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Monday, January 23, 2017
Updates to LDS International Atlas - Number of Active Members
Within recent months, we have begun updating the ward and branch maps on the LDS International Atlas for cumorah.com. More specifically, these updates include new data regarding the number of active members that attend church in individual congregations as reported by returned missionaries or local members. Within the past several years, we have gathered member activity data on approximately 5,000 to 6,000 wards and branches worldwide - most of which are located outside of the United States. Although we currently have data for 25% of congregations or less in most countries, this project has focused on increasing the awareness of member activity rates worldwide. The date of sacrament meeting attendance is also provided to active membership figures. Thus far, we have made updates to the wards and branch maps for the following countries:
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An additional ward was just formed in one of the branches in the Republic of Congo.
Also, another two branches for Vietnam. That's now six in the country, plus the district branch.
Still getting used to Czechia. "Checkia?" Reminds me of Chechnya, where I doubt there is much LDS growth.
Do we know the status of the faith in any of the 89 or so autonomous republics within Russia?
Another comment comes to mind: with millions of displaced Muslims seeking refuge around the world in 2017, along with healthy numbers of Christians and others, perhaps Yazidi and Shabak and others, it makes me wonder if some of them will be exposed to LDS missionaries and peoples for the first time. Like in times of the Book of Mormon and the Bible, thousands of families under duress are forced to be extremely humble and hopefully after all the sorrow and pain will grow closer to God. Some see it as a sign of the opposite.
From what I can tell, the 2 new branches, Long Bien and Ha Dong are both suburbs of Hanoi.
Eduardo, including Crimea there are 22 republics in Russia. "Autonomous Republic" is a term from Soviet days.
The 85 "federal subjects" include:
22 republics, 9 krais, 46 oblasts, 1 autonomous oblast, 4 autonomous okrugs, and 3 federal cities.
Republics have constitutions. There were headed by presidents, but now by governors. These have an ethnic as a significant part of the population. Most are Turkic, some are Uralic, same Caucassus, and a few Mongolian.
The krais (often translated territory) historically had more authority than the oblast (and usually had oblasts subordinate to them). Today, it is a fairly meaningless difference with oblasts.
Oblasts and Krais have charters and not constitutions. This is perhaps not much of a distinction today.
The autonomous oblast was set up in Siberia for Jews.
While there are 10 autonomous okrugs (known as national okrugs in Soviet days), only four have rights to send representatives to the Russian parliament and senate. The other 6 are subjects of the krais and oblasts. These generally have very large territories and low population densities.
The Akampa Nigeria District just got an 8th branch plus the district branch. I am hoping it is made a stake soon. It is one of 3 districts in the Nigeria Calabar Mission.
On the other hand I wonder if Ho Chi Minh City will get its own district soon. It would seem with 3 branches in Hanoi and 3 in Ho Chi Minh City there are two bases to form a district, and the current district seems unreasonably large in area.
So out of those 85 subjects, give or take four, how many do have LDS units in Russia? What is up with Transnitria?
Transnistria is an unrecognized republic in Eastern Moldova that wants to be independent from Moldova and possibly join Ukraine. It is a thin strip of land that goes from the Dniester River to the Moldova-Ukraine border.
My LDS Library app has a Book of Mormon in Nepali on it. I have been busy with exams. Did you already discuss this? About 3 weeks ago we had the Full-time Nepali speaking elders over for dinner and I asked whatever happened with the release of the Book of Mormon in Nepali. They said one of them, but not the other had been able to read a bit if it, but the font had caused a delay in printing. They said the digital copy would be up this month; and it is, if you don't recognize it it's the one with horizontal lines through the whole length of the words. They said the print copy would shortly follow, not this month but within a couple months if I remember right.
@Eduardo
I previously read an article about Muslim refugees from Syria converting to Christianity in Germany.
I can only imagine that it's a matter of time before many of them come into contact with the LDS Church and LDS missionaries as well.
Here are some articles I found on the subject:
http://www.ibtimes.com/muslim-refugees-germany-convert-islam-christianity-asylum-2457936
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/muslim-refugees-converting-to-christianity-in-germany-crisis-asylum-seekers-migrants-iran-a7466611.html
That is wonderful news Gracie! I know that the Nepali translation of the Book of Mormon has been going on for a number of years. Do you have a way you could put a link to the LDS Library app as a comment? I tried to access it with my phone, but I did not see Nepali listened under the languages supported with the app.
So I infer from your answer that Transnitria has no LDS units. Does anyone else know for sure? I come here to see if anybody knows about the LDS aspects of growth in the world; Wikipedia does not do that great a job, n'est pas?
Of the 22 Soviet Republics - which ones have LDS units?
Matt,
http://imgur.com/RHSjD99
I have Gospel Library version 3.2.14.0, which still lists the language options in the foreign type; I called the Gospel Library the wrong thing in my first post. I asked one of my siblings if he could see the Nepali language option and saw that his 4.0 version lists all languages in English. He can't see Nepali as an option. He said not to upgrade, as a sidenote. My husband's language option list looks the same as mine; the screenshot uploaded to Imgur above shows what I see in my language selection, compared to a Wikipedia image of one of the few names for the Nepali language showing one above the other. This, because I'm starting to doubt that what I'm seeing is Nepali if others don't see it, but it looks close to me. I should call the Nepali Elders and just ask them what they know about the status of it. They were expecting it to be digitally available this month.
Gracie, great news about the Nepali Book of Mormon. Thanks for the link.
Eduardo, I have done the research, and it appears that that nation has no notable Church presence. I agree with you that Wikipedia doesn't do justice to Church growth developments, and I can attest to the truthfulness of that point. This is primarily because, as I have previously indicated, Wikipedia is not concerned so much regarding what is true vs. what can be proven of verified by "reliable sources." The constant dilemma I have faced in my 10 years editing there is that many things are accepted as true simply because they can be verified by sources that have been deemed to be reliable by consensus. This means that many things that are accepted as "truth" by Latter-day Saints are misconstrued, misrepresented, and even disregarded simply because the sources that the consensus has deemed reliable verify the opposite view to that taken by Latter-day Saints. Many times, to keep the peace, I have had to accept the fact that verifiability and truth are two very vastly different things. And as a Wikipedian who is a Latter-day Saint, I have had my neutrality questioned more than once. There have been several times I have had to put aside what I know to be true in favor of what has been proven by sources that other people have deemed to be reliable, even if that content is objectionable to me on religious grounds. That is one of the many reasons I do like posting here, while I have greatly reduced my edits on Wikipedia. Here my views are respected and (in most cases) shared. And here I can openly share my testimony without someone questioning whether or not I can verify what I know to be true. That said, I still enjoy Wikipedia when I can, but it has not been my priority of late.
