This weekend, the Church organized its first branch in northern Cote d'Ivoire. The Korhogo Branch was organized in the Cote d'Ivoire Yamoussoukro Mission with approximately 30 people in attendance. Korhogo is the fourth most populous city in Cote d'Ivoire, and the city was previously the most populous city in the country without an official ward or branch. The Church has had a few members who have lived in Korhogo over the years, but there were not enough members to create a branch until recently despite repeated efforts from mission leadership to explore opportunities to organize a member group or branch. The Church in Cote d'Ivoire has experienced a dramatic slowdown to national outreach expansion since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Church in Cote d'Ivoire experienced one of the most significant declines in the number of monthly convert baptisms among high baptizing areas for the Church.
Sunday, January 23, 2022
First Branch Created in Northern Cote d'Ivoire
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Exciting to see outreach expansion in that part of Cote d'Ivoire. I wonder if it will yield similar positive results to the outreach centers that were established in northern Ghana a few years ago (which, I am still convinced, may be organized into its own Mission in this decade).
Also, I am excited to see the number of convert baptisms accelerate again. The pandemic has definitely slowed things down in West Africa, but hopefully as soon as this year, there will be a rebound. It's almost unavoidable.
The new branch in Korhogo is quite an encouraging sign. I am hoping to see several stakes formed all across Ivory Coast over the next year.
A new option added to member tools app. You can go into options and allow your old mission leadership, meaning your mission president and wife, to see your and your family's information.
Kenny, thanks for the information about old mission leaders seeing our info. My mission president of Concepcion Chile, Judd Allsop, died around 2009 and I think he was in his 90s. It happened at sacrament meeting, I hear. My 8 year old commented back then, “Well, I guess we know he was worthy!”
I think if Sister Allsop were still alive she might be 100. I know one of their children in northern Virginia, it is great to see his living legacy.
I went to classes with a Côte d’Ivorean who was a doctoral candidate at UCLA. I believe he said the country had 61 ethnic groups, formerly known as tribes. I wonder how many of them now have a Church unit among them? A majority? Maybe so. Looking better all the time.
Thanks for the news about this fourth largest city. I wonder how many 4th largest cities do not have Church unit?
I would guess that much less than half of those ethnic groups have a church unit. Many would be in remote areas. The majority of the church in Cote D'Ivoire sits around Abidjan, which surely has multiple ethnic groups, but most people probably fall into one or two majority ethnic groups. Sounds like an interesting thing to research.
The Church has withdrawn all missionaries from Ukraine. All missionaries were also evacuated from Etthiopia, but there the mission moved en mass to Nairobi and the missionaries are currently teaching large Ethiopian populations in that city. They also have carried out some remote teaching of people back in Ethiopia.
The situation in Ukraine seems to be that some missionaries will be in Moldova which is part of the Kiev mission. Most will be scattered across Europe and some will be given early releases.
Ivory Coast has more than 60 ethnic groups but they are normally classed as 5 principal groups. Almost 30% of the population is Akan. Although this is a set of related ethnic groups in the 60 count. The Akan are also the major ethnic group in Ghana, although there also you find multiple ethnic groups and languages connected with the Akan.
In Ghana one language is written Twi (but pronounced Tree), this I think is generally seen as the form of the Akan languages that has the most literary respectability. It was the language of Kumasi which was the center of the Ashanti Empire, which ruled much of the interior of Ghana until the late 19th-crntury.
Accra I believe was historically in the GA ethnic groups area, and Cape Coast and the western coast beyond was Fante domains.
Fante is a language somewhat related to Twi. Emmanual Abu Kissi, a medical doctor from Ghana who was an area seventy and wrote a history of the Church in Ghana, gave a presentation at BYU in 2004 on the culture of Ghana. I asked him about translating Church materials. If I understood what he said correctly, he feels that the early translation in the 1990s done to Fante were unwise and rendered the scriptures and hymns in a language that is too narrowly used, and that it would have been better to only translate then into Twi which is seen as a more standard dialect of Akan. He presented this as akin to British/American English. I am not sure if the analogy works as well as he thinks it does. Also Dr. Kissi is a native of Kumasi.
Among other issues I have no sense of what level of a literary tradition many of these languages have.
