The Church recently completed its Tshiluba translation of the Book of Mormon that can be accessed here. Tshiluba is the primary language spoke in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - an area that has experienced some of the most impressive growth in the Church. Tshiluba is spoken by approximately 6-7 million people.
Monday, May 27, 2024
Tshiluba Translation of the Book of Mormon Complete
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A bit of a response to both the Tshiluba Translation announcement and the reinstated branch in South Sudan:
I met several Sudanese (and Somalian) refugees in one area of my mission (Louisville, Kentucky).
I remember one man specifically telling us he spoke Dinka and offering us a bible in Dinka. I liked gifting Books of Mormon/Bibles in different languages to the different immigrants I met (other than Spanish, I gave out a few in Arabic and a Croatian Doctrine & Covenants once), so I asked the mission APs if we had a Dinka Book of Mormon to give to the man. I was disappointed at the time to find that the translation didn't exist yet.
I hope someday to see a Dinka translation. It'll probably take another couple of decades. Looks like there are a few million Dinka speakers worldwide (multiple dialects), and that the Dinka people are the largest ethnic group in South Sudan.
It's nice to hear about the Juba branch's reinstatement.
A couple of questions on two completely different topics:
1. What is the primary criteria that goes into approving a new translation of the Book of Mormon? Is it raw membership that speaks it? Is it a mission president request? I am wondering about 3 languages, 2 of which seem like they should have one, which is Scottish, Irish, and Yup'ik.
-1a. I don't think there are ANY Scottish or Irish speaking congregations, and most people there seem to be proficient in English, so I wonder if that is the basis for no "need" of it, but Welsh got a translation pretty early on, and as far as I know, it's the only Celtic language that has one.
-1b. Yup'ik is not spoken by a "whole lot" of people (roughly 15,000), but it is a language that's growing in speakers. We used to have a district that covered all of western Alaska that had 7 branches (6 cities and an "everywhere else" branch), but the district was discontinued and the branches divided among the 3 Anchorage stakes, but now, only 4 of the branches are still active. I wonder if growth in that part of the state would go smoother if there was a Yup'ik translation of the Book of Mormon, however I can understand why not, because of how few speakers there are.
2. Is there going to be a groundbreaking for the new Anchorage Alaska Temple? I have been seeing updates on the temple site, and it says excavation for the basement is already underway, which suggests to me construction has already commenced.
Ryan, there is no need to have a groundbreaking ceremony and site dedication for the new Anchorage temple because the plot on which the stake center stood has already been dedicated for sacred purposes. The fact that the building that was on the site was demolished didn't undo the site dedication. So there is no need for a groundbreaking, which is why the Church didn't and won't conduct one. The eventual dedicatory prayer will reconsecrate the site in question for its' new purpose as a temple site, and that will be more than sufficient.
I figured as much, I don't remember the original groundbreaking, so I was hoping for the chance to attend another one.
I somehow missed that you lived in that area. My brother-in-law served his mission in Anchorage, so the construction of the new temple was of interest to him too. Sorry about the lack of a groundbreaking for your sake, but grateful that you will be able to watch the progress on the new temple firsthand. I for one would welcome any updates you can provide on that going forward. Looks like the Church Temples site is now projecting that the new Anchorage Alaska Temple will be completed before the Salt Lake Temple, so it'll be interesting to see how both projects progress.
Scott's Gaelic is a very marginal language. Irish Gaelic not quite as much so. However it is not just that most church members in both countries speak English. It is that very, very few church members in either country could read a Scott's or Irish Gaelic version of the scriptures.
With the more common Scotts dialect of English the situation is a little different.
However creating versions of Church materials in what are viewed as hyper local languages is tricky. We do not have an Appalation backcountry version of the scriptures, or one for regional languages in parts of York. We do not even have separate versions for national level versions of languages, we seek one version usable by all readers of English worldwide.
Welsh is very different. In 1850 a high percentage of people in Wales were only fluent in Welsh. A Welsh version of the scriptures was absolutely needed. That was not the situation in Scotland.