MainTour, of the 22 Republics that comprise the Soviet Union, the Church units therein break down thusly: Armenia has 1 mission and 1 district (comprised of 11 branches); no Church units are reported in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, or Transnistria; Belarus has 4 congregations; Estonia has 1 district (comprised of 4 branches); Georgia has 1 operating branch; Kazakhstan has 2 operating branches; Latvia and Lithuania have 1 district each (each of which is comprised of 5 branches); Moldova has 1 district (comprised of 4 branches); Russia has 7 missions, 3 stakes; 10 districts; 17 wards; and 83 branches; Turkmenistan has 1 branch; Ukraine has 1 temple; 3 missions; 1 stake; 5 districts; 7 wards; and 43 branches. Sorry for the details, which may have been more numbers than you wanted. I guess the short answer to your question would be that all but 4 have Church units. I had to do a little digging to get these details, but it wasn't too bad. Does that answer your question?
Also, just a curiosity question. I was just noticing on the home page of this blog that Matt has listed that Henderson Nevada's 7th stake was created almost two weeks ago. However, no confirmation appears to have been given for that, and an overview on all available sources yields the conclusion that the last confirmed stake created in Nevada is that of the Las Vegas Nevada Blue Diamond Stake, one week before the above-mentioned stake was supposed to have been created in Henderson. Anyone know what might be going on there? Just curious. I also see that Matt has felt confident enough to list the potential stake creation mentioned in a previous thread as happening on March 18 for Manga Mozambique. That is awesome! I love following Church growth as reported on every source.
For what it may be worth to anyone, I have done several blog posts recently of which I am particularly proud: one today in honor of Elder D. Todd Christofferson's 72nd birthday, and one on the latest apostolic age statistics. There have also been a couple of temple construction progress reports recently that show significant developments. Feel free to check any of them out and to let me know what you think. Thanks.
http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com
The Elders will get back to me after they talk to the translator. They'll let me know when it's put up if that's not it. Some simple phrases come back as a perfect match from Google Translate using English to Nepali. But, I've been trying to figure it out, so I just learned that written Hindi is intelligible to readers of Nepali. I can translate blocks of this text using either Hindi or Nepali settings in Google Translate. So, where earlier I was wondering: "if a language is this close to Nepali, but isn't, what language is so similar probably has a larger population?" Hindi. Plenty of population. This is probably the Hindi copy; but the good news is, after all this, the Nepali Elders are going to keep me posted.
The 22 republics referred to in the question of units for Russia range from Sakha (huge in area in Siberia) to Crimea, a place by the Black Sea that has gone through a recent conflict as ethnic Russians have left their former Ukrainian status. Many of the republics are ethically Muslim, while at least one Buddhist (Buryat?) and another Jewish.
The former SSRs until the 1990s are now mostly independent nations, like the Caucasus ones by Turkey or the Stans bordering Iran and Afghanistan, or China.
Also, how many administrative units in Vietnam? (Like states or provinces).
Transnistria has no units however there are a few members living in the main city Tirasapol and a few who from there who converted in Chisinau. There are 4 branches in Moldova Balti (Russian), Orhei (Romanian), Chisinau Russian, Chisinau Romanian. There are over 700 members of record in Moldova. Traditionally most of Moldova was a Romanian Kingdom with the redrawing of the maps after each World War parts were carved out and other parts added. Transnistria has been occupied by the Russians since the early 90's after they struggled to break away from the Republic of Moldova following the collapse of the Soviet Union. They have little chance of survival as an independent nation but the Russians don't want to give up this strategic piece of land as it prevents the Republic of Moldova from either reuniting with Romania or joining the EU independently.
Also Moldova is part of the Churches Europe Area as it has more ties to Romania than to its Eastern Europe neighbors like Bulgaria and Ukraine.
Moldova does not border Bulgaria. It only borders Romania and Ukraine.
Prior to 1812 what is today Moldova (well west of the Dnitre River or however you spell it, Tranistria was part of the Russian Empire earlier) was part of the Principality of Moldavia and thus under the Ottoman Empire. The area it is in, called Bessarabia, was made part of the Russian Empire (as was the area where Odessa is, which had also been under Ottoman control. This area was known as Bessarabia and remained under the control of the Russian Empire until World War I. In the interim the rest of Moldavia was unified with Wallachia to form Romania.
After World War I Romania got Bessarabia. It also got Transylvania, part of the Banata, and Dobruja. The Soviet Union did create its first Moldova, entirely east of the Dnister River, taking in parts of what is now Ukraine. With the annexation of what had been Bessarabia from Romania in 1940, the modern boundaries of Moldova were formed.
James the question was not about the nations that once comprised the Soviet Union. It was about the 22 Republics that are sub-units of the nation of Russia. These include Adygea, Altai, Bashkortostan, Buryatia, Dagestan, Ingusetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkassia, Karelia, Komi, Mari El, Mordovia, Sakha, North Ossetia-Alania, Tatarstan, Tuva, Udmurtia, Khakassia, Chechnya, Chuvashia and Crimea.
I know the LDS Church has a district in Crimea. I know the Church has at least one unit in Vyborg, which I am thinking is in Karelia, which is near Finland.
Considering the success the Church has had in Mongolia, I would think Buryatia would be a good place to send missionaries. It will take more investigation to answer about any of the places for certain.
Kalmykia, to the west of Astrakhan, is also heavily Buddhist, it is the only Buddhist area in Europe. The Kalmyk people are a Mongol people who relocated to that area after Astrakhan came under Russian control in the 17th-century (I think it was 17th and not 16th).
The population of Tuva is 61% Buddhist. Another almost 10% practice Tengrism, which is a central Asian Shamanistic religion. Only 2.5% is Christian. Pretty much everything else is either undeclared, atheist or non-religious or "spiritual but not religious". Tuva has 307,000 people. They practice throat singing there, a method of singing where you make more than one note at once. 109,000 of the people live in the capital Kyzyl.
More on Russia. There is a branch in Altai Kray. There are 2 in Kemerovo Oblast. At least 5 branches are in the Krasnoyarsk Kray, which covers 13% of the area of Russia but has 2% of the population. It is a quarter the size of Canada, and still smaller than the Sakha Republic.
