Sunday, July 2, 2023

Missionary Developments From Recent 2023 New Mission Presidents Training Seminar

The Church News recently published articles regarding comments Elder Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles made during the recent 2023 New Mission President seminar in regard to recent missionary developments in the global Church. These included:

  • The number of full-time, proselytizing missionaries serving worldwide increasing from 57,000 in April 2022 to 67,800 in early June 2023 (click here for article). This time frame was provided because President Nelson reemphasized the need for young men to serve full-time missions in April 2022 in General Conference. The last time the Church had this many members serving full-time missions was in 2016 when there were 70,946 full-time missionaries serving at the end of the year (which was at the tail-end of the double-cohort of full-time missionaries caused by the lowering of the minimum age for missionary service). There were approximately 67,000 or fewer full-time missionaries serving between 2017 and 2022.
  • The number of full-time, proselytizing missionaries serving worldwide is anticipated to reach as high as 72,000 by the end of 2023 (click here for article). This increase has occurred even though there is a smaller demographic of mission-aged young adults in the Church (which is supported by historical children-of-record annual increase numbers, which did not surpass 100,000 until 2008), suggesting an increasing percentage of young single adults serving full-time missions. Although it is unclear what the current percentage of young men serving full-time missions is, "Researchers found that in the early 1940s approximately five percent of young men served missions and that this statistic increased to 20% in the late 1940s and 30% in the early 1960s. Between the early 1960s and early 1980s the percentage of young men serving missions varied from 25-35% and was 32% in 1981 (click here for reference). 
  • Recently, the number of weekly mission applications received that require processing by apostles for mission assignment has increased from approximately 150-200 to up to 300. Typically, two apostles complete the weekly processing and assignment of mission applications. However, as many as four apostles have been required to complete this weekly task due to the influx in applications (click here for article).
  • Convert baptisms for the worldwide Church were up 25% during the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022 (click here for article). If this rate continues for the rest of the year (i.e., if there are 25% more convert baptisms in 2023 compared to 2022), there would be 265,215 convert baptisms for the year - the highest reported by the Church since 2014 when there were 296,803 convert baptisms.

It is unclear what particular age/gender demographics or world regions are driving recent increases in full-time missionaries serving and higher numbers of convert baptisms than what has been seen in recent years. It will likely take years before we begin to see congregational growth rates and the creation of new stakes accelerating if these recent trends are continued. The increase in convert baptisms is unsurprising given missions have returned to "business as usual" with strategies that often result in the greatest growth of the Church, especially with the opening of previously unreached cities to proselytism and creating new congregations in these locations (which primarily occurs in Africa, the Philippines, and Latin America). Moreover, increases in full-time missionaries serving should produce higher numbers of convert baptisms. However, the most interesting and positive development with these few statistics shared by Elder Cook is that the percentage of young single adults serving full-time missions appears to be increasing - something that could have some major long-term impacts on general church growth trends, particularly those in regard to natural increase. Moreover, if these trends are sustained, we will likely see many new missions organized in 2024 to help accommodate this increase, and it appears most likely that these mission resources will be allocated to more productive areas rather than creation new missions in less productive areas with greater preexisting Church infrastructure (which occurred in many areas of the world in 2013 when huge increases in the numbers of full-time missionaries serving required a fast solution to find a place to put them all). 

97 comments:

  1. The increase in the number and percent of young people serving missions is an excellent sign, and it is good to see convert baptisms increasing as well. The one metric that I think needs the most attention (and yet which all too often receives the least from mission presidents, local leaders, and so on) is convert retention. As a missionary I taught and baptized 20 people. Of those, 16 (80%) were still active after one year. After 3 years, 12 (60%) were still active. While time and distance have meant that I have lost contact with some, I believe that today, 13-15 years later, at most 5 (25%) are still active. And from what I understand that low figure, which I feel badly about, is higher than normal! I think also of a YSA ward I attended in northern Virginia in the mid 2010s that had quite a few baptisms. Of the 9 people I can recall off the top of my head who were baptized, there is only 1 I know of for certain who is still active (though there are 2 others who may be).

    Retention is the hardest part in many ways, and it requires doing what so many of us are not comfortable doing -- getting out of our shells and making a concerted effort to become friends with new members of our wards and branches, and not just in a friendly "hello" on Sunday way, but in a having them over to our house, doing activities outside of church way.

    --Felix

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  2. Lest I sound to negative, I wish to note a wonderful fact that I and some fellow missionaries were marveling at during our mission reunion last fall: to our knowledge, not a single elder (there were no sister missionaries there at the time except as senior couples) among the 35-40 who served during our time is inactive or has left the church. There 2 or 3 who are best described as semi-active (they probably only attend a few times per quarter), but none who have stopped going altogether. (If you are wondering how it is possible to even know such a thing, we were a very small mission, and for about half of the time I was there we had very few new missionaries because of visa restrictions, so we were essentially one close-knit cohort of missionaries, most of whom received calls within 12 months of each other, which has made it easy for us to keep in contact.)

    --Felix

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    1. Wow at least half of the missionaries I Served with are now less active or tottally out

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  3. The salt lake Jordan stake was just discontinued today.

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    1. Other Matt here...

      Remaining wards went to Salt Lake Jordan North Stake, Taylorsville South Stake, and Taylorsville North Central Stake.

      I wonder with the new Taylorsville Temple, this established older area of West Valley City and Taylorsville bounces back with more active members choose to live near the new temple.

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  4. Other Matt here...

    New Portuguese Branch created in Washington, UT... Washington 13th Branch (Portuguese), Washington Utah Stake

    This is first Portuguese speaking Branch created serving Southern Utah.

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  5. I realize the church is using 2022 April as a baseline for a reason, but it seems to make more sense to take a longer-trend view of this.

    Let's go ahead and assume the church gets to 72,000 at the end of this year. Then let's take out COVID (2020 and 2021) and the mission bump (2013 and 2014) years, and compare (rounded to nearest thousand):

    2015: 74,000
    2016: 71,000
    2017: 67,000
    2018: 65,000
    2019: 67,000
    2022: 63,000
    2023: 72,000

    Is this really a huge development? Seems the numbers are hovering between 63,000 and 74,000, with the low in 2022 potentially being a lagging recovery from COVID. Is this rise in missionaries really that meaningful?

    I guess it means that the call from RMN worked to get things back on track, but I don't see it as some trend as much as a return to the real normal baseline of ~65-75 thousand missionaries.