I hope there is a Tshiluba version of the scriptures. There are 2 temples planned for the Lasai region. 1 in Mbuji-Maye and the other I believe in Kanaga, but I might be misremembering that cities name. I have vague hopes that Luputa will have a temple announced in the not too distant future.
It was only in 2016 this area got a mission. The first mission president was Alfred Kyungu, a native of Kamina, DR Congo who joined the Church in Lubumbashi. He is now a general authority seventy and will soon be president of the Africa West Area.
Getting a translation of the Book of Mormon in Tshiluba is a great development.
Almost all the truly pressing needs for additional language versions of the Book of Mormon relate to Africa.
One big one that is lacking in KiKongo, the language of the Kongo people. Despite its name there are probably more speakers of this language in Angola than in DR Congo. There are speakers in DR Congo, Republic of Congo and Gabon as well.
The historic Kingdom of Kongo was mainly within the current limits of Angola. It was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to convert to the Catholic Church. I believe this happened in the 1490s. It had a complex relationship with Portugal, until it was annexed into Angila in the late 19th century.
I do not believe at present there are any branches in Angolan Congo. There is however a district with I think 4 branches in Makrudi, Boma and a few other cities in western DR Congo. This is an area where KiKongo is spoken. It is also somewhat spoken in Kinshasa, but that is more in the Lingala zone. Lindale is actually derived from Congo. It was developed by missionaries in the 19th-century to aid in spreading the gospel upriver along the Congo River. Kinshasa was further upriver than the Kingdom of Congo extended.
I have been on and off trying to read John Thornton's history of West Central Africa to 1830. It is complex, made more so because our sources on the interior in that time frame are often very weak. The area of modern Angola was the main source for slaves in Brazil, and the area was destabilized by wars carried put to gain slaves.
In Nogeria I believe maybe 3 languages, of a few hundred, have Book of Mormon translations.
In Kenya while the mainly coastal Swahili has a Book of Mormon translation I do not believe there is any for an interior language.
Another issue is India. There are languages there with tens of millions of speakers that lack Book of Mormon translations. I do not believe Rajasthani, Gujarat or Marathi have one. I am thinking it is just Hindi, Nepali, Tamil, Telugu and maybe Kannada. I am not even sure Brngali with roughly 300 million speakers has a Book of Mormon translation.
At the same time, at some point I believe Mizo, Manipur, Assamese, Naga and related languages will need Book of Mormon translations. Mizoram and Nagaland and the two most Christian states in India, both over 90% Christian. However there are way more Christians numerically elsewhere. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not have any branches anywhere in the 7 eastern states of India. This in theory has potential for growth.
I believe the Translation department begins translations on recommendation of the area Presidency.
It will be interesting to see if Elder Kyungu and his counselors, Elder Ojediran from Nigeria and Elder Morrison from Ghana start many more translations.
Elder Kyungu has lived in at least 3 of the 4 main linguistic areas in DR Congo. He was born in the Saahili area, he spent at least some of his adult life working in Lingala dominated Kinshsa, and he was mission president in Ksai where Tshilubu dominates. He knows more than some that colonial languages will not get the gospel into the hearts of the people. The thing is it is in a melting pot urban center in Nigeria or Ghana. There is a dizzying array of local languages.
I do not know enough of Elder Ojederan to even guess at his native language. The South South of Nigeria where the Church is most developed has a dizzying array of languages. The Book of Mormon is in Efik, which I believe is the language of Aba where the temple is, but there are many others. I think it is also in Ebo, the language of Benin City. That is a more widely used language than most in the south south. The Book of Mormon is in Yoruba, which has tens of millions of speakers. It is not in Hausa or Falani, the which round out the big 3 of languages in Nigeria.
On another note I think in Ethiopia we need the Book of Mormon in Oromo as well as in Amharic.
Back to Africa West, Elder Morrison is a native speaker of Fante, an Akan family language spoken along the west coast of Ghana.