There is no branch in Tuva, but there is a District Brnach in the Novosibirsk Russia Mission, so there may be a group based in Kyzyl.
There is a branch in Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia. That city grew from 359,000 in 2002 to 404,000 in 2010. The population of Ulan-Ude is 73% Russian, 21% Buryat and 3% Ukrainian. I have no way to know if any of the branch members are Buryat, and no good sense of to what extent people are actually of mixed Russian/Buryat ancestry. Considering the city was founded in 1666 by the Cossacks, I would guess that for some people their ethnicity is complex.
On the other hand the city only had 20,000 inhabitants back in the early 1920s. It was to 125,000 by 1939, 250,000 by 1970 and 350,000 by 1989. It is a center of Tibetan Buddhism in Russia though, which is also the dominant religion in Mongolia.
Overall Buryatia has 989,000 people, down from a high of 1,038,000 in 1989. This suggests the population is becoming more concentrated in Ulan-Ude, although wheather from people moving to Ulan-Ude or another factor I do not know.
In most years in the 1990s and 2000s more people died in Buryatia than were born there.
Overall Buryatia is roughly a quarter Russian Orthodox Christian, a fifthed Buddhist, almost 40% not religious, 10% unreported, and maybe 6% other Christyians, mostly not affiliated with any particular Church but 1% of the population is Protestant, thus about half the percentage of the Population that is followers of Shamanism.
Overall 30% of the population of Buryatia was Buryat in 2010, up from 24% in 1989, but down from 43% in 1926. Between 1926 and 1939 the number of Buryats in Buryatia fell to barely half of what they had been. Buryatia is 66% Russian, down from 70% in 1989. By 2010 there were almost 100,000 fewer Russians in Buryatia than there had been in 1989.
The Snowflake Arizona Stake just got 2 new wards.
In many of the areas of Arizona that had stake creations this last year there are ward creations occurring. This is happening about 6 to 8 months after the stake had been created. I expect that about one or two wards will be created in many of the stakes that were involved in the creations and realignments. So maybe about 12 to 15 ward creations, when considering 12 stakes were created last year.
It seems like Moldova is such a surrogate part of Romania that like Romania, it shares a neighbor in Bulgaria, like a family down the street that maybe you can't see from your front door step, but they share barbecues and pool parties and kid movie sessions, so they are definitely your neighbor.
Thanks for the info on the republics, all.
My original question was intended to be: out of the 89 administrative units of Russia, how many do or don't have LDS units and membership? My guess is that the majority are not populated with many.
Similarly, Vietnam is on the low curve, I imagine.
Side note: Chile has some major fires right now. I hope the less active we all baptized are chastisted, humbled, and pay their fire insurance as stipulated in the Doctrine and Covenants. I pray the thousands of less active baptized remember who they made promises to and se ponen las pilas.Poh.
I was just revising the Wikipedia article on "Black People and Mormonism". I still think it is heavily flawed. Up until I just revised it, it presented data gathered in 2007 as if it said something clear about the present state of the LDS Church and African-Americans. While the changes on this front have not been as dramatic and clear as I would like, they have been coming.
The article very heavily relies on say Philip Jennings Spring 2009 Journal of Mormon History article. The preference for reliable sources would I believe exclude some of the good summaries of growth in Ivory Coast that have been published here.
There has been a beginning of incorporation of Russell Stevenson's "For the Cause of Righteousness" into the article, but not much of one.
Another plus would be for someone who really has the patience for this subject to try and see if they can better have the article reflect the meaning of the "Race and the Priesthood" Gospel Topics Essay, and the fact of this being incorporated into restoration of the Gosepl Institute manual.
John, thanks so much for your correction and clarification on the question asked. I should have perhaps known better, but I was basing the information I obtained upon the nations listed by Wikipedia. With my limited geographical knowledge, I did not realize that I was obtaining and giving information that might no longer apply to the query. Thank you for letting me know. I should have known better than to base the answer I gave on Wikipedia. It's just par for the course that I found information that did not directly relate to the question anymore. And there was nothing on Wikipedia to indicate that the information was not current. Based on your statement, I should have done more research. I apologize for not doing so. That said, thanks for the actual relevant information. I learned a lot. And thanks as well for the information on the two new wards in the Snowflake Arizona Stake. Great to hear!
Levi, thanks for the additional information on Arizona unit growth. Eduardo, thanks for your observations. John, as to the Wikipedia article mentioned above, again, the dilemma you and I both face as Wikipedians who are active Church members is in remembering that such articles are not meant to read as an advertisement, endorsement, or any kind of pulpit to perpetuate the Church's doctrines and positions.
The worry on Wikipedia is not so much on what is true, but what is verifiable by reliable sources. Based on my own experiences in this regard, I should let you know that you may be looking at an uphill battle to try and bring the article into conformity with sources put out by the Church. Some Church-related resources have been deemed to be less than reliable or neutral. It is largely because of my frustrations regarding striking that needed balance that I have not been as present on Wikipedia of late.
Other things, such as this blog, have become more important to me in terms of being able to freely share my faith and Church developments without having my motivations or ability to be neutral questioned. If you can perpetuate the desired changes and get them to be accepted by the necessary consensus, then more power to you. I would not attempt personally to undertake such changes without first establishing the usual consensus that the sources you have mentioned are reliable and sufficiently neutral. Good luck!
Also, on another note, I have done some major blogging lately. In addition to a few updates on temple construction progress and the timetable by which future temple-related milestones might take place, I have focused in two blog posts done today on four major Church news items. Check out all the latest at the link below. Comments and feedback of any kind are always welcome and appreciated. Thank you.
http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com
The beauty of a blog is subjectivity; Wikipedia strives for an objective standard which is tricky, but thanks for trying to inform more. Any
subject has areas where it can be very hard to get absolute consensus. Council in heaven, case in point number one.
3 Dedication Dates were just announced.
Tuscon - August 13
Meridian - Nov 19
Cedar City - Dec 10
Has there been an instance of dedications being announced so far in advance? I think I remember at least the last dozen or so dedication dates being announced roughtly 6 months prior.
James - I have no idea why the new stake in Henderson, Nevada has not been officially confirmed yet. I work with several people who live in the new stake. The day after it was annouced they all were talking about the changes that were going to be made to their wards (boundaries) and about the new stake, which will be called Henderson Nevada Carnegie Stake. I also had lunch with a friend who lives in the affect stakes and he confirmed the same thing that my co-workers talked about. My friend also said the name of the Henderson Nevada Anthem Stake will be changed to Henderson Nevada Anthem Hills Stake.