The largest ethnic group in Ivory Coast is the Boule. They constitute 20% of the population. They mainly live in the central part of the country around Yomosoukro. However in recent years many have moved to the southern coasts and in some of the cocoa and coffee growing areas there the Boule may outnumber the ethnic groups that are considered to traditionally dominate those regions.
The Baoule speak the Baoule language. This language has about 4.7 million speakers. The full Bible was not published in this language until 1998. The Wikipedia article on the language makes no comments on any other writings in this language.
I am convinced a Baoule Book of Mormon would ne a great aid in getting the gospel into the hearts of the people.
However I am not sure how many even speakers of Baoule are able to read it so the benefits of this may be longer term.
There are an estimated 78 languages spoken in Ivory Coast. Although this seems to be limited to languages that have historic connections to the country.
There are also 40,000 or so Lebanese people in Ivory Coast, and at least 3 million immigrants and their children, the largest source for this last population is Burkina Faso.
It appears though that the region of Ivory Coast where Korhogo is (the branch the post was about) has long been dominated by the same ethnic and linguistic groups that dominate Burkina Faso, so from an ethnic standpoint the effects of immigrants may be complex.
Dyula is a trade language in not just Ivory Coast, but Burkina Faso and Mali as well. It is mutually intelligible with both Banbara and Malinke.
This may mean that translating the Book of Mormon into Dyula would not only assist in spreading the gospel in Ivory Coast, but make moving into Mali and Burkina Faso easier.
The language situation in Ivory Coast is hard to understand.
Korhogo itself is one of the major cities of the Senufo language family area. This set of languages had about 1.5 million speakers back in 1987. The population has at least doubled since then in Ivory Coast, but language use trends may be more complex. On my mission I knew a guy from Nigeria who said he had forgotten the language he used as a child.
Senufo is actually 15 different languages. It is spoken in parts of Mali, Ivory Coast and Burkina FAso. Largely in one area stretching over those 3 countries, bit also in Burkina Faso in another isolated area.
It is also spoken in a small area in north west Ghana that is not contiguous with the other areas where it is spoken.
Schools in Ivory Coast mainly give instruction in French.
The Wikipedia articles on these matters say conflicting things, often within 1 article.
2013 estimates put the Senufo population at about 3 million. There may only be 4 distinct Senufo languages, but other times 30 "dialects" are spoken of.
The Senufo people were the backbone of the Kenugu Kingdom (there are multiple spealings) which existed for 300 or more years before it was conquered by the French.
Some estimated say maybe 20% of the Senufo are Muslims but that much of the population is still animist. However I am a little skeptical on this because the percentage of Christians in Ivory Coast overall has exploded since the early 1980s.
At some point in the 1980s Ivory Coast was estimated to be about 12.5% (one eight) Christian. As of 2020 it was 44% Christian.
In 1980 there were 8 million people in Ivory Coast. In 2020 there were 26 million. So the number of Christians went from 1 million to 11.44 million.
The last capital of the Kenedugu Empire was in Sikasso. This is a city of about 250,000 which is Mali's 2nd largest city. It is a city with mosques, a Catholic Church and some Pentecostal Church's.
I am hopeful that Kordogo getting a branch cam be a springboard to spreading the gospel to all parts of the Senofu cultural zone in all 3 countries it is in now after the Frebch conquest of the Kenedugu Empire in 1898.
Korhogo is the capital of the Savannes District of Ivory Coast. The country has 14 districts. Savannes is the central one in the north and takes in about half of the country's north border.
Another city in this district is Kong. Kong was the center of another Empirw that fell in 1898 as well. It was a place of a lot if Islamic scholarship.
Ivory Coast as of 2020 was 37% Muslim. Keep in mind that Sierra Leone is 78% Muslim.
Having large numbers of Muslims in West Africa does not mean missionary work by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be extremely hard, as it does in the Middle East.
It does in North-west Nigeria. However in other parts of West Africa, including other parts of Nigeria, a high percentage of the Muslims are Ahamadiyya Muslims or in Nigeria especially Lagos some are part of the Uslamic society which is by some measures more liberal than Amadiyya. A key is these groups explicitly reject the idea held by some Muslins that violence should be visited on those who leave the faith.
