Monday, June 20, 2016

New Stakes Created in Argentina, Arizona, Brazil, Connecticut, Cote d'Ivoire, Nevada, Utah, and Washington; Stakes Discontinued in California and Utah

Argentina
A new stake was created in Argentina on June 19th. The Lujan Argentina Stake was created from the Lujan Argentina District. Most of the seven branches in the former district have appeared to become wards in the new stake.

There are now 76 stakes and 28 districts in Argentina.

Arizona
A new stake was created in Arizona on June 12th. The Mesa Arizona Clearview Stake was organized from a division of the Mesa Arizona Kimball East and Mesa Arizona Skyline Stakes. The new stake includes the following six wards: the Baywood, Brimhall, Century Gardens, Desert Vista, Ellsworth, and Hampton Wards.

There are now 106 stakes in Arizona.

Brazil
A new stake was created in Brazil on June 12th. The Juazeiro do Norte Brazil Stake was organized from the Juazeiro do Norte Brazil District. Most of the six branches in the district appear to have been organized into wards.

There are now 260 stakes and 39 districts in Brazil.

Connecticut
On June 12th, a new stake was organized in Connecticut for the first time since 1981. The New London Connecticut Stake was organized from a division of the Hartford Connecticut, New Haven Connecticut, and Providence Rhode Island Stakes. The new stake includes the following six wards and two branches: the Ashford, Cromwell, Groton, Madison, Norwich, and Waterford Wards, and the Quaker Hill (Spanish) and Westerly Branches.

There are now three stakes in Connecticut.

Cote d'Ivoire
A new stake was organized on June 12th. The Grand-Bassam Cote d'Ivoire Stake was organized from a division of the Port-Bouet Cote d'Ivoire Stake. The new stake includes the following six wards: the Adjouffou, Bonoua, Gonzagueville, Grand-Bassam 1st, Grand-Bassam 2nd, and Jean-Folly Wards. There are now nine stakes in the Abidjan metropolitan area.

There are now 10 stakes and seven districts in Cote d'Ivoire.

Nevada
A new stake was created in the Reno metropolitan area on June 12th. The Sparks Nevada West Stake was created from a division of the Sparks Nevada Stake (renamed Sparks Nevada East Stake). The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Eagle Canyon, El Rancho, Marina, Royal Heights (Tongan), and Sun Valley Wards, and the Vista Branch (Spanish). There are now six stakes in the Reno metropolitan area.

There are now 39 stakes in Nevada.

Utah
Two new stakes have been created in Utah thus far in June. One stake has been discontinued.

The Provo Utah Freedom Stake was created from a division of the Provo Utah East and Provo Utah South Stakes. The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Freedom 1st, Freedom 2nd, Freedom 3rd (Spanish), Provo 1st, Provo 6th, Provo Peak 3rd, and Provo Peak 11th Wards.

The Mapleton Utah West Stake was organized on June 12th from a division of the Mapleton Utah, Mapleton Utah North, and Spanish Fork Utah Maple Mountain Stakes. The new stake includes the following eight wards: the Legacy Farms, Maple Highlands, Mapleton 10th, Mapleton 12th, Mapleton 17th, Mapleton 19th, Mapleton 22nd, and Spanish Highlands 2nd Wards.

Organized in 1991, the Salt Lake Monument Park North Stake was discontinued on June 12th. Retained congregations were reassigned to the Salt Lake Monument Park Stake.

There are now 580 stakes and one district in Utah.

Washington
A new stake was created on June 19th in the Spokane area. The Spokane Washington Mount Spokane Stake was organized from a division of the Spokane Washington, Spokane Washington North, and Spokane Washington Valley Stakes. The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Beacon Hill, West Valley, Shiloh Hills, Greenbluff, and Foothills Wards and the Friendship Park (Marshallese) Branch.

There are now 61 stakes in Washington.

California
The Church discontinued a stake in San Diego on June 12th. Organized in 1962, the San Diego California Sweetwater Stake was discontinued and retained congregations were reassigned to the Chula Vista, San Diego California, and San Diego California East Stakes.

There are now 155 stakes in California.

107 comments:

Anonymous said...

Would a discontinued stake in Utah have more to do with moving? I think some areas of the Salt Lake Valley are shrinking and other areas are having explosive growth.

Gracie said...

I checked Census.gov QuickFacts for Salt Lake County v. Utah County for the period of 2010-15 Salt Lake County had a 7.5% increase where Utah County had 11.3%.

For our stake in SL County, it's not that there are empty houses or even slow growth in the neighborhood (although it is much slower than in Utah County there are active developments and there is demand for more housing), but LDS members are moving to Draper, Herriman, South Jordan and Lehi from here. We have an area full of chapels but we were told at a stake conference 2 years ago that 95% of our city (South Salt Lake) doesn't attend any church service.

I wonder, if the salt of the earth clumps up in South Jordan, how will the rest of the world be salted? Why don't they move abroad? How do they have opportunities for church service? There isn't much opportunity compared to the inner city stakes, and the need we have here, where so many have a handful of callings.

Nathanial said...

I think Gracie made a couple of points (possibly without realizing it). First, members are moving where the church is strong and not moving where they are needed (Elder Gifford Nielsen spoke about that in Conference a few years ago). Second, lack of missionary work, not just in Utah, but in all places where membership is declining. So what if members do not move into our neighborhood. We can still do missionary work to grow the church. I noticed this when my mom's stake was dissolved earlier this year.

John Pack Lambert said...

It was actually Elder Ellis not Elder Nielsen that made the point about how we should want to move where we are most needed.

In South Salt Lake the church has conducted outreach to various immigrant groups, many of them refugees. They not only have Spanish-speaking units there, but Nepalese and Karen speaking units.

I noticed Argentina now has almost as many stakes as Chile.