The Fante region was under Dutch and British colonial eule Ling before the interior. In the interior was the Asanti Confederacy, a powerful kingdom until the British conquered it in the 1890s. The coast had bern under Dutch and British rule for over a century by then.
I have listened to Elder Emmanual Abu Kissi, an area seventy who was a medical doctor, a native of Kumasi, the capital city of the Ashanti Empire who lived most of his life in Accra, speak ill of the efforts of people from Cape Coast to translate hymns into Fabte. In his view Fanrmte is a regional localism, to him this would be like someone translating a hymn into Ebonics, or Hillbilly.
What I am not sure if is if people in Cape Coast, Takrondi and Sekondi can actually read standard Twi (pronounced Tree) dialect Akan any better than English.
Accra is historically in the GA speaking region. However large numbers of people there are ancestral connected to the Ashanti Empire and Twi is spoken by some. Use of English is more there than in the interior. Ghana goes filutmrther north than the Ashanti Empire did as well, so in the north you face other linguistic traditions.
I knew a missionary from Ghana who had immigrated to the US and attended BYU before coming on his mission. He griped about returned missionaries at BYU trying to speak Twi to him, when that was not his native dialect.
Elder Morrison and his wife are both from the Fabte West coast. They lived most of their adult lives in Accra. He actually however worked with Church operations in Sierra Leone part of that time. They originally were called to head the South Carolina Columbia Mission. However, that was 3020. They were instead assigned to the Cape Coast mission. On several occasions missionaries would call them and have them on the spot over the phone assist in translating into Fante. What I do not know is if this was because the missionaries only knew English, or I'd it is because despite what Elder Kissi thinks that Fante speakers really do not understand Twi.
The current guidelines is that translations be done by active members of the Church who are native speakers of the language. Translations of the scriptures and the endowment for sure start from the English. There might be other materials where starting at the English would not be as needed.
This was not always the way things were done. Most 19th-century translations were done by native English speakers, although the best tended to have native speakers of the language involved. There were also some done in the 19th and first half of the 20th-century where people not members of the Church were employed.
Actually the first Tamil translation of the Book of Mormon in the 1980s was done by a Baptist minister. His daughter had joined the Church in Tonga along with her husband while he was there as an agricultural advisor. The translator died not long after he completed the translation, but his daughter and her husband returned yo that art of India not long after that.
I understand the policy, doubly so for the endowment. That has always been the endowment policy, which is why there were no translations of the endowment until 1946.
The issue is, how do you get native speaking active Church members in a language where the Book of Mormon does not exist. There are actual answers, but the policy means that we have a long way to go to have the Book of Mormon available in every tongue.
I must congratulate you on this comment, which is historically accurate and very constructive. I was able to learn a lot, especially regarding the Christian area of India
On Christianity in India, most Christians in India live in Southern India. While the most Christian parts of India are in the east.
There have been Christians in India 1500 or more years. However the numbers of Christians in India really took off in the late 18th and more do in the 19th-century with various Prormtestant missionary groups. Cathplics had been doing proselytize efforts along the southern coasts from at least the 16th-century.
There have been various attempts to restrict Chrsitian proselytize in India since independence, and more sp in the last 25 years. This is in part because the success at converting people in India by various Christan groups has picked up a lot over the last 50 years or more. The fact that in some areas conversion has been heavily among the Adivasi, the scheduled tribes, and umpng the low caste, creates some issues. So does the fact that Hindu nationalism has become a strong political power in India.
Even though the New Delhi mission has far fewer members than the Bangalaru mission, I suspect members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are a much higher percentage of the total Christians in the New Delhi mission boundaries than Bangalaru. Especially if we only consider states where there are church units.
The population numbers in India are staggering. West Brngal with 1 branch has I think 165 million people. Rajasthan with no branches has 80 million people. Utter Pradesh, which has at least 200 million people, might have a very small part of it in the Delhi stake, but has huge metropolises with no church presence. Maharashtra had 112 million people in 2011. That includes Mumbai. I believe there is 1 branch in Mumbai.