    I guess we'll see, but I'm guessing 2024 is going to hover around 65-75k missionaries, and we'll see the same for 2025, barring some major internal change or change to the external environment.

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    1. I was a missionary who served during the age change years. The 2015 numbers were definitely still inflated. Most people who submitted their papers after the October 2012 conference did not enter the MTC until April 2013 at the earliest. The MTC reached it's peak in June and July 2013 when the graduating seniors joined the 19 year old cohort. Many of the people I served with and were part of that group didn't start their mission until as late as October because of how backed up and crowded everything was. I'd say 2016 is the first year that should be considered as going somewhat back to normal, and even then the novelty of it all was still affecting the number of sisters in particular who served. By the time COVID hit, the novelty had worn off. The fact that we are back to the number of missionaries we were at during the end of the peak is a huge deal, not to be understated.

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    2. I really wonder how much of this surge is seasonal timing - and also if the published numbers being stated as "early June" are counting the new crop of recently graduated men who already had calls and will report during the summer. If it counts that group the the numbers will stay steady at best over the next few months as the group that graduated in 2021 starts going home. Or will even decline. But then with the whole "Utah members serve two senior missions" directive, no idea how many people who have temple worker callings and live at home are being counted in these numbers. Call me negative, but I don't see this as a surge that will last or the start of a new trend.

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    3. It has already been clarified that the number does not include senior missionaries.

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    4. And the 67,800 is for "full time missionaries" per the article, not those with a mission call.

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  6. We need far more people from the Philippines and other countries to prepare for and serve missions.

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  7. So, I thought of a fun activity for 4th of July (similar to one we did here a couple of years ago):

    Since there are so many new Temples being announced and built, which of the new ones has everyone been able to visit?

    For example(s):

    In May, 2023 I got to attend the Open House of the Helena, Montana Temple with my family.

    And in Summer, 2022 we visited the grounds of the recently dedicated Pocatello, Idaho Temple.

    Now it's your turn.

    Who here has been to a recent Dedication, Open House or Groundbreaking; or visited/attended one of the new Temples after Dedication (and which ones)?

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    1. We recently went to the Saratoga Springs open house. We visit our very own Grand Junction temple (drive by) about weekly, and we did also go to its groundbreaking ceremony in April of '22. We've kept tabs on Taylorsville, Orem and Layton, as well.

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    2. @Nancy

      That's awesome! How did you like Saratoga Springs?

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  8. With regard to the missionary numbers, I recently learned these are the assigned units to the new and realigned Missions this week. Since the changes on July 1st. If anyone is interested.

    Here you go. Happy 4th!

    South Africa Pretoria Mission
    - South Africa Pretoria Mission Branch
    - Mafikeng Branch
    - Mbombela South Africa District
    - Polokwane South Africa District
    - Tzaneen South Africa District
    - Centurion South Africa Stake
    - Mabopane South Africa Stake
    - Pretoria South Africa Stake
    - Roodepoort South Africa Stake

    Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan North Mission
    - Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan North Mission Branch
    - Bondoukou Branch
    - Abengourou Cote d'Ivoire District
    - Adzope Cote d'Ivoire District
    - Agboville Cote d'Ivoire District
    - Akoupé Cote d'Ivoire District
    - Abobo Cote d'Ivoire East Stake
    - Abobo Cote d'Ivoire West Stake
    - Anonkoua Cote d'Ivoire Stake

    Democratic Republic of the Congo Kananga Mission
    - Democratic Republic of the Congo Kananga Mission Branch
    - Luiza Branch
    - Kananga Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake
    - Katoka Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake
    - Malandji Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake

    Nigeria Aba Mission
    - Nigeria Aba Mission Branch
    - Aba Nigeria North Stake
    - Aba Nigeria Ogbor Hill Stake
    - Aba Nigeria Osisioma Stake
    - Aba Nigeria South Stake
    - Aba Nigeria Umuola Stake
    - Abak Nigeria Stake
    - Ikot Ekpene Nigeria Stake
    - Okpuala Ngwa Nigeria Stake

    Nigeria Abuja Mission
    - Nigeria Abuja Mission Branch
    - Jos Nigeria District
    - Abuja Nigeria Kubwa Stake
    - Abuja Nigeria Lugbe Stake
    - Abuja Nigeria Wuse Stake

    Bulgaria/Greece Mission
    - Blagoevgrad Branch
    - Bourgas Branch
    - Halandri Branch
    - Plovdiv Branch
    - Ruse Branch
    - Sofia Branch
    - Stara Zagora Branch
    - Thessaloniki Branch
    - Varna Branch
    - Nicosia Cyprus District

    Albania Tirana Mission
    - Albania Tirana Mission Branch
    - Gjakova Branch
    - Pristina Branch
    - Skopje Branch
    - Elbasan Albania District
    - Tirana Albania Stake

    România Bucharest Mission
    - Brașov Romania District

    Hungary Budapest Mission
    - Békéscsaba Branch
    - Miskolc Hungary District
    - Szombathely Hungary District
    - Budapest Hungary Stake

    Your welcome.

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  9. Does anyone know what days or days the apostles make the mission assignments?

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  10. Is there a way to see mission boundaries again?

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  11. The relatively modest expanses of the Abuja and Kananga missions is a clear sign that major outreach expansion is probably coming to these areas.

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  12. I've noticed all countries formally part of the Bulgaria/Central Eurasian mission with exception of Bulgaria is apparently part of a newly created Europe Central Area District which is administered directly by the Europe Central Area and no longer part of a mission.

    As for the other comment about Temple open houses, I've attended Memphis Rededication and Bentonville open houses.

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  13. @David McFadden, did you mean to say the countries of Türkiye (minus the organized branches), Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, are all organized into the "Europe Central Area Branch (2297392)", not district?

    https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/wards/2227932

    And that all the previous mission branches within the territorial boundaries of the Republic of Türkiye, are now organized into the new Europe Central Area District (2236303), and under the direction of an Area Seventy, Paul Picard.

    "Seventh Quorum of the Seventy

    The Seventh Quorum of the Seventy includes Area Seventies in the Europe Central, Europe East, Europe North, and Middle East/Africa North Areas.

    Europe Central Area

    ...
    Paul Picard, Frankfurt, Germany; area security manager, Europe Central Area; former bishop and high councilor; married to Elodie; three children."

    https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/area-seventies?lang=eng


    https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2236303

    Ankara, Antalya, Istanbul 1st and 2nd, Izmir, Isparta and Adana Military Branches.

