Saturday, July 27, 2019

Rapid Church Growth in Mozambique

A recent Church Newsroom article noted that there has been significant progress with church growth in Mozambique. Some highlights from the article include:
  • Increasing numbers of convert baptisms in Beira after Cyclone Idai destroyed 90% of the buildings in the city four months ago
  • Thirteen convert baptisms in the Luaha Group in northern Mozambique (Luaha operated as a branch until a couple years ago)
  • Average attendance in sacrament meeting nationwide is nearly 70%
  • Three new stakes anticipated to be organized within the next year if current growth rates are sustained
  • Eleven of the thirteen branch presidents for branches outside of stakes have received temple ordinances since early 2018. Some areas where members live in the country require 100 hours of travel to reach the nearest temple.
  • Hope from members that a temple will one day be constructed in Mozambique
The two facts reported in the article that were most surprising to me were the high percentage of members who attend church services and plans to organize three new stakes within the next year. Even countries in Africa with moderate or high member activity rates generally report church attendance that constitutes only 50% of membership on church records. Although these percentages may be artificially higher due to large numbers of nonmembers in attendance, this nonetheless indicates significant progress with strengthening Church membership and activity. Also, the Church in Mozambique has historically struggled with inactivity and leadership development, particularly prior to the establishment of stakes in the country for the first time.

The Church created its first two stakes in Mozambique in 2015 (Maputo and Beira) followed by a third stake in 2017 (Beira Manga). Currently, only the Maputo Mozambique Stake has enough congregations to divide to create a new stake (10 wards, 2 branches), whereas the other two stakes do not have enough congregations to divide to organize new stakes (the Beira Mozambique Stake has seven wards, whereas the Beira Mozambique Manga Stake has five wards and two branches). The only district in the country, Nampula, has six branches although three of these branches were organized earlier this year. Thus, Nampula appears unlikely to become a stake given the recent establishment of most of the branches in the city (five of the six branches have been organized since October 2017). Therefore, many new wards appear likely to be organized soon if there are any realistic prospects for more stakes to be created. The Church reported 12,274 members, 22 wards, and 12 branches at year-end 2018. If 70% of Church membership attends sacrament meeting, then the average ward or branch may have as many as 250 people in attendance. Membership growth rates have accelerated in recent years from annual membership growth rates of 4-7% a year in the early 2010s to 13-15% for most years in the mid and late 2010s. In 2018, church membership increased by 13.3%. The Church was first established in Mozambique in the late 1990s. There were 200 members and one branch in 1997.

Click here for more statistical data on the Church in Mozambique.

99 comments:

Valenzuela y Escobar said...

Thank you for sharing, it is great to see that in that place and in others of the African continent there is real growth of the Church.

Undoubtedly, the joining of temples in these areas is necessary and should strengthen the baptized much more.

James Anderson said...

The cyclone was a category 4, unheard of for that area. The cause was determined to be water heating by an undersea volcano. A second category 4 storm hit generally the same area a few weeks later, also trashing much along the coastal regions and as far inland as the storm maintained strength. They are always called cyclones south of the Equator.

Christopher Nicholson said...

I never even heard about the cyclone when it happened. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention, but it seems like the world cares a lot more about natural disasters in some places than others.

James Anderson said...

There was a video about the first one, from the Church Newssroom, plus some articles, but almost no press from anyone most in the US or even many other areas, about the second one. One Youtuber found before and after satellite photos of a coastal village that was inland just a little, that got wiped out completely by the second one. The two storms hit roughly a month apart.

Eduardo said...

One of the best sources for world events is the Economist magazine. BBC and Al-Jazeera do a decent job but all are biased towards their interests. CNN, Fox, and MSNBC are painfully, shamefully pathetic for world news.
Where is the Richmond Temple going to be built? Anybody know?
Great to see Mozambique developing.

James Anderson said...

Richmond will be on the Staples Mill Road property the Church acquired some years ago.

Weather information, such as on the cyclones, is harder to come by, at least in the US you can get things from wxcharts.com, hailreports.com, and a few others. Haven't checked but it is possible wxcharts.com may have broader coverage.

Eric S. said...

Eduardo, the Richmond Temple will be built in Glen Allen, northwest of Richmond and near I-295. The church submitted preliminary plans back in March. Hoping that a rendering comes soon!

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/preliminary-plans-released-first-temple-virginia

Eduardo said...

I found it. A side of town which should make it better for Buena Vista residents. 30 minutes from the airport.

Eric S. said...

James, where is your source for Cyclone Idai being strengthened by an undersea volcano? A large undersea volcano was just discovered off of Mayotte, but that is further north than where Idai originated and made landfall. Any tropical cyclone requires warm sea surface temperatures to form and strengthen and the sea surface temperatures at the time of the two cyclones were very warm (near 90 F). An undersea volcano wouldn't be able to provide the length of time to generate and sustain a moving cyclone at the surface.

Kenneth was the cyclone that hit Mozambique about a month later and further north than where Idai struck. Kenneth actually made landfall as a higher intensity storm (stronger winds) than Idai, but both storms weakened from their strongest points before making landfall. Idai was deadly because it was sustained over an area for a long period of time. While every storm is different, what kills the most people in a tropical storm is the water (storm surge, coastal flooding, inland flooding from rain in slow-moving storms) rather than the winds (which is what the category ranking is based on). This is why it can be dangerous to solely focus on a storm's wind intensity. People can get caught in a false sense of security if they think a storm is relatively "weak" in winds, but it is the storm surge and heavy rains that is the deadliest.

James Anderson said...

The undersea volcano off Mayotte was exactly the one that gave the storm the heat source from the volcano that the storm needed to form, warm water in the Gulf here often turns some storms here into worse storms. And while a volcano on its own may not do things, it can certainly aggravate conditions below where normally warmer waters are, thus adding to things whena storm churns things up.

Many storms weaken before landfall as they get closer, so that was expected that both would weaken some, but when a storm makes alndfall, it can still have effects from the stronger point as much as a day after that last stronger point was.

Kenneth was the one where the Youtuber found the satellite image of coastal Mozambique where the storm totally flattened a village, may have also affected some in Tanzania.

But two major storms like this is unheard of, they cannot remember two Category 4 storms making landfall, much less that first one anyway. This was also near the end of the Southern Hemisphere's counterpart of the hurricane season, March to May is their peak which is exactly opposite of our September to November peak.

John Pack Lambert said...

One thing we do not know is how many groups the Church has operating in Mozambique. Still if Church attendance is averaging 250 per unit splitting wards may be justified.

John Pack Lambert said...

In the US people pay more attention to things in the US than anywhere else.

Levi said...

In temple news, the location for the ground for the Moses Lake Washington Temple was announced!

Chris D. said...

@Levi, What source did you use for Moses Lake Washington Temple site announcement? I searched on Mormon Newsroom and Church News sites. I couldn't find the article in question.

Levi said...

http://www.ifiberone.com/columbia_basin/church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-purchases-land/article_8b43ea48-b3d2-11e9-86ca-6f0f2cfd359e.html

Levi said...

Also confirmed by my father that is employed by the company that did the traffic studies for the location. They had to keep it secret.

Christopher Nicholson said...

"The land was valued at roughly $150,000 but was purchased for nearly $4.5 million in June of 2019." Why??

Eduardo said...

Cool about Moses Lake.
I guess the last Portuguese speaking countries to have full time missionaries are Guinea-Bissau and East Timor. Maybe Sao Tome and Principe are lacking, too. It would be cool to be missionary in an isolated place like that.

Chris D. said...

Does anyone know what date the "Edmonton Alberta Millwoods Stake" (516457) changed name to "Edmonton Alberta Gateway Stake"?

OC Surfer said...

In other temple rumor news, a new Okinawa Japan Stake Center in Naha was just completed, clearing the way for the old Naha chapel to be demolished and be the site of the Okinawa Japan Temple.

https://www.mormonnews.jp/記事/沖縄ステーク,地域と調和して新しいステークセンターの完成を祝う

James G. Stokes said...

Levi, I was intrigued by your report on the Moses Lake Washington Temple site, and I tried to find the story at the URL you provided, but the page in question appears to bring up an error message. So for anyone else here who has not seen the article in question, the information can be found at the following additional web address:

https://www.kxly.com/news/church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-purchases-land-for-temple-in-moses-lake/1102086709

Good to hear about this development. OC Surfer, where did you hear the rumor that the site foremerly used for the Stake Center would potentially be used for the temple? Or is that a rumor you are trying to perpetuate? I read an English translation of the article you noted above, and did not see any mention or suggestion that that might possibly be the temple site. Thanks for the clarification.

In other news, with today being August 1, the annual assignment change for the General Authorities has been completed, and Elder LeGrand Raine Curtis Jr. is now the new church Historian and Recorder, while Elder Paul Vere Johnson has commencement his second term as the Commissioner for the Church Education System. This also means that the area leadership changes announced by the First Presidency at the end of April are now effective, which includes the consolidation of the 10 North American Areas into 6.