John Pack Lambert - While I appreciate your periodic comments, providing a running stream of consciousness in the comments on this blog is tiresome and detracts from others commenting. Please stop providing so many comments or I will have to reimpose the comment moderation again.
What is interesting in India is that Bengaluru's main language (where the temple is being built) is Kannada. And yet there is no translation of the Book of Mormon in Kannada.
Other Noah here,
Although there is no BOM translation in Kannada as Matt stated, will there be a Temple Ceremony translation for Kannada, or other languages of the areas in which the temples are being built? Especially knowing that Mbuyi-mayi and other places in Africa will have this issue as well.
Noah and Matt - The Church has had a rigid policy when it comes to language use in India. The policy is that everything is to be done in English at church. This has created a lot of problems with reaching the many peoples of India, but it has also simplified church administration in a country with such a massive population was a tiny presence.
The Jakarta Indonesia Temple will be similar - it will be built where most speak Javanese, but there are no church materials in Javanese. Like India, the Church has stressed strict one-language only use for church administration, and that is Indonesian. This decision was apparently done after a BYU study in the 1970s determined that it would be better to do everything in Indonesian rather than Javanese.
I would assume so. Translating the temple ordinances and translating the Book of Mormon are two very different projects in terms of scope. Step one would likely to add scripts and subtitles, which does not even involve any "voice acting" (for lack of a better term). A trained translator can probably finish this task in a day or two.
Matt, do you know when that policy went into effect? I attended one of the branches in Chennai for a few months. 2 of the branches held Sunday meetings in English, often slipping into Tamil and 2 of the branches held meetings in Tamil, with a scattering of English when visitors attended from other parts of India - very little in Hindu that I could tell (I'm not skilled in either). I didn't see or hear evidence of any policy restricting to English up through 2019.
Sorry, I meant Hindi, not Hindu.
Zefu - It was actually in Chennai where I met with an Indian member at a conference about 5 years ago who told me his father was told by the mission/area leadership to stop doing Gospel Doctrine in Tamil. I think the members often will go into local languages in meetings, but the meetings are supposed to officially be in English. I imagine this is probably less strictly followed if there is no need to do that if there are not speakers of other languages present. I could see Rajamundry, Kolkata, and Coimbatore doing most meetings in the local languages in the area.
In case you are not aware, local tradition in Chennai dates Christianity back almost 2000 years. According to their traditions, Thomas the apostle came to southern India, taught and baptized, and is buried in Chennai.
Thanks. Sounds like that may have been going into effect soon after my last visit. Chennai did always have some special challenges. As a center of so many universities attracting students from all over India who often stayed for employment after graduation, holding meetings in Tamil was a struggle for those not from Tamil Nadu. That said, even going a short distance into the rural areas, encountering English and even Hindi was very rare. The policy would be a challenge once branches expand outside the metros.
I am sorry for positing so much. I will try to limit my posts. This will probably be the only one today.
Because of the English language policies in India, I believe the first Hindi-language branch in the Church was in Vancover, British Colombia.
1 language policies make sense at certain points. I hope they are regularly assessed to see if they still make sense based on current conditions.
Kannada is not currently listed as a language the endowment is available for language assistance in. Tshiluba is a language option listed. Although this is things as they now stand, I cannot say how thry may be at any point in the future.
Open house and Dedication dates for San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple announced today.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/dedication-date-for-the-san-pedro-sula-honduras-temple
This bumps the Salvador Brazil Temple to #200 dedicated, which is special considering the name of the temple. Excellent!
I've been hoping we would get to 200 this year.
If any more temples have their opening announced for 2024, then this year will tie or beat the 2nd place total of 15 temples dedicated in 1999 (the top year is still 2000 with 34 dedications).
At least three temples, Tallahassee, Deseret Peak and Antofagasta are ones that have a good chance of also being dedicated this year.
Craig Shuler says to John Pack Lambert,
I think your posts are the best on the blog. If they are as interesting and relevant as they have been this past week, I'm fine with having you post several a day.
