Tuguegarao City Philippines Temple
The Tuguegarao City Philippines Temple is the Church's 11th temple in the Philippines following temples in Manila (dedicated in 1984), Cebu (dedicated in 2010), Urdaneta (announced in 2010), Alabang (announced in 2017), Cagayan de Oro (announced in 2018), Davao (announced in 2018), Bacolod City (announced in 2019), Tacloban City (announced in 2021), Naga (announced in October 2022), and Santiago (announced in October 2022). The new temple will likely service at least three stakes and two districts located in the lower Cauayan River valley, although it is possible the new temple may include an additional four stakes and two districts located on the northwestern tip of Luzon Island. Some stakes and a district in the upper Cauayan River valley may also be assigned to the new temple, although these stakes and this district are nearly equidistant between Tuguegarao and Santiago (where a temple was announced in October 2022). Steady growth has occurred in Tuguegarao City and in nearby cities during the past couple decades. Of the three stakes in the area, two of these stakes were organized in 2011 and 2019. The first stake was created in Tuguegarao in 1989. The first branch in Tuguegarao was created in 1980. There are only two stakes in Tuguegarao City. Currently, stakes in the Tuguegarao area are assigned to the Manila Philippines Temple district, although the area will be reassigned to the Urdaneta Philippines Temple (approximately a 7 hour drive) once it is completed likely sometime within the next 6-12 months. The Church reported more than 850,000 members in the Philippines as of year-end 2022.
Iloilo Philippines Temple
The Iloilo Philippines Temple is the Church's 12th temple in the Philippines. This marks the second time in Church history in the Philippines when two temples were announced on the same day (the first time occurred in October 2022). The new temple will likely service the five stakes and one district on Panay Island and the one district on Guimaras Island. There are three stakes in Iloilo City - one of which was organized in February 2023. The first stake was created in Iloilo City in 1985. The Church has generally experienced slow growth on Panay island. The first branch in Iloilo City was created in 1969. The Church organized the Philippines Iloilo Mission in 2010. Stakes and districts in the Philippines Iloilo Mission currently pertain to the Cebu City Philippines Temple district.
Jakarta Indonesia Temple
The Jakarta Indonesia Temple is the Church's first temple to be announced for Indonesia. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world with approximately 280 million people. There are approximately 7,500 Latter-day Saints, two stakes, and one district in Indonesia. Approximately 90% or more of Church membership in Indonesia is located on Java. The Jakarta Indonesia Stake was organized in 2011 and currently has 10 wards, whereas the Surakarta Indonesia Stake was organized in 2012 and currently has six wards and one branch. The Surabaya Indonesia District was organized in 1978 and has three branches. The Church in Indonesia has experienced very slow growth for several consecutive decades, although rapid membership and congregational growth initially occurred in the 1970s. The first branch in Indonesia was created in Jakarta in 2010. The Indonesia Jakarta Mission was first organized in 1975. Limited numbers of visas available for foreign full-time missionaries, a lack of a Church presence in more Christian areas of Indonesia, and decreasing numbers of native Indonesians serving full-time missions have all contributed to slow growth rates and essentially stagnant congregational growth that has persisted for decades.
8 comments:
Exciting
My mother and stepfather served in Surabaya in 2005-6. It can be a tough place to find many converts, but the work will continue. Anti-Chinese and an anti-Christian violence can pop up at times, but overall I think the people are peace-loving and moderate.
Such a massive country and massive numbers of people. Great that the Church is getting a temple there.
The Philippines will continue to grow. I wonder if men are smoking less tobacco; I heard (or have read) that it was a big problem across the archipelago.
Great stuff!
Comment 1 of 2:
I've been waiting for a relevant post on which to share some information conveyed by Elder John Gutty (Area Seventy in India) regarding the church in India, and since this is about Asia I guess it fits here.
The Friday before General Conference I attended an all-Indian missions reunion (meaning New Delhi, Bangalore, and Singapore (since the Singapore mission included India prior to the formation of the Bangalore mission)). There were quite a few people there, and every mission president from the Bangalore and New Delhi missions were represented by at least a few missionaries who served during their time -- and there were indeed even a few people in attendance who had served there back when it was part of the Singapore mission.
Elder Gutty shared the following:
1) There are currently 90 missionaries serving in India
2a) There are approximately 14,600 members on the records (this is not a big increase since I served there almost 15 years ago, but based on the attendance at the reunion I don't think it is a stretch to say that there are at least 4 or 5 wards worth of members who have moved from India to the US since then, and of course others who move to the UK, Canada, UAE, and elsewhere, so actual growth in India probably is somewhat better than year-to-year data might seem to suggest, albeit still running below what I regard as its potential).
