The Church has published its Nepali translation of the Book of Mormon. Translation work in Nepali began in May 2010. Currently, there are only two Nepali-speaking branches worldwide, including one branch in Nepal and one branch in Salt Lake City, Utah. There are hundreds of Nepali-speaking Latter-day Saints worldwide who primarily in the United States, Nepal, Europe, and Hong Kong. There are approximately 21 million native speakers of Nepali worldwide. To view the translation, click
here. For more information about a recent celebration about the new translation, click
here.
I gave some Nepali speakers in Salt Lake some FamilySearch pass-along cards three years ago after getting on a bus they were already on at the Salt Lake main distribution center. Gave about five out, they knew some English so that is what I gave them is English cards.
ReplyDelete18 Jun 2017
ReplyDeleteGuatemala City Don Justo Stake (2101688)
Arrazola Ward (2069555) Barrio Arrazola
Don Justo Ward (434620) Barrio Don Justo
El Pajón Ward (245119) Barrio El Pajón
Fraijanes Ward (324027) Barrio Fraijanes
Las Flores Ward (1375377) Barrio Las Flores
San José Pinula Ward (324035) Barrio San José Pinula
All six ward in the new Guatemala City Don Justo Stake came from the Guatemala City Stake, which retained the:
ReplyDeleteBarrio La Villa (La Villa Ward)
Barrio Montufar (Montufar Ward)
Barrio Santa Catarina Pinula (Santa Catarina Pinula Ward)
Barrio Vista Hermosa (Vista Hermosa Ward)
Rama Las Lomas (Las Lomas Branch)
Rama Santa Fe (Santa Fe Branch)
The Guatemala City Stake received these three wards from the Guatemala City Villa Hermosa Stake:
Barrio Boca del Monte 1 (Boca del Monte 1st Ward)
Barrio Boca del Monte 2 (Boca del Monte 2nd Ward)
Barrio El Carmen (El Carmen Ward)
The Guatemala City Villa Hermosa Stake retains the following five wards:
Barrio Ciudad Real (Ciudad Real Ward)
Barrio Fuentes (Fuentes Ward)
Barrio La Hermosa (La Hermosa Ward)
Barrio Prados (Prados Ward)
Barrio Villa Hermosa (Villa Hermosa Ward)
The Lome Togo Stake just had two branches upgraded to wards putting it at 13 wards and 4 branches. It probably will split this year.
ReplyDeleteThis week's Church News had an article about a new Family Search Center being dedicated in St. George, Utah. Does anyone know if the Family History Centers in the the Ward / Stake buildings in the area are being closed?
ReplyDeleteThere are also a number of Nepali members in India, primarily in the New Delhi district.
ReplyDeleteThey typically have closed centers in the ward and stake when a larger building is put in, the larger one is open more hours, has more resources, etc. They did this when Riverton went in, and will do this once one in Lehi eventually is.
ReplyDeleteWith family search being the way to submit names for temple work the factors that encouraged the proliferation of small family history centers in Utah in the 1990s are no more.
ReplyDeleteCurrently all units in the New Delhi district operate in English. Hopefully soon some will operate in Hindi. Southern India has units that operate in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil although also some in English.
Another hope is the new Nepali version of ghe Book of Mormon can be used to open the work in more areas of India.
These are all most interesting and intriguing developments on all fronts. I enjoyed reading of these updates. Thanks to you all for contributing to such an inspirational conversation. If any of you would be interested, I have done several blog posts myself lately, and would welcome any feedback from anyone who wants to comment and is able to do so. As I mentioned earlier, both on my blog, and here on this one, I am trying to iron out some issues I had with people being unable to comment on my blog. And I don't honestly know if I have successfully fixed the issue by now. I hope anyone who is having problems commenting on my blog will let me know. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteIndia as a whole is an interesting one, as I have heard that for now, much of the missionary work is done in English as those that are just speaking another language without knowledge of English are more prone to hold onto traditions like the caste system, which is incompatible with the gospel.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the branches in languages in certain areas may be a sign that even among those that don't speak English are beginning in at least a very small way right now, to discard such traditions and practices.
Whay a great update on Guatemala! This is in one of the oldest parts of Guatemala, as far as the preaching of the gospel goes. Gray thongs happening in the capital city.
ReplyDeleteThat's an awesome autocorrect error!
ReplyDeleteMy understanding was that the main reason to focus on teaching English speakers in India was logistical.
ReplyDeleteI am still hoping to soon see the Church make inroads to Nagaland, Manipur and other states of north-east India. Those areas are overwhelmingly Christian.