I got a few indications of this from reading a book called "God, Allah, and Juju" written in 1962 by an American Unitarian. He had worked in multiple parts of Africa. In a lot of ways his book is most flawed because he thinks too much of Africa as one. He does recognize there are differences, but not enough.
He clearly in no way gives us much of an inkling of the honors that would be visited onparts of Nigeria by Boko Haram, and his speaking of Chad as the only country in the former French Equitirial Africa with many Muslims certainly gives us no premonition that the Central African Republic would be racked by a civil war where the ethnic groups fighting would be Muslims facing off against Christians.
It is a bit much to fault someone for not predicting an event 40 years in the future, but I have read books written in the 1980s about the 1820s that gave us all the parts to predict the Czechnya wars.
The crazy thing is that 1962 book said Sierra Leone was 11% Muslim. I am not sure how recent that 11% figure was, and I have a little skepticism towards it unless it was not at all recent, but going from 11% to 78% Muslim in 60 years may be the actually story of Sierra Leone, well 70 years.
"24 January 2022 - Salt Lake City
Official Statement
The Church of Jesus Christ Is Temporarily Moving Missionaries Out of Ukraine"
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/missionaries-ukraine
So it takes some interpretation and reading. This is the picture I am getting. From roughly 1710-1740 Kong was the center of a clear empire that was based in that city.
The ruling establishment there was Muslim, but most of the subjects were not. The ruling class was Dyula, and claimed links to the older Malian Empire further west. Kong is somewhat east of Korhogo, its domain stretched over much of Northern Ivory Coast,uch of south-west Burkina Faso, and what is the south east of the modern nation of Mali. The Kong Empire fought with the Ashanti Empire for control of an area that is today the central east area of Ivory Coast, the Ashanti won this fight.
After 1740 Kong was a center of Islamic scholarship and the base of a merchant class who ruled several loosely linked cities.
It appears that under this context Islam was the religion of the Dyula merchant traders, but not at all really the religion of the Senufo who were a majority of the population.
So it remains less than clear to me if in Korhogo missionaries will be reaching out to the 23% of Ivory Coast's population that is neither Christian nor Muslim, the 37% that is Muslim or the 44% that is Christian, or at least what percentages of Korhogo's population are which.
It does seem likely that if there are many Christians in Korhogo they would in many cases be converts who were raised in animist religions. How these facts exactly would influence the process of teaching people the gospel is not yet clear to me.
Korhogo most likely has distinct Dyula and Senufo ethnic populations, who may not interact with each other much in social settings. This might at some point become an issue. It also seems likely to have immigrant and refugee populations from Burkina Faso. Wikipedia articles on cities in Ivory Coast are very lacking in demographic details compared to ones on US cities, so some of this I am guessing from close scrutiny of what little sources I have found.
Also bear in mind in 2004 Ivory Coast had a civil war that at some level was the northern ethnic groups of the country fighting the southern ethnic groups of the country. The legacies of that civil war may be reflected in some growth tendencies.
The historic ethnic group of Abijan is the Tchaman, who are part of the larger Akan ethnic group, which as a super ethnic group is the largest ethnic group in both Ghana and Ivory Coast, although still only 30% of the population in Ivory Coast.
The Tchaman only make up 0.7% of Ivory Coast's population. 20% of Ivory Coast's population lives in the city of Abijan. If I am doing my math right if every Tchaman lives in Abijan, only 3.5% of Abijan inhabitants are Tchaman.
The Tchaman are also called the Gyaman. Their traditional area extends well to the west of the city of Abijan, so the 3.5% of the Abijan population being Gyaman is almost certainly an over estimate.
The Wikipedia,article says most of the 63 traditional Tchaman villages have a Catholic Church, a Protestant Church and a Harrist Church.
Harris refers to followers of William Wade Harriss, who massively converted people in Liberia, Ghana and Ivory Coast to Christianity from roughly 1895 until his death just before 1920.
Harris had several wives, and unlike Protrstant and Catholic missionaries of the time did not condemn polygamy. He is said to not gave been as throughly indigenous as the Zionist Churches of South Africa, which fully do embrace polygamy and are one of the reasons that worries of polygamy and issues with polygamy have at times stalled the growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Africa.