What I Find unusual is the Dedication Date of the Tuscon Temple. The Open house is in Jun (3-24) and then the Dedication is not until August 13. There is only a one week gap for the Meridian Temple. Usually there are two to three weeks to prepare for the dedication for cleaning and other needs. But 6 weeks seems like a lot. I know the GA's take vacation in the month of July, but It still seems like a long time.
A possible reason for the long gap in dedicating the Tucson is the really high temperatures up the 120 F and July is the beginning of monsoon season down there.
I think we have a first in a really long time too. Now there are no temples in the United States that are under construction or announced without a dedication date. I wonder when the last time that happened
July is normally a month off for GA's to vacation spend time with family
Levi, I was thinking the same thing. Even for all Of North America, the only temple now under construction is the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple. The next temple in or near North America would be in Haiti. I wonder if this means more temples announced in the region soon. I hope and pray for temples in other places around the world such as in Nicaragua, on the African Continent, in Asia, and elsewhere. I anticipate more temples in Brazil. Most of the temples except for Manaus are near the coast. I feel that Brazil needs temples further inland such as in Brasilia. Anybody have any new info on why the temple in Uradenta Philipines is still delayed? I understood that the original site that was selected had water issues. Are there issues finding a new site or are there legal issues obtaining permits or local oposition?
The new Henderson stake is official now. See the Mormon Growth site.
Northwestern Federal District
Saint Petersburg Federal City and Leningrad Oblast each have a number of LDS units in the Saint Petersburg Russia Stake
The Russia Saint Petersburg Mission has a mission branch that covers the Republic of Karelia, the Komi Republic, the Vologda, Murmansk, Pskov, Novgorod, and Kaliningrad Oblast
Central Federal District
Moscow Federal City and Moscow Oblast each have a number of congregations in the Moscow Russia Stake and the Moscow Russia North and South Districts
Tula, Tver, Yaroslavl, Ryazan, Smolensk, Kaluga, Voronezh, and Lipetsk Oblasts each have at least one branch in one of the Moscow districts
The Russia Moscow Mission and each of the districts have administrative branches that cover the Tambov, Vladimir, Bryansk, Ivanovo, Oryol, Kostroma, Belgorod, and Kursk oblasts, but I haven’t identified a congregation in them.
North Caucasian Federal District
Stavropol Krai has branches in the Russia Rostov-na-Donu Mission
I have not identified the federal subjects of all of the branches in this mission including in three districts. In particular, I haven’t identified a branch in any of the Dagestan, Chechen, Kabardino-Balkar, North Ossetia-Alania, Ingushetia, and Karachay-Cherkess republics. In Soviet days they were Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics. (actually most of these were autonomous oblasts in those days and have gained republic status since). Today they are simply republics. Republic of Dagestan or Chechen Republic.
More to come.
India definitely needs a temple announced. We have had continual missionaries there since the early nineties, and I believe a temple announcement would encourage more growth in the sub continent, even places like Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka.
Singapore would be an awesome site for a temple, but I think I said before that a temple built in Malaysia would probably allow easier access for more Saints, and the pricing would be more modest.
The second temple for Chile is such a big thing and giving easier access to so many members. Unfortunately it still leaves thousands of members many hundreds of miles from any temple at all. That is why Neuquen or Trelew on the Argentine side could be a good answer for the extreme south.
Have you ever seen how extremely isolated Cohaique is positioned? Missionaries fly there.
I wonder what the top ten most isolated LDS branches are in the world.
Other obvious destinations in the upcoming years for temples are in huge countries like Angola and Mozambique. And Madagascar.
Sorry it has taken me to post this comment, but I had previously identified the status of LDS outreach for each administrative division in Russia for the LDS International Atlas.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1FmoLxtgoJIoyWQqqJjciCEOQOi0&msa=0&ll=44.56664475439468%2C53.35235583203121&spn=30.675957%2C93.076172&z=3
Henderson Nevada Anthem Hills Stake
Looks like I have some comments to respond to, if I may. First, Ryan, it is unusual indeed to have temples that will be dedicated so late in the year announced during the first month of that year. It is the first time I can ever recall such a thing happening. But I couldn't be happier about the announcement of these events. The only thing about which I am not happy is that now it appears that we might not see the Jordan River Utah Temple scheduled for rededication before the end of this year. We cannot rule it out completely until the year ends, but generally, as far as I know, dedications are scheduled to follow the calendrical order in which they are announced. What makes it most unlikely is the fact that there will only be two weeks left in the year after the December 10 dedication in Cedar City, and with one of those weeks being Christmas Eve, it is easy to see that the Jordan River rededication will likely not take place by the end of this year. I welcome disagreement on this point.
And as to your other comment regarding how these dedications will mean that there will be no temples whatsoever under construction or announced in the United States, that is true. And it is certainly a first in Church history as far as I am aware. That being said, we do have a number of possible temple sites within the United States that could potentially be made official in April General Conference, which would mean they will join the others and that will not apply anymore. That said, the temples scheduled for dedication are not technically finished with construction until they are being officially prepared for the announced open houses. So while no United States temples will be among those that have not yet had a groundbreaking, it may not quite be correct to say that no US temples are currently under construction as a result of this announcement. As for me personally, I consider those temples with a dedication announcement as being eliminated from those considered to be under construction. Others might not see it that way. But I do personally make that distinction on my list.
Frederick, it has been confirmed on the LDS Church Temples site that two changes have been made to stakes in Henderson Nevada. The new stake has been given the name "Henderson Nevada Anthem Hills." It contains the following six wards: Amador, Anthem, Inspirada, Madeira Canyon, Seven Hills, and Summit. In the meantime, the stake formerly known as the "Henderson Nevada Anthem Stake" has been named the "Henderson Nevada Carnegie Stake", and has the following 7 wards: Arroyo Grande, Carnegie (presumably where the new name came from), Desert Valley, Paseo Verde, Shadow Canyon, South Pointe, and St. Rose. It is interesting to see the way that happened. Great news!
Cory Ward, for many years, I termed the July break for the General Authorities as a "vacation." But it is so much more than that. Just as the United States Congresses take recesses, that seems to be a more correct and more accurate way to term that break. Even General Authorities themselves have used that terminology in referring to that recess. And it is most unusual indeed for a temple to have a two-month break between the end of the open house and the dedicatory services. It was most likely due to this July recess, although you do make a fair point about the hot weather possibly being another consideration. However, the recess is the main reason for this. Of that much I am sure.