And as a result of the consolidation of the Idaho Area into the North America Central Area, there has now likely been a change made in the composition of the Fifth and Sixth Quorums of the Seventy, since those who had been serving in the Idaho Area were part of the Fifth Quorum, while those serving in the North America Central Area have been part of the Sixth Quorum. I very much doubt the Church will spread area seventies from the now-one area between two different Quorums of the Seventy, so we can expect changes there in some way at some point. Probably the easiest thing would be to redesignate those serving in the former Idaho Area as members of the Sixth Quorum, but time will tell.

In the meantime, my ongoing thanks to you all for all your continued insights contribute to my understanding of things discussed here.

Ray said...

James, could you help me find the new area boundaries? The 3 Utah Areas have merged, the Idaho Area has been added to the North America Central Area, and North America West and North America Northwest have been joined together. I went to maps.lds.org but it only showed me the location of wards. How do I find stakes, missions, and areas online? Thanks very much.

Chris D. said...

Ray,

Login to https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps using your LDS account signin and search the following addresses :

For the new Utah Area (using the former Utah Salt Lake City Area (Unit# 425303) was renamed Utah Area :
https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=39.715039,-111.384138&z=6&m=google.road&layers=area&find=area:425303

The Utah North and South Areas (Units # 790141 and 790117, respectively) have been consolidated.

The new North America Central Area (using the old North America Central (Unit# 790206)).

https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=73.124472,-110.619153&z=2&m=google.road&layers=area&find=area:790206

The old Idaho Area (#791148) was consolidated.

Lastly, the new North America West Area (retained the unit #790036).

https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=65.984774,-152.147752&z=2&m=google.road&layers=area&find=area:790036

the North America Northwest Area (# 790095) was consolidated.

Using these links and signed in, you can see the new Area, Mission, Temple, Stake and Ward/Branch Boundaries and assigned units.

James G. Stokes said...

Ray, the boundaries of these areas are a bit tricky to understand, as parts of some states can be split between 2-3 areas. What I can tell you is that, if I have the boundaries correct for the Utah Area, in addition to most of the state, it has parts of Wyoming in and around the Evanston area, and encompasses the parts of Idaho in the Malad/Preston Area. The following page presents a summary of the composition of each area of the Church. It is a page for which I personally put in work in preparation for the changes which are effective today:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_(LDS_Church)

I'd just mention that the area stats noted on that page. As to the specific breakdown for each area, for those details, if you can find a copy of the 2013 Church Almanac, it breaks down specific stakes in each state that are further broken down by the areas to which each stake in each area belonged. Numerous additional stakes have been created since then, and I know that for some areas, on their specific area pages, some area-specific stats are available. These resources should give you a place to start learning about area boundaries. But those resources aside, I have no idea where to find specific, area-by-area demographics. And for reasons I don't understand, the Church seems reluctant to be fully transparent about area boundaries since the Almanac stopped being produced. It's admittedly not the best answer to your question, but that's the best I can recommend in this respect. And it could be that it may take the Church a while to update resources like maps and the area seventies list in full. Hope my response, such as it is, is helpful to you in some way. Thanks for the question.

Chris D. said...

New 6 North American Areas stats (As of 08/01/2019):

1 North America Central
Temples = 22
Missions = 22
Stakes = 278
Districts = 1

2 North America Northeast
Temples = 13
Missions = 19
Stakes = 134
Districts = 4

3 North America Southeast
Temples = 10
Missions = 15
Stakes = 115
Districts = 0

4 North America Southwest
Temples = 14
Missions = 21
Stakes = 269
Districts = 2

5 North America West
Temples = 18
Missions = 28
Stakes = 282
Districts = 1

6 Utah
Temples = 21
Missions = 10
Stakes = 611
Districts = 1

I hope this has been useful.

James G. Stokes said...

Hey, Chris, your first response must have been published as my reply to Ray was being written. Looks like the information you provided was more complete than anything I had. Thanks for that. Would it be okay with you if I copied the data you provided to the area page on Wikipedia I mentioned? Also, would you happen to have data on the congregational totals for each of those areas? Thanks.

James G. Stokes said...

And do you have the numbers for any or all of the other areas? I have had no end of trouble finding such information in the past. And as a result, the numbers on most of the areas on that Wikipedia page are severely out-of-date. If you have that information and would want to send it to me via email, I'd appreciate it.

James G. Stokes said...

That is, assuming it would be okay for me to use it. If you'd rather I didn't use it, that's fine as well.

Chris D. said...

James, yes, you may use my stats for areas that i have compiled on a Excel spreadsheet over the last several years. Sorry, I don't have Ward/Branch (congregational) stats approximately 30,000 total.

Here are my stats for the remaining 15 Areas outside of North America. (As of 08/01/2019)

1 Africa Southeast
Temples = 5
Missions = 17
Stakes = 60
Districts = 17

2 Africa West
Temples = 4
Missions = 17
Stakes = 109
Districts = 52 (including Issia Cote D'Ivoire (07/14/19), not confirmed on Classic Maps yet).

3 Asia
Temples = 5
Missions = 11
Stakes = 35
Districts = 26 (including 4 International Districts (English), not listed on Churchofjesuschristtemples.org, but verified on Classic Maps.)

4 Asia North
Temples = 6
Missions = 10
Stakes = 44
Districts = 19

5 Brazil
Temples = 11
Missions = 35
Stakes = 274
Districts = 39

6 Caribbean
Temples = 3
Missions = 8
Stakes = 33
Districts = 23

7 Central America
Temples = 8
Missions = 19
Stakes = 132
Districts = 29

8 Europe
Temples = 15
Missions = 26
Stakes = 129
Districts = 24

9 Europe East
Temples = 2
Missions = 10
Stakes = 4
Districts = 20

10 Mexico
Temples = 14
Missions = 32
Stakes = 221
Districts = 47

11 Middle East/Africa North
Temples = 0
Missions = 0
Stakes = 2
Districts = 2

12 Pacific
Temples = 13
Missions = 16
Stakes = 139
Districts = 39

13 Philippines
Temples = 6
Missions = 23
Stakes = 113
Districts = 64

14 South America Northwest
Temples = 10
Missions = 33
Stakes = 247
Districts = 49

15 South America South
Temples = 9
Missions = 27
Stakes = 181
Districts = 55


21 Areas Averages
Temples = 10 (Total 209)
Missions = 18 (Total 399)
Stakes = 155 (Total 3,412)
Districts = 24 (Total 539)
St.+Di. = 180 (Total 3,951)

Ray said...

Chris, Thanks for your help. Great to have these tools.

Ray said...

James, thanks to you as well. It's true that there is spillover from state borders on many of the areas. For example the Utah area shows 611 stakes while the state of Utah has only 602 stakes. It also shows the area with 4957 wards and branches while the official state total isonly 4877.

Chris D. said...

Ray, also the 3 Idaho Missions (Boise, Idaho Falls and Pocatello) which previously comprised the Idaho Area were all in the southern half of Idaho. Now southern Idaho State is part of North America Central Area since yesterday. While the northern half (Stakes) of Idaho was assigned to the Washington Spokane Mission, and as such, are now part of the new North America West Area. So also the State totals for Idaho do not match area totals.

Eric S. said...

Belém Brazil Temple rendering released! Groundbreaking will be held the 17th.

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/groundbreaking-announced-for-the-bel-eacute-m-brazil-temple

John Pack Lambert said...

I just was looking at Classic LDS maps. It appears that there are 4 branches in souther Texas that are directly under the Texas McAllen Mission and not assigned to any stake or even a district. One, the Raymondville Branch, is surrounded entirely by either the McAllen or the Corpus Christi Stake except where it has a border along the water. The other three, Zavala, Rio Grande City and Roma, are all adjacent to each other and so in theory would seem to be good candidates to be made into a district.

I am wondering if there are any other branches in the US directly under a mission and not in a stake or district.

John Pack Lambert said...

Did Sioux Falls South Dakota Stake used to be in the Rapid City South Dakota Mission before that mission was renamed to being the Bismark North Dakota Mission? Also were any stakes switched between missions when they renamed the Des Moines Mission to the Iowa City Mission that were moved between missions, or was this just a latent name change due to the end of the Peoria Mission?

The Illinois suburbs of St. Louis and Worland, Wyoming both just saw a new Spanish-speaking branch organized. Ho Ghana just got its third branch and Agbor Nigeria its 5th branch.

A note on the other hand. Tabou Department, in Ivory Coast along the boundary with Liberia starting at the coast, has a population of about 200,000 and appears to have no branches at all as of yet. There is still lots more outreach needed even in Ivory Coast.

I am not sure this has been noted, but the Conkary Branch seems to have been assigned to the Sierra Leone mission.

John Pack Lambert said...

