I have added one more less likely site for a potential temple announcement, namely Lahore, Pakistan.
The Church in Pakistan has more than 5,000 members organized in three districts and 13 branches. Multiple member groups also operate, such as in Mian Channu. The first mission of the Church in Pakistan, the Pakistan Service Mission, was organized in 2021 from a division of the India New Delhi Mission. The creation of the new mission was greatly needed given difficulties with travel between India and Pakistan, and the need for greater supervision and support of missionary and leadership development efforts. Church attendance has waxed and waned over the years in Pakistan from as high as 42% of total membership on Church records to as low as 10%. Local members report that much of these wide historical fluctuations have been due to leadership development issues and convert attrition. More recently, local members report significant improvements in church/conference attendance and an increase in convert baptisms. For example, more than 400 young single adults in Pakistan attended a special conference in 2021. Generally, the Church has baptized approximately 100 converts per year in Pakistan in recent years. An extremely well attended recent conference for the Lahore Pakistan District, with perhaps as many as 1,000 in attendance, suggests that the district may become a stake in the near future. In 2019, there were enough Latter-day Saints on Church records for both the Islamabad Pakistan District and the Lahore Pakistan District to become stakes.
New Delhi, India has been identified as a less likely site for a temple announcement on my temple prediction map, and this city was identified by Elder Neal A. Maxwell in 1992 for a proposed temple. However, a future temple in New Delhi would likely be very difficult, if not impossible, for most Pakistani Latter-day Saints to utilize given the political situation between India and Pakistan despite relatively close proximity to Pakistan. The planned Dubai United Arab of Emirates Temple is likely to be more easily accessed than a temple in India. Therefore, I have added Lahore, Pakistan to the temple prediction map (see below).
4 comments:
Matt, thank you for this report. I wanted to mention here that the "major announcement" to which Brother Brad Wilcox alluded in his religion class was likely the new "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet. I also wanted to note something related to the following report:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-october-2022-general-conference
https://www.thechurchnews.com/general-conference/2022/10/1/23382044/why-did-president-nelson-sit-while-speaking-in-general-conference-october-2022
Apparently, some people commented on social media that the prophet was seated as he closed out this morning's session, and there was some public speculation about that. I appreciated President Nelson addressing that on social media, but I didn't feel he needed to do so. Some critics of the Church, or even well-meaning members, may see this as indicative that he is not doing well health-wise. But I think that conclusion is ill-advised. Church leaders who have ministered away from Church headquarters continue to report that the prophet is in good health and is hard to keep up with.
I gathered through reading between the lines that, bearing in mind that President Nelson is the oldest living apostle of the Church, as a precautionary measure, the sitting down may have been the recommendation of President Nelson's physician(s). And as one who is both a self-professed "man of science" and "man of faith", President Nelson wisely chose to follow that medical advice. Based on the may public mentions of his ongoing vigor by other leaders, I don't think it's anything more or less than simply that.
I just wanted to post that here, since I also addressed this on my blog. I look forward to hearing the remaining 3 sessions of General Conference, in addition to the anticipated announcement of new temples during the final session, if not sooner.
This is too funny. I added Lahore to the list of predictions I sent to my family yesterday. I thought to myself, "this is crazy, it doesn't even show up on Matt's extensive list". đ
I wonder when Pakistan is going to get its first stake.
I attended a mission reunion last weekend (I served in India), and our mission president, now a general authority seventy assigned to the missionary department, mentioned that last year the highest baptizing mission in the Asia area (presumably he meant highest baptizing per missionary -- I would be shocked if it was highest overall, given the very small number of missionaries) is Pakistan "by a mile". I think it is safe to say that a stake and someday a temple are in Pakistan's future.
--Felix
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