What are the chances that Idaho will soon have more stakes than California?

John Pack Lambert said...

Argentina has 43 million inhabitants, while Chile has 18 million inhabitants. This suggests that Chile probably has a higher percentage of active Church members in the total population than Argentina.

BYULAW said...

Gracie: I have often thought of where might be best to raise my family in the Salt Lake Valley. I cannot speak for everyone that chooses to live in South Jordan, Herriman, Draper, Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain or Lehi, but here are my personal thoughts; my first consideration in choosing where to live is where my children might have a lot of friends their age that will be good influences on their lives, I then considered what home I could afford with the size of family I hoped to have, whether I wanted to remodel or build new, distance from work, and safety of the neighborhood. I think the biggest factor for many is probably the worry about not wanting your kids to fall away from the church and what can reduce that likelihood. I could be wrong though.

Gracie said...

Speaking of demographics and the South Salt Lake Stake in particular: it went from about 75% LDS in 1950 to less than 5% LDS today. When we try to understand stake dissolutions, and church growth, we care about demographics because they explain the big picture of what is happening.

Demographics can be used to draw all of the wrong conclusions though, if we're not careful. Let's be a little more Buddist and say just what we know is true. LDS people are moving to places of strength. The South Salt Lake Stake has been the top baptizing English speaking Stake in the world, if not now then it was just recently. Missionary work is happening here and if I "made the point" that it wasn't, "without knowing it" I want to let you know that that idea is completely false. Just like the early church in Scandinavia, people are joining the church here in large numbers and then leaving the area.

I agree that people choose to live where they live for complicated reasons, and I know that they make it a matter of prayer as well. I just wish our area had less transience and more lasting strength.

Michael Worley said...

My wife and I have wanted to live in inner city Salt Lake; we tried it and found it unworkable for us. We hope others will find it workable and send renewed strength to that area.

Thomas Jay Kemp said...

Is there anything different in the missionary work approach in Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria and other areas with dramatic growth that we could/should better use in other parts of the world?

What are they doing right that perhaps we are not doing as successfully?
Is it transferable?

James Anderson said...

South Salt Lake, and any area between 39th South and 9th South has always been the hottest area for me to give out pass-along cards in Salt Lake County. It still happens elsewhere, but easily 3/4 of the cards I give out are given between those two streets.

Eduardo said...

Transient residents very often turn out to be lower income; not always, of course, many of us move for simple job re-location or finding a bigger/better home.
Jobs and commutes affect our lived in big ways, and perhaps these stake areas have the fewest number of good jobs?

Ryan Searcy said...

Looks like there was a new district created in South Africa the Sunday before last, the George South Africa District, which consists of 2 former mission branches, George and Knysna.

Eduardo said...

Knysna seems a bit like the Arabic word for church, "kinesa",even though there is an extra n in it, there may have been adaptation in the native language, be it Zulu or Xhosa or another ethnic dialect. Regardless, it is good to see the LDS growth, and I find the different linguistic and cultural implications. For example, how many LDS in South Africa are of Indian origin? Could some of them be called as missionaries to the sub continent? Are Indian expatriots more receptive to the Gospel than in India? Do more or a higher percentage of Christian Indians leave Asia than others?
Also, of the Syrians fleeing their homeland, is a higher percentage Christian, like with Iraqi refugees?
What has happened with the Sabateans of Iraq? They believe themselves to be a special line from John the Baptist.

John Pack Lambert said...

I once knew a Church member from South Africa who on meeting her I assumed she was of Indian descent. I later learned she was born in Swaziland, and her father was of primarily if not all Afrikaner descent and her mother was of mixed Swazi and British descent, both of her mother's grandfathers were British and both of her mother's grandmothers were Swazi.

I served in one area on my mission where there was an apartment complex where lots of people got baptized. However those who stayed active almost always moved away. My younger brother told me of a branch in Pocotello that consisted of a mobile home community. When the branch was formed, they hoped to progress it into a ward. However that has not occured because many people as they become more active in the Church gain more financial stability, and one of their first actions on gaining financial stability is to move out of the mobile home community.

My girlfriend lives on the east side of Detroit, in a neighborhood that has high crime stats, just on the line of an area with even higher crime stats, although it has so many blocks of just abandonment it is hard to believe. I know of at least 3 murders that were done within a mile of her house in the last two years, and I think it is more. In one case an 11 year old saw some money on the ground, picked it up, and then the person whose money it was came along, took him in a car and murdered him. There was an amber alert out, and to see it end in death was quite sad.

My girlfriend plans to move out. She is hoping that maybe this will help her youngest daughter not follow her older sisters course of destructive behaviors. When you are surrounded by people who engage in using drugs among other things it is hard.

On the other hand, my high school in the Detroit suburbs had some amount of students using drugs. I had class mates get busted for trying to sell drugs in school. So the problems are not limited to Detroit. However when Warren, a city of 135,000 just north of Detroit with some areas that are considered rough, can go the whole year with 2 murders, while Detroit has about 350 and in some weeks has 10, 8 Mile is still a boundary of something.

My stake has what is called the Personal Storehouse Project, which my impression is a lot like the inner city mission in Salt Lake City area. From talking to one person involved in it I learned that a lot of people helped by it end up moving out of the inner city wards to other areas. I also have to say having heard another person involved in it express fear of visiting members in the unit they are assigned to, which is the one my girlfriend is a member of, in their homes at night, I think we need some less wimpy people raised somewhere other than small towns like Cedar City working in it.

Eduardo said...

I was ward mission leader and branch prez in San Bernardino in the earlier 2000s, where I recall doing day and night visits, daytime being preferable. The city averages approx 50 homicides per year, mostly related to Latino gangs. One of my former students was killed around 2007 (I taught at Pacific HS); he was a gifted athlete and respectful to me. I believe shot at a local mall around 3-4 in the morning,African-American.
Not too far from the terrorist attack last December.
I hope gospel living can help people progress spiritually and financially. That is what it is for.
Maybe first time thinking this: has somebody done Donnell's temple work? Hmmm...