The Utah Area only has 20 temples. The Monticello Utah Temple is in the North America Southwest Area Boundaries. North America Southwest has 15 temples. There are also 2 stakes in Utah (Monticello and Blanding) that are not in the Utah Area. Besides Wyoming and Idaho, the Utah Area also takes in the region around Wendover in Nevada, and all of Arizona north of the Grand Canyon, as well as a small part of Nevada. The Wendover district is based in Utah, but is split between Utah and Nevada. Most of Arizona north of the Grand Canyon is in one of the Kanab Stakes. However part of it is in the Mesquite Nevada Stake, which is the only stake in the Utah area not in Utah, Wyoming or Idaho. At the same time the North America Central Area does take in the whole region around Bear Lake, but that is in an Idaho based stake.

The stakes to temple ratios for areas are as follows:

North America Central = 12.6
North America Northeast = 10.3
North America Southest = 11.5
North America Southwest = 17.9
North America West = 15.7
Utah = 30.6
Africa Southeast = 12
Africa West = 26.8
Asia = 7
Asia North = 7.3
Brazil = 24.9
Caribbean = 11
Central America = 16.5
Europe = 8.6
Europe East = 2
Mexico = 15.8
Pacific = 10.7
Phillipines = 18.8
South America Northwest = 24.7
South America South = 20.11

John Pack Lambert said...

Utah has the most stakes per temple of any area. There are stakes assigned across area lines there, but I think the net total there may actually be either even or maybe even more stakes assigned to Utah Area temples outside Utah area than the other way around. This figure is gained with Utah Area having 4 in progress temples, which is equal to Brazil Area and more than any other area.

It is true that the Salt Lake Temple is the largest temple, and Utah has some high capacity temples like the Provo Temple and Jordan River. However this would suggest that there is probably justification for more temples to be announced in Utah. Heber City, Herriman and Morgan are three high ranked candidates. I still think there may be potential for West Valley City as well, although I am wondering what things will be like when the renovations of the Salt Lake Temple are complete.

A second temple for Cache Valley, and maybe one in Price are other possibilities. I am also thinking Delta, Utah or Nephi Utah might be a contender. Delta could take in the 3 Millard County Stakes plus the 2 stakes in Nephi. With growth going on in the south Utah County area even getting to the Payson Temple will get harder. The one question is could Manti Temple loose that many stakes and still function? I think it is worth pressing forward in that manner.

Another still possible contender is an Orem Utah Temple. One outside contender is still a Lehi Utah Temple. That would seem unlikely if the anticipated Herriman Temple is announced, but growth in that area is getting to be so much, it is hard to say.

Africa West comes in at the second worst ratio. It would maybe be the first if we counted districts as well as stakes, but I don't generally count districts towards temples. This is even more showing West African under served when you consider that none of the 20 temples in the Utah Area are small, but one of the ones in the Africa West Area is, and I am not sure how to class the Abijan One. Africa West looks to be the next major place where temples will be announced.

South America Northwest looks like it needs a few more temples. The same is true of Brazil. South America South also looks to need more temples. The same can be said for the Phillipines and North America Southwest. A temple in Northwest Arkansas is the one in that area that gets the most predictions. 3 to 4 more temples in Texas is also possible.

On the other hand even though Asia and Asia North have the lowest number of stakes per temple of any area, I can still see Asia North having a new temple announced in Mongolia and Asia getting a 2nd temple announced for Taiwan and maybe one in Singapore.

It is also interesting that although Utah area has over twice as many stakes as an any other area, it still has fewer temples than North America Central.

It is also interesting that Africa Southeast is being split when it has less than half the number of combined stakes and districts as Africa West. However Africa Southeast has a larger area I believe, and there are countries like Tanzania and Ethipia where the Church has just barely touched. It is a larger and more varried area than the West.

A merger of North America Southeast and North America Northeast Areas might be in order. Combined they would still have fewer stakes than any of the other North America Areas. They would also have one fewer mission than Brazil.

Also interesting that the two Africa Areas currently have the same number of missions.

John Pack Lambert said...

The Baltimore Maryland Mission seems oddly named with Baltimore being in the very south-eastconner of the mission, so much so that either the south end of Baltimore or places just south of Baltimore are not in the mission.

This is even more pronounced when it is clear that the Baltimore Metro Area is not all in the mission and yet it extends far beyond the Baltimore Area. It has 3 stakes in Pennsylvania, 3 in Maryland, and one each in West Virginia and Virginia. However the Martinsburg West Virginia Stake is actually split between Maryland, West Virgnia, Virginia and I think takes in a part of Pennsylvania as well. I believe Winchester Virgnia Stake used to be in the Washington DC South Mission, and Martinsburg West Virgnia Stake may have still been in that mission when created, I know I had a professor at BYU who served in DC south when it covered where the Martinsburg Stake is now, but he was there in the early 1990s so before Martinsburg Stake was created. That was Spencer J. Fluhman, who is the head of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute.

The thing is, Baltimore is the biggest city in the mission and it is hard to figure anywhere else that would be better. Frederick might be a better place to name the mission after. With New York Syracuse, Bentonville Arkansas, North Dakota Bismark, Iowa Iowa City and Newport Beach California having been renamed in the last 3 years or so there have been several renames in US missions recently. So I could see Baltimore being renamed.

John Pack Lambert said...

Do Canada Montreal Mission and Canada Calgary Mission both have 2 temples in their boundaries? Canada seems to be over covered by temples. It is hard to see another temple announced for Canada in my lifetime, but maybe I lack a vision of the growth we could see in Ontario.

John Pack Lambert said...

Just to give a sense of how much potential the Church has for growth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mbandaka is a city of 1.2 million people and does not even have a branch. With the Kinshasa Mission being split, and the Kinshasa East Mission having only 2 branches (both in Kinsangani) outside of Kinshasa, it is highly hoped that places like Mbandaka will be opened to missionary work very soon.

John Pack Lambert said...

Mbandak is the largest city of the Mongo who number about 12 million. Translation of Church materials into Mongo is needed as soon as possible. Mbandaka being a center of trade on the river has speakers of French and Lingala as well, so this is probably the best place to focus the intial outreach to the Mongo people.

John Pack Lambert said...

If I calculated correctly the Kinshsas East Mission includes all or part of 12 of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Of these 10 have no branches at all in them.

Christopher Nicholson said...

I'm actually wondering if or when missionaries will be withdrawn from the Congo, what with the Ebola crisis there.

twinnumerouno said...

In response to your comments about the Montreal mission, I would like to give some context. It still seems shocking to me that the Halifax mission was closed, and a bit weird that it was combined with Montreal, for a couple reasons. First, my family lived in the Halifax mission while I was serving in the Montreal mission. At the time I was there, 1995-1997, I heard that it was one of the largest missions in the world in terms of area it covered, and had one of the largest mission fleets as well.

The Montreal mission then was mostly French-speaking with a few English-speaking areas on the outskirts, most notably the Canadian capital, Ottawa, two hours away, and a bit of northern New York- also a few area of Montreal itself are English-speaking. But pretty much all of Quebec is French-speaking, so the only missionaries who served in the mission that did not speak French were some of my fellow Spanish-speaking missionaries- I myself had studied French in school and got to strengthen it being in Montreal.

On the other hand, the Halifax mission covered the Atlantic provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, along with a significant portion of northern Maine (my family's home was in eastern Maine in a border town, Calais, and we attended both ward and stake meetings in New Brunswick). Of these places, very few areas are French-speaking, mainly areas of northern New Brunswick along with a little bit of northern Maine right along the border, and I'm not sure if Newfoundland has French-speaking areas or not.

Come to think of it, combining the French-speaking areas into one mission makes sense in terms of mission resources and outreach to those areas- not sure if the Halifax mission had French-speaking missionaries but I believe there is now a French-speaking branch in Fort Kent, Maine.

twinnumerouno said...

The other thing to keep in mind about Canada, including this part of it, is that those distances are very large. I looked up the distance from Halifax to Montreal, a one-way trip would be over 11 hours driving time. My former stake center in St. John New Brunswick is about 8.5 hours from Montreal- Boston is closer at a bit over 6 hours, I'm sure it would also be closer to Halifax. The temple in Halifax was absolutely needed, and if there wasn't one there I'm sure people would be predicting one for distance reasons alone.

On a side note, I kind of wish the temple in Halifax had been completed while my family was living in Maine because it might have been an impetus to visit, and I never did make it to Nova Scotia (or the other 2 Atlantic provinces- my Anne of Green Gables-loving sister has complained because we never made a visit to PEI, which was actually part of our stake) in spite of constantly going to New Brunswick for various church meetings. (The temple in Halifax was completed a few months after my family left Maine, then both Boston and Montreal the following year. The whole time I lived in Maine our closest temple was either Washington DC or Toronto- both 16 hours from our last home in Maine.)

twinnumerouno said...