Chris, please see the second part of my comment above that I directed to Levi. It is interesting to see how the Church has evolved and progressed to the point that we have a most unique situation. As I said above, however, I wouldn't expect it to last. In addition to any number of temples that might potentially be announced in April outside the United States, several of the picks I see as most likely and most imminent are inside the United States. And these announcements also mean that once the Jordan River Utah Temple is rededicated, there will not be any Utah temples under construction at all. However, that too will not last, I'm sure. Utah is a place that welcomes temples with open arms. For that reason, I am sure we will see at least one Utah temple announced before too much longer, perhaps during the April conference. Time will tell. As many have observed to me personally, Utah could potentially see several temples announced and being built before too much longer. I will keep my eye on everything and try to inform everyone as developments unfold.
As to the other part of your comment, I personally do not know what is involved in the delay of progress in Urdaneta. In asking around, it seems that no one knows. But it is most likely due to one of two things: local opposition or perhaps some problem with the site or the proposed design of the temple. These two or three factors seem to always pop up whenever delays are encountered in getting a temple designed and built. Without knowing for sure, it is anyone's guess. That said, that is another thing I am keeping my eye on. More to come on that as I am able to find out more.
Dave, see my comment above for more details on the changes that happened in Nevada. Mike, thanks for the actually relevant information about Russian Church statistics. That is always interesting to read about.
Eduardo, I agree that India is one of many places that might greatly benefit from a temple. However, as before stated, I believe that the political and cultural climate prevailing in India might rule it out as a near-future possibility. I would be overjoyed about such an announcement, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. That said, there have been surprise announcements before, and that could potentially be the case for India soon. As to your other comments about temple sites, temples have been publicly proposed before for both India and Singapore. I am well aware that such proposals say nothing of the imminent likelihood of such announcements, but wanted to note these proposals anyway. I for one won't be surprised to have temples announced in the near future for both Malaysia and Singapore. Which might be more likely remains to be seen. I also believe that we will most certainly see many more temples built in Chile within the next little while, and the same holds true for Argentina. That's why temple sites for both countries have made my list of what I believe to be the most likely near future possibilities. For Chile, I have three possibilities that I am thinking are most likely, though I have not been able to narrow that down. The three are for Antofagasta, Valparaiso, or a second temple for Santiago, based on the recent precedent of Lima Peru. I could also see a temple announced soon for Neuquen. I would also love to see temples in Angola, Mozambique, and Madagascar as well. To me, those do not seem to be as imminent in terms of their future likelihood, but given that we have had surprise announcements more and more lately, I can't rule anything out. But none of them made my list this time.
Matt, thank you for pointing those of us who are interested in the right direction for the information about Russia's administrative divisions. That helps a lot to answer my personal questions.
For what it's worth, the news announced yesterday regarding the three scheduled temple dedications made it necessary for me to do two major blog posts late last night. One of them focuses on the announcement of the open houses and dedication dates, and the other includes my updated temple construction progress report. I invite any of you who may be interested to read these posts and comment on them, if you desire to do so. Thanks.
http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com
Six temples have been dedicated during the month of July, most recently in 2000, which was, admittedly, a very busy temple year. Four were dedicated in July 2000, one in July 1998, and one in July 1985. I would agree that it appears the GA recess and weather were deciding factors for the Tucson dedication delay.
Since 2008, the average time between the announcement of the dedication, to the actual dedication has been 172 days. The shortest was the Curitiba Brazil Temple at 83 days; the longest had been the Provo City Center Temple at 285 days.
So the fact that the Meridian Idaho Temple was 297 days out, and the Cedar City Utah Temple was 318 days out is "record-breaking".
I could identify three instances when temple dedications were announced to be held sooner than other previously announced temple dedications.
The Suva Fiji Temple rededication was announced on June 11, 2015 to occur on February 21, 2016. Yet, on June 9, 2015, the Provo City Center Temple dedication was announced for March 20, 2016.
The Montreal Quebec Temple rededication was announced on April 30, 2015 to occur in November 2015. Yet, the Tijuana Mexico Temple dedication had been announced on March 13, 2015 to occur in December 2015.
And the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple rededication was announced on April 28, 2012 to occur on September 9, 2012, yet the Brigham City Utah Temple dedication had been announced on April 19, 2012 to occur on September 23, 2012.
Interestingly, all three examples are for temple rededications. So, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Jordan River Utah Temple rededication to occur before Cedar City Utah Temple. There's still sufficient time.
While I don't agree with the so-called "MormonLeaks" movement, and I hesitate even bringing this up, when I saw that meeting minutes had been released from the Temple Facilities and Sites Committee from 2003, I couldn't resist reading them. I found it interesting that all of the potential temple sites that were then under consideration, all but two have since been announced. Only temples in Tooele, Utah and Puebla, Mexico haven't been announced yet.
http://docdro.id/7U5qvXl
Parts of the New Testament airs some of the inner dealings of the apostles and the Lord. And others, like sinners and Samaritans. It's interesting to juxtapose how things have developed some odd 2,000 years later.
Same Gospel, different media.
Gnesileah, thank you for the interesting trivia about temples that have been dedicated in July during the traditional recess. I know that the general rule has been that no major Church events are traditionally scheduled during the annual recess, but there are obvious exceptions. In addition to the temple dedications noted above, one of those exceptions that I know of was the funeral service for Elder Neal A. Maxwell, who had died on July 21, 2004. The apostles had to come back into town for that, of course. Another such example was the fact of how Elder Maxwell was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in July of 1981 as a result of then-Elder Gordon B. Hinckley's call to serve as an additional counselor in the First Presidency. A more recent example, of course, happened just last year, when President Boyd K. Packer's funeral was held. As a result of President Packer's death on July 3, then-Elder Russell M. Nelson, who had become the de facto Quorum President on that day, even though he was still referred to as "Elder Nelson" at President Packer's funeral, which is natural since he had not yet been set apart, and that setting apart happened on July 15. Incidentally, I think he (President Nelson) might live to become the oldest living apostle in Church history. He is getting closer. He will officially reach that milestone in about five years. On Monday August 8, 2022, to be precise.
But all that is a side note. My actual point (which may have been lost among all the trivia and my loquacity) was that it is by no means unheard of to have major Church events happen during the traditional July recess. But I completely get the reasoning behind not wanting to disrupt that with a temple dedication this year. I know if I only had one specific month of the year in which I traditionally got a break from what must surely be heavy responsibilities and massive workloads, I would want to do my best to make the most out of that and not clog it with business as usual, even Church business at that.