Thanks so much.
I heard that the church is expecting to have the Tallahassee temple turned over from the construction company either in June or July, which means it can very well be dedicated this year.
Just final punch list items to take care of to be completed.
This was 3rd or 4th person information.
twinnumerouno,
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that with the current dedications we have scheduled, Salvador Brazil (October 20) will get us to exactly 200. And there's still plenty of time in the year to pass 200 if Tallahassee, Deseret Peak, and Antofagasta are ready.
Hey, Kenny! Thanks for that update. Tallahassee is one area currently impacted by flooding. I haven't heard anything indicating that the temple has been impacted thereby, but those conditions may delay the Church finalizing that temple. That conclusion is only based on personal research and not firsthand reports. So take it with the proverbial grain of salt.
*temples*, not *times*. Stupid autocorrect!
I know that in 2010 some congregations in both the New Delhi and Bangalore missions started to hold two Sunday School classes -- Gospel Doctrine in English and Gospel Essentials in a local language. They also were permitted to have one talk each sacrament meeting in the local language. This was with permission from the Area Presidency at the time. It is interesting (and a little unfortunate, in my view) that this changed, though there are good reasons for English-language congregations for a time at least.
Regarding Christianity in India, I think the church missed out on a big opportunity when for a period of time in the late aughts there was essentially no cap on the number of visas India was willing to give for missionaries. The northeast states (sometimes called the "seven sisters") contain a much higher percent of Christians than the rest of India, and culturally more I think would be more fertile ground as well. I think we would have a thriving district had Imphal been opened in 2008 or 2009. A woman I taught in New Delhi who joined the church eventually moved back to her home state in the northeast, and although she is the only member in her town she receives the Liahona (or perhaps gets it digitally now) and does what she can to remain connected to the body of the church.
As far as south India goes, while still very Hindu parts of south India are *much* friendlier towards Christians and the church than north India. Madurai would likely be fertile ground, as would additional towns in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. I know that as of a year ago or a little more, growth in Chennai had picked up after stagnating for a long time, so hopefully we will see Tamil Nadu get its first stake in the next few years.
(Not all of south India is friendly to Christians -- Karnataka certainly is not friendly these days...I am very much hoping the government of Karnataka (or more likely some power-tripping Hindutva bureaucrat) does not decide to prevent the Bengaluru temple from operating at some point -- we already got a taste of in recent years when they prevented further progress on construction for some time.)
One major challenge for the church in India is financial -- the Indian government has placed some limitations on how and if the church is able to transfer money from Salt Lake to India, and this has necessitated consolidating locations, which has led to branch closures in some instances as the increased distances has harmed attendance for those branches (though Noida branch spent 15 years on life support, so that closure was perhaps needed anyway).
--Felix
Regarding translations-Could the use and evolution of AI help with translation of the Book of Mormon to other languages in the not so distant future??? Also could AI start helping with genealogy? I just know nothing about it if I could get some opinions, we know there will be good and bad with its future.
Hello again, everyone! The first 13 hymns from the new hymnbook have been released:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/music/collections/hymns-for-home-and-church?lang=eng
Here is my analysis on this update:
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2024/05/breaking-news-first-12-hymns-from-new.html
My thanks once again to you all.
The new Lapu-Lapu Philippines Stake has been finally updated on the Meetinghouse Locator website today.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2213664
Also the Church News website posted the inspiring article yesterday, about the survivor story of a young Haitian boy who lost his arm in the 2010 Haiti earthquake. And will soon be going to serve a Mission in Florida.
If anyone wants to give it a read.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2024/05/29/gancci-aintelus-lost-arm-2010-haiti-earthquake-now-missionary-florida/
Searchthetruth,
The Church has already started using AI extensively to match indexed names with FamilySearch records and generate the record hints that you see in your FamilySearch notifications, though the process is still in early stages and requires plenty of human shepherding. There are service missionaries who spend a decent portion of their time working with FamilySearch's AI resources.