Eduardo said...

Speaking of wimpy, on my mission in Angol, Chile, my small town Idaho companion one night said he did not want to go about 6-8 blocks away because he thought it was too dangerous an area. He got the local member or investigator to take his side and we didn't go that night as it was dark, and I stewed. He got my goat numerous times but who knows? Maybe he saved us, or maybe his misgivings lead to other lazy behaviour. Maybe no big deal.
I know there are parts of rural America where many people of all backgrounds feel uncomfortable.
It can be hard to change peoples' cultures and fears, and sometimes excuses can be exploited for immediate benefits.
I later lived in that same city (Angol) and my wife who had lived in San Berdu, Spain, DC, and Vegas said while living there that she had never felt so peaceful in a place. Town of about 50,000.

James Anderson said...

Most forget that in rural areas, other dangers exist because of nature. Stepping on a rattler that you didn't see is one. One missionary to South America said that in a few areas he was in, you had to be sure your feet were off the floor before turning out the lights, because as soon as you did, the scorpions would come out.

There are areas where you just should not go. Even Preach My Gospel said to put in the area book 'places to avoid' which would mean parts of town known to be dangerous. Members in the unit usually let missionaries know of problem areas.

Nathanial said...

John, I stand corrected. By live(d) in Houston. Point is valid nonetheless. We need missionary work and reactivation efforts to grow the church.

Eduardo said...

All wimpiness considered, I know I myself have been plenty wimpy in a lot of my attempts to be a better member of the faith. Hello kettle, this pot is plenty black.

Has anyone noted the new Viana Branch in Angola? Second district for a vast country; very cool. Hopefully the future will bring the growth in the 5 Portuguese African nations as fast growing as some of the Francophone ones now.

A tale of two places in my home state of Indiana:
In the 1990s I knew some missionaries serving in Indianapolis, a rough part of town with the unit called Eagle Creek, I think. A police squad car drove by, stopping to ask them if they were OK. The Elders said that they had friends and church members to visit in the area, to which the police responded that even they did not spend time in that neighborhood, for their own safety. Maybe that anecdote says more about law enforcement than valiant missionaries, but I have friends that are police and I feel foe the daily threats that they endure. How would we feel if we are regularly pulling our weapons on people and throwing them around instead of vice versa?
In the southern part of Monroe County bordering Lawrence County it is very rural, hilly, backwoodsy, and I do not know of many LDS or ethnic minorities for many miles. Back around 1998 I was driving some members of the Bloomington YSA Branch, including a young convert of the church who was Asian, through the hills and dales south of Lake Monroe. We drove by a sign by a little store in the middle of nowhere that proclaimed "Kinzer's Kountry Korner". Now, while there are a lot of Kinzers living throughout Monroe County, I went to school with a few and a few are known for vehicle racing, the sign to me manifested a bit of a message that had us wondering. And yes, the Klan was once the biggest political movement in Indiana in the early 1900s.
So yes, caution and prudence should be used wherever we are.

Eduardo said...

I meant Viana District which is composed of 3 branches. I wonder how many missionaries are in the country? What about Mozambique? Huge nations.

ND Reynolds said...

Some more church growth in Central WA--the Moses Lake WA stake will be splitting shortly into tow stakes, and we have been told that the Richland, WA stake will soon be getting an ASL Branch.

Unknown said...

Hmm, Moses Lake is my hometown. There has been a lot of speculation of the stake splitting for the long time. However the Stake Presidency was recently changed two weeks ago. If the Moses Lake stake was to split, I would anticipate the Warden 1st ward and 2nd Branch, and the Ritzvile Branch would contribute for making a second stake.


Interestingly in East and Central Washington, for almost every stake there is a 4A or occasionally a 3A high School, sometimes a combination of 2A and with 1A's also have corresponding stakes.

Paul said...

From several reports about the Dahli Lama's visit to Utah earlier this week, there was no mention of him meeting with LDS Church leaders. Could this be connected to not wanting to cause a concern with the Chinese government. Which begs another question concerning when the Church will be officially recognized by China. Any thoughts?

Mike Johnson said...

I can now confirm that the Fredericksburg Virginia Stake is staying in the Virginia Richmond Mission and not being transferred the to the DC South Mission like the Woodbridge Virginia Stake will be on 1 July. This according to the Mission President at the Fredericksburg North Zone zone conference today.

If the DC South Mission is growing by 2 stakes, then the Winchester Virginia Stake (from the Maryland Baltimore Mission) might be a candidate. Or potentially a new stake from a division of 1 or more existing stakes in the DC South Mission.

Two former missionaries in my ward will be serving here tonight--both are now APs.

Eduardo said...

Accidentally erased my comment...try to get the gist: US -Vietnam war under the pretense of fighting Godless Communism but in retrospect...

Eduardo said...

The US was heavily involved in the native struggle for independence and nationalism. I see China in a similiar vein: China is perhaps naturally paranoid about sovereignty and influence. It is hard to say how many millions have died in the perpetual battle between East and West, "Christian imperialism" versus homegrown imperialism". Hard to say when the central govt. can abide more Western freedoms.

Anonymous said...

No idea... but I was intrigued by the recent creation of two new stakes in Hong Kong despite the current ones not being particularly large, and the renaming of all of them from "Hong Kong Such-and-Such Stake" to "Hong Kong China Such-and-Such Stake". Probably not that meaningful, but it intrigued me.

James Anderson said...

I'm thinking the name changes in Hong Kong were simply correcting things to what they should have been renamed to earlier, but with things the way they can go without trying even, it was forgotten about until someone noticed, and they got it fixed this month.