That said, Gnesileah, in regards to the figures you cited in terms of the time span between temple dedication announcements and the actual events themselves, I trust that you've done your research. You have already proven yourself to be an expert in such matters, and I mean that with all sincerity. That is interesting to think about. And it is interesting to note that this is also likely the first time in Church history that a December temple dedication was announced in January. An end-of-year event announced as the year is just beginning. Amazing to think about.
And I appreciate your observation regarding how rededications in past years have been announced and scheduled recently to be sandwiched in between dedications that have previously been announced and scheduled. I knew that in the back of my mind but had not internalized it, nor had I considered the Jordan River Utah Temple in that light. You are right, of course. Just because it has not yet been scheduled does not mean it could not be so sometime between the already scheduled dedications. It will be amazing and awesome if it does happen that way. Just as your strength seems to be in trivia about temples, mine seems to be in tracking ongoing temple progress and, where possible, giving my best guess estimates for when future temple-related events might be likely to be announced and scheduled to take place.
In regards to those types of estimates, while I was correct in my prediction that the Tucson temple dedication would likely take place in early August, I was predicting that the dedications in Meridian and Cedar City would take place in either late August or early September (I was wrong on both counts) and that the Jordan River Utah Temple would be rededicated in December. As you have observed, any temple rededication can be scheduled to be sandwiched in between already-scheduled dedications. So that gives me hope that the Jordan River Temple might still happen this year, and it could happen at any time in the fall or winter. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find that the renovation process does last until towards the end of this year or the beginning of next year, which would obviously delay the subsequent rededication.
Now, I want to comment about the information you shared from MormonLeaks. Before doing so, I hope that you will forgive me for speaking so forcefully and with such vigor. But I speak as I find, and I am willing to call it as I see it, regardless of the consequences or how unpopular it might make me in the eyes of those who read what I have to say on the subject. I appreciate that you don't generally trust them or care to read about what they have published. My observation in their conduct has been that they like to sensationalize and capitalize on making known to the public things that those in Church leadership have "withheld" from the public. I would not trust them to print the whole truth if my own life depended on my doing so. Those who put out this stuff are the typical Church apostates: they can leave the Church without leaving it alone. And what really burns me up about them is that some of their number claim to be active, faithful members of the Church who absolutely refuse to see or admit the fact that they are doing something morally and ethically wrong. I honestly don't know how such people can look themselves in the mirror every day, let alone how they can say with any degree of a clear conscience that they are honest in their dealings with their fellow man. They are the proverbial wolves in sheep's clothing, who lie in wait to deceive. Further, they are all snakes in the grass who would as soon bite a person as look at one. I would not want to be any of them and stand before the judgement bar of God to answer for my conduct, not for all the notoriety or fame they could offer me. The risks would always and forever far outweigh the benefits.
That said, though they do tend to put a negative spin on these leaks, and while they are frighteningly accurate in some ways, that says nothing of their reliability. In considering how I approach material like that, I feel I am much better off not knowing. In so many ways, I don't want to know. There is a reason these brethren keep such things confidential until an official determination and subsequent announcement is made. Can you imagine what would happen to the Church's image in the eyes of the world if the Brethren's decisions and discussions were as transparent as some have mistakenly insisted they need to be? I could definitely see disaster as a direct result of that.
Think of it for a moment. Let it sober you. If every matter under consideration were made known to the public before an official determination and decision were made, there would not only be a public outcry. Worldwide opponents and critics of the Church would then have enough fodder to bury any good the Church might be doing faster than the speed of light or sound. I for one implacably resent the attempts to degrade, deride, and undermine the work of the leading Brethren of the Church. While I would personally love nothing better than to see temples in both Puebla and Tooele (which both seem to be more likely than not, though I am of the opinion that they may not be as likely as some of the other possibilities), I don't need MormonLeaks to tell me that the Church at one time was considering such sites, whether or not that still might be the case.
I appreciate that you found the information interesting. But I for one would be happy to not hear another report about what MormonLeaks has said. I prefer to make my own best predictions for future temple sites, adding and altering my list as new information comes to light, especially since the information upon which I operate is either official news releases from the Church, or else from someone who clearly knows what is happening in that regard and has an inside track to qualify any information shared. The LDS Church Temples site is one example of how that is done well, not only because of its continuous updates on temple construction milestones, but also because of the ongoing unit updates. That information, to say nothing of the reports from Matt regarding Church growth have been my main sources of information in this regard.
By contrast, the information from MormonLeaks has largely been obtained in a highly questionable manner that is not above reproach. Sorry for ranting about this information. But I could truly have gone all day without hearing that. I have no desire to be rude by saying this. I also hope that my doing so doesn't offend you and that it won't give you cause to reconsider sharing your thoughts in the future. I have just been sickened by the all-too-frequent news reports of what MormonLeaks has recently released. Even the Utah news outlet I favor, KSL, which was once completely and is now at least mostly owned, operated, and governed by the Church or entities directly associated with it, has had to give such "releases" sufficient media coverage.
And it does not help that the Church has not and never will authorize this release of information that, in my humble but honest opinion, should have never fallen into the wrong hands. The process by which that happens reminds me in so many ways of how a person can fall into apostasy if they allow themselves to. The thing that really galls me about MormonLeaks is the delight they clearly take in making public things that never should have been allowed to be obtained. The main source upon which such "reports" are based is largely former disaffected Church members that have apostatized and have subsequently been excommunicated as a result of a "falling out" with the faith they once embraced, whatever the reason might be for that to happen. It is tragic and, as I said, sickening to see.
Again, sorry to have spoken so forcefully, so extensively and, if it applies, so impolitely, on this matter. I have no doubt that by doing so, I am setting myself up to be criticized and accused of being a horrible judgmental person that is talking out of turn or without experience in the things of which I have spoken. But I hope that there will at least be a few who appreciate my expressed opinion on this.
Thanks for indulging this rambling rant. I will get up off my soapbox now. Having spoken so forcefully on that subject, I feel I have said my piece on the matter. With that said, I want to again express my appreciation and admiration for the other things you shared. I hope to keep you in mind should I ever have questions about temple trivia. Thanks again.
A branch was just moved from the Peru Trujillo North Mission to the Peru Chiclayo Mission.