Harris seems to have had the effect of almost completely destroying many of the old cultural practices in Southern Ivory Coast, but as many people or more influenced by him eventually became Catholics and Protestants as stayed in his Churches.
I should have read closer. Harris started his first mission in 1913. He lived until 1929. In 1913-1914 he converted about 100,000 people mainly in Ivory Coast. One of his wives later lead a major Ch7rch in Ghana.
I would have to study deeper, but I suspect the general religious fervent and free flowing religious atmosphere Harriss created in the region is key to there being the situation in Ghana where people openly embrace the gospel for over a decade before they can get missionaries and baptism. There may also be some spill over to Nigeria, but the process yo get there is more complex.
Abijan has its own unique version of Frwnch. It along with Lubreville, Gabon are according to some the only areas on the African continent where French is a truly native language. It appears likely that people from all of Ivory Coast's ethnic groups as well as many with ethnic origins outside the country live in Abijan.
The native speaking French nature of the population if Abijan may be key to the Church being able to operate in French there and thrive.
This may also suggest that to fully get stakes all across Ivory Coast the Church may have to invest in translating materials to some more languages of Ivory Coast.
I am excited to see what the timing will be for the dedication of the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple. That's another temple for which a first president has already been announced. I anticipate an October or November dedication for that temple.
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И мени је истраживање било занимљиво. :)
"Church representatives attend presidential inauguration in West Africa, receive assurances of religious freedom"
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2022-01-26/gambia-presidential-inauguration-west-africa-area-presidency-240889
I was just going to post about Elder Martinez and Elder Katcher being at the inauguration of the new president of The Gambia. The Gambia has 2.1 million people.
I am wondering if with the Gambia apparently opening up, the Church might create a Senegal Dakar Mission, to oversee operations in Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea and Mali.
Of course if we were doing things like we did in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s we would create missions in all 4 of those countries, or at least Guinea, Senegal and Mali, at this point. I doubt we will see that happen in the short term.
We know that Senegal has been dedicated for the preaching of the gospel (by Elder Bednar in 2017), so I'd anticipate a mission there within the next couple of years. Usually, the bulk of new missions are listed in conjunction with the release of the list of new mission leadership, so I'd assume we might not have anymore new missions announced until the end of this year or the beginning of 2023. Senegal could be the next African nation to get a mission. It will be interesting to see when the Gambia, Guinea, and Mali open up for the preaching of the gospel. I'm hoping the report of the remarks by that government official will lead to an apostolic visit to dedicate that nation for the preaching of the gospel. If so, I wonder who might be sent to do that. The latest information I have on the Africa West Area indicates that Elder Soares has apostolic oversight for the Africa West Area, but I'm sure any apostle could be sent.
I think a mission headquarters in The Gambia or Guinea would make more sense than Senegal or Mali, mostly because of issues with the high concentrations of Muslims in the latter two. Also, Mali seems to have the most issues with political stability and terrorism.
It is fascinating to see the Church of Jesus Christ grow all over, but especially nations with significant numbers of non-Christians, to include animists, as discussed above in this thread in reference to Senegal, and Burkina Faso.
I would love to see more growth in Guinea Bissau, too.
The new article on Church Newsroom:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/six-maps-show-the-locations-of-the-churchs-265-temples-across-the-world
These maps show the Medford Oregon Temple as operating and not closed renovation. Whether this is an error or is indeed the truth I can't tell.
The following announcement (and supporting resources) indicate that all new CES hires will be required to hold and remain worthy to hold a temple recommend, in addition to (where applicable) adhering to the BYU Honor Code:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2022-01-27/changes-to-church-educational-system-hiring-standards-temple-recommends-241090
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-educational-system-employment-standards-refinements
https://news.byu.edu/announcements/church-educational-system-announces-refinements-to-employment-standards
https://hrs.byu.edu/byu-employment-standard
In my opinion, this adjustment is long overdue. And I would certainly hope that anyone employed by the Church Educational System would make an effort to meet the new standard. I also like the fact that the news releases and other resources mentioned this was an adjustment to specifically ensure that CES employees were adhering to the counsel of Church President Russell M. Nelson, who, in last October's General Conference, urged Church members and friends of other faiths to strengthen our spiritual foundation.