They had renamed the temple 'Hong Kong China' during the renaming of all temples that existed or were announced at the time in the early 2000s, so this is likely nothing more than catch-up ball here.

Gracie said...

Paul, a (non-LDS) leader of the Tibetan community spoke at our Stake Conference just 2 weeks ago, he shared photos of their new center and thanked our stake for the assistance building it. He only briefly mentioned the visit of the Dahli Lama, saying we were invited. I don't know if it helps to clarify things or answer your question; but there wasn't a plan in advance, apparently, for his visit to be more than a visit to the Tibetan people.

Dahli Lama visit video link: http://utahtibetanassociation.org/?p=3052

Gracie said...

Somehow I missed that he was also speaking at U of U again on this trip. I don't know if anyone officially representing the church is purposefully avoiding a meeting with him to avoid offending China.

Gracie said...

"On Wednesday, he plans to meet with a Mormon apostle and visit a new Tibetan cultural center in South Salt Lake." From The Salt Lake Tribune article about the Dahli Lama's visit.

Eduardo said...

Previous enemies of the LDS Church were considered the 3 -isms of Darwinism, Freudianism, and Communism. While China identifies itself as the People's Republic (Marxist) I maintain they are more nationalistic like Vietnam or the rest of the world, with varying degrees of Western type freedoms.
Perhaps these authoritarian regimes are easier to approach than places where jihadi extremists abound.
Vietnam is a huge chapter foward this year, in my opinion. Progress in Hong Kong and Taiwan is huge positive news, too.
It is too bad that the Chinese central authority feels so threatened by internal and external influences.
Other note: did that Missouri LDS guy who swam the lake in Myanmar change the course of history there? One could argue that he did, based on the dream he claimed to have had. I think an interview with him would prove interesting.

John Pack Lambert said...

I am reading a book on Nigeria and came upon a very detailed map of the country clearly showing the states in 1996. I am not sure if any have since been added. I was wondering if there is any way to get a state by state listing of stakes districts and mission branches in Nigeria?

John Pack Lambert said...

At least in the late 1990s the majority of the Nigerian popularion was rural but most LDS Church growth there has been in urban areas. I am not sure if this fully applies to those largely reached before 1978.

John Pack Lambert said...

To understand how truly daunting reaching every nation, kindred, tongue and people is Nigeria has over 200 ethnic groups and over 250 languages.

James Anderson said...

The Dalai Lama's trip to Salt Lake was a rescheduled trip from last year, he had some health problems and had to cut things short, that was about the time of hte big religious conference he was also expected to attend.

These days it's not uncommon for leaders of other religions to meet with members of the Twelve, it has helped a lot in the Church's relations with them and led to an understanding of the similarities and differences between the two.

Ryan Searcy said...

Interesting, it looks like the new Juazeiro do Norte Stake saw 4 of its branches upgraded to wards and saw the creation of a brand new ward.

John Pack Lambert said...

Per this article http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865656752/Church-in-Asia-turns-milestones-into-building-blocks.html posted today online in the Church News there will be 17 stakes in Taiwan by the end of the month. The Church has gone from 21 to 35 stakes in the Asia Area in the last 2 years. That still means there are about as many stakes in the Asia Area as in Nigeria. Nigeria has a little under 0.2 billion people, The Asia area probably has over 3 billion residents easy.

Hopefully we will see stakes organized in Pakistan and Malaysia this year. Also hopefully Myanmar and Vietnam will see much progress for the Church this year. I am also hoping the Church is able to open up a few more cities in India, especially northern India where esseitially only New Delhi and Kolkata have LDS branches, this year.

Ryan Searcy said...

Found an article from a Fairbanks (Alaska) newspaper from last year saying land was secured for a new stake center in Fairbanks. It would be nearly a block away from the Institute building up there. The stake president (quoted in the article) said they didn't quite have the local membership (at the time the article was written) to justify a new building, but they were close (they were short 100 local members). When built, it will be the 4th chapel in the Fairbanks area, and probably the largest chapel in the north (they said the design would be like the Arctic Stake Center found in Anchorage, which is a very large chapel).

John Pack Lambert said...

The Roman Catholic Church has about 70 million members in the US, so roughly 10 times that of Latter-day Saints. Yet there are only 195 Roman Catholic diocese in the US. This is only about a third the number of stakes just in Utah. This illustrates one reason comparisons of stakes to diocese is unwise. There are parishes with more members than most if not all stakes.

Catholic Dioceses are at the same time much less changed. They have a huge variation in size. The Diocese in American Samoa has about 5,000 Catholics, while there are several in the US with millions. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has 4.3 million Catholics. The last new Catholic diocese formed in the US was the Laredo Diocese formed in 2000. Before that it was the Las Vegas Diocese formed in 1995 and before that it is 1988 when diocese were formed in Lexington, Kentucky and Knoxville Tennessee. In 1987 there was a diocese formed in Tyler, Texas and you start getting more frequent going back from there. As far as I can tell there have only been two cases where Catholic dioceses were truly disolved in the US, the DIocese of Alleghanny in Pennsylvania in 1889 and the Diocese of Walla Walla in 1853.

John Pack Lambert said...

On cities that could be opened in northern India, Lucknow has a population of 3 million.

Ryan Searcy said...

I know this isn't really the place for political posts, but I was wondering about what people thought about the United Kingdom leaving the European Union.

I don't really have a stance on this (it's not really something I should feel as important because I'm not from there), but I understand some implications that may arise from this.

First, economic: I have read some posts that say this separation could cause some economic hardship for both the UK and the EU members.

Second, states: I have also read that Scotland might have another go at independence (because they wanted to stay in the EU), but Northern Ireland as well (who also wanted to stay).