Another new stake in Honduras. Esperanza Stake in Tegucigalpa split yesterday to form the Villa Olympica Stake. Honduras just keeps on chugging!
ReplyDeleteI am more convinced that a new temple will be announced for Nicaragua soon.
ReplyDeleteI think so. The temple really added a stability and maturity to Honduras, and seemed to reverse some stagnant growth trends there. A temple in Nicaragua could really do the same.
DeletePuebla Mayorazgo stake split yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThe wards on and south of Periferico (the ring road around Puebla) is called the Arboledas stake. This is the bad side of town.
North of Periferico and towards the richer areas, is the Angelopolis stake. This was the old Mayorazgo stake that changed its name to Angelopolis for a posh mall of the same name on the west side of Puebla, the richest area of town.
There are now seven stakes in Puebla City. And an additional eight stakes within Puebla and Tlaxcala states.
Puebla is now tied with Santa Cruz Bolivia as the city with the most number of stakes (7) with no temple outside the USA.
In the US the only cities with that many stakes without a temple are cities in Utah close to large existing temples such as Lehi and Layton. Does Puebla have more stakes than Auckland?
DeleteWhat about Auckland, New Zealand? From my understanding there are many stakes and no temple there but I might be mistaken.
ReplyDeleteNever mind. Auckland is above Puebla and Santa Cruz. But it is less than 100 km from Hamilton.
ReplyDeleteDowntown Aukland to the Hamilton New Zealand Temple is 128 km on the closest route.
ReplyDeleteDowntown Puebla to to the Mexico City Temple is 130 km on the closest route.
Both are from google maps.
Maybe Lagos and Benin City have large numbers of stakes with no temples? And they are both very far from Port Harcourt.
ReplyDeleteVina del Mar and Valparaiso as shared cities have a number of stakes but probably lost a few since the consolidations of the early 200Os.
Eduardo--
ReplyDeleteThe spike in the last year of stakes in Nigeria makes it an obvious candidate now for a 2nd temple, either in October of next April. A year ago, Nigeria had only 36 stakes, and now it has 43, with 40 being kind of a common point when nations get a second temple.
With 5 small temples slated to close, does anyone know if this will include a reworking of the floor plan to handle more patrons in the future?
ReplyDeleteAnother city with a large number of stakes and no temple is La Paz/El Alto, Bolivia. Technically not one city but adjacent to each other, La Paz has five stakes and El Alto has four.
ReplyDeleteBolivia could easily get two new temples in the not too distant future.
ReplyDeletePuebla has fewer stakes than Auckland when we are counting pure city stakes.
ReplyDeleteThere are also Cholula (a suburb of Puebla), two in Nealtican (10 miles west of Cholula), one in Atlixco (20 miles SW of Puebla), and two in Tlaxcala (20 miles north of Puebla). So 13 within a 20 mile radius of the city center.
There are also stakes in Teziutlan and Tehuacan as well as districts in Izucar and El Seco (Citlaltepetl district), making 15 stakes and two districts in Puebla and Tlaxcala States.
The road from Puebla to Mexico is quite dangerous, especially near San Martin Texmelucan (gang activity) and Chalco to Iztapalapa (random delinquent activity). Also, frequent marches by leftist groups close off the road often, and new restrictions have been placed on who can enter into the city depending on the amount of smog your car gives off. You cannot enter the city from outside from 5 to 11 am on any day of the week except for Saturdays and Sundays. In addition there is one day during the week and one Saturday during the month where your car cannot enter or traverse through the city.
Same problem exists for those traveling to the city from any neighboring city: Cuautla (3 stakes), could conceivably enter into a theoretical Puebla temple area of responsibility), Cuernavaca (2 stakes plus six further down to Acapulco Guerrero), Toluca (3 stakes), Queretaro (3 stakes), Pachuca (3 stakes plus five additional stakes in the surrounding area).
An additional problem is the fact that the chilangos (natives of Mexico City) very rarely even use the temple. It has been said since the 90s that when the temple is built in Puebla or another city close by, they would have to close the Mexico City temple due to lack of patrons.
I understand New Zealand doesn´t have that many problems. A temple for Auckland would be nice too.
I don´t know what the road is like between Auckland and Hamilton.