The hymns are amazing...our first non-English hymn that I am aware of translated from French for Christmas...He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child. A mix of protestant extant, new LDS contemporary and some primary hymns in the mix as well.
In the "new" hymns we have quite some exciting developments. I think with many members of my branch coming from the traditions of African-American Protestant Church's "His Eye is on the Sparrow" will really resonate. True, that hymns has a white author and composed, but it has deep usage within the African-American protestant tradition. Mahalia Jackson's version rendition of it is a very well liked version. Whitney Houston also posthumously topped billboard charts will a rendition of it. I just floated on my branches Facebook page it is included. I was sure it would be when the Tabernacle Choir sang it in April conference.
"I Will Walk With Jesus" I want to say my grandchildren learned for a primary program at some point.
"What Child is This" is a 16th-century melody.
What was said in the Church News podcast suggests to me we will have hymns in coming releases will be from more outside the western European tradition than what we have here. For example "Star Bright" is "Estrella de Luz", it exists in the Spanish song tradition. However it is written by Lorin F. Wheelwright. It is a very intriguing hymn. Wheelwrighr's mother was born in Denmark, his parents were serving a mission jointly in Denmark about 3 years before his birth. This hymn is written in the voice of those who heard Samuel the Lamanite speak of the star. When it was first published in the October 1959 issue of the Instructor, the magazine of the Sunday School, primarily aimed at youth and young adults, it was published in both English and Spanish.
I am quite impressed with this first batch of new hymns.
I thought that in the current hymnbook there is at least 1 German hymn...Hark All Ye Nations? Silent Night?
Regardless, very exciting developments with the new hymns. Holding out hope for "Amazing Grace."
Silent Night is from Austria, but you're right about Hark All Ye Nations, the text is based on a German text.
In addition, the Time is Far Spent, #266, has music from a German folk song. I was surprised to hear the tune to hymn #46, Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken, used in a movie, an old comedy called Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, as the theme for some members of the German military- it was written by Franz Joseph Haydn who is actually also Austrian.
twinnumerouno - The tune of "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken" is in fact the national anthem of Germany (as well as the former imperial anthem of Austria). I believe Franz Joseph Haydn wrote it for Emperor Franz's birthday.
And speaking of "The Time is Far Spent", the folk song on which it is based is named after the alcoholic drink Krambambuli and discusses the joys of drinking alcoholic beverages - a fact that I still find quite humorous. One of the best lines in the song goes a bit like this: "We don't believe that anyone who wrinkles his mouth at us Krambambulists in resentment is a Christian, for he scoffs at God's gift."
Thanks for that info, Religlang. The line about scoffing at God's gift reminds me of when my dad was working for US Customs, he took an assignment in Romania in 1994 helping enforce UN sanctions on one of the neighboring countries. One of the other officers he worked with was a devout Greek Orthodox man who didn't think you could be a Christian and not drink wine.
Angels we have heard on high was originally written in French
Hark All Ye Nations, Be Still My Soul, Praise to the Lord the Almighty are probably the most famous ones. Plus, God Speed The Right is sung to a tune by Ernst Moritz Arndt, although it is not even in the German hymn book for now.
If one believes that Christ commanded us to drink of his blood, and eat his flesh, and the wine was the way to do that, I suppose it might sense that to be a true Christian you must drink the wine. Modern day revelation has changed things for many of us, plus other beliefs and traditions.
I also think that being Greek, and understanding it very well would make it hard to consider others' versions and interpretations of the Bible as correct. The Restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not grown that much among Greeks. I think that by 2030 there will be a substantial more number of LDS Turks than Greeks.
Suggestion for those who love posting, and writing a lot about Church themes and subjects: perhaps James Stokes would be willing to share his blog with such people on his blog, which might direct more traffic over that way. All the discussion about personalities and Church leaders seems more apropos for posts of there.
This is by far an amazing blog and I love to see the new updates, analysis, conjecture, thoughts, questions, and ideas shared. No one should dominate it