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  14. What was the reason for the delay in the open house of the Saratoga Springs temple?

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    1. What delay are you referring to, Paul? The open house was announced on November 21, and the open house took place on the dates that were announced. No delays between the announced arrangements and when the open house actually occurred.

      I'm assuming you meant to ask why the open house was announced in mid-November but didn't start until April. And that's an easy question to answer: Temples in Utah generate more interest because the Church is headquartered here. But above and beyond that, Utah open houses are hugely popular. My sister's family lives in Mississippi currently but had tentatively made arrangements to come back to Utah for the open house. While those plans fell through, in general, Utah open houses are busier, requiring more time and planning. Therefore, it's not uncommon for a Utah Temple (especially one in Utah County) to have a more lengthy open house that requires more planning and therefore is scheduled out further than Temple open houses elsewhere.

      That not only applies to Saratoga Springs, but also to the open houses of the historic St. George temple and Orem temple. By extension, lengthy open houses scheduled further out are anticipated for the Red Cliffs Utah Temple (those arrangements are likely to be announced on Monday), and for the Layton and Taylorsville Utah Temples.

      On another note, governmental red tape is currently delaying the finalization of construction on the Puebla Mexico Temple, and community opposition is delaying approvals for the Cody Wyoming Temple. I'd encourage us all to pray that such obstacles will be removed.

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  15. @David McFadden @Chris D. Ankara Branch member here. David is correct. Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and and Kyrgyzstan are now in the Europe Central Area Mission District. There are seven branches in Turkey and one in Baku, Azerbaijan.
    We had Turkish-speaking and Persian-speaking missionaries assigned to Bulgaria and they were teaching online. They now have all been reassigned to Frankfurt. We have not had any missionaries, young or senior, in Turkey since 2019.

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  16. James, you are correct that temple open houses in Utah are very big events. A few years ago someone I knew in the temple department told me that they anticipate over 4 million visitors to the Salt Lake temple open house, which they were already beginning to do some early stages of thinking about. She said they expected it to last somewhere between 12 and 18 months. Now that was several years ago, so I am sure the info is out of date, but that gives some sense of the scale of that open house when it happens!

    --Felix

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    1. Wow! I knew the Salt Lake Temple open house would be lengthy, but 12-18 months? That's significant. If that's accurate, then the dedication would probably only occur sometime in 2028 at earliest, and would likely span several months. I hadn't heard that before. Thanks for that insight, Felix!

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    2. That makes me wonder if the Salt Lake Temple rededication will be a broadcast like what happened with Nauvoo, Winter Quarters, and Palmyra temple, but even a church-wide broadcast.

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    3. Given the historic nature of this being the first multi-year renovation, I've always opined that the dedicatory process would be lengthy, and that multiple sessions will be needed. I'd not be shocked if that rededication spanned several weeks, with each of the 15 apostles assigned to personally preside over one or two sessions apiece.

      If all of that is correct, even if renovations do conclude in 2026, the temple rededication might only take place in late 2028 or early 2029.

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  17. I should have clarified my question about the Saratoga Springs Temple. Reliable sources say that the construction of the temple was completed over a year ago. Reliable sources wonder why it stood empty for such a long time before the open house took place.

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    1. Thanks for clarifying, Paul. For reasons unknown, the Church seems to be letting completed temples sit in the queue. Part of that is because once construction crews wrap up their part of the work, each temple is turned back over to the Church, which takes care of the necessary final inspections and adding furnishings and final items. For about a year now, supply chain issues have stalled construction beginning for many temples after their groundbreakings. But the same supply chain issues also factor into how quickly the Church can install furnishings and final touches in each temple.

      So when the Church Temples site notes that "Major construction [is] completed" on any temple, that means that construction crews have turned the temples back over to the Church. The announcement of opening arrangements will only follow once the temple furnishings are installed and final inspections are completed. The current supply chain issues won't last forever, and within the next year or sooner, I project that temples will be able to once again be furnished and finalized at the usual rate. Hopefully that answers your question. If you need additional information or have any other questions, I'd be happy to try and answer them for you.

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  18. I found an awesome Wikipedia article, AREA (LDS CHURCH}. It has a section on each of the Church's 23 areas, listing both temples and missions in each of the 6 North America areas and 17 international areas.

    What are some of the thngs I learned?
    Mongolia Ulaan-Bataar has been moved from Asia to Asia North Area.
    Portugal, Cape Verde, (not very north) and Baltics Mission are in the Europe North Area.
    Greece and Cyprus have been moved to the Bulgaria-Greece Mission.
    Europe East area has only 4 missions now: Armenia/Georgia and Russia that have been colsolidated into only 3 missions.

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  19. Thank you, Chris D. for you post on July 4. With Greece moving to the Bulgaria/Greece Mission, I take it that the Adriatic South Mission name has been changed to Albania Tirana Mission?

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  20. Craig,

    "Two missions in Europe have also been renamed. They are:

    Adriatic South Mission to Albania Tirana Mission
    Bulgaria/Central Eurasian Mission to Bulgaria/Greece Mission

    ...

    This article has been updated on March 29 with two updated mission names."

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2023/1/6/23531979/complete-list-134-new-mission-president-companion-assignments-2023

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  21. Craig, Also, from my above post on July 4th about the reorganization of the Bularia/Greece and Albania Tirana Missions.

    "Bulgaria/Greece Mission
    - Blagoevgrad Branch
    - Bourgas Branch
    - Halandri Branch
    - Plovdiv Branch
    - Ruse Branch
    - Sofia Branch
    - Stara Zagora Branch
    - Thessaloniki Branch
    - Varna Branch
    - Nicosia Cyprus District

    Albania Tirana Mission
    - Albania Tirana Mission Branch
    - Gjakova Branch
    - Pristina Branch
    - Skopje Branch
    - Elbasan Albania District
    - Tirana Albania Stake"

    You can see the Bulgaria/Greece Mission boundaries now cover the 3 countries of : Bulgaria (7 Mission Branches), Greece (2 Mission Branches) and Cyprus (Nicosia Cyprus District).

    And the newly renamed Albania Tirana Mission from the Adriatic South Mission, boundaries cover the 3 independent or semi-independent countries of Albania (Tirana Stake and Elbasan District), Northern Macedonia (Skopje Branch which covers the whole country) and semi-independent (depending on which country you ask) Kosovo (with the Pristina and Gjakova mission Branches).

