New Stakes Created in El Salvador Ghana, Nigeria, and Utah; New Districts Created in South Africa and Zimbabwe

El Salvador
The Church organized a new stake in western El Salvador on December 10th. The Santa Ana El Salvador Los Pinos Stake was organized from a division of the Santa Ana El Salvador Molino Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards and two branches: the El Centro, Los Pinos, Metapan, Río Zarco, and Santa Ana Norte Wards, and the Tecana and Texistepeque Branches. The new stake is the Church's fourth stake to be organized in the city of Santa Ana.

There are now 22 stakes in El Salvador.

Ghana
The Church created a new stake in central Ghana on December 10th. The Asamankese Ghana Stake was organized from the Asamankese Ghana District. Information on which of the 10 retained branches have become wards remains unavailable. Asamankese is the Church's third new stake organized in the interior region between Accra and Kumasi in 2017. Prior to 2017, only districts operated in this region of Ghana. Furthermore, the Asamankese Ghana District was previously the Church's oldest district in Ghana as it was originally organized in 1987.

There are now 21 stakes and 10 districts in Ghana.

Nigeria
The Church organized a new stake in Nigeria on December 10th in Cross River State. The Calabar Nigeria North Stake was likely organized from a division of the Calabar Nigeria Stake. Information on which congregations have been assigned to the new stake remains unavailable. The Church organized the new stake only two years after the original Calabar Nigeria Stake divided to create the Calabar Nigeria South Stake in 2015. Furthermore, the Church in the Nigeria Calabar Mission has experienced unprecedented stake growth during the past three years as the number of stakes in the mission increased from six to 13. As a result, the mission appears very likely to divide in the immediate future.

There are now 45 stakes and 16 districts in Nigeria. Currently, the Church in Nigeria ties with the Church in the United Kingdom as the country with the tenth most stakes.

Utah
The Church organized a new stake in American Fork on December 10th. The American Fork Utah South Stake was organized from a division of the America Fork Utah Stake and the American Fork Utah West Stake. The new stake includes the following eight wards: the American Fork 10th, American Fork 16th, American Fork 35th (Spanish), Harbor 1st, Harbor 2nd, Harbor 3rd, Pacific Drive 1st, and Pacific Drive 2nd Wards.

There are now 592 stakes and one districts in Utah.

South Africa
The Church in South Africa organized a new district on December 10th. The Mbombela South Africa District was organized from two mission branches in the South Africa Johannesburg Mission: the KaNyamazane and Nelspruit Branches. The new district is the Church's third new district created in South Africa in 2017, and is the third new district in South Africa organized with only two branches since 2016. It has been very unusual for the Church to organize districts with only two branches. Information from full-time missionaries indicates plans in at least one of these districts to create member groups to help spur greater growth. It is likely that additional branches will be organized in the new Mbombela South Africa District, as well as other recently organized districts.

There are now 16 stakes and nine districts in South Africa.

Zimbabwe
The Church organized a new district in Zimbabwe for the first time since 2012. The Kadoma Zimbabwe District was organized from four mission branches in the Zimbabwe Harare Mission, namely the Chegutu, Kadoma 1st, Kadoma 2nd, and the Kaguvi Branches. The original Kadoma Branch was organized in 1990, whereas the Chegutu Branch and the Kadoma 2nd Branch were created in 2015. The Kaguvi Branch is located in Chegutu and was organized two weeks before the new district was created.

There are now seven stakes and three districts in Zimbabwe.