In terms of future temple construction in Canada, I'm not really in the know. But, we know that the distance factor is important to church leaders, as shown by the construction of the Winnipeg temple in Manitoba with only one stake. As Canada is the second largest country in the world by area (and most of the country's land area is sparsely populated), it seems quite possible that a little growth in remote places could result in having a small temple- I am thinking of northern BC or Alberta, along with somewhere in Ontario and maybe another temple in the Atlantic provinces (like St. John's, Newfoundland, which just had its district reinstated) if there is enough growth to support one. Also, if Yukon or one of the other territories ever gets a stake, that would probably be enough to get a temple there given the precedent in Winnipeg. I suspect most of these candidates would be far in the future or dependent on significant changes from current growth patterns.

Chris D. said...

Here is a combined List of Potential Future Temples Announced (54) that both Matt's Cumorah Foundation here and James Stokes' Blog agree upon :

Abu Dhabi / Dubai United Arab Emirates
Antananarivo Madagascar
Augusta Maine
Bacolod Philippines
Bahía Blanca Argentina
Bakersville California
Barcelona Spain
Belo Horizonte Brazil
Benin City Nigeria
Bentonville / Rogers Arkansas
Cali / Medellin Colombia
Cape Town South Africa
Charlotte North Carolina
Christchurch New Zealand
Cobán Guatemala
Cleveland Ohio
Colorado Springs Colorado
Des Moines Iowa
Edinburgh / Glasgow Scotland
Elko Nevada
Evanston Wyoming
Fairbanks Alaska
Florianopolis / São José Brazil
Freetown Sierra Leone
Green Bay / Milwaukee Wisconsin
Heber City Utah
Iquitos Peru
Jacksonville Florida
Jakarta Indonesia
João Pessoa Brazil
Kampala Uganda
Kingston Jamaica
Kumasi Ghana
Lubumbashi DR Congo
Maracaibo Venezuela
Mbuji-Mayi DR Congo
Missoula Montana
Monrovia Liberia
Osaka Japan
Oslo Norway
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
Port Moresby Papua New Guinea
Querétaro México
Rapid City South Dakota
Ribeirão Preto Brazil
Santa Cruz Bolivia
Savaii Samoa
Singapore
Tacloban City Philippines
Tarawa Kiribati
Torreón México
Ulaanbaatar Mongolia
Viña del Mar Chile
Wichita Kansas

Chris D. said...

And here another 58 from just Matt's Cumorah Foundation list.

Aguascalientes México
Angeles Philippines
Austin Texas
Busan Korea
Cancún México
Cape Coast Ghana
Casper Wyoming
Charleston West Virginia
Chihuahua México
Cuautla México
Culiacán México
Dublin Ireland
El Paso Texas
Enugu Nigeria
Eugene Oregon
Farmington New Mexico
Flagstaff Arizona
Grand Junction Colorado
Hobart Australia
Iloilo City Philippines
Kahului Hawaii
Kaohsiung Taiwan
La Paz Bolivia
La Paz Mexico
Las Palmas Spain
Legazpi Philippines
Londrina Brazil
Longview Texas
Maceió Brazil
McAllen Texas
Naga Philippines
Natal Brazil
Neuquén Argentina
New Delhi India
Osorno Chile
Pachuca México
Pensacola Florida
Piura Perú
Port of Spain Trinidad
Port Vila Vanuatu
Price Utah
Puerto Princesa Philippines
Ra'atea Tahiti
Rosario Argentina
Santa Maria Brazil
Santiago Dominican Republic
Santiago Philippines
Santos Brazil
São Paulo Brazil Guarulhos
Sendai Japan
Sorocaba Brazil
Tacoma Washington
Tacuarembo Uruguay
Teresina Brazil
Tirana Albania
Tuguegarao Philippines
Uyo Nigeria
West Valley City Utah

Chris D. said...

And yet another 22 from just James Stokes' latest list posted.

Berlin Germany
Ciudad del Este Paraguay
East Brunswick New Jersey
Fort Worth Texas
Hanoi Vietnam
Herriman Utah
Jackson Mississippi
Knoxville Tennessee
Las Cruces New Mexico
Maputo Mozambique
Montpelier Vermont
Preston Idaho
Pueblo Colorado
Queen Creek Arizona
Savannah Georgia
Shreveport Louisiana
Taichung Taiwan
Victoria British Columbia
Vienna Austria
Vilnius Lithuania
Washington County Utah (3rd)
Yamoussoukro Cote d'Ivoire

Chris D. said...

Both those lists can be found at these Websites to see why these 134 possible sites were chosen :

Cumorah.com -

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1W60CDwd4qDDMA3tW74z8g-2WxNw&ll=-3.81666561775622e-14%2C0&z=1

James Stokes' Blog -

https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2019/07/revised-and-expanded-list-of-potential.html

James G. Stokes said...

If you all will permit me to do so, I'd like to say a few words on future Canadian temple prospects. A while ago, someone who commented on my blog mentioned living in Victoria British Columbia. To get to the Vancouver British Columbia Temple (which is named for that city, but was built in Langley) involves difficult and expensive travel. Additionally, Victoria is more isolated from the rest of British Columbia. So with that background and the precedent of some of the 27 temples announced by President Nelson (which are currently or may soon be under construction) being for isolated locales, the odds seem more likely than not that a temple will be announced in Victoria sooner rather than later. So that's one prospect to monitor.

And looking ahead to other Canadian prospects, another I am keeping my eyes on is Lethbridge Alberta. The Saints in that city have 4 operating stakes, and since a Lethbridge temple would provide a slightly closer option for the Saints in Magrath, there is a sufficient Church presence for such a prospect, bearing in mind that the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple is being built to just serve the one stake there for now. I know the argument can be made that Lethbridge is just over 50 miles from Cardston, but if President Nelson at any point halves or quarters the 200-mile radius within which his two prophetic predecessors were trying to get all Church members from their assigned temple, and the nature of the 27 new temples our prophet has announced, as I have said before, we may need to use unconvetional, outside-the-box thinking in gauging future temple prospects. And particularly relative to Canada, relying on what has happened in the recent past with temple announcements for that nation may not be the most accurate way to assess the future likelihood of other prospective locations.

But it would not surprise me at all if, within the next 7 years or less, temples were announced for at least Victoria and Lethbridge, but certainly other prospects were announced as well. Time will tell. For what it might be worth to any of you, that is my assessment of Canadian temple prospects for the future, based on both feedback I have been given and research I have done into such prospects. Hope the information is helpful to all who read it.

James G. Stokes said...

Chris, thank you for your quick analysis on prospects Matt and I agree on, prospects unique to Matt's list, and those unique to my list. You must have provided those comments as I was preparing my reply above. And I appreciate someone else plugging information from my blog. I would just add in relation to my own list a reminder that I am hosting an open commenting period on the latest list I posted (which include several prospects never on any prior versions of my list) anytime between now and midnight MDT on the day when Monday September 30 becomes Tuesday October 1, in order to give me time to ensure that any needed alterations to the list can be finalized by General Conference weekend.

I also wanted to put it out there that I am more than willing to have earnest dialogue on potential changes to the list, but that if I have a good reason to stand by any of my selections rather than changing them, I will do my best to clarify why that is the case. I have tried my best to provide that clarification in the post where I share that list, but want to be sure that is understood. I'd love to dialogue with any of you about the list, but don't want my method of reasoning about locations on my list to be misunderstood or misinterpreted. I am always more than happy to explain my processes.

Thanks for indulging me in this additional comment about the picks particular to my list. And Chris, thank you again for your comparative and contrasting analysis on selections from Matt's list and my own.

James G. Stokes said...

Oh, one more thought from me: In April of this year, I had anticipated that hopefully President Nelson would share sepcifics of his temple expansion plans and announce at least several dozen new temples in conjunction with that. But further research on my end into statements made by President Nelson and those who have knowledge of the extent and timing of his plans has led me to conclude that we won't see a mass number of new temple annouhcements in the immediate future. Rather, since the 8 temples announced last April marked an incremental increase from the 7 announced in April 2018, it is my feeling that the number of temples announced 2 months from now fer will be a similar incremental increase from the 12 we saw announced last October, which is why I have set a target of 14-16 new temples which may be announced. I would be absolutely overjoyed if several dozen temples were announced and President Nelson explained the extent and timing of his plans in two months, but I am also prepared for 14-16 new temples, because that way, no matter if the number is higher, I won't be disappointed if "only" 14-16 temples actually wind up being announced. That's an aproach i would recommend we all take, FWIW.

Chris D. said...

Here is another Comparative analysis I have been doing between Rick's churchofjesuschristtemples.org - Temple Districts (currently 164) with the Classic Church Maps site assigned Temples for all the known 3,951 Stakes/Districts. I have found 478 Stakes/Districts with differences between assigned Temples. I'm not sure which list is the official List. Or if the Classic Maps site is assigned only using a Distance to closest temple factor. It often ignores National boundaries for crossing borders to assigned Temple. (i.e. USA-Mexico border both ways). Also some of these may just be temporary reassignments to next closest during Renovation / Rededication process.