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  22. Craig, one curiosity I found on the August 2023 Area leadership chart that was posted here earlier, that was questioned if the countries of Nigeria and Chad will be transferred from the Africa West Area to the Africa Central Area that can be seen in the Area boundaries different shades of grey behind the photos of the Area Presidencies.

    I also found in that Map, the Baltic Mission is clearly shown transferred from the Europe North Area to the Europe East Area jurisdiction. and the western half of Belarus that is not included in the newly organized Minsk Ward of the Moscow Russia Stake, is included in a separate "Area" with Ukraine.

    "MLewis said...
    Does anyone know if Nigeria and Chad are being moved to the Africa Central Area?

    The current map shows them as part of the Africa West Area: https://africawest.churchofjesuschrist.org/africa-west-area-information?cp=eng-afw

    But the new Area Leadership map that takes effect on August 1st shows them as part of the Africa Central area:

    https://assets.ldscdn.org/cb/99/cb991a8b546c11ec8634eeeeac1eadf429d71314/area_leadership_chart_updated_annually.pdf

    Wondering if the move is actually happening or if the map was a misprint.

    July 2, 2023 at 3:05 PM"

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  23. Also reviewing the above mentioned August Leadership chart map, it appears that the country of Sudan, in north Africa may also be reassigned from the Middle East/Africa North Area to the Africa Central Area. At least if the roughly drawn Area boundaries are correct on the chart.

    In addition to the fact that the entire Crimean peninsula is in no man's land with the rest of Ukraine, even though both of the Sevastopol and Simferopol's'ka Branches are under the Rostov-na-Donu Russia District jurisdiction.

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  24. @Chris D.,

    I would not trust the pdf you linked right now for exact boundaries. I'm not saying it's wrong, but here's why I would wait for further announcement before trusting this pdf.

    According to your referenced PDF,

    -Parts of southern Russia and western Kazakhstan would be split and sent to Europe Central. Currently, no countries outside the US and Canada are split in multiple areas.

    -Although some areas have quite a diversity (ie. Asia). Areas tend to group those culturally and politically aligned (ie Caribbean Area including parts of South America, ME/NA crossing continental boundaries to group arab nations). There's currently a very hard border between the Baltics (NATO) and Russia/Belarus (CSTO).

    -Bentonville Arkansas Mission would be included in NA SW area. The Arkansas Little Rock Mission would remain in NA SE Area. Currently, all missions based in a state/province are in the same area (all states/provinces split into multiple areas are due to missions based outside the state). In addition, it would be giving members/congregations/facilities to an already much larger area.

    This is only a few of the changes this map makes. I'm not saying the church can't/wont make these changes, but I'd have to be skeptical before I see something further.

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  25. Clarification on my comment above: "This is only a few of the changes this map makes". The church has not announced any changes nor does the referenced map state that the church is making geographical changes.

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  26. David, I completely agree with your above statements. We can only assume that the current August 2022 Area Boundaries will remain the same next month in August 2023. Unless they are officially announced by the Church leaders. Although, if I remember correctly a few years ago the country of Mongolia was reassigned from the Asia Area to the Asia North Area with little to no official announcement of the change. Except it was updated on the Classic Maps site at that time. I may be wrong though. I am only human.

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  27. I would just ask, that those who have access to the official CDOL list, on August 2nd, 2023, to review these possible country or mission reassignments to neighboring Church Administrative Areas. And report them here for our general knowledge. Thank you.

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  28. Chris, I have a list of the changes mentioned on the various threads here, and I will have to check those changes anyways on or just after August 1 so that I can get the changes properly noted on the relevant Wikipedia pages. So I will personally take on the task of commenting here if those changes are indeed active on the CDOL on that date. You can count on that.

    JPL, I'd suspect that further changes to North American Areas might be deferred until the Church has set up Nigeria as its' own area (which may be the next step if Nigeria does wind up getting transferred to the Africa Central Area on August 1). Once that is done, I think the next step would likely be splitting some of the nations in Asia off into an Asia Southeaast Area. I'd only anticipate any changes to the North American Areas at some point after that.

    Of course, I say that as someone who is not privy to the relevant discussions at Church headquarters. Also, I believe that the relocation of Mongolia from the Asia to the Asia North Area was the subject of an official Newsroom release on the Mongolia page, but when I looked for it just now, I had trouble finding it. As I also indicated previously, I think there are a lot of changes the Church could potentially make to area boundaries. The better questions are would they, and under what conditions might that occur.

    I also know there used to be a lot more areas of the Church. Could some of those be reinstated, as the Europe North Area was last year? Of course. But would that happen? And when and under what conditions might that happen? Those are likely questions only those at Church headquarters with knowledge on the matter could answer. Just some additional observations from me, for whatever they might be worth to those who read this comment.

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  30. stake consolidations happened last weekend in Hong Kong. facebook.com/photo?fbid=573455158331373&set=a.476345664708990

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  31. From the above mentioned mergers posted on the Hong Kong China Tolo Harbour Stake. And maps. It appears that the Hong Kong Island China and Hong Kong China Kowloon East Stakes were consolidated. But I don't speak or read Cantonese. So I can't read or translate the new stake name after merger.

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  32. There was a North America East Area for a time in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Everything about it was awkward to say the least. (I know because I was adjacent to it when I was in Wilmington DE Stake, and in it when I was in the Raleigh NC Stake.)

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  33. From the 6 previous Hong Kong China Stakes, being consolidated to 4. It looks like the Hong Kong China Lion Rock Stake (2073250) was also divided between its neighbors.

    In addition to the aforementioned Hong Kong Island China (508365) + Hong Kong China Kowloon East Stake (513156) being combined into 1, unknown new name.

    www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=573455158331373&set=a.476345664708990

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  34. @JPL, I too think that having area headquarters outside of SLC for at least some of the North America areas would be a good thing. I can see why that might not make sense for some areas -- for example, the North America Central Area seems to have quite a lot of flux to its boundaries, while the North America West area would involve nearly as much travel if it were headquartered in, say, Oakland as it does out of SLC -- and of course it saves on real estate costs, office personnel, etc. to have those consolidated in one location. Even so, I think the Eastern US in particular would benefit from a Area Presidencies that were actually located there, and which were fully focused on the areas (as I understand it, the area presidencies located in SLC help to manage various church departments, meaning they do not have the same amount of time to focus on their areas as the area presidencies headquartered elsewhere, though I may be mistaken about that). Washington, DC is fairly centrally located if one were to create a shared HQ for the Northeast and Southeast areas.
    If the church owns the land the Bishop's Storehouse in Upper Marlboro, MD is located on, as I suspect it does, that could be remodeled and expanded to include some office space without having to worry about the high leases that might otherwise be associated with the DC area; alternatively, the Barlow center could be expanded upwards a floor or two if they want a location right in the city center, which might also be useful for the various PR and government relations missionaries and employees to operate from.