My thanks once again to you all.
Unknown, I know the status of the Medford Oregon Temple has been a question mark. Right now, if you go to its' official page, it says: "Temple closed during renovation", but it also lists the temple as being in phase 3, meaning members living within that district can schedule living or proxy ordinances at the nearest operating temple. I received clarification on that temple from an informed reliable source. This individual indicated that the situation with Medford Oregon was that some maintenance originally planned to wrap up by now has encountered delays, and that the labor on that project is being provided by temple-worthy Church employees and members, but completing that process has been delayed due to supply issues connected to COVID-19. Although the temple is technically undergoing renovation, the nature of that work will not require a temple open house or rededication. So it makes sense that the Medford Oregon Temple is listed as undergoing renovation, but the temple will reopen as planned without rededication once that work is complete. Hope this information is helpful.
Not a huge change, but a welcome one.
Essentially, it says that one needs to hold a temple recommend and be worthy of it, whereas the language before was a little more open to interpretation.
I like it.
I have to admit I had not realized there was not language to this effect for BYU faculty. I guess the effect of the honor code and some related polices came close to this language.
Janitorial staff have been required to be temple worthy since the 1980s. That case went to the Supreme Court. These were janitorial staff who at least were in a pool who were at times deployed to the temple. Janitorial may not be exactly the right word, a lot are building maintenance engineers. I know this language has also existed a while for Family Services, at least for the therapists, but these people serve as advisors and trainers to bishops. Although considering the role of much of the CES staff as supervisors of the program in large areas, that there was not an explicit requirement of temple worthiness is surprising. I doubt this will have much impact in a practical sense. It may make the Church more likely to win some possible suits against the employment polices at BYU though.
So it is 90% likely that a new General Relief Society Presidency will be called this year.
JPL, the current Relief Society General Presidency has been serving since 2017 (no changes at all between now and then), and 5 years is the new typical standard, so it's probably more of a 97-98% likelihood that the current presidency will be released, especially since Sister Bingham will have her 70th birthday this year.
What is less certain is whether either or both of the counselors might be retained in the new presidency, or if either of the counselors in the current Pirmary or Young Women General Presidency might be called as the new Relief Society General President. I did have a thought on that: current Second Counselor Sister Reyna I. Aburto has always focused her General Conference talks on issues related to mental health. Since anxiety and depression are becoming more common symptoms in the world in general, if I had to guess, I'd say there's at least a 45% chance that they could call Sister Aburto as the new Relief Society General President.
The current First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles seem to have a very keen understanding of the issues in the world today, and some among their number have also spoken a time or two about mental health issues. So I think that, even if I'm wrong about Sister Aburto, there is a prospect that any of the new presidency members called could also devote talks to mental health issues. I wouldn't be surprised either way.
Hopefully this information is helpful to all who read it.
The open house for the Washington D.C. Temple has been extended to a future yet-to-be determined date based on increased interest in those tours. The rededication has also been pushed back from June 19 to August 14:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/washington-dc-temple-rededication-date-change
My thanks once again to you all.
Parenthetically, I'd also like to note that, while I don't necessarily believe there will be any changes to the Presidency of the Seventy in August of this year, the bulk of changes that will be made in (5 of the total 8 changes since 2018) have been sustained in advance in April.
I had some ideas about which current members of that Presidency might be released but will share those at a later time.
I had forgotten that the list of GA 70's who will be released this year does not include any current members of the Presidency of the 70. 2 are former members of that Presidency, Elders Walter F. Gonzalez and Lynn G. Robbins. The others who will be released in October are Elders Clayton, Curtis, Funk, Golden, Kacher, and Sitati.
The next 2 70's currently serving in the Presidency of the 70 who will receive emeritus status are Paul V. Johnson and Brent H. Nielson, both will be released in 2024.
You make a good point about no current members of the Presidency of the Seventy turning 70. But during President Nelson's administration, there have been several changes in that Presidency that were not due to the members turning 70. In 2018, Elders Christensen, Robbins, and Uceda were released from the Presidency, none of whom were 70 at the time. And Elder Uceda had only served in the Presidency for a year at that time. So I can't rule out the prospect that other assignments could lead to changes in the current Presidency. Sorry if I wasn't clear enough on that point.