I will share with you all my findings to get a consensus of my results. Listed by the 21 Areas each unit is assigned.

Africa Southeast Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Johannesburg South Africa - Aba Nigeria
1 1123769 Addis Adaba Ethiopia
2 2132419 Busia Uganda/Kenya
3 2145073 Gulu Uganda
4 615498 Jinja Uganda
5 1123793 Kampala Uganda North
6 2088428 Kampala Uganda South
7 2132427 Masaka Uganda

Chris D. said...

Africa West Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Aba Nigeria-Accra Ghana
1 615269 Abeokuta Nigeria
2 2120429 Abeokuta Nigeria Ibara
3 470309 Lagos Nigeria Agege
4 2060566 Lagos Nigeria Egbeda
5 2060590 Lagos Nigeria Festac
6 526797 Lagos Nigeria Ikeja
7 2120127 Lagos Nigeria Ojodu
8 1638572 Lagos Nigeria Yaba

Chris D. said...

Asia Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Hong Kong China - Cebu City Philippines
1 605557 Jakarta Indonesia
2 617512 Kota Kinabalu Malaysia
3 422975 Kuching Malaysia
4 560189 Miri Malaysia
5 1162578 Sibu Malaysia
6 607134 Surabaya Indonesia
7 606928 Surakarta Indonesia

Hong Kong China - Manila Philippines
1 608270 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
2 523224 Singapore

Chris D. said...

Asia North Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Manila Philippines - Cebu City Philippines
1 1233785 Barrigada Guam

Manila Philippines - Suva Fiji
1 610739 Panasang Pohnpei

Seoul Korea - Fukuoka Japan
1 512133 Busan Korea
2 515868 Changwon Korea
3 374741 Jeju Korea
4 539872 Ulsan Korea

Tokyo Japan - Fukuoka Japan
1 608394 Fukuchiyama Japan
2 296686 Kanazawa Japan
3 512761 Kobe Japan
4 521345 Kyoto Japan
5 610224 Nagano Japan
6 510491 Nagoya Japan
7 528900 Nagoya Japan East
8 506451 Osaka Japan
9 510173 Osaka Japan North
10 515272 Osaka Japan Sakai
11 514241 Shizuoka Japan

Tokyo Japan - Saporro Japan
1 513628 Sendai Japan
2 610526 Koriyama Japan
3 607355 Morioka Japan
4 605298 Niigata Japan

Tokyo Japan - Taipei Taiwan
1 512958 Okinawa Japan
2 602736 Okinawa Japan Military

Chris D. said...

Brazil Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Asuncion Paraguay - Curitiba Brazil ???
1 527955 Ponta Porã Brazil

Campinas Brazil - Cochabamba Bolivia
1 523267 Cuiabá Brazil
2 1065483 Cuiabá Brazil Industriário

Campinas Brazil - Curitiba Brazil
1 520675 Campo Grande Brazil
2 1057863 Campo Grande Brazil Monte Libano
3 421006 Itapeva Brazil
4 611719 Presidente Prudente Brazil

Campinas Brazil - Manaus Brazil
1 1352571 Sorriso Brazil

Campinas Brazil - São Paulo Brazil
1 2098970 Cabo Frio Brazil
2 617725 Registro Brazil
3 517240 São José dos Campos Brazil
4 2121204 São José dos Campos Brazil South
5 616990 São Sebastião Brazil
6 511528 Sorocaba Brazil
7 521655 Sorocaba Brazil Barcelona
8 464643 Sorocaba Brazil Santana
9 524638 Sorocaba Brazil Trujilo
10 2064286 Três Rios Brazil

Curitiba Brazil - Porto Alegre Brazil
1 612812 Chapecó Brasil
2 525928 Lages Brazil

Manaus Brazil - Cochabamba Bolivia
1 524611 Rio Branco Brazil

Porto Alegre Brazil - Buenos Aires Argentina
1 521930 Uruguaiana Brazil

Chris D. said...

Caribbean Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Panama City Panama - Santo Domingo Dominican Republic
1 609765 Kingston Jamaica
2 611050 Mandeville Jamaica

Santo Domingo Dominican Republic - Caracas Venezuela
1 447005 ABC Islands
2 2099136 Berbice Guyana
3 388726 Christ Church Barbados
4 388734 Georgetown Guyana
5 388718 Guadeloupe
6 2134020 Kingstown St Vincent
7 1043862 Port of Spain Trinidad

Santo Domingo Dominican Republic - Fort Lauderdale Florida
1 2102072 Havana Cuba

Santo Domingo Dominican Republic - Manaus Brazil
1 453633 Paramaribo Suriname

Chris D. said...

Central America Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Guatemala City Guatemala - Tegucigalpa Honduras
1 609846 Belize City
2 612715 Puerto Barrios Guatemala

Panama City Panama - San Jose Costa Rica
1 616885 Changuinola Panamá
2 617970 Concepción Panamá
3 518700 David Panamá

Tegucigalpa Honduras - San Jose Costa Rica
1 495085 Juigalpa Nicaragua

Tegucigalpa Honduras - San Salvador El Salvador
1 616524 Santa Rosa de Copan Honduras

Chris D. said...

Europe Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Frankfurt Germany - Bern Switzerland
1 505137 Kaiserslautern Germany Military
2 510270 Munich Germany
3 503754 Stuttgart Germany

Frankfurt Germany - Copenhagen Denmark
1 503770 Hamburg Germany

Frankfurt Germany - Freiberg Germany
1 509396 Hannover Germany
2 518867 Nürnberg Germany
3 526525 Salzburg Austria
4 512389 Vienna Austria

Frankfurt Germany - Rome Italy
1 614580 Beograd Serbia
2 614599 Ljubljana Slovenia
3 608327 Zagreb Croatia

Frankfurt Germany - The Hague Netherlands
1 508470 Dortmund Germany
2 506370 Düsseldorf Germany

Freiberg Germany - Kyiv Ukraine
1 1007807 Cluj-Napoca Romania

London England - Preston England
1 522287 Coventry England
2 610682 Limerick Ireland
3 507482 Merthyr Tydfil Wales

Paris France - Madrid Spain
1 387045 Toulouse France

Paris France - The Hague Netherlands
1 519081 Lille France

Rome Italy - Bern Switzerland
1 539244 Alessandria Italy
2 1765779 Milan Italy East
3 514683 Milan Italy West
4 557927 Verona Italy

Rome Italy - Kyiv Ukraine
1 609323 Bucharest Romania
2 543659 Nicosia Cyprus

Stockholm Sweden - Copenhagen Denmark
1 510262 Göteborg Sweden

Stockholm Sweden - Helsinki Finland
1 603538 Umea Sweden

James G. Stokes said...

Hey, Chris! if it helps, I am in the position to let you know that I know that all stakes and districts in Kenya and Uganda are currently assigned to the Johannesburg South Africa Temple. To the best of my knowledge, never have any of the stakes or districts in either nation belonged to any other temple district. Also, because there have been some inaccuracies noted previously about information on LDS Maps vs. actual information, my inclination when information about temple districts differs between the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site and Classic Maps is to trust the former resources above the latter. I say that because in matters such as temple districts, updates are made far more frequently and consistently to the Church Temples site as changes come to light in comparison to the Maps website.

I know that taking the information on the Church Temples site as more accurate than that on Classic Maps may be hard for some people, since the latter is an official site of the Church, while the former is not, but if the Church Temples site information on the temple district serving Kenya and Uganda is correct, which it absolutely is, then it logically follows that to resolve any other disagreement between the two resources, if one is more correct than the other in a few cases, it must be more correct in nearly every case (if not absolutely in all cases). Just my two cents on the matter, for what they might be worth to anyone here.

Chris D. said...

Europe East Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Helsinki Finland - Kyiv Ukraine
1 617776 Vilnius Lithuania

Kyiv Ukraine - Helsinki Finland
1 617806 Novosibirsk Russia
2 272280 Yekaterinburg Russia

Stockholm Sweden - Helsinki Finland
1 617784 Riga Latvia

Chris D. said...

Mexico Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Ciudad Juarez Mexico - Colonia Juarez Chihuahua Mexico
1 2028107 Cuauhtémoc México
2 606979 Parral México
3 508764 Chihuahua México
4 518670 Chihuahua México Chuviscar
5 519898 Chihuahua México Tecnológico
6 519413 Delicias México

Chris D. said...