    I also wonder, do the seeming challenges of the church in California merit some more direct and involved supervision? Perhaps that would be reason to relocate HQ for the North America West area, presumably to Oakland. I've never lived in California, but if the stakes there are anything like the stakes in other parts of the US in which I have lived then they fall woefully short of successfully integrating the Spanish language wards and branches into the stake, and those stakes that don't have Spanish language congregations are often bad at conducting outreach to their hispanic neighbors (I've been trying to convince my EQ president to talk to some of the other wards' EQ presidents in my stake about starting a soccer league to this end but he doesn't seem enthused about the idea, which surprises me since he loves soccer, but he seems to see missionary work in general as an irritant he prefers to ignore, so maybe it is not so surprising). Perhaps some more hands-on area supervision, ideally involving some Spanish speaking members of the area presidency, could help correct such issues if they exist.

    --Felix

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    1. You can fly from Salt Lake City to anywhere in California in less than two hours so I'm not really seeing the point of relocating the HQ to Oakland. What makes the North America West area unique, however, is that it includes Hawaii.

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  35. Just a comment here: I think that part of the reason the North American Areas are headquartered in Salt Lake is that it does make more GA Seventies available to fill assignments at Church headquarters, whereas if the headquarters of each of the 6 North American Areas were elsewhere in Utah or the United States, that wouldn't allow those presidency members to to staff the Church's departments, committees, and councils.

    That, coupled with the ease of travel from Salt Lake to any other part of the US would likely explain the rationale for having those 15 GA Seventies serve out of Salt Lake rather than from an office on-site for each area.

    Also, no temple construction announcements again today.

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  36. Here is what I was able to locate about yesterday's July 9th Hong Kong China Regional Conference and reorganization of the 6 Stakes into 4 Stakes. The Hong Kong China Victoria Harbour Stake, Hong Kong China Kowloon Stake, Hong Kong China Tolo Harbour Stake, and Hong Kong China New Territories Stake. Found on the Hong Kong Newsroom Site. I had to use the Translate function in my Browser to English to be able to read them.

    https://hk.churchofjesuschrist.org/location/stake/index_20230709?lang=eng&fbclid=IwAR0bbUiZxmm7wlVLpIb00AV0_Cff9jgBhJxuIv9Qd9JR3SglRsRNb1yodpo



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  37. And here is a Google Maps link from the Hong Kong Newsroom site created with the new Stakes and wards boundaries.

    https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1yYHsIgvRFZhd2x1FaFYcJVdNxtTINJg&ll=22.355162844544772%2C114.21265214794923&z=10

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  38. Hong Kong Island China Stake (508365) was renamed the Hong Kong China Victoria Harbour Stake (508365), and Hong Kong China Kowloon West Stake (522686) was renamed Hong Kong China Kowloon Stake (522686) in the realignment process.

    Hong Kong China Kowloon East Stake (513516) and Kong Kong China Lion Rock Stake (2073250) have both been discontinued in the realignment process.

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  39. @James
    I would not suspect Nigeria becoming its own area as Chile and Bolivia each have over 600k members and not their own area, and Nigeria has about 220k.

    Although if Africa West is to split, it might be easier to split via English-Speaking (Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone) and French-Speaking (Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, and most other countries not mentioned), and possibly pull in and add DRC in the French-Speaking Area. Note: Even though these are officially English & French speaking countries, most that speak it, speak it as a second language (to communicate with those speaking other languages within the country).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Africa#Official_languages

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    1. It was our own Matthew Martinich who originally indicated in another thread that the next most likely area split would be Nigeria splitting into it's own area, so I'm taking his word for it. That being said, it would make sense as well to divide the Africa West Area into English and French-speaking as you've described.

      Delete
    2. Matt also indicated that once Nigeria splits off into its' own area that another potential change would be splitting off the nations of southeastern Asia into their own area. Of course, that's him speaking only as a Church growth expert, and the Lord might have different plans.

      Delete
  40. New stake in Mexico City https://noticias.laiglesiadejesucristo.org/articulo/se-crea-la-estaca-ciudad-de-m-eacute-xico-el-lago

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  41. Thank you, Yamil, for the update from the Newsroom site in spanish language. The new "Mexico City El Lago Stake (2123827) was organized from the mergers of the "Mexico City Chimalhuacan District and the Texcoco Mexico District, on last sunday 07/02/2023.

    https://noticias.laiglesiadejesucristo.org/articulo/se-crea-la-estaca-ciudad-de-m-eacute-xico-el-lago

    And was added to the Maps site recently also.

    https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2123827

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    1. For those interested, I just checked the CDOL, and the new stake is listed with the following 6 wards: Arbodela, Chiautla, Ciudad Alegre, Coatlinchan, Texcoco, and Xochitenco. Thus, any branches from the Mexico City Chimalhuacan District have been upgraded to wards.

      The Church Temple site statistics page shows the current stake count at 3,532. I don't know if this newest stake is included in that count, but that's a net increase of 11 from the beginning of this year to date. I'm sure Matt or any of you can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but if memory serves, the final 5 months of each year have seen an uptick in new stake creations. Unless I am also mistaken, the final 5 months of each year usually see an uptick in temple dedications, which will also be the case this year.

      Delete
  42. Here is an interesting article about the first sister missionary called from the West African country of Mali. She is just 1 of only 132 members in the country, where the Bamako Branch was organized in 2017 and the Church officially recognized in 2019.

    "First sister missionary from Mali in West Africa anxious to serve the Lord
    Sister Ouattara is one of 132 members of the Church in Mali and only the second missionary ever called out of the West African country

    By Mary Richards 10 July 2023, 12:48 PM MDT"

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2023/7/10/23789920/first-sister-missionary-from-mali-west-africa-habiba-yakouba-outtara

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    1. Interestingly enough, she is also only the second full-time missionary ever from Mali.

      Delete
  43. James, here is a rough English translation of the Newsroom spanish article about the organization of the new Mexico City El Lago Stake last week, using the Google Translate app. The spanish word "Barrio" generally translates to "Neighborhood" in English. Which the Church has incorporated as the translation from English "Ward" back to Spanish. So Google has translated the word as Neighborhood in this translation, instead of Ward.