I wonder what effects these may have on the Church. The stakes in the UK are already state-named and not country named, so it wouldn't really matter. The Paris France Temple will be finished soon, so it shouldn't have a significant effect on the Lille France Stake which is presently assigned to London. The Church also has a great stance on self-reliance and food storage, as well as budgeting and financial management.

I guess I am just ranting, but what do you guys think about possible challenges or opportunities that may arise from this.

Eduardo said...

An English born sister in my ward was in favor of leaving the EU. Hopefully church wise it helps...
We shall see. Economics may benefit and put people ahead, which could benefit more Saints...

Eduardo said...

Also, I need to review which 28 members are are left or so, but this could encourage the EU to expand into smaller non-member countries, like Montenegro, maybe the huge Ukraine and a few former Soviet nations like Armenia and Georgia, which could expedite globalization which generally favors our faith, in my opinion.

More openness leads to membership movement and missionary traffic and placement. More freedom, more access for our elders and sisters is the way I see it.

How many Indian cities with more than 500,000 people have no LDS units?

John Pack Lambert said...

I am thinking Brix will make missionary work more difficult. There are places such as Greece that the church is only able to send missionaries due to EU openess rules. If Brix leads to wider fracturing of the EU it will have more negative effects.

John Pack Lambert said...

Ahmenabad with over 5 million people and Surat with 4 million people both lack any branches. I knew someone at BYU from Ahmenabad but do not remember if he was a member. Varanasi with over 3 and a half million people and Kanpur with just under 3 million lack any units. I believe the same is true of Thane with just under 2 million people. Uttar Pradesh where the Church has no branches has a population of 200 million about two thirds the US population. Patna with 1.6 million also lacks any branches. One or two more of the top 20 cities may as well. The list I found has no cities on it smaller than Patna so I have no clje how many more over 500 thousand lack LDS presence. However probably half the states of India do. For example the Church has made no efforts to reach north east India with states like Mizoram and Nagaland that are over 80% Christian. The population is low compared to other parts of India but considering how much success the Church has had in Polynesia and East Malaysia I think north-east India is a place worth sending missionaries to.

Dave said...

Brexit is a positive in most ways as it signifies a revolt against bureaucratic overreach on the continent. Britain will have the flexibility to solve their own problems, and the trade agreements abrogated as a result of British withdrawal from The European Union will be renegotiated, and probably to Britain's benefit. It will also strengthen our alliance with Britain, which has always been somewhat torn between Europe and America in terms of allegiance. Now it will shift more to America.

How this will affect the church is more difficult to assess, but it should be a minimal impact. Europe isn't exactly one of our centers of strength in the first place, but it might be beneficial in England since the U.S. IS, and they will look even more to us in the future.

John Pack Lambert said...

I have to say I would have voted for Brexit. I would no want to be under a powerful multi-national government that is not really run as a Democracy and includes France that violates basic human right by banning the public wearing of hijab. I have to admit I also disagee with Britain having an established Church even if those not in the Church suffer few disabilities. I believe Catholics are still banned from the line of succession. Still the EU is an unworkable mess. It is not an integrated country but still has too much power.

Bryan Dorman said...

A district is going to be created in San Salvador El Seco. It will include Tlachichuca, Grajales, Libres, Citlatepezl, Serdan, and Tecamachalco.

Considering this I believe a resteucturing is in order for Puebla. I dont have the timing yet but it will be very soon (area approval received). Grajales and Tlachichuca are groups.

Ryan Searcy said...

I can only find 4 of the congregations you listed.

Citlaltepeti Branch [Puebla Amalucan]
Libres Ward [Puebla Fuertes]
Serdan Ward [Puebla Amalucan]
Tecamachalco Branch [Tehuacan]

I don't see any nearby congregations named Grajales or Tlachichuca. Maybe they will be new branches?

Bryan Dorman said...

They are groups right now. Grajales is under Libres, and Tlachichuca is under Serdan.

John Pack Lambert said...

I actually would argue that Europe is a place where the LDS Church is fairly strong. It is not growing nearly as much there as we would wish, and it is thought of as a foreign Church in many countries, but considering the number of general authorities from Europe, the number of temples there, and the number of stakes the Church seems to be well and deeply built.

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

Europe has some countries that have long histories with the faith while others are still breaking in on the ground floor. With the creation of French and Italian temples there is evidence of stability, while there are new countries like Montenegro where the first missionaries are still operating. Migration of outsiders is a constant source of new contacts, which probably has reachback to Latin, African, and Asian nations.
With the Brexit may come a unified Ireland and an independent Scotland, which might see increased church relations with those governments, maybe better interaction to promote LDS causes.

John Pack Lambert said...

Some Members of Parliament are calling for Brexit to be ignored as a non-binding referendum. Things may well get interesting for sure.

John Pack Lambert said...

Some Members of Parliament are calling for Brexit to be ignored as a non-binding referendum. Things may well get interesting for sure.

Eduardo said...

Many people bemoan the alleged intrusion of religion into public life or the political sphere, but I think it is compelling to analyze it the other way. Through the centuries how many governments and powerful authorities imposed their influence on peoples of faith?
Herod certainly did on early Christianity, as did the Sanhedrin.
Constantine and Nero, Lenin and Stalin, today's Chinese or Russians or Iranians...
The US president known for failing Joseph Smith was Martin Van Buren.
Heads of state and lower officials will have an interesting rendering when it comes to their dealings with religious people and movements.
The Dalai Lama (rimpoche) is a hugely famous case the last half century, but there are millions of other cases of people of belief affected by their leaders, like Shia in Bahrain or Saudi.
I think people tend to be kinder and more accepting in person, like Saddam with Christian contacts, while his regime might have had a tougher stand on non-Sunni Muslims.
Language and varying cultures can be tricky, like the Sunni Kurds across their lands, but perhaps political changes can indeed foward progress of postures towards LDS freedoms and others.
I think of the break up of the former Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union as positive steps toward the expansion of Zion, as well as the envelopement of Hong Kong.

soc. man I am ---------------- said...