I was right that David Fallabella is the son of Enrique Fallabella who was a general authority.
The new president of the Mingolia Ulam Batoor Mission who currently lives in South Jordan. He has been a bishop and member of a high council among several other callings. He served his mission in San Diego. His wife was born in Japan. I cannot discern how they might have met.
Recently reorganized the "Porlamar Venezuela Stake - 641564", originally organized as a District (April 13, 1992), and as a Stake (June 3, 2012). Newly reorganized as "Porlamar Venezuela District - 641564".
https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=10.98711,-64.068557&z=10&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&find=stake:614564
"Districts Reorganized from Stakes
1 Jan 29, 2022 Porlamar Venezuela District"
http://www.fullerconsideration.com/units.php
The new president of the Czech/Slovak mission served in that mission and in the Portugal Porto Mission.
I mentioned recently that the president of the Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission, who presided at that temple's groundbreaking, would likely have oversight for that temple's initial construction in the same way that my "adopted" uncle & aunt, David and Stacie Sturt, as leaders of the Kenya Nairobi Mission, would oversee the construction of the temple in that city. With new leaders called for the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission, they'd be well positioned to oversee the construction of a temple in that city.
Unrelated question: Does anyone know of any recently-released GA Seventies or Area Seventies with connections to Quito Ecuador? With the arrangements set for Yigo Guam's opening dates, I assume Quito's opening might soon be announced. Any thoughts on who that first president might be for Quito?
James, Quito isn't an island, so with that temple (and Belem), they may see how Rio's dedication goes before they start scheduling all remaining international backlogged dedications. I could easily be wrong, but I would guess they'll schedule Cape Verde next, assuming the presiding authority can make it there. I may easily be wrong.
I wish I had a 2022 Church Almanac and I could research more about the General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Could they make one every five years? Or at least 10?
My favorite site for looking up General Authorities is Grampa Bill's General Authority Pages, at gapages.com. I believe this site contains info about every GA called from 1830 until the April 2015 conference (along with some who are not usually included such as substitute church patriarchs, apostles who were not in the Quorum of the 12, and the original First Quorum of Seventy, called in 1835, of whom only the 7-man presidency are considered GA's). After that conference nothing seems to have been added, so for example, Elders Rasband, Stevenson and Renlund, called that October, are not listed among the apostles.
The church also has biographies of all the current GA's (and general officers also) at the following URL:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/global-leadership-of-the-church?lang=eng
I have also seen bio pages on the church site for former GA's, but I am not sure how easy it would be to find them. But searching church news releases and/or looking up a few conference news reports would probably be enough to fill the gap from 2015 to now.
I also miss the Church almanacs.
I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned this yet:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/groundbreakings-announced-for-temples-in-new-mexico-and-utah
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2022-01-31/lindon-utah-temple-farmington-new-mexico-groundbreaking-dates-241437
For more information, please see my analysis on this announcement:
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2022/01/breaking-temple-news-grooundbreakings.html
The first temple groundbreaking in 2021 (Deseret Peak Utah) took place on Saturday May 15. For this year, by the time the one-year anniversary of the Deseret Peak groundbreaing rolls around, there will have been at least the three announced so far:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mvuVAk5k5q5pVSZ7VfYoKKvM2vnJph6knob6QYnmeA4/edit?usp=sharing
And I anticipate other groundbreakings also being announced in the coming weeks for April, May, and June. My thanks once again to you all.
Michael, thanks for your comment above. I am, of course, aware that Quito is not on an island, but the temple in that city is another smaller edifice. While COVID-19 is a huge variable, my understanding is that the federal government in Brazil has a lax attitude about the virus (which he himself caught last year). By contrast, the Brazilian state government of Rio de Janeiro is taking the pandemic seriously, which is likely why the Rio opening and dedication can move forward. The Para state government seems to be doing the same, as is the government of Ecuador in general and the city of Quito in particular. With that in mind, I don't see any obstacles to the Church opening Quito and Belem in June or August. Praia and San Juan could be dedicated before Quito and Belem, but I'd be surprised if the dedications of the latter two do not take place by the end of September.