It's interesting, because this same branch (Chota) was moved from the Peru Chiclayo Mission to the Peru Trujillo North Mission in 2015. Mission leaders perhaps felt that the needs of the branch were better met under Chiclayo, and moved it back.
A note about July and general authorities: the Days of '47 is a big deal in Utah; I was there in 1997 in Provo when the First Presidency commemorated 150 years in the region, with a few thousand elders and sisters marching down the hill and singing when they entered the football stadium. Quite a sight!
Point being, Utah based leadership probably likes to be around for that state holiday, at least.
I also wonder how many Sundays they miss from their home wards each year. Besides their advanced age, they deserve time to reconnoiter with family and home, those principles being at the center of our faith in Jesus Christ and His organization.
How are growth numbers in Madagascar these days? (non-sequitor).
I was one of those missionaries!
It was the "sesquicentennial." From a missionary perspective, it was all kept under wraps what we were doing, and we were asked not to tell anyone it would happen. I think this was to maintain the surprise and to keep crowds of missionary families from building along the route. We (the entire contingent of missionaries at the MTC, which was a record at the time) walked from the MTC to the football stadium. Each group had a flag bearer from the countries we were headed too. At the end of the second verse of Faith in Every Footstep, the missionaries marched onto the perimeter of the field from each corner of the stadium, singing Called to Serve. We then joined in for the final verse of Faith in Every Footstep. This was very appropriate, given the last verse:
If we now desire to assist in this work and thrust in our sickle with might;
If we will embark in the service of God and harvest in fields that are white;
Our souls may receive the salvation of God—the fulness of his light,
That we may stand, free of sin and blame, God’s glory in our sight.
It's a treasured memory. Glad others remember it as well.
Where did you go and how did it go?
I served in Concepcion Chile in the early 1990s, went back for 3 months in '94, and 6 more months in 2005. (The magic Mosiah 14 year mark.) I look forwardvto going back again someday, to the temple located where I know members living closer to those grounds than to the Pedro de Valdivia Ward chapel.
Wonderful country and people.
I am also guessing most general authorities spend much of July in Utah and many speak or appear at July 4th or July 24th events. So holding Elder Maxwell's duneral that month was no surprise. I would guess that others go to where they were raised if elsewhere or to visit children and grandchildren.
Anyone think that Nigeria would have a second or third temple announced? The Aba Nigeria Temple is small but has a lot of stakes especially in relation to its size.
L. Chris Jones, Nigeria has been one of my top 10 picks for most likely spots for a new temple for years now. The Aba temple is a small temple that covers 42 stakes and 16 districts. Further, their schedule of up to 6 sessions per day is consistent with small temples in the US known to be busy such as Spokane. Plus, Africa is growing rapidly, and Nigeria is the only temple district in Africa that isn't getting 1-3 new temples. I've seen plenty of discussion on this forum about whether Lagos or Benin City will be the next temple site. I personally lean toward Benin City as it has had more consistent growth and has more stakes, but I wouldn't be surprised by either and only mildly surprised by both. The presence of 4 other temples being built in Africa at the moment, significant security concerns in the last decade, and the fact that the Aba district is much smaller than the Accra or Johannesburg districts in size all mean that it may still be a couple conferences (and temple dedications) before it's announced, and Kenya at least may beat it to the punch as the next Africa temple, but I have no doubt that Nigeria will one day get a second temple.
Kampala Uganda South Stake created January 22nd, 2017.
My guess would be
Lagos
Benin City or
Port Harcourt
Matt, this brings Uganda to three stakes. Exciting news! I think that a temple in Uganda is roughly as likely as one in Kenya right now, although it would probably serve both countries at some point.
Awesome. I hope and pray that there will be more growth on the eastern side of the African continent. I pray for a temple in Kenya or Uganda or both soon. In West Africa I hope that Sierra Leone will have a temple announced the next few years.
I don't think it's anything majer, but still seems a litter odd, if it wasn't for the rumes in the arie I might think nothing of it,
But first last week was would conference in my ward and it was announced that the stake wented to have all the ward/branch counfericees finished my the end of January,witch has never happened and today it was announced that there would be a special stake counferice on February 19th in my stack the Panama city stake as will there would be one in the Tallahassee stake the sameday,with a member of the arie presdince at each stack.
There has been a lot of talk on what's going to happen when the new meeting house is finished in Tallahassee the elders in my ward say it is going to be a stack center, and it is known that the Tallahassee stake has a stoung active membership with a lot of members, and the new stack center if that's what's it is going to be, is clouse by about in hour to 2 wards and a branch then they will be to the Panama city stack center, and it's a stoung belefe that if Tallahassee is to splat all 3 would go to Tallahassee.
If it wasn't for all the talking about some maje changers that are about to happen in the stack,and alk the things that seem to be odd in the arie I wouldn't think anything of it, but everything has gotten me thinking.
I will post when I learn mere about the counferice.
When stacks splat.Reminds me of the first time that I read Annie Dillard. Good 'ole rustic Ainglish.
This is wonderful news. I am very hopeful either Kenya or Uganda will have a temple announced in April.
I would say Benin City is most likely although I could see Lagos and Benin City both. Port Harcout is less than 50 miles from Aba so I dont see it getting a temple in the near future. I am guessing Abuja will have a temple before Port Harcourt.
The thing is the security issues in Nigeria are most pronounced in the north and then next most prononced in the south-east where the Aba Temple is. Benin City and Lagos has essentially no security issues. There are still more stakes in Benin City alone than in all of Kenya and Nigeria combined.
I still think Kenya is more likely. Kenya has had a stake much longer and I would not be surprised if it makes it to 4 stakes soon.
I still think Kenya is more likely. Kenya has had a stake much longer and I would not be surprised if it makes it to 4 stakes soon.
One of the other things that goes into placing a new temple is how many members will be needed with rotation, move-ins, move-outs, illnesses, etc., to run it. Provo's temples take combined over 5,000 and that is up from before Provo City Center opened.
I also came across a stat regarding averages for ordinances, they run about 700 male initiatories a day in Provo City Center, and the day after Christmas or the next, unsure which, they had ten live sealings.
New wards were formed yesterday in South Jordan and Santaquin. I would not be surprised if Santaquin sees a new stake this year.
Also Stillwater Oklahoma Stake got a new ward. That beings it to 11 wards and 4 branches. I expect to see it split.
There seems to be a lot of ward and stake renaming going on recently. Anybody know why?