2b) There are currently 1400 members in Tamil Nadu, which is making slow but steady progress towards a stake in both the Chennai and Coimbatore districts. Based on his comments, it sounds like the political situation for the church has improved in Tamil Nadu recently (in stark contrast with India as a whole), and so things are progressing faster there now than they were a few years ago.
3a) Regarding the political situation, there are now 9 states in India with anti-conversion laws strict enough to basically preclude any possibility of proselytizing.
3b)The political situation in Karnataka (of which Bangalore aka Bengaluru is the capital) may cause some trouble with regards to the temple. While he didn't go into details, he mentioned that while construction is going well the political situation may prevent it from actually opening when it is built (I could have told the church this was going to happen -- when they announced Bangalore, while I was very excited for a temple in India I hoped that they would later revise it to Hyderabad, because Bangalore and political/legal problems are almost synonymous when it comes to the church in India)
3c) The political situation in Telangana (of which Hyderabad is the capital) is very good. The government in Hyderabad is very friendly to the church, and in fact Elder Gutty was invited by the government to participate in a big Christmas celebration they held this past year (Telangana is the only state in India where Christmas is an official holiday). Should have asked anyone who actually understands Indian politics what city to build a temple in! (And before anybody gets mad at me and says it was revelation, President Nelson said the revelation was to build a temple in India, he never stated that it directed what city it was to be in -- I suspect Bangalore was chosen because that is a mission HQ and where the church admin for India is located)
4) There has been an MTC in India for a couple of years now, though because the word "missionary" is almost as fraught as the word "convert" in India (due to a history of forced or bribed conversions by some denominations in the 1800s and early 1900s) they call it the Service Support Center. The first president of that center was at the reunion with his wife. When they were there it was in Bangalore, but due to the above referenced political situation it has been relocated to Hyderabad (any bets on whether they end up announcing building and opening a temple in Hyderabad before the Bangalore temple ever opens?)
Comment 2 of 2:
5) Speaking of missions and mission presidents, as has been reported here Pakistan is its own mission (though it isn't called a mission, I think they call it something slightly different, but in terms of priesthood keys it is a mission) and the mission President is Steven (or Stephen?) Meurs, brother of Elder Peter F Meurs who is currently a member of the Asia Area Presidency)
6) The church in Pakistan is a rollercoaster -- it tends to be either very good or very bad, and I was pleased to hear that after a few years of very bad it is doing very good again. There was a district conference recently with over 1000 in attendance (didn't catch which of the 3 districts in Pakistan it was).
7) There is good progress on the family history front as well. Some state governments are partnering with the church for family history related projects, and as a result the amount of available genealogical material related to India is increasing substantially. Apparently some Indian government officials (not sure whether elected or bureaucrats) attended RootsTech as part of this partnership.
8) It sounds like attendance at the Kathmandu branch is stagnant, and in fact down from what it was when I was in the New Delhi mission, but considering there are no missionaries in Nepal and strict rules that make conversion difficult it is impressive that there is a self-sustaining branch there at all.
So, a lot is going on in India and the subcontinent as a whole. He didn't talk much about Sri Lanka, but based on congregational growth there it appears to be doing well.
--Felix
Also forgot to mention, they did call a second Area Seventy for India because, Elder Gutty said, it is large enough geographically that it was felt a second was required. Nithya Kumar Sunderraj joins Elder Gutty as an Area Seventy for the Asia Area in India.
--Felix
What a blessing that although there are few baptized in Asia they will have some temples, there are still more, it is true that there are few service missionaries, more missionaries or volunteers are needed.
It would be wonderful if the church sent voluntary couples, young singles, widows and widows to these cities and countries where there are few baptized and active, to strengthen the gospel, with the money that is in the church it could be done, and I feel that there could be changes real.
For now, it remains to hope that these temples begin to be built soon, and that they enjoy the blessings of the temple
The situation in the Philuppines is looking very good, although I wish the temples would actually get done. Urdabeta at over 12 years is one of the longest the Church has seen, although there are temples that have taken longer.
The only member from Indonesia I ever knew was a woman of Chinese descent who joined the Church in Hong Kong and then came to the US.
The issues in India are interesting. Hopefully things will change and the the gospel of Jesus Christ will be able to be more openly preached there.
Any chance of a new temple in the Atlanta area? The Atlanta Temple is on the north side of town. Atlanta traffic makes it a white knuckle ride for folks on the east or south side of town.
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