New Stakes Created in Brazil, Honduras, Peru, Texas, and Washington; District Discontined in Chile

Brazil
The Church organized a new stake in Alagoas State, Brazil on January 24th. The Maceió Brazil Colina Stake appeared to be organized from a division of the Maceió Brazil Stake. Information on congregations assigned to the new stake is currently unavailable.

There are now six stakes in Alagoas State. There are now 257 stakes and 39 districts in Brazil.

Honduras
The Church organized a new stake in northern Honduras on January 24th. The Palermo Honduras Stake was organized from a division of the San Pedro Honduras El Progreso Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Bendeck, La Sarrosas, Las Palmeras, Palermo, and Santa Rita Wards and the Morazan Branch.

There are now 24 stakes and seven districts in Honduras.

Peru
Local members in Peru report that the Church organized a new stake in the Lima area on January 17th. The Barranca Peru Stake was organized from the Barranca Peru District. No information is currently available on which branches in the former district have become wards. Established in 1979, the Barranca Peru District numbered among the oldest in the Church in Peru.

There are now 101 stakes and 19 districts in Peru.

Texas
Two new stakes have been organized in Texas.

The Church organized a new stake in El Paso on January 17th. The new stake was organized from the El Paso Texas and the El Paso Texas Mount Franklin Stakes. The new stake includes the following six wards and one branch: the El Paso 1st, El Paso 3rd (Spanish), El Paso 4th, El Paso 12th (Spanish), Hondo Pass, and Transmountain (Spanish) Wards and the Chaparral Branch (Spanish). There are now three stakes in El Paso.

The Church organized its seventh stake in San Antonio on January 24th. The new stake was organized from a division of the San Antonio Texas Hill Country and San Antonio Texas West Stakes. The new stake includes the following seven wards and one branch: the Boerne, Fair Oaks, Kerrville, Leon Springs, Leon Valley, Parkwood, and San Antonio 9th Wards and the Balcones Branch (Spanish).

There are now 67 stakes and three districts in Texas.

Washington
The Church organized a new stake in the Vancouver area on January 24th. The Ridgefield Washington Stake was organized from a division of the Vancouver Washington North and Vancouver Washington West Stakes. The new stake includes the following six wards: the Alpine Heights, Battle Ground 1st, Battle Ground 2nd, La Center, Ridgefield, and Salmon Creek Wards.

There are now 58 stakes in Washington.

Chile
The Church discontinued a district in southern Chile. The Los Lagos Chile District was discontinued and its five branches were reassigned to the Valdivia Chile and Valdivia Chile Calle Calle Stakes.

There are now 77 stakes and 17 districts in Chile.

The Church will organize at least 10 stakes during the month of January based on reports I have received - the largest number of stakes organized during the month of January since 1995 (11 new stakes were organized in January 1995). The largest number of stakes ever organized during January was set in 1988 when 16 stakes were organized (primarily due to the organization of seven new stakes in Lima, Peru in one weekend). The second most stakes ever organized during the month of January was in 1995 (11 stakes) and the third most stakes ever organized during the month of January was in 1982 (10 stakes).