I continue to enjoy following this wonderful discussion. In terms of future temple possibilities, I was recently reminded of the statement Elder Larry Y. Wilson made in an interview recently to the effect that there are 85+ temple sites currently under consideration for an official announcement, and that most if not all of these locations may be announced within the next 15 years. That being the case, we are about to enter yet another unprecedented era of temple announcements and building. All the Church would need is 18 such announcements, and 44 temples dedicated between now and spring 2030, and the Church would have the 200 temples of which I have previously spoken prior to the 200th anniversary of the Church. If Elder Wilson's statement is true, we could have an increase from 182 in various operational stages now to almost 270 in various stages by some point in 2032. It is obvious that great developments are ahead, and my feeling is that we might see temples announced at both general conferences over the next 7-10, with perhaps some even being announced in between. That is amazing to think about. For my part, I am trying to ensure that any potential temple site I do consider is feasible and likely. And having been urged to expand my thinking regarding that list, I have recently done so. You can find all my latest thoughts in this regard on my blog. I am honestly not entirely sure that I have cleeared up the issue with people being able to comment. It seems even I myself cannot comment on my own posts right now. I will be working on it. In the meantime, if any of you would like to read my latest posts on this subject, please visit my blog at the link below. And even if none of you are able to comment, you can find my contact information on my blogger profile. Thanks to you all for the continuing discussions on this subject, which have been most illuminating and inspiring.
ReplyDeletehttp://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com
We now have almost an equal amount of renovations planned as announced temples. About half are the smaller size.I wonder if any of those will include an expansion in size. Do the lots have room for growth? I know that both Anchorage and Montecello were expanded.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about those myself among the current crop, but it was mentioned early on that many could be expanded if need be.
ReplyDeleteThe two that were are because the original design had only one room for the endowment, it had 50 seats. So they could run more sessions they split those doe=wn the middle so there were two about 25-seat rooms. Anchorage was added on to a bit as well.
If Mexico City does get busy enough, they could add a second temple (there are about 41 stakes in or around the city alone.)
ReplyDeleteSao Paulo does seem like another good place for a 2nd temple (30 stakes)
There's also 41 stakes in Lima, Peru and it already has a 2nd temple announced.
DeleteIt seems as though Sao Paulo already has a second temple with Campinas. I would like to see a further province get a temple in order to help distant members go easier. Although both an urban and a provincial temple in the southeast would be great. Caatinga? Trying to recall what the terrain around there is called...
ReplyDeleteIts an hour drive from the Rodoanel to Rodovia Dom Pedri I in Sao Paulo state but longer if there is heavy traffic as both Bandeirante and Anhanguera run betweeen the two cities, Campinas is near Dom Pedro I on SP-081. Sao Paulo is in the southwest of the city supposedly (near Raposo Tavares freeway?) so we need to see if there are enough stakes in the eastern half of the city and along Via Dutra to the east but within Sao Paulo state to determine whetner there is a good chance for a second temple there
ReplyDeleteIF Mexico City were to get a second temple I would bet that it would be in one of two areas:
ReplyDelete1. Near the Church Mexico Area offices in Naucalpan Mexico State (a western suburb of Mexico City)--would provide for easy access from Queretaro and Toluca.
2. The current Mexico MTC (in the north part of town near Tlalnepantla Mexico State)--would provide for easy access from Queretaro and from Pachuca.
The Mexico City temple is in the Aragon stake in the eastern part of the city, fairly close to the airport. Going through the city can be a doozy especially when traveling to the temple from Tlalpan (near Estadio Azteca), Churubusco, Coyoacan, or Polanco (south and west ends of Mexico City). Paradoxically, it could take longer to travel to Aragon by car or public transport from those areas of the city, than it would take to travel from Puebla to the temple in Aragon!
The only things preventing that are the following:
1. Temple attendance mostly provincial (especially Puebla, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, Queretaro).
2. Existing temple is huge, roughly the size of the Jordan River Temple. Lima and Manila are very small in comparison. Sao Paulo´s temple is also quite big by foreign standards though it doesn´t have as many issues as Mexico City (Sao Paulo is known by Brazilian Mormons as "A Fabrica" The Factory as slightly over a third of all Brazilian Mormons are from SP-cidade or SP-estado.
Mexico. It can take 3 hours to the Mexico City temple from Puebla, and that is not accounting for the time it takes to go through Puebla to the bus terminal.
ReplyDeleteBrazil. The Campinas temple has a huge district but the Rio and Brasilia temples should take away about half of those, still leaving 40+ stakes/districts, and many are located over 4 hours away to the west and northwest.
Chile. The Valparaiso metropolitan area has 8 stakes, plus 2 more are about 45 minutes away. The bus from Valparaiso takes about 1.5 hours to Santiago, but it takes another hour to reach the temple. On weekends you are lucky if you get to do one endowment session. If you work, you can't attend the temple during the week. Santiago has 31 stakes, plus 2 stakes and 2 districts within 30 miles.
New temples are also considered based on utilization of existing temples nearby. Saratoga Springs is a prime example of that.