Absolutely right about Brazil
The Lindon Temple will be a little north of the location shown earlier, then it was a little SE of the junior high, now it will be a little northeast of that, but still be right by it.
Daniel, I believe you were the one who first told me about the state vs. national response to COVID-19, and my subsequent research verified that, so thanks again for bringing that to my attention.
I agree, Eduardo and twinnumerouno. I too miss the Church Almanac. But I understand why it is no longer published. And I'm glad that the information that might have been included in the Almanac is largely available elsewhere
Recently discontinued the "Tacoma Washington South Stake - 2067013", originally organized on April 17, 2016. I'm not sure which units went to the "Tacoma Washington North Stake - 512117" or the "Lakewood Washington Stake - 517801"
https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=47.244669,-122.48065&z=11&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&find=stake:512117
"Stakes Closed
1 Feb 02, 2022 Tacoma Washington South Stake"
http://www.fullerconsideration.com/units.php
I've had Tacoma near the top of my temple predictions list, but if stakes are closing there maybe I should rethink that. Does anyone have a sense of how over/under utilized the Seattle temples is?
I'm pretty sure Seattle is still pretty busy. I haven't lived in that area for years, but I would guess this is more a case of suburbanization, similar to members in Salt Lake moving to local suburban communities. One stake closing isn't a major cause of concern. If more close in the near future, then there might be something to look into here.
Heard an area seventy was at a stake conference in Spokane, and said people are gathering there to be near the temple. Heard also the temple there is running full or nearly so under normal circumstances, no temple has hit Phase 4 (normal) yet but it has also been said a second temple in the immediate Spokane area may be likely at some point, this is even with Moses Lake being built.
Maybe a temple in Missoula MT or Coerdalane Idaho may receive Spokane
I meant relieve Spokane
Recently called as the 1st Helena Montana Temple President :
"...David Shayne Heap and Mary Weston Heap, Bozeman 1st Ward, Bozeman Montana Stake, called as president and matron of the new Helena Montana Temple. President Heap is a Billings Montana Temple sealer and stake communication committee member, and a former temple presidency counselor, Texas Lubbock Mission president, stake president and bishop. A retired institute director/coordinator for the Church Educational System, he was born in Bozeman, Montana, to Clarence Shayne Heap and Joeann Kennedy Heap...."
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2022-02-03/new-temple-presidents-matrons-london-canada-australia-provo-241549
they are putting on the insulation now that the main rooms have all been put together, they are preparing the spire, and will then clad the outside when the insulation is in, then install the art glass (the rooms were shipped with placeholder glass) so this could all be done by midsummer. Casper is at least four to six months behind having been started later.
So the report I heard of 70 temples completed and dedicated in the next five years is very doable, 45 are in some sort of work with three more coming this spring and two of the 45 now being completed and dedicated this spring, one delayed by the pandemic.
I agree with Chris that a temple in Coeur d'Alene may be a good split for Spokane. I think a temple in Missoula is still likely even with Helena, both would serve 4-5 stakes. In the meantime, I think Coeur d'Alene (or greater Spokane) will be announced first and the Montana stakes assigned to the Spokane temple will go to Helena.
Matt, are you getting ready to post the January 2022 Cumorah Newsletter update?
Moscow or Lewiston and Nampa are probably the next temples to get announced in Idaho. I'm not sure about Coeur d'Alene just because of how immediately adjacent it is to Spokane.
The new president of the London Temple will be from Ghana. OK, he is resident in England, and probably has been for many years, but he and his wife are natives of Ghana. This is all the more interesting since the current president of the Accra Temple is the first Ghanaian president of that temple.
Well northern Orange County saw a stake discontinued not long before the Yorba Linda Temple was announced.
I still think a 2nd temple in western Wasington is justified. I am not sure if Tacoma, Olympia or another location would make the most sense.
I am mainly rooting for a Grand Rapids Temple.
I think a temple somewhere in the greater Cleveland area is needed as well.
I am going to go ahead and post my list for April.