Mexico Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Colonia Juarez Chihuahua Mexico - The Gila Valley Arizona
1 603856 Sierra Madre México

Hermosillo Sonora Mexico - Guadalajara Mexico
1 603864 El Dorado México

Hermosillo Sonora Mexico - Tucson Arizona
1 613134 Nogales México
2 1564196 Puerto Peñasco México

Mexico City Mexico - Guadalajara Mexico
1 421391 Guanajuato México
2 1085077 Lázaro Cárdenas México
3 514039 San Luis Potosí México
4 525510 San Luis Potosí México Benito Juárez

Monterrey Mexico - San Antonio Texas
1 617326 Acuña México

Oaxaca Mexico - Veracruz Mexico
1 271659 Tehuacán México

Tampico Mexico - Veracruz Mexico
1 519618 Papantla México

Tijuana Mexico - Hermosillo Sonora Mexico
1 1074873 Cabo San Lucas México
2 519820 La Paz México

Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico - Oaxaca Mexico
1 520241 Juchitán México
2 527300 Juchitán México Las Flores

Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico - Quetzaltenango Guatemala
1 511110 Tapachula México
2 520276 Tapachula México Izapa

Villahermosa Mexico - Veracruz Mexico
1 526827 Acayucan México

Chris D. said...

James. You are correct. Where there is a difference between Temple boundaries, I am sure the affected members in those Stakes/Districts will attend where it is least difficult to get to the location, both financially, timewise and in some cases Border crossings (or not). Where it is difficult to cross international borders, they may choose to attend 2nd closest temple within the country, if possible, instead.

I am just suggesting that someone with closer ties with Church HQ Boundaries commission may send them the memo of the suggested differences, without siting a non-official website as their source. Again, thank you for your feedback.

Chris D. said...

North America Central Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Albuquerque New Mexico - Denver Colorado
1 516236 Alamosa Colorado

Billings Montana - Bismarck North Dakota
1 526843 Glendive Montana

Billings Montana - Cardston Alberta
1 511080 Great Falls Montana East

Billings Montana - Rexburg Idaho
1 502251 Butte Montana

Billings Montana - Star Valley Wyoming
1 503940 Riverton Wyoming

Boise Idaho - Meridian Idaho
1 374504 Nampa Idaho East
2 510025 Nampa Idaho South
3 501344 Nampa Idaho West

Fort Collins Colorado - Denver Colorado
1 506567 Boulder Colorado
2 1996495 Brighton Colorado
3 506559 Denver Colorado North
4 526363 Westminster Colorado

Idaho Falls Idaho - Rexburg Idaho
1 500569 Rigby Idaho
2 501735 Rigby Idaho East
3 502294 Salmon Idaho

Logan Utah - Star Valley Wyoming
1 500372 Grace Idaho

Meridian Idaho - Columbia River Washington
1 500488 La Grande Oregon

Regina Saskatchewan - Bismarck North Dakota
1 511439 Winnipeg Manitoba

Spokane Washington - Cardston Alberta
1 2089181 Frenchtown Montana

Chris D. said...

North America Northeast Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Boston Massachusetts - Montreal Quebec
1 508349 Montpelier Vermont

Columbus Ohio - Detroit Michigan
1 503703 Cleveland Ohio
2 516597 Kirtland Ohio
3 513660 Toledo Ohio

Hartford Connecticut - Manhattan New York
1 526959 Newburgh New York

Indianapolis Indiana - Chicago Illinois
1 510211 South Bend Indiana

Louisville Kentucky - Columbus Ohio
1 515604 Huntington West Virginia

Palmyra New York - Montreal Quebec
1 366250 Potsdam New York

Palmyra New York - Toronto Ontario
1 507245 Buffalo New York
2 518123 Jamestown New York

Philadelphia Pennsylvania - Manhattan New York
1 504726 East Brunswick New Jersey
2 512168 Scranton Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Pennsylvania - Palmyra New York
1 526681 Williamsport Pennsylvania

Raleigh North Carolina - Columbia South Carolina ??
1 503657 Kinston North Carolina

Toronto Ontario - Palmyra New York
1 600172 Kingston Ontario

Washington D.C. - Columbia South Carolina ??
1 505498 Roanoke Virginia

Washington D.C. - Columbus Ohio ??
1 618217 Buena Vista Virginia
2 1731793 Buena Vista Virginia YSA
3 511803 Clarksburg West Virginia
4 510459 Pembroke Virginia
5 505293 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

Washington D.C. - Philadelphia Pennsylvania ??
1 511048 Altoona Pennsylvania
2 505617 Chambersburg Pennsylvania
3 519294 Chesapeake Virginia
4 509213 Newport News Virginia
5 502693 Richmond Virginia
6 516635 Richmond Virginia Chesterfield
7 482684 Richmond Virginia Midlothian
8 504300 Virginia Beach
9 510467 Waynesboro Virginia

John Pack Lambert said...

The Ebola outbreak in Congo is limited to Ituri province where there are no branches and probably never have been missionaries. That province has been in the midst of an armed conflict since 2015. It is one of 10 provinces in the Kinshasa East Mission that has no branches.

John Pack Lambert said...

Yet Halidax Temple covers 2 stakes. By Canadian standards India should be getting a 2nd temple. It has more stakes than Manitoba and Saskachewan combined which are soon to get a 2nd temple.

The current Mintreal Mission is smaller geographically than the Novosibirsk Mission in Russia. Maybe than some others in Russia. It covers far less people than many missions. It has all of 6 stakes and a district. Other missions cover as many or more languages. The Guam Mission used to have 6 before it lost the Marshall Islands.

Chris D. said...

North America Southeast Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Baton Rouge Louisiana - Birmingham Alabama ??
1 515779 Gulfport Mississippi
2 504467 Hattiesburg Mississippi
3 504424 Jackson Mississippi
4 517623 Slidell Louisiana

Baton Rouge Louisiana - Houston Texas ??
1 511102 Alexandria Louisiana
2 517712 Monroe Louisiana

Columbia South Carolina - Louisville Kentucky
1 512621 Kingsport Tennessee

Nashville Tennessee - Atlanta Georgia
1 506400 Knoxville Tennessee
2 526207 Knoxville Tennessee Cumberland

Orlando Florida - Birmingham Alabama
1 507954 Panama City Florida

Raleigh North Carolina - Columbia South Carolina ??
1 1434578 High Point North Carolina
2 506338 Wilmington North Carolina
3 510033 Winston-Salem North Carolina

John Pack Lambert said...

I don't think I saw Abuja on either list, I think it is a strong contender. More so than Enugu at present since there are not many stakes of that way, but growth seems more pronounced in that area.

Chris D. said...

North America Southwest Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Albuquerque New Mexico - Ciudad Juarez Mexico
1 507210 Las Cruces New Mexico

Albuquerque New Mexico - Monticello Utah
1 508217 Bloomfield New Mexico
2 500631 Farmington New Mexico
3 515744 Kirtland New Mexico

Albuquerque New Mexico - Snowflake Arizona
1 507555 Gallup New Mexico

Cedar City Utah - St. George Utah
1 523038 Panaca Nevada

Gilbert Arizona - Mesa Arizona
1 525863 Chandler Arizona West
2 514829 Gilbert Arizona Stapley
3 518980 Gilbert Arizona Val Vista
4 506117 Mesa Arizona Alma
5 508268 Tempe Arizona South
6 519480 Tempe Arizona West

Mesa Arizona - Gilbert Arizona
1 378011 Mesa Arizona Skyline
2 518484 Peralta Trail Arizona

Mesa Arizona - Phoenix Arizona
1 512230 Paradise Valley Arizona
2 277037 Payson Arizona

Oklahoma City Oklahoma - Kansas City Missouri
1 2032481 Bentonville Arkansas

Salt Lake - Twin Falls Idaho
1 501557 Elko Nevada East
2 523429 Elko Nevada West

San Antonio Texas - Monterrey Mexico
1 514578 Harlingen Texas
2 617016 Laredo Texas
3 507652 McAllen Texas
4 542008 McAllen Texas West

San Diego California - Tijuana Mexico
1 502901 Yuma Arizona

St. George Utah - Cedar City Utah
1 506982 Page Arizona

The Gila Valley Arizona - Tucson Arizona
1 501492 St David Arizona

Chris D. said...

North America West Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Los Angeles California - Fresno California
1 502723 San Luis Obispo California

Los Angeles California - Newport Beach California
1 504866 Hacienda Heights California
2 503827 La Verne California
3 501913 Long Beach California East
4 503088 Whittier California

Los Angeles California - Redlands California
1 505730 Ridgecrest California

Oakland California - Fresno California
1 518212 Turlock California

Redlands California - Newport Beach California
1 512222 Chino California
2 511226 Corona California
3 520403 Jurupa California

Sacramento California - Oakland California
1 520640 Vacaville California

San Diego California - Redlands California
1 1988522 Lake Elsinore California
2 519316 Murrieta California
3 420328 Temecula California

San Diego California - Tijuana Mexico
1 508543 Chula Vista California
2 512877 El Centro California Imperial Valley

Seattle Washington - Vancouver British Columbia
1 504157 Mount Vernon Washington

John Pack Lambert said...

