and miraculous resolution to our most immediate problem. We have again been shown that Heavenly Father does hear and answer prayers, and we couldn't be more grateful or overwhelmed at how it all came about. You can read about it all in my most recent comment on my latest blog post. Thanks to you all for your prayers and the mammoth expressions of sympathy and support. We are grateful beyond expression.

Bryansb1984 said...

Another potential missions
India Mumbai Mission
Pakistan Islamabad Mission

Bryansb1984 said...

Another potential missions
India Mumbai Mission
Pakistan Islamabad Mission