Saturday, August 31, 2019

August 2019 Monthly Newsletter

Click here to access the August 2019 monthly newsletter for www.cumorah.com.

11 comments:

  1. Matt, thank you for this newsletter. I am glad to see that you were able to publish it tonight, especially since I know it bothered you to have to wait until August 12th to published the July newsletter. I am glad to see that tomorrow, the 42nd new stake of the Church will be created this year. I was likewise, as always, impressed by the reports you shared in this latest newsletter. It is so wonderful to see such growth occurring. Hopefully there is much more to come before the end of this year. I am particularly grateful to continue to witness how much the Lord is mindful of His Church worldwide in general, and throughout the South American and African continents. I cannot wait to see what is next in that respect. Thank you again for these wonderful updates. Keep up the great work!

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  2. Did volunteers (missionaries) ever return to Turkey after they were withdrawn a few years ago?

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  3. Here is August growth in Church units, as reported in the CDOL:

    August + 34 W&B; +37 w - 3 b + 7 st + 0 dist.
    US + 16; + 11 w + 5 b + 2 st + 0 d
    Outside US + 18; + 26 w - 8 b + 5 st + 0 d
    UT + 3; + 2 W + 1 b + 1 st
    Africa + 10; + 7 W + 3 b + 1 st + 1 d
    YTD + 271 W&B; + 265 w + 6 b + 36 st + 3 d + 4 temples
    US + 109; + 104 w + 5 b + 11 st - 1 d
    Outside US + 162; + 161 w + 1 b +25 st + 3 d + 4 temples
    UT + 54; + 55 w - 1 b + 7 st
    Nigeria + 62; + 28 w + 34 b + 4 st + 4 w
    Brazil + 25; + 40 w - 15 b + 2 st + 1 d
    Peru + 18; + 21 w - 3 b + 6 st - 1 d
    Cote D'Iv. + 12; + 6 w + 6 b + 0 st + 4 d
    Ghana + 11; + 12 w - 1 b + 1 st
    Philippines + 10; + 23 W - 13 b + 6 st - 4 d
    Bolivia + 10; + 9 w + 1 b
    Chile - 21; - 20 w - 1 b - 3 st - 0 d
    Venezuela - 5; - 4 w - 1 b

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  4. Here is August growth in Church units, as reported in the CDOL:

    August + 34 W&B; +37 w - 3 b + 7 st + 0 dist.
    US + 16; + 11 w + 5 b + 2 st + 0 d
    outside US + 18; + 26 w - 8 b + 5 st + 0 d
    UT + 3; + 2 W + 1 b + 1 st
    Africa + 10; + 7 W + 3 b + 1 st + 1 d
    YTD + 271 W&B; + 265 w + 6 b + 36 st + 3 d + 4 temples
    US + 109; + 104 w + 5 b + 11 st - 1 d
    Outside US + 162; + 161 w + 1 b +25 st + 3 d + 4 temples
    UT + 54; + 55 w - 1 b + 7 st
    Nigeria + 62; + 28 w + 34 b + 4 st + 4 w
    Brazil + 25; + 40 w - 15 b + 2 st + 1 d
    Peru + 18; + 21 w - 3 b + 6 st - 1 d
    Cote D'Iv. + 12; + 6 w + 6 b + 0 st + 4 d
    Ghana + 11; + 12 w - 1 b + 1 st
    Philippines + 10; + 23 W - 13 b + 6 st - 4 d
    Bolivia + 10; + 9 w + 1 b
    Chile - 21; - 20 w - 1 b - 3 st - 0 d
    Venezuela - 5; - 4 w - 1 b

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  5. Here is the YTD unit growth for Africa (forgot to include above):

    Africa YTD + 122 W&B; + 72 w + 50 b + 8 st + 12 dist + 1 temple; 231 of all 271 net new W&B were created in Africa and the US through August

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  6. Sierra Keone saw both the civil war and Ebola crisis disrupt Church growth. Maybe multiple civil wars. However how far off is Church membership in Sierra Leone from other countries in western Afeica as a population percentage. The fact that Soerra Leone is majority Muslim makes this growth intriguing. Still we do not have the situation of Nigeria with 12 states with Shariah Law excluding missionary work.

    Also Nigeria is over 40 years of missionary presence, but even some areas close to Enugu where the first missionaries were based have just recently come within the limits of branches.

    I still put Sierra Leone top for a temple, but am less sure if Bo or Freetown is most likely. I would love to see temples announced for both those cities. If President Nelson announces temples for both Bo and Freetown we might make 1000 temples by 2030.

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  7. It seems like missionary outreach in Turkey is always making headway among non-Turks. A little over 100 years ago it was with Armenians. However they left the country about a century ago.

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  8. I have been surprised to find out recently that there is no way for dependent Groups to be listed in Meetinghouse Locator or on maps.lds.org. That means that outreach to new areas or language groups do not show up until a branch or ward is created that is assigned a unit number. So in Japan where I am serving as a Sr. Missionary, there are church meetings being held in new cities in rented buildings or language units (such as Portuguese for Brazilian immigrants or Tagalog for Filipino immigrants) that are basically invisible to anyone other than local members or missionaries.

    Examples that I am aware of include:
    - Joetsu city in Niigata Prefecture (a Japanese language dependent group to Nagaoka Branch),
    - Onohama in Fukushima Prefecture (Tagalog language group affiliated with Iwaki Branch),
    - Shirakawa in Fukushima Prefecture (Japanese language group affiliated with Koriyama Branch),
    - Oizumi in Gunma Prefecture (both Japanese and Portuguese language groups affiliated with Kiryu Ward)

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  9. DDB, this comment reminds me about a former stake president's daughter, who went on a mission to Japan sometime in the 1990s, disappointed not to go to Brazil since she already spoke Portuguese, but (I don't know details, like which mission she was in) she was able to use her Portuguese with immigrants from Brazil.

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