    Also, I reminded Rick about the joining of both the Mexico City Chimalhuacan and Texcoco Mexico Districts. He has updated his Mexico City Mexico Temple District list to include the new 3532nd Stake.

    "Last Sunday, July 2, the Mexico City El Lago Stake was created, which arises from the Districts of Texcoco and Chimalhuacán. The creation was carried out in a special conference, where Elder Hugo Montoya, president of the Area, was present, who was accompanied by Elder Carlos Gabaldón, of the Seventy.

    Elder Hugo Montoya, Area President, addresses hundreds of Church members during the special conference creating the El Lago Stake.

    These were the changes that were made: The Plateros Branch was discontinued and the geographical limit of the Xochitenco Branch was realigned; the San Isidro Branch was discontinued and the boundary of the Ciudad Alegre Branch was realigned; the Chapingo Branch was discontinued and the boundaries of the Coatlinchán and Texcoco Branches were realigned. The geographic boundary between the Arboleda and Ciudad Alegre Branches was also realigned and the branch status was changed to neighborhoods of the Arboleda, Ciudad Alegre, Xochitenco, Chiautla, Coatlinchán and Texcoco units.

    The El Lago stake, -number 228 in the country-, is made up of the following units:

    Arboleda neighborhood
    Ciudad Alegre neighborhood
    Xochitenco neighborhood
    Chiautla neighborhood
    Coatlinchán neighborhood
    Texcoco neighborhood
    With the new outline of the limits of the units, the Santa Martha neighborhood will now belong to the Arboleda neighborhood. The Boyeros, Huexotla, ISSSTE unit, San Pablo Ixayoc and Tequexquinahuac neighborhoods will now belong to the Coatlinchán neighborhood.

    The members of the new stake presidency are José Manuel Tavera, president; with José Manuel Ortega and Martin Soto, as first and second director respectively."

    https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/mexico-city-mexico-temple/district/

    He has deleted the Texcoco Mexico District from the "Estado de Mexico", but hasn't gotten to deleting the "Mexico City Chimalhuacan District" yet. I have also sent him an email reminding him on the site.

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  44. Oee of the big functions of areas is the supervision and training of stake and mission leaders. I had not thought of a Nigeria Area, but it would make a lot of sense. Africa West Area has more members and stakes than Africa South and Central combined. French-speaking congregations are a small portion of non-Nigeria Africa West units, so I would suggest a big no on the French West Africa idea.

    Slow growing areas, such as Asia, do not need as much supervision and training, so I would be very surprised to see an Asia Area split, but maybe an area headquarters move to Singapore given the instability in Hong Kong.

    In North America, the last areas eliminated were North Amrica Northwest, and a few years earlier, Idaho and North America East. I would be surprised if any of those change were reversed, epecially reversing the consolidation and elimination of North America East since Northeast and Southeast have the smallest number of stakes, members, etc. of the 6 North America areas.

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  45. I just realized my last comment was less clear than I intended. In my mind the North America East Area would be formed by merging the North America Northeast and North America Southeast Areas into one. These are the two smallest areas by membership in North America, and I think having one area covering most of the US east of the Missisippi would work.

    Looking at actual area stats I do not think we will see any new areas until at least 2026. We may see the number of areas in Europe go down.

    I noticed the sister missionary from Mali is serving in DR Congo, I think Kinshasa West.

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  46. @ other James:

    "The Church Temple site statistics page shows the current stake count at 3,532. I don't know if this newest stake is included in that count, but that's a net increase of 11 from the beginning of this year to date. I'm sure Matt or any of you can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but if memory serves, the final 5 months of each year have seen an uptick in new stake creations. Unless I am also mistaken, the final 5 months of each year usually see an uptick in temple dedications, which will also be the case this year."

    While it's true that stake creations are higher in the 2nd half of the year, the same is also true for stake consolidations. In fact, stake consolidations are more skewed to the 2nd half of the year than creations, so in terms of NET increases, the 2nd half of the year has seen a smaller net increase than the 1st half in the past 10 years or so.

    If history is an indicator, that means the 2nd half of 2023 will produce less than 11 new net stakes. Of course, each year is unique, so I guess we'll see. This year in particular had a lot of stake closures before May, which is almost unheard of in prior years.

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  47. What's important to note is that there is also a (very) finite number of stakes that are candidates for discontinuation, and at any given time, they are quite far outnumbered by stakes likely to split and districts likely to advance to stakes. The clearest candidates (stakes with fewer than five wards and with five wards + no branches + poor demographic outlook) number perhaps a few dozen worldwide, and even for the latter category, it is not really that clear cut. This is why I believe that in general, we will see growing net increases in stakes in the coming years.

    What I think we might see quite a bit of in the future as well could be an effort in densely-populated areas (such as Hong Kong and London) with more modest Church growth outlook to create larger units and larger stakes. This means that stakes are not simply dissolved entirely but instead rearranged so that the area loses a stake or two but those that remain become overproportionally stronger. For example, the stake conference photos from Hong Kong don't look like there are in general too few members to sustain six stakes. It might just be easier on resources with four, as the relatively constant demand for stake leaders is spread across more wards.

    Finally, we are very much still seeing the effects of the Covid downturn on stakes, even as other more short-term indicators are returning to pre-pandemic levels. It may be few more years until this effect is remedied completely.

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  48. @Pascal, the issue with assuming the stakes with 5 wards are the ones that are likely to be discontinued is that in several instances (this year included) when a stake is consolidated many of the wards are consolidated as well. That said, I would absolutely love to see a list of those on the cusp of being split in terms of units vs. those on the cusp of being consolidated. That would be really enlightening for sure. Just seeing the distribution of wards/branches per stake across the world, over time, would help us see whether there is a strong skew towards potential expansion on the horizon.

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  49. The Seoul Korea Stake is celebrating its' 50th anniversary:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/history/2023/7/12/23791811/south-korea-first-lds-latter-day-saint-stake-50th-anniversary-celebration-history-symposium

    My thanks once again to you all.

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  50. This weekend the Joinville Sul Stake will be divided, the Jaraguá do Sul Stake will be created.
    Also in the metropolitan region of Curitiba, a new Stake will be created.
    So we will have 2 new stakes in Brazil this weekend.
    (I hope the translation is good)

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  51. While reviewing the Meetinghouse locator website recently, I see the HAVANA CUBA DISTRICT, has 6 branches now. I wonder how far or close they are to becoming the 1st Stake on the island nation.