The New Idaho Falls Mission boundaries are now available. Basically the Pocatello mission was cut in half and small piece of the old Twin Falls mission was taken as well.

The Twin falls mission was sucked into the Boise Mission. All the Meridian Stakes were moved over the the Nampa Mission.

Adam said...

Got to listen to Robert Heyn who is on the General Young Men Board. He said that while mission president in the Mexico Tijuana Mission, they had a rule that you have to attend church at least 5 times before being baptized, and made it sound like it was a Mexico area rule. I had only heard of the Philippines having such a rule.

Unknown said...

I really wish that rule requiring attendance five times was Churchwide. It does not seem too much to ask before the convert and the Church make lifetime commitments to each other.

Unknown said...

ND Reynolds

What was your source on the Moses Lake Washington Stake being split? I asked my parents about it, and they said there was a rumor, but there has been nothing official, my father would be likely to hear something too, seeing as he is one of the clerks in their ward.

John Pack Lambert said...

In my mission the rule was one time to church before baptism which I think was too low. I am not sure what a good minimum is but I think at least 2 weeks in a row. I remember one case of someone back in the YSA ward who may have come 5 times for baptism but that was over several months. She kept on missing because of a friend getting married and all the buildup activities. She only came maybe once after baptism. Another issue is should attendance at sacrament meeting be enough or should people have to go to the whole 3 hours of meetings before baptism? I have to admit I favor the later. Too much delay in baptism is not good but I have seen too many cases of rushed baptisms especially of people who will not socially fit in. The reasons for this are probably existent on both sides but we need more focus on getting people to the temple and that is not helped by quick baptize and move on plans that give missionaries high numbers but leave wards overwlemed and people not having a clue who was baptized. I can say that in our ward we baptized 5 people last November who still regularly attend which I can also say for those baptized this year. They all came at least 5 times before baptism.

Bryan Dorman said...

The five times rule is indeed a Mexico area practice.

That was made to ensure retention

James Anderson said...

It's not only the area, but even Preach My Gospel, in the chapter on the baptismal interview, mentions that for a convert to be baptized, they should be either attending consistently or have attended at least 'a few times'. So the Mexico Area is following that and also providing a specific as well.

Some converts may take longer to hit that target, due to work schedules, an unexpected illness, etc., but it's not a hard goal to reacy.

John Pack Lambert said...

Unlike LDS stakes, which are all relatively the same size (at least when we run comparisons) Catholic Dioceses have huge variations in numbers of Catholics in them. The Archdiocese of Mexico (based in Mexico City) has 7.3 million Catholics in 456 parishes. On the other extreme the Archdiocese of Tangier has 2,500 Catholics.

Any word on new stakes this weekend?

John Pack Lambert said...

What is the current minimum number of members to create a new stake in the US? I ask because I came across the June 30, 1962 article on the creation of the Wichita Kansas Stake from the Deseret News. In the article the listed number of members of the new stake is 2,112. The new stake president had been district president, and the first counselor had been 1st counselor in the Mission Presidency. The 2nd counselor is said to have been "serving as chairman of the mission board." I am not sure what exactly that position entailed. The stake president was a lawyer, and a native of Kansas. The first counselor was a native of Morgan, Utah, and the second counselor was a native of St. John, Kansas who was a BYU grad and his wife also a native of St. John, Kansas. St. John, Kansas was founded under the name of Zion Valley by William Bickerton, who lead a group that broke off from Sydney Rigdon. In the late 19th-century the LDS Church made significant progress in bringing the Bickertonites in St. John into the LDS Church, and actually for a time the Central States Mission was headquartered in St. John, Kansas before the headquarters were moved to Indepedence, Missouri.

Mike Johnson said...

In North America, it requires 3000 members, a requirement of the past 5-6 years. Before that it was 2500 members. And in the mid-1990s it was 2000.

Other requirements are at least five wards (or I guess equivalents in branches as I have seen stakes formed with 4 wards and 2 branches) and at least 24 active full-tithe-paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders (in addition to those required for the wards--15 per ward and 4-6 per branch in a stake).

Joseph said...

8 May
Apete Ward, Ibadan Nigeria Stake (B:1, W:10)

29 May
Três Pontas Branch, Três Corações Brazil District (B:9)

4 Jun
Amuzi Branch, Mbaise Nigeria District (B:5)

12 Jun 2016
George South Africa District (B:2)
George Branch
Knysna Branch

Viana Angola District (B:3)
Terra Nova Branch
Viana Branch
Zango Branch

Iyana Ipaja Ward, Lagos Nigeria Agege Stake (B:1, W:8)
Tiradentes Ward, Juazeiro do Norte Brazil Stake (B:2, W:5)

19 June
Spokane Washington Mount Spokane Stake, (B:1, W:5)
Friendship Park Branch (Marshallese)
Beacon Hill Ward
Foothills Ward
Greenbluff Ward
Shiloh Hills Ward
West Valley Ward

Heatherwilde Ward, Austin Texas Stake (B:1, W:9)
Padre Bernardo Branch , Brasília Brazil Ceilândia Stake (B:1, W:5)
Palmeraie Ward, Cocody Cote d'Ivoire Stake (W:13)
Saratoga Springs SA 11th Ward, Saratoga Springs Utah Crossroads Stake (W:7)
Spanish Springs Ward, Sparks Nevada East Stake (W:7)
Vintage Hills Ward, Vintage Hills Ward (B:1, W:6)