Many stakes are functionally in multiple temple districts. I know London Ontario, Toledo Ohio and Kalamazoo Michigan are all only partly in the Detroit Temple district. I am sure there are examples in many other temple districts.

Chris D. said...

Pacific Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Hamilton New Zealand - Nuku'alofa Tonga ??
1 506931 Auckland New Zealand Harbour
2 515035 Auckland New Zealand Henderson
3 509590 Auckland New Zealand Manukau
4 502928 Auckland New Zealand Mt Roskill
5 1935437 Auckland New Zealand Otara
6 522724 Auckland New Zealand Panmure
7 525480 Auckland New Zealand Papatoetoe
8 2038315 Auckland New Zealand Penrose
9 526126 Auckland New Zealand Waterview
10 512451 Gisborne New Zealand
11 503452 Hastings New Zealand
12 524115 Hastings New Zealand Flaxmere
13 505234 Kaikohe New Zealand
14 523100 Whangarei New Zealand

Hamilton New Zealand - Suva Fiji ??
1 602213 Nouméa New Caledonia

Hamilton New Zealand - Sydney Australia ??
1 511064 Christchurch New Zealand
2 604100 Dunedin New Zealand
3 607339 Nelson New Zealand
4 511706 Palmerston North New Zealand
5 526118 Porirua New Zealand
6 614149 Taranaki New Zealand
7 509523 Upper Hutt New Zealand
8 504459 Wellington New Zealand

Laie Hawaii - Kona Hawaii
1 2023539 Kiritimati Island Kiribati

Laie Hawaii - Suva Fiji
1 613290 Kwajalein Marshall Islands
2 1014234 Majuro Marshall Islands

Manila Philippines - Cebu City Philippines
1 610445 Namoneas Chuuk

Manila Philippines - Suva Fiji
1 612669 Kosrae Micronesia

Nuku'alofa Tonga - Apia Samoa
1 369527 Niua Tonga

Suva Fiji - Brisbane Australia
1 272248 Daru Papua New Guinea
2 386227 Gerehu Papua New Guinea
3 385689 Goroka Papua New Guinea
4 1755188 Honiara Solomon Islands
5 385670 Isumo Papua New Guinea
6 2102951 Lae Papua New Guinea
7 1689576 Madang Papua New Guinea
8 1229370 Minj Papua New Guinea
9 1692577 Movaeve Papua New Guinea
10 385697 Oro Papua New Guinea
11 524123 Port Moresby Papua New Guinea
12 563137 Rigo Papua New Guinea
13 1467573 Sogere Papua New Guinea
14 1644378 Suki Papua New Guinea

Suva Fiji - Cebu City Philippines
1 1688979 Sepik River Papua New Guinea

Sydney Australia - Brisbane Australia
1 614025 Coffs Harbour Australia

Chris D. said...

Philippines Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Manila Philippines - Cebu City Philippines
1 612847 Bulan Philippines
2 617083 Narra Philippines
3 611395 Sorsogon Philippines

Chris D. said...

South America Northwest Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Caracas Venezuela - Bogota Colombia
1 275824 La Fria Venezuela
2 1546570 San Cristóbal Venezuela Pirineos

Lima Peru - Cochabamba Bolivia
1 520756 Arequipa Perú Central
2 526541 Arequipa Perú Hunter
3 517496 Arequipa Perú Manuel Prado
4 1646176 Arequipa Perú Paucarpata
5 522856 Arequipa Perú Selva Alegre
6 512885 Arequipa Perú Umacollo
7 526886 Arequipa Perú Zamácola
8 523631 Ilo Perú
9 2071347 Majes Perú
10 613282 Mollendo Perú
11 523208 Moquegua Perú
12 614351 Puerto Maldonado Perú
13 495115 Sicuani Perú
14 515949 Tacna Perú
15 525790 Tacna Perú Alameda
16 521833 Tacna Perú Arias Aragüez

Lima Peru - Guayaquil Ecuador
1 513369 Iquitos Perú
2 524654 Iquitos Perú Nueve de Octubre
3 521027 Iquitos Perú Punchana

Trujillo Peru - Guayaquil Ecuador
1 616737 Paita Perú
2 520004 Piura Perú Castilla
3 516155 Piura Perú Central
4 524670 Piura Perú Miraflores
5 611638 Talara Perú
6 545090 Tumbes Perú

John Pack Lambert said...

It looks to me like Soracaba Brazil could get a temple. I am also thinking Farmington New Mexico might be a contender.

John Pack Lambert said...

It appears Phillipines Area Temples take in stakes outside the area. So it is probably even higher on needing more temple lists than one would suspect based on my analysis.

Chris D. said...

South America South Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Asuncion Paraguay - Cochabamba Bolivia ??
1 609048 Boquerón Paraguay

Asuncion Paraguay - Cordoba Argentina ??
1 613193 Corrientes Argentina
2 612677 Ibarreta Argentina
3 617385 Pilar Paraguay
4 514233 Resistencia Argentina
5 526258 Resistencia Argentina South
6 612618 Roque Saenz Peña Argentina

Asuncion Paraguay - Curitiba Brazil ??
1 616796 Caaguazu Paraguay
2 525227 Ciudad del Este Paraguay
3 609056 Concepción Paraguay
4 615757 La Paloma Paraguay
5 615749 Pedro Juan Caballero Paraguay

Asuncion Paraguay - Porto Alegre Brazil ??
1 613207 Apostoles Argentina
2 612685 Eldorado Argentina
3 609072 Encarnacion Paraguay
4 452300 Formosa Argentina
5 521795 Posadas Argentina

Buenos Aires Argentina - Concepcion Chile
1 463477 Caleta Olivia Argentina
2 522732 Comodoro Rivadavia Argentina
3 523755 General Roca Argentina
4 521973 Neuquén Argentina
5 525324 Neuquén Argentina West
6 611697 Rio Gallegos Argentina
7 612162 Tierra del Fuego Argentina
8 519715 Trelew Argentina North
9 526282 Trelew Argentina South

Buenos Aires Argentina - Cordoba Argentina
1 614904 Goya Argentina
2 383295 La Paz Argentina
3 383287 Paraná Argentina
4 487252 Rafaela Argentina
5 2121891 Reconquista Argentina
6 513113 Santa Fe Argentina
7 523887 Santa Fe Argentina North

Buenos Aires Argentina - Montevideo Uruguay
1 511536 Mar del Plata Argentina
2 523666 Mar del Plata Argentina North
3 445355 Santa Teresita Argentina

Cordoba Argentina - Cochabamba Bolivia
1 518786 Jujuy Argentina
2 614238 Oran Argentina
3 612073 San Pedro Argentina Jujuy
4 617210 Tartagal Argentina

Cordoba Argentina - Santiago Chile
1 511897 Godoy Cruz Argentina
2 522759 Guaymallén Argentina
3 523704 Maipú de Cuyo Argentina
4 506273 Mendoza Argentina
5 524565 San Juan Argentina Chimbas
6 521515 San Juan Argentina Nuevo Cuyo
7 2033437 San Martin Argentina
8 523313 San Rafael Argentina
9 612839 Valle de Uco Argentina

Montevideo Uruguay - Buenos Aires Argentina
1 612294 Colonia Uruguay
2 522295 Mercedes Uruguay
3 509418 Paysandu Uruguay
4 511773 Salto Uruguay

Montevideo Uruguay - Porto Alegre Brazil
1 509426 Rivera Uruguay

Santiago Chile - Cochabamba Bolivia
1 477257 Alto Hospicio Chile

John Pack Lambert said...

It looks like some of these are temporary due to remodeling.

Anything that asks to cross international boundaries is going to be avoided outside of a few rare cases.

Toledo Ohio I know really does go either way. Kirtland and Cleveland J think go to Columbus most of the time. Kirtland is even in the Columbus Mission.

John Pack Lambert said...

Since the trip to Aba can be done without visas it is more likely. Those 8 stakes are probably going to be about half the Lagos Nigeria Temple district.

John Pack Lambert said...

In reality these may boil down to where visas are easiest to get, although cost and frequency of flight may factor. Since the MTC is in Manilla that may also be where many from these areas actually end up going to the temple no matter where they are assigned.

Chris D. said...