    Just thought I'd through that bit out there for comments.

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  52. The full paper has not been released yet, but Devin Pope (a professor at the University of Chicago) has been working on an analysis of church attendance for various groups based on cell phone data. The abstract claims that there are around 30 million Americans attending worship services each week, with large differences in activity rates per group. Most interestingly to me, more Latter-day Saints attend church than Catholics, despite Catholics outnumbering by about 14 times. I'm hoping the paper is released soon to dig into his findings.

    Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/latterdaysaints/comments/14yxv6a/university_of_chicago_professor_tracking_american/

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    1. The Twitter posts shows 4 million weekly Catholic attendees and 1.4 million Latter day Saints. However, I'm no statistician, but I wonder if his numbers under account for Latter Day Saints having larger families and more children than the average of the US population.

      Delete
    2. You are absolutely correct Adam, I was able to look through all the posted graphs today and the number of Catholics does outnumber Latter day Saints. In the abstract Devin mentions that there are "slightly more weekly-attending Latter-day Saints than Catholics," which I may have misinterpreted. It looks like the criteria for a weekly attending individual is attending 3/4 weeks in a month, so there may be a larger volume of Catholics who attend less frequently and a smaller volume of Latter-day Saints who attend more frequently.

      Delete
  53. A stake in Cuba is still a little ways off (one of the branches is the district branch, so I assume there are additional groups meeting throughout the country, but for all it is worth the district has five "usable" branches that could become wards). But the tendency is very positive and has been for quite some time now. I wonder what the chances are that missionaries who are either Cuban natives living abroad or from countries friendly to Cuba (e.g., Venezuela, China, Laos, Vietnam) could be assigned to serve there. Cuba seems to be at least as permissive of religious freedom as East Germany was in the 1980s, and the Church eventually assigned even western missionaries to East Germany. So there is precedent for an even more "aggressive" move in a socialist country, although it is from a while ago.

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    1. I hope Cuba gets missionaries someday. I got to teach a lot of Cubans (and baptise one) on my mission to Kentucky 20 years ago. We had a few other Cuban members in our Spanish Branch in Louisville, too. We were always praying for the country to open up more.

      It's been nice to see the progress with the Havana Cuba District being created since that time, as well.

      Delete
  54. That cell phone paper sounds fascinating. I've long wondered whether one could obtain satellite data of church parking lots to estimate attendance over time the way equity analysts use satellite data to estimate sales trends at retailers.

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  55. I just looked it up. 1.4 million weekly attendance tracks with estimates of 20% activity rates. 95 active members per unit also is about right. Remember that activity here is for every week, so sporadic attendees aren't counted the same if you want to think of active members as those who attend at least once a quarter.

    I actually know Devin through my work. He is highly credible in terms of how rigorous he does things. But it's also important to note that his findings will undoubtedly change as it goes through the peer review process and robustness tests are recommended by reviewers.

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    1. I actually know his work as well. It's definitely an interesting approach and assuming that different denominations have similar cell usage behaviors, I would also say that the method looks fairly rigorous.

      I would, however, not estimate that this study measures total attendance and activity rates. Kids, the elderly, and some members who are opting out of location tracking or simply turn off their phones are not counted. Kids especially account for half the attendance or more in some congregations I have attended, and they are certainly a visible minority in just about any (family) ward. The real attendance and activity rates are probably still between 30 and 40% in most parts of the country, although they are absolutely higher in parts of the Intermountain West, especially outside the largest cities.

      Delete
  56. There is also a very slight downtrend in weekly attendance from April 2019 to February 2020 in his graph. He likely isn't going to do an extensive analysis of just LDS attendance, but I'm guessing he'll eventually look at whether there is a discontinuity after Covid and see to what extent attendance numbers rebound. Looks like the trend was slight decline even before COVID. Also tracks that attendance isn't much higher on Easter or Christmas for LDS like it is for other religions.

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  57. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Chris, I apologize for Ohhappydane33's childish, petty, and catty remarks. If I were Matt, I'd consider blocking such comments until they adhere to online etiquette standards. They do not represent my feelings or those of other readers of this blog. I value your input here and hate to see you delete your comments. In response to what you asked, Matt commented last month that other content and priorities in his life delayed the posting of the June newsletter, so that may be why we haven't seen July's newsletter yet. Hopefully that changes soon.

      Delete
  58. Pascal, I agree that many attendees aren't counted using this method (kids without cell phones, elderly who may not use them consistently, those choosing not to enable location tracking, etc). And as James said above, the number of cars in a parking lot says a lot about the number in attendance.

    I've been using that method for many years to get an idea of the attendance at various locations. I've noted that a large local older singles ward has a full parking lot and cars parked up and down the streets near the church, whereas another ward with many large families has fewer cars parked in the lot, but the chapel is full, and there's often a considerable number spilling over into the attached multi-purpose room.

    Missionary farewells and returns, as well as Primary programs and performances that will frequently bring many friends and family members to swell the total attending.

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  59. These two new stakes in Brazil make me think a temple for Florianopolis is even more likely. I am holding off on actually putting together my list of temples predicted for the October announcement until later, but I keep putting together the predictions in my head and I think Florianopolis is a top likelihood.

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  60. John Pack Lambert, On Matt's Potential New Temples map, He has listed under "More Likely" sites, a preference for the mainland city of "São José Brazil Temple" which is just a few miles/kilometers on the mainland from Florianópolis, Brazil, and includes the Florianópolis Brazil Stake in the possible Temple District.

    The city of Florianópolis, Brazil is located on the Ilha de Santa Catarina (or Santa Catarina Island).

    https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1W60CDwd4qDDMA3tW74z8g-2WxNw&ll=-27.58461487462721%2C-48.5969033384512&z=12

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    1. The island's problem is the lack of adequate space and real estate speculation. It makes sense that the expected announcement is for a nearby location on the mainland.

      Considering that I might be moving there soon, I would be very happy if the announcement comes out as early as October. As I guessed before, after having distributed temples in the southwest and then in the northeast, it is natural that the prophet fills the gaps in the south of Brazil, and my bets are Florianópolis and Santa Maria or some other border location in RS.

      Delete
  61. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  62. Temple announcement today: groundbreakings for the Modesto California and Fort Worth Texas Temples:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/groundbreaking-dates-released-for-temples-in-california-and-texas

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2023/7/17/23797047/modesto-california-temple-fort-worth-texas-temple-lds-groundbreaking-dates-october

    https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2023/07/breaking-temple-news-groundbreaking.html

    I hope we might see more Temple groundbreakings set in the near term. My thanks once again to you all.