23 Jun
Whitestone Ward, Cedar Park Texas Stake (B:1, W:6)

26 Jun
Crooked River Ward, Far West Missouri Stake (B:4, W:7)
Highland Ward, Sparks Nevada West Stake (B:1, W:7)
Pedra Badejo Branch, Assomada Cape Verde District (B:7)
Taylorsville 11th Ward (Portuguese), Taylorsville Utah South Stake (W:7)\
Telêmaco Borba Branch, Brazil Curitiba Mission (B:2, S:8)
Vista Alegre 2nd Ward, Arraiján Panamá Stake (W:7)

YTD 371(14.27/week*26) = +22 Total 34,425(+4) (Net 212 59%)
=====YTD == % of YTD Chng Total
Africa =112====30.2% (+6) 1881 (+6)
Asia ===7 ==== 1.9% (0)== 939 (0)
Am C =27 ==== 7.3% (+2)= 3940 (+1)
Am N =120 ==== 32.3% (+7)= 9392 (+6)
Am S =25 ==== 6.7% (+4)= 6331 (-2)
Europe 9 ===== 2.4% (+1)== 1712 (+1)
Pacific 23 ==== 6.2% (0)= 2749 (+1)
U&I 48(36) 12.9(9.7)% (+2)= 6939(5723)(-1)

Totals no-sensitive (Net +10)
====Areas -Temples ===Miss Stakes Dist =Wards Branch Totals
Global-- 25 ==== 150 ===419 =3,222 =544 22,739 =7,347 34,446
Us/Can 10 ===== 82 ===131 =1,620 ==10 12,645 =2,053 16,551
US ----- n/a ===== 74 ===124 =1,572 ===7 12,306 =1,903 15,986
Utah---- n/a ===== 16 ====10 ==580 ===1 =4,719 ===329 =5,655
Canada n/a ====== 8 =====7 ===48 ===3 ===339 ===150 ==555
Out------- 15 ===== 68 ===288 =1,602 =534 10,094 =5,294 17,895

Eduardo said...

We just had the Ashburn stake conference and no word on any new stakes. The only major change I know of was Woodbridge Stake being switched to DC South Mission from the Richmond Mission.

ND Reynolds said...

As far as the Moses Lake stake, I have a relative who is married to a general authority and was up in the area recently to help facilitate this.

Unknown said...

ND Reynolds

That is very interesting, talk of the stake splitting has been a rumor for the last several years now, especially when stake conference comes around. There was anticipation that the next building built in the area would be an institute building near the local community collage, if it is the cause that a new stake is coming along that plan will be altered.

John Pack Lambert said...

The Cocody Ivory Coast stake looks like it should be able to split this year. I think the Vintage Hills Ward listing has a mistake, because I assume that there is a stake of a different name there.

Nigeria also seems to be looking up. Ibadan might well be able to get a second stake this year as well. Ibadan has 3.5 million people and is the third most populous city in Nigeria. Back in 1960 Ibadan had more people than Kano or Lagos, and was only behind Johannesburg and Cairo in all of Africa.

Ibadan has a majority Muslim population, but there is a lot more tolerance of Christianity than incentral-Nigerian cities like Jos. This is partly because the vast majority of the population in Ibadan, both Christian and Muslim, identify as Yoruba, while in Jos Muslims and Christians tend to come from different ethnic groups. Since the Muslims in Ibadan and other parts of Yorubaland do not have an ethno-religious identify as Muslims of aspecific ethnic group seen as all Muslim, I am guessing the social pressures against their conversion to Christianity is lower.

If Ibadan does see its stake split, this will make it seem more likely that Lagos will get a temple.

Unknown said...

Cote D'Ivoire just keeps growing. Another branch, and a district reported today on LDSChurchtemples.com.

Anonymous said...

How do I pronounce Cote D'Ivoire correctly?

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

"Koht dee-vwahr"
Or
"Coat djeeve wahr"
It's French, so it's weird.

Type it into Google Translate and you can hear how it's supposed to sound.

Gnesileah said...

Pronounced like "koht DEE-vwahr".

In 1986, the Ivorian government requested the international community to use the French name for the country, Côte d'Ivoire, rather than Ivory Coast or translations into other languages. I understand they are pretty firm in being referred to only by the French name. That is why I am surprised that the Church is currently calling the new temple to be built there the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple, even though our missions and stakes there all use Côte d'Ivoire in their names. I anticipate that the temple name will be updated before the temple is constructed and dedicated.

Michael said...

Weird? Weird as English? Haha French has very standard pronunciation if one takes the time to learn the language and know the rules. But try explaining the difference between the "-ough" in the words "though", "through", "tough" to a non-English speaker :) I'm not trying to castigate anyone; I just find it funny when people (English-speakers especially) say that French is "weird"

Eduardo said...

Coat-deh-voah. The r at the end is more silent and the d with the apostrophe after it is pronounced as a contraction.
I am no expert in French pronunciation. Plug it into Google Translate and hit the sound link.

mrcuff said...

I liked it better when we called it Ivory Coast. We don't call Japan by its Japanese name. And we don't call Germany by its German name.

James Anderson said...

Both the English and French names for 'Ivory Coast' are used on social media, although most of the postings are in French.

John Pack Lambert said...

I always call it Ivory Coast and probably always will.

John Pack Lambert said...

This week the Church News has this article http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865657199/Pioneer-member-has-witnesses-Church-growth-in-Fiji-miracles-have-happened-she-says.html about a sister in Fiji who was present when David O. McKay dedicated the first chapel in Fiji in 1958. His first visit to Fiji had been in January 1954, when there were 28 members in Fiji and four months after missionaries first arrived.

Eduardo said...

In Spanish it is Costa Marfil, in Arabic maybe Sahil Al-Eaj. Don't ask me what it is in Chinese...
But you could probably get 100 through Google translate.
French speakers have been battling the globalized power English, which shows no sign of diminishing.
"Language of the Restoration" as put by a General Authority in Chile in 1990. Not taken the best by some native Chileans, I noted. There were more to those comments ad well, but for another time.
I hope more French speakers feel comfortable with the doctrine of the Restoration.

