Tuesday, February 28, 2017

February 2017 Newsletter

Click here to access our February 2017 newsletter for cumorah.com.

Monday, February 27, 2017

New Stakes Created in Idaho, Montana, and Nicaragua

Idaho
The Church organized a new stake in the Idaho Falls area on February 19th. The Ammon Idaho East Stake was organized from a division of the Ammon Idaho Foothills Stake and the Iona Idaho South Stake. The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Ammon 12th, Ammon 17th, Ammon 22nd, Ammon 29th, Ammon 32nd, Iona 4th, and Iona 8th Wards.

There are now 129 stakes in Idaho.

Montana
The Church organized a new stake in Montana for the first time in 20 years. The Frenchtown Montana Stake was organized on February 26th from a division of the Kalispell Montana Stake and Missoula Montana Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards and three branches: the Frenchtown, Missoula 4th, Polson, Ronan, and St Ignatius Wards, and the Plains, Superior, and Thompson Falls Branches.

There are now 12 stakes in Montana.

Nicaragua
A new stake was organized in Nicaragua on January 22nd. The Matagalpa Nicaragua Stake was organized from the Matagalpa Nicaragua District. The new stake includes the following four ward and three branches: the Guanuca, Jinotega, Matagalpa, and Totolate Wards, and the La Dalia, San Ramon, and Yaguare Branches. It is likely that one or more additional branches have advanced into wards since the organization of the new stake. Nicaragua is currently the country with the most stakes and members without a temple announced, under construction, or in operation. A temple announcement for Managua, Nicaragua appears likely within the foreseeable future. However, the Church in neighboring Honduras did not have a temple announced until there were 20 stakes in the country. Thus, it may be many more years until a temple is announced for Nicaragua, especially given that the Church in Nicaragua exhibits some of the lowest member activity rates in the world

There are now 11 stakes and four districts in Nicaragua.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Corrections

There are a couple corrections I need to make based upon inaccurate information I have previously reported.

First, the Church has not realigned the Africa West Area boundaries. In fact, Chad has continued to pertain to the Africa West Area since its organization in 1998. Furthermore, Chad has been assigned to the Africa West Area Branch since the branch's creation in 2011.

Second, the new stake in Montana to be organized this month will be located in Missoula - not Billings.

I apologize for the misinformation.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

New Stakes Created in Nevada, Uganda, and Utah; District Created in the Philippines; District Discontinued in the Philippines

Nevada
The Church organized a new stake in Henderson, Nevada on January 22nd. The Henderson Nevada Anthem Hills Stake was organized from a division of the Henderson Nevada Anthem Stake (renamed the Henderson Nevada Carnegie Stake). The new stake includes the following six wards: the Amador, Anthem, Inspirada, Madeira Canyon, Seven Hills, and Summit Wards.

There are now 41 stakes in Nevada.

Uganda
The Church organized its third stake in Uganda on January 22nd. The Kampala Uganda South Stake was organized from a division of the Kampala Uganda Stake (renamed the Kampala Uganda North Stake). The new stake includes the following six wards and one branch: the Entebbe, Kabowa, Makindye, Nsambya , Kajjansi 1st, and Mengo Wards, and the Kajjansi 2nd Branch. The Church organized its first stake in Kampala in January 2010 and its first stake in Jinja in late 2015. The number of convert baptisms in the Uganda Kampala Mission has recently increased in comparison to previous months. The mission president noted that there were 200 converts baptized within the last two months of 2016. The Church in Uganda has historically struggled with poor convert retention and member activity rates. Currently the Church in Uganda has one of the highest members-to-unit ratios in Sub-Saharan Africa of 529 members per congregation. The organization of the new stake, the advancement of three branches into wards, and the creation of a new ward in the Kampala Uganda North Stake may signal some significant progress for the Church to achieve better growth in Uganda. Mission leadership has also reduced the number of missionaries assigned outside of Kampala and Jinja in an effort to establish stronger centers of strength in these two cities. There were 14,289 members and 27 congregations in Uganda as of year-end 2015.

There are now three stakes and zero districts in Uganda.

Utah
The Church organized a new stake in St George, Utah on January 29th. The St George Utah Washington Fields North Stake was organized from a division of the St George Utah Washington Fields Stake. The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Washington Fields 5th, Washington Fields 9th, Washington Fields 11th, Washington Fields 12th, Washington Fields 13th, Washington Fields 14th, and Washington Fields 15th Wards.

There are now 29 stakes in Washington County, Utah. There are now 584 stakes and one district in Utah.

Philippines 
A new district was created on Leyte. The Hinunangan Philippines District was organized from a division of the Sogod Philippines District. The new district includes two branches: the Hinunangan and St Bernard Branches. With so few branches in the new district, it appears likely that additional branches may be organized in the near future. The creation of the new district comes on the heals of significant boundary realignments with the Sogod Philippines District and the recently renamed Baybay Philippines District (formerly the Maasin Philippines District).

The Camiling Philippines West District was recently discontinued and consolidated with the Camiling Philippines East District (renamed Camiling Philippines District). All six branches in the former district were reassigned to the Camiling Philippines District. Prospects appear favorable for the district to become a stake in the near future. The Church once operated a stake in Camiling between 1991 and 2003. There are now 11 branches in the Camiling Philippines District.