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  63. Just to be clear, the method used in the paper DOES adjust for kids and elderly attending. It's just a question of whether it is done enough, given the size of Mormon families.

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  64. James - 95 active members per ward or branch in the United States is completely incorrect. The average ward in the United States has attendance of 150-200 people on a typical Sunday in sacrament meeting, and the average range is around 50-75 active members per unit for branches. This is supported by thousands of surveys completed by members and returned missionaries. This study sounds interesting, but there are some serious limitations to using cell phone data to ascertain church attendance, and the data are not matching up with more reliable sources of information for church attendance.

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  65. I just located the new metropolitan Curitiba Brazil Stake on the Map that was announced last week with the new Jaraguá do Sul Brazil Stake. I was looking erroneasly for the 11th Curitiba Brazil Stake and couldn't find it. The new stake is actually located in the city of Ponta Grossa Brazil, a few miles west of Curitiba in the State of Paraná. Making it the 3rd Stake in Ponta Grossa. After the Ponta Grossa Brazil and Ponta Grossa Brazil Campos Gerais Stakes.

    We now have the "Ponta Grossa Brazil North Stake (2224259)".

    https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2224259

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  66. Rick from the Temples site also helped me find the 3rd new Stake in Brazil. The newly organized "Curitiba Brazil Campo Comprido Stake (2234122)" which becomes the 11th stake in Curitiba Brazil.

    https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2234122

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  67. Chris, according to the CDOL, the Ponta Grossa Brazil North Stake was created on July 2 (a rare example of a new stake being established in what has been a recess month for the General Authorities, during which time quite a few GA Seventies who have been at Church headquarters are preparing to take assignments in area presidencies outside the United States. The Ponta Grossa Brazil North Stake includes the América, Campus, Castro, Esplanada, and Ponta Grossa 2nd Wards, along with the Telêmaco Borba and Tibagi Branches.

    The Curitiba Brazil Campo Comprido Stake was created two weeks later, on July 16, and consists of the Campo Comprido, Campo Largo, Ferraria, Jardim Gabineto, and Solene Wards.

    It was apparently a busy month for the Brazil Area presidency. The current area president, Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella, will be reassigned to Church headquarters, while the Second Counselor, Juan A. Uceda, will be released and granted emeritus status on August 1. Elder Joni L. Koch, the current First Counselor, will be the new area president, with Elders Arnulfo Valenzuela and Mark D. Eddy serving as his counselors. Coincidentally enough, Elder Eddy is the brother of the wife of a man who served as my Elders' Quorum President while I was in the Americcan Fork 21st Ward in the American Fork East Stake.

    For anyone who might be interested, I'm including links to two documents relating to the area presidency changes that will go into effect in just over a week. The first shows the changes in area leadership by presidency (with Church areas listed in alphabetical order):

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_E85FX4BrvW8HM009Nb6N7yjbQPehK1GZ0hjgbkTJPE/edit?usp=sharing

    The second document is an alphabetical list of current General Authorities and Area Seventies who are mentioned in the area leadership assignments:

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PJ842DulsZBsEXbnYulmCgQ-kCBxmphcrwGPpVgkIXI/edit?usp=sharing

    Hopefully this information is interesting to some of you. Also, I wanted to note that the Church announced yesterday that Sister Patricia T. Holland, wife of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, has passed away:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/patricia-terry-holland-obituary

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2023/7/20/23798156/sister-patricia-holland-former-general-officer-wife-elder-jeffrey-holland-dies-age-81

    My thanks once again to you all.

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  68. Per an update from the Newsroom and the Church News (the two articles I mentioned in my last comment), Sister Holland's funeral will be next Friday at 11:00 MDT in the Conference Center Theater. KSL and BYUTV will carry those services live. She will be interred in the St. George cemetery. No public viewing. My thanks once again to you all.

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  69. Matt, here is a reminder of the known 4 New Stakes organized so far during the month of July 2023 :

    México City El Lago 2023-07-02
    Ponta Grossa Brazil North 2023-07-02
    Jaraguá do Sul Brazil 2023-07-16
    Curitiba Brazil Campo Comprido 2023-07-16

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  70. From some comments above it is clear we need to continue to sound the call to refer to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in correct ways and to stop using incorrectly the name of a deceased ancient prophet.

    If a study is as off as the study in question seems to be I have to wonder if any of its conclusions are valid.

    I was reading some information on megachurches at Getreligion. From that I learned most megachurchs have multiple sites. I think a strong argument could be made that stakes are multi-site megachurches. True, we do not do a broadcast sermon from the central location every week as some do, but it is a sensible analogy. Way better than saying stakes are like Diocese. At least Vatholic dioceses have co gregarious numbers and membership numbers a lot closer to areas. The doctrinal authority roles of bishop's in the Catholic Church is also much more analogous to general authoritiesthan stake presidents.

    All religious analogies are somewhat flawed. Even when different religious use the same words the office is often very different. A Catholic bishop is not a Church of God inChrist bishop is not a bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latyer-day Saints. Episcopalian bishops may in some ways be like Catholic bishops, but in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Westetm Kansas and maybe a few other places you have Episcopalian bishop's Presiding over Dioceses with less attendance than most stakes.

    There are multiple Catholic parishes in the US with over 5000 congregants. In the extreme I was reading about a Catholic Parish in Rwanda in the early 1990s with over 40,000 baptized members.

    With some Catholic dioceses merging multiple buildings into one Parish in especially inner city areas to avoid closing down Church buildings as they have fewer priests and sometimes less attendance, we now be to a point where some parishes have as many or more weekend services in as many buildings as some stakes.

    I really wish we could get people to stop saying stakes are like dioceses. I think it misleads more than it informs.

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  71. I was off. In the first 6 years that Presidrnt Kimball was President of the Church he announced 5 temples. I had forgotten the long and complex history of the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple. That is comparable to the 133 that President Nelson has announced in his first six years as president, but not fully comparable until whatever will be announced in October will be announced.

    President Nrlson has been Church president about as long as President Hinckley had served by early fall of 2001.

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  72. It would be great if anyone with skills in data science and computers can update the chart in the Wikipedia article on LDS missionaries:

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_missionary

    The graph showing the number of converts per missionaries (section Number of missionaries and number of converts) is 13 years old. It would be great to see up to date figures.

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