Eduardo said...

Nippon undt Deutchland, das ist heirlich!

Mike Johnson said...

Nobody calls Deutschland Deutschland.

Germania (many Latin-based languages)
Allemagne (French)
Saksa (Finnish)
Tyksland (Swedish, Norwegian, Danish))
Niemcy (Poland)
Németország (Hungary)

The Dutch are the closest: Duitsland

Eduardo said...

The Deutchen (Germans) don't refer to their own country as Deutchland? What to they call it, if not? By nobody do you mean non-German speakers? What do they use, then?
I was able to attend an LDS group with 3 Germans. They were great.

Mike Johnson said...

Nobody outside of Germany.

Eduardo said...

I guess I left out the s in Deutsch. Plus Austria, Zurich, and a few Amish and Yiddish around the world.
Anybody else interested in the Amish converts this past year?

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

What happened with the Amish?

Eduardo said...

About 3 families joined in an Ohio community and they were treated as outcasts but apparently they are remaining faithful LDS. Some Sisters shared the lessons with them and they gained testimonies of the Book of Mormon.
Amish are growing nationwide and are expanding into places like Kentucky, Kansas, and Canada.
As they move west perhaps they will have increased contact with LDS.

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

Glad to hear it. My mission was in Kentucky and Indiana.

Eduardo said...

Cool. Vincennes was probably in your mission, where a friend started in the Louisville mission. Not too far from Daviess County has a good share of Amish and Mennonites. Not sure about Church of the Brethren.

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

Vincennes was in my mission. A friend of mine served in that town. I heard a lot about the Amish and Mennonites in Southern Indiana and parts of Kentucky, but I was Spanish speaking, so I had hardly any contact with them.

Eduardo said...

My friend finished there Spanish speaking, last name Hyde around '97.
Most of the stake growth in Indiana has been in the central part of the state. We tried teaching a Mennonite in Bloomington back around 1992. Nice guy and friendly relationship but no notable progress towards conversion back then.

Eduardo said...

My friend finished there Spanish speaking, last name Hyde around '97.
Most of the stake growth in Indiana has been in the central part of the state. We tried teaching a Mennonite in Bloomington back around 1992. Nice guy and friendly relationship but no notable progress towards conversion back then.

Eduardo said...

Cool. Vincennes was probably in your mission, where a friend started in the Louisville mission. Not too far from Daviess County has a good share of Amish and Mennonites. Not sure about Church of the Brethren.

David Todd said...

I served my mission in Michigan and northern Indiana. I had lots of Amish and Mennonites in my areas, especially in and around shipshewana Indiana. I taught some former Amish families, but no practicing Amish. The missionaries serving before I got there taught an Amish family, but the family asked them to stop coming back because they were afraid that they would be shunned by their community.

David Todd said...

I served my mission in Michigan and northern Indiana. I had lots of Amish and Mennonites in my areas, especially in and around shipshewana Indiana. I taught some former Amish families, but no practicing Amish. The missionaries serving before I got there taught an Amish family, but the family asked them to stop coming back because they were afraid that they would be shunned by their community.

John Pack Lambert said...

In my mission in Las Vegas I was in an area where the Sunday before I got there a sister had been baptized whose grandparents had been Amish and who grew up in a fairly Amish area of eastern Ohio.

When I was in the YSA Ward in the Ann Arbor Stake one of the brothers in the ward was a convert who had grandparents in a conservative German type Church where they had men and women sit seperately during service, although I think he had actually been raised Catholic.

Unknown said...

I became LDS after visiting the homes/farms of my relatives in the Goshen, IN area. They are the ancestors with whom I share the most in common. Now I perform temple work for them. Also have lots of family in the Lancaster PA and as someone mentioned NE Ohio area.

Craig said...

Someone asked whether all states in Brazil have stakes. All but one of Brazil's 26 states now have stakes. The state of Roraima, has only one district in the state capital. Boa Vista District is part of the Brazil Manaus Mission. Roraima is in the Amazon Jungle and borders Venezuela and Guyana.

Roraima is one of Brazil's three newest states, created in 1988 in the Brazil's North region, along with Amapa and Tocontins. Roraima and Amapa had previously been territories. Tocontins was created by a division of Goias state in Brazil's Central West region.

John Pack Lambert said...

Roraima has just under 500,000 people so it is about 100,000 less than Wyoming. Boa Vista has just under 300,000 people. The district there has existed since 1995.

Eduardo said...

As far as I know Amish are concentrated in 3 parts of the Hoosier state, two already mentioned above; however, as I noted previously Amish (and maybe Mennonites and Church of Brethren?) are currently expanding into newer places, mostly agricultural--but non-tradional areas of Amish communities.
I have only heard of that one LDS conversion of those 3 in Ohio, and they have been shunned.
I had a friend from Goshen who investigated briefly, was Mennonite.

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

Speaking of Mennonite expansion, when I was a teenager in Montana we had a group of Mennonites visit us. My dad was an antique farm equipment mechanic and the group had come out west to the dryer climate to find some equipment that was less rusty than what they could find in the more humid eastern climates. They showed up at our house in a very large RV, but they were all dressed in the traditional garb. I didn't catch exactly where they were from, but I now assume it was the Midwest. Not sure if they decided to stay up in Montana or head home.

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
James G. Stokes said...

I have once again revisited my list of locations that may soon have a temple announced. In doing so, I have looked at the comments on other similar posts, have done better research, and really got my list fine-tuned. I would appreciate any feedback. Please visit the link below and, if you feel so inclined, leave a comment letting me know what you think.
http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2016/07/4th-edition-of-cities-that-are-most.html

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