Matt, the link of the Russian units is fantastic, thanks. I think I recall seeing it before. I can't help but wonder why so many of the units have 219 members. Is that arbitrary?
But yes, this is a great map and stats our future growth and the globe.
Quick count of units with no members: 40? Maybe we have 49 with LDS membership?
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?ll=45.866724358284166%2C50.10040270703121&spn=30.675957%2C93.076172&msa=0&z=5&mid=1FmoLxtgoJIoyWQqqJjciCEOQOi0
I would be interested to see how the Kampala Stake split would work out, given that the stake had 7 wards and 5 branches prior to splitting. I would assume 3 more wards were also created.
Also, it looks like the Tegucigalpa Loarque Stake split to form the Tegucigalpa Honduras Roble Oeste Stake.
Four new wards. Kajjansi 1, Ntinda, Mengo, and Mutungo2
It was mentioned that after the Jordan River and Cedar City temples are dedicated, there will be no temples under construction or being renovated or announced in Utah is or the US and this would be the first time in Church history. I am sure there were other times this happened. For one, between Kirtland and the temples in the Nauvoo Era there was no temple building. Again between Nauvoo and the beginning of the Salt Lake Temple. Again between the Salt Lake Temple dedication on April 6th, 1896 and the Laie Hawaii Temple announcement and again after the dedication of the Mesa Arizona Temple in Oct 1927. There was a nearly 10 year break until March 1937 when the Idaho Falls Temple was announced.
There was another break from March 1956 after the Los Angeles Temple was dedicated until Jan 1961 when the Oakland Temple was announced. Oakland was dedicate Nov 1964, and the the announcement of the Provo Utah Temple in Nov 1967 ended that gap.
There was a year between the dedication of the Washington DC Temple in Nov 1974 and the announcement of the Seattle Washington Temple in Nov 1975.
If I have figured correctly, there have also been several gaps in Utah temple projects. First from 1893-1967 (Salt Lake dedicated/Provo announced), then 1972-1978 (Provo dedicated/Jordan River announced), then 1981-1990 (Jordan River dedicated/Bountiful announced). Next from 1998-2004 (Monticello dedicated/Draper announced). Finally, for six weeks in 2009 (between the dedication of Oquirrh Mountain and the announcement of Brigham City).
Also I notice that there have been several times with 3 or more Utah temples announced or under construction at the same time:
1. 1876-1877 (Salt Lake and Saint George under construction, Logan and Manti announced)
2. 1994-1995 (Bountiful and Mt Timpanogos under construction, Vernal announced)
3. 2011-2012 (Brigham City and Payson under construction, Provo City Center announced)
4. 2013-2015 (Payson and Provo City Center under construction, Cedar City announced)
I left this thread for a time because I had to tend to other responsibilities. Just a couple of comments. In regards to Nigeria's next temple, it may have been earlier on in this very thread that I voiced the thought that one could be built in any of the three cities that seem to have the most significant Church presence, and those were the three mentioned above. Given what I have observed in this regard, it seems evident that we could easily see temples in all three locations before too long. As to which one of the three might be most likely or most imminent, I have no thoughts on that point. That is why, unless there are some very outstanding developments in any of these three that would raise the likely probability of one of them, I believe any of the three are equally possible. I welcome disagreements on that point, but those are my thoughts, such as they are.
As far as other temples in Africa, I have felt confident enough to list among those I feel are most imminent temples in all three nations above: Nairobi (in Kenya; such a temple was proposed by President Hinckley almost 20 years ago. And yes, in the same breath, I do acknowledge that a temple proposal says nothing about its near future likelihood. That said, Kenya is, according to the most recent information provided here, the tenth city rounding out the top ten that have the greatest Church presence without a temple); Uganda (in Kampala; which is by the same above-mentioned report the eight in terms of greatest Church presence without a temple; also, a close friend of mine has done extensive welfare and charitable work in Uganda and speaks so highly of the people there, the Church members especially, that it gives me equally high hopes that they will be blessed with a temple); and in Sierra Leone (the same report indicates that this African city has the distinction of having the sixth strongest Church presence without a temple). It is interesting to note that, of the seven most recent temples announced, two of those have been in Africa, one has been in Asia, one in the Pacific, and the other 3 have been in South America. We are seeing multiple temples simultaneously announced on the same continent. If any new temples are announced, there is so very much more than a slight possibility that we could see at least one for Africa, maybe more.
James Anderson, my thanks to you for your comments about other factors that might affect where and when temples are announced. I also enjoyed hearing of the numbers you cited for ordinances done.
John, thanks to you for your unit creation updates. Levi, regarding your comment about units being renamed more frequently of late, the intent of the renaming of the units in Henderson appears to be due to the fact that the geographic area to which the name of the unit applied was transferred to the new stake, making it necessary to select a more apropos name for the stake from which it was transferred. I would have to do more research on this to be certain, but that seems to be a logical conclusion.
coachodeeps, I can always depend on you to correct or clarify points that I have missed or overlooked. I don't think that periods of time in which no temples were being built technically "counts" against that statement. But the other "breaks" you mentioned are most valid observations. Perhaps I should amend that statement to read "the first time in Church history in a very long time." Is that wording more agreeable to you? That said, thanks for the information.
And twinnumerouno, while I am not sure whether I made such a statement in reference to temples constructed in Utah, that is some great information. I enjoyed reading it very much. Any way you slice it, though, it will be somewhat unprecedented if no new temples are announced either in the US in general or in Utah in particular before these others are completed. No one will ever convince me that that is a bad thing.
I have heard accusations before to the effect that this Church is merely a "Utah Church" or a "United States" Church. But such accusations have no basis in actual fact. Just look at the temples that have been announced in the last five years or so. In 2012, we had two, one each within and outside of the US; in 2013, we had another two, again, one inside and one outside the US; 2014 marked a hiatus year as temple announcements were put on hold; and all seven of the temples announced within the last two years have been for outside the United States. So of the 11 announced this year, only 2 were in the US. And that is amazing to think about.
This raises the likelihood of President Monson announcing new temples in the United States. Is it certain to happen that way? The only absolutely certain thing about such temple announcements is that we can't be absolutely certain that any location is any less likely than others. It will be interesting to see. I have before offered my opinion on the locations I feel are most likely imminent for a future temple, and I would be happy to do so again at some point for those who have not had a chance to read or comment on any of my selections. But for now, these are my main thoughts. Thanks.
I just posted my 3 sentance history of the LDS Church on my blog. http://michiganmormondefender.blogspot.com/
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