-San Jose, California
Tacoma, Washington
North Ogden, Utah
Flagstaff, Arizona
Queen Creek, Arizona
El Paso, Texas
Austin, Texas
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Laramie, Wyoming
Missoula, Montana
Rapid City, South Dakota
Des Moines, Iowa
Madison, Wisconsin
Champaign, Illinois
Sharon, Vermont
Augusta, Maine
Baltimore, Maryland
Charlotte, North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Jacksonville, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Kingston, Jamaica
Durango, Mexico
2nd Mexico City Temple
Cancun Mexico
Antigua, Guatemala
Medallin Colombia
Barcelona Venezuela
Cuenca, Ecuador
Jackson, Mississippi
Iquitos Peru
Piura Peru
Cuzco Peru
Rosario Argentina
Restetencia Argentina
Florianapolis, Brazil
Londrina, Brazil
Joao Pasoa, Brazil
Cuiaba, Brazil
Kampala, Uganda
Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria - not sure which location
Abuja, Nigeria
Cape Coast, Ghana
Daloa Ivory Coast
Glasgow, Scotland
Birmingham, England
Bourdeaux, France
Barcelona, Spain
Hamburg, Germany
Ulama Bator, Mongolia
Pusan, South Korea
Northern Luzon, Phillipines
Southern Luzon, Phillipines
Canberra, Australia
Christchurch, New Zealand
Haapai Group, Tonga
Madjuro, Marshall Islands
Maui, Hawai'i
OK counting the first 2 that is 57. I will be shocked if even half that number is announced.
The new president of the India Bangalaru Mission is not just from India but called from within the mission.
He and his wife both served in the India Bangalaru Mission. He is 42, so I am almost sure at that point it was the only mission in India then. Sister Bushi evidently teaches institute, Seminary and primary all at the same time right now.
The new president of the Alabama Birmingham mission is black. Since the stake there previously had a black president (Peter M. Johnson, now a general authority seventy) and the current president of the mission in South Carolina is black this is probably not a big deal. The Chibotas are natives of Zimbabwe but resident currently in Utah.
They are not the first Zimbabweans called to be mission presidents outside Zimbabwe, but they may be the first Zimbabweans not resident in Zimbabwe so called. Almost certainly the first Zimbabwean Americans Calle to preside over a mission. There are not many Zimbabwean Americans at all.
I hope for some more announcements in remote areas, as well: Rapid City, Southern Chile, New Delhi, etc.
I'm excited for the completion of the Helena temple (hopefully this year). We'll probably be reassigned to that one here in Northwestern Montana.
If I may be selfish for a moment, I'm also excited about the potential prospects for temples in Coeur d'Alene, Moscow, and Missoula too, as that would bring more Temple options to this area and the Idaho Panhandle. I understand, however, that there are others who have to sacrifice more to travel to their closest temple than I do.
I was informed a while ago that when the first temple is announced in Wisconsin, Green Bay is more likely than Milwaukee. My understanding is that the Church may already have land available in the Green Bay area. And although Sharon Vermont would make sense as a prominent location in Church history, the first temple in Vermont is more likely to go to the capital city of Montpelier, where the Church is more established.
When it comes to a second temple in Venezuela, that might not be likely for a while, but when it does happen, since Presidents Hinckley, Monson, and Nelson have announced temples publicly proposed by their prophetic predecessors, I assume the second Venezuelan temple will be built in Maracaibo.
And my assumption would be that until the Quito temple is up and running for a while, we might not see a third Ecuadoran temple. But if and when it happens, Otavalo (with 3 operating stakes) might be more likely than Cuenca. There are also a number of Ecuadorian cities which have more than one stake, any of which might have temples announced before Cuenca.
After running the research, I’m reasonably certain that Yamasoukkro will be the preferred location for the second temple in the Ivory Coast. I have previously referenced my reasons that Edinburgh is the most likely location for the first temple in Scotland. Berlin may also be more likely than Hamburg.
Ulaanbaatar Mongolia is definitely a solid pick, especially since Mongolia is now second on the top ten list of nations with the strongest Church presence without a temple. And Honolulu may be slightly more likely than Maui. For those curious, if I am correct, the top ten nations currently appear to rank in the following order: Uganda, Mongolia, Malaysia, Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Marshall Islands, Jamaica, Guyana, Belize, and Togo.
Hope these insights, such as they are, might be helpful to all who read them.
Three cheers for North Ogden!
Though I moved away, I think Weber County could desperately use a 2nd temple, wherever they decide to put it.
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