ReplyDeleteA new factor has emerged and it is going to expand what otherwise is a no-brainer, the associatedd family history work. It comes in the form of the Family History Activity Reports now available as of last month to leaders and Temple and Family History Consultants.
On the report it has, and this will vary in percentage depending on the area, percent of members that have four generations on Family Tree, how many have submitted a name whether it be for the temple to complete or the member goes themselves, the number of members that index, and how many have added a name to the tree. A couple of other things too, and more may come. Shows in line and bar graph form depending on the data and some will have comparison with the previous months.
Now if more overseas members who had GPS-enabled smartphones or tablets with cameras would also get involved with the Billiongraves app, as they partner with FamilySearch in foreign areas, Sao Paulo alone has around 100 cemeteries including the largest one in this hemisphere outside the US, and that one has not had one picture taken at it, and it has 1.6 million burians since it opened in 1949, it could provide quite a catalyst as the information then is shared with FamilySearch who then makes the records show as hints.
So I think the new activity reports will help get more people involved in family history, the calling name change announced in February is also key here, will help in expanding the usage of existing temoles and hopefully bring the annnouncement of new ones much sooner than had been, but the associated family history work must be done first.
Hey, guys! The discussion continues, and it has been insightful as always. A few comments in response, if I might. To James Anderson: The possible expansion of the current crop has been widely discussed. Many of those scheduled for renovation are among the "smaller temples" designed under the smaller temple inspiration given first to President Kimball, then even more so to President Hinckley. I know that I have heard quite a bit recently that it may be more feasible in many cases to expand one of these smaller ones (particularly those built during the Hinckley era) than to build new ones. Right now, I know that those working on the Memphis project will change its inner and outer appearance, but it is not yet known whether or not those plans include an enlargement. I also know that many of these smaller temples have been built on larger plots of land than the temple fills, so as to accommodate possible expansion as needed. That said, it may be too early to know whether expansion is planned for any of these temples. But I am doing my best to keep on top of things in this regard, and will pass anything along as I become aware of it.
ReplyDeleteBryan, I have been intrigued to see the announcement of second temples for both Lima Peru and now for Manila Philippines. In some of the grander, larger cities of the world (whether the capital city or the most populated), I can see where a second temple in such cities may be preferred. It is not without precedent, both within the US and elsewhere in the world. That may be done more frequently now.
Now, if I may, I would like to offer a general comment about potential future sites. Everyone with whom I have dialogued regarding such possibilities agrees on one thing: the "ideal" locations will have some variation between different individuals, and the Lord is the only one that knows for sure where He needs such temples to be built. When the Lord moves upon His prophet (or those authorized by him) to make decisions about locations, personal feelings must give way to agreement with the revealed will of the Lord. In the meantime, the way I select the sites that make my list is primarily by looking at existing temple districts (particularly those that are larger by either the number of units covered or in terms of the area served by the current temple districts), which stakes might be served by any future temples, and whether or not certain cities with a strong Church presence are within 200 miles of a current temple.
ReplyDeleteI know there are countless other factors by which future temple possibilities can be calculated and measured. But my way of doing things must have some merit. Prior to last year, I didn't dabble that much in considering potential future temple sites. Within the last year or so, I have fine-tuned my process.
In April 2016, four temples were announced. I had the exact location for two of them, and the right nation but wrong city for the other two. And last April, I got the exact location for two and the right nation (but wrong city) for two others. Because we had seen a Brazilian temple announced in April 2016, I wasn't convinced that another would be announced last April, but with my predictions, I included a list of what I felt were the three most likely Brazilian cities to get a temple when that next happened. Brasilia was the first on that list. So I counted myself as being roughly 75% correct on those thoughts.
And as I have continued to receive feedback on my list of locations for the future, I have made changes as I feel they are needed. I began with a list of 60 or so, which I trimmed down to about 20 per conference. In assembling the latest list, I had been urged to expand my thinking on possibilities, primarily in view of Elder Wilson's statement about 85+ temples having the potential to be announced within the next 15 years or so. So I expanded my list again. And so the process continues. I have relied on the opinion of experts who study temple developments and feedback (via comments) from the lists I feature on my blog of these possibilities. Lately, the commenting system on my blog has been an issue, and I have missed the feedback. Fortunately, Matt has graciously allowed me to post links to my blog in the comments I make here, and I have found the feedback from others on the lists I post here to be very helpful. I hope that explains where I am coming from and what my process has been to any newcomers to this blog and any who may be interested. Time will tell how right (or wrong) I am on any of my thoughts. I will not be disappointed either way.
Forgot to leave a link to my blog for any that may wish to check it out. Enjoy!
ReplyDeletehttp://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com