Utah Area (From : churchtemples.org To : Classic Maps)

Bountiful Utah - Salt Lake
1 511684 North Salt Lake Utah

Brigham City Utah - Logan Utah
1 517569 Fielding Utah
2 500593 Garland Utah
3 500305 Malad Idaho

Brigham City Utah - Ogden Utah
1 517089 Willard Utah

Draper Utah - Jordan River Utah
1 526223 Draper Utah Crescent View
2 427144 Draper Utah River View
3 517038 Sandy Utah Alta View
4 506680 Sandy Utah Canyon View
5 510912 Sandy Utah Central
6 510610 Sandy Utah Cottonwood Creek
7 512834 Sandy Utah Crescent North
8 504017 Sandy Utah East
9 511323 Sandy Utah Granite
10 508810 Sandy Utah Hillcrest
11 514497 Sandy Utah Midvalley
12 503045 Sandy Utah Mount Jordan
13 506834 Sandy Utah Willow Creek
14 1611178 Sandy Utah YSA

Jordan River Utah - Oquirrh Mountain Utah
1 514314 Kearns Utah Western Hills
2 503339 Riverton Utah
3 364967 Riverton Utah Central
4 367060 Riverton Utah Copperview
5 512249 Riverton Utah North
6 526231 Riverton Utah South
7 543624 Riverton Utah YSA
8 517429 Salt Lake Hunter Copperhill
9 517593 Salt Lake Hunter South
10 1593374 West Jordan Utah YSA

Jordan River Utah - Salt Lake
1 501999 Murray Utah
2 502944 Salt Lake Granger
3 505404 Salt Lake Granger East
4 503576 Salt Lake Granger North
5 505463 Salt Lake Granger West
6 504289 Salt Lake Hunter
7 511293 Salt Lake Hunter Central
8 509310 Salt Lake Hunter East
9 506419 Salt Lake Hunter West
10 501778 Salt Lake Jordan North
11 522155 Salt Lake Utah (Tongan)
12 506923 Taylorsville Utah North

Mount Timpanogos Utah - Draper Utah
1 525316 Alpine Utah North
2 1979639 Lehi Utah Pheasant Pointe
3 2055031 Lehi Utah Thanksgiving
4 486701 Lehi Utah Traverse Mountain
5 461490 Saratoga Springs Utah North

Ogden Utah - Bountiful Utah
1 500178 Coalville Utah
2 500151 Morgan Utah

Ogden Utah - Vernal Utah
1 508608 Lyman Wyoming

Oquirrh Mountain Utah - Draper Utah
1 2113279 Bluffdale Utah Independence
2 2026155 Bluffdale Utah South

Oquirrh Mountain Utah - Jordan River Utah
1 517283 West Jordan Utah Westbrook

Oquirrh Mountain Utah - Salt Lake
1 500925 Magna Utah
2 500933 Magna Utah East
3 517321 Magna Utah South

Payson Utah - Manti Utah
1 500666 Delta Utah
2 512044 Delta Utah West

Payson Utah - Provo City Center
1 507865 Mapleton Utah
2 526983 Mapleton Utah North
3 2072688 Mapleton Utah West
4 1385577 Spanish Fork Utah Maple Mountain
5 500984 Spanish Fork Utah Palmyra

Provo City Center - Provo Utah
1 273287 Provo Utah YSA 15th

Provo Utah - Mount Timpanogos Utah
1 500186 Heber City Utah
2 440248 Heber City Utah North
3 516244 Midway Utah
4 2101491 Midway Utah West
5 519235 Orem Utah Aspen

Provo Utah - Provo City Center
1 513644 Orem Utah Lakeview
2 462810 Provo Utah 1st (Tongan)
3 513962 Provo Utah Grandview
4 526177 Provo Utah Grandview East
5 506036 Provo Utah Grandview South
6 467278 Provo Utah Parkway
7 511455 Provo Utah YSA 10th

Salt Lake - Draper Utah
1 501123 Kamas Utah
2 517445 Park City Utah

Salt Lake - Jordan River Utah
1 506648 Cottonwood Heights Utah Brighton
2 512931 Cottonwood Heights Utah Wasatch
3 506346 Salt Lake Big Cottonwood
4 503975 Salt Lake Butler
5 504580 Salt Lake Butler West
6 500690 Salt Lake Cottonwood
7 510564 Salt Lake Cottonwood Heights
8 526339 Salt Lake Little Cottonwood

Salt Lake - Oquirrh Mountain Utah
1 2044676 Erda Utah
2 501603 Grantsville Utah
3 512281 Grantsville Utah West
4 528757 Stansbury Park Utah
5 530468 Stansbury Park Utah South
6 500143 Tooele Utah
7 273325 Tooele Utah East
8 502235 Tooele Utah North
9 510394 Tooele Utah South
10 461717 Tooele Utah Valley View
11 2052946 Tooele Utah West
12 617814 Wendover Utah

St. George Utah - Cedar City Utah
1 500119 Kanab Utah
2 518727 Kanab Utah Kaibab

Star Valley Utah - Logan Utah
1 507830 Kemmerer Wyoming

twinnumerouno said...

John, I am sure you are right about the Russia missions being larger than the Montreal one. I am probably mis-remembering what they said, it was probably something like "one of the largest in North America." I don't think I've ever heard that anyone had made a list of missions by land area but if there is one I would love to see it. But perhaps that's too nerdy even for the people on this site.

twinnumerouno said...

The difference you have noted about the assignment of the stakes in and around Arequipa, Peru will be moot in about 4 months.

twinnumerouno said...

Yes, the stakes in India are pretty spread out too even though most of them are in the southern part of the country.

Tony said...

What has happened to the cumorah.com site? It keeps saying in available?

James Anderson said...

If it is located on a server near Salt Lake Downtown, there was a power outage that took down a number of sites including KSL for some time yesterday so the ISP he is on may have had effects from that.

James Anderson said...

As to the changes of temple assignments for the Utah areas, this reshuffle is to load-balance them. In Provo City Center, for example, there has always been a need for workers, backups exist on almost any Saturday due to the called worker shortage.

Some of this may also mean that an Orem Utah Temple may be less likely in the near term but could be announced a few more years out based on growth trends and other factors.

BryanBaird84 said...

I do see Orem Utah Temple being built in or around the Vineyard, Utah area also since it's growing rapidly 47,000 in 2010 to around 66,000 in 2018. And Utah County is reported to have 98% LDS I think in a few years a temple might be announced for Lehi, Utah.

James Anderson said...

Leaders in the area conferences the church has broadcast indicates just under 500k members about half of that active, the county has a population estimated at 620k at present

Michael Worley said...

PathwayConnect Opens in 50 New Countries in 2019
BY BREANNE SU'A1 August 2019
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BYU-Pathway Worldwide’s PathwayConnect program opened in 50 new countries in 2019 as it expands access to higher education across the globe, particularly through new virtual gatherings. PathwayConnect is now operating in all 21 areas of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in 134 countries; 3,228 stakes; 453 districts; and 317 missions.

Applications for Fall Semester 2019 (Sept.–Dec.) are open and will close September 3.

PathwayConnect is a one-year (three-term) program designed to help individuals start or return to higher education at a low cost. Students complete coursework online and gather in person or virtually once a week with other PathwayConnect students and service missionaries. By completing the program, students receive up to 16 credits that can then be applied toward an online degree program, offered in partnership with BYU-Idaho.

More information about how to apply to PathwayConnect, admission requirements, and locations is available at byupathway.lds.org.



50 New Countries open for Fall Semester 2019 (Sept.–Dec.):

Anguilla
Aruba
Bahrain
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bosnia and Herzegovina
British Virgin Islands
Cambodia
Caribbean Netherlands
Cayman Islands
Costa Rica
Curaçao
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Denmark
Dominica
Estonia
Eswatini
French Guiana
Iceland
Latvia
Liberia
Luxembourg
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Micronesia
Mongolia
Montserrat
Nicaragua
North Macedonia
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Rwanda
Saint Barthélemy
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Martin
Saudia Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Sint Maarten
Slovenia
Saint Lucia
Tanzania
Togo
Turks and Caicos Islands
Uganda
U.S. Virgin Islands
Zambia
https://pathwaynewsroom.org/new-locations-sept-2019/

Chris D. said...

I apologize if I have offended anyone on the site, with my previous inquiries about the overlapping Temple District assignments. From both the Classic LDS Maps website and Rick Satterfield's churchofjesuschristtemples.org website as referencing resources.

I am creating a visual map of the 209 current Temple Districts with all 3,951 Stakes/Districts, using Google Earth Pro and Matt Martinich's Possible temples map as a base and adding all the Stakes/Districts from a downloadable file on Rick's site of all church units. Then i am having Google draw a Road and/or Air route to the assigned Temple + a 200 mile radius circle from the temple site. Thus creating a visual image to assist in future predictions of Stakes/Districts outside of the 200 mile radius area, or where we can split the Temple districts.

So my inquiry was just to know which of the 2 listed Temples was the more accurate, to show where the lines are drawn fro each Temple.

Thank you all once again for contributing to the conversation.

I also forgot to personally thank John Pack Lambert for correcting my mistake, regarding including the Monticello Utah Temple (southeast Utah) in the new Utah Area. When as was pointed out it is assigned to the North America Southwest Area instead.

twinnumerouno said...

Chris, is this project as time-consuming as it sounds? I don't know much about Google Earth but used to spend lots of time on my own map-related projects. I look forward to seeing your visual map when it's complete.

Chris D. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Downtownchrisbrown said...

Not sure if I need to do something else, but it says that Access is Denied to the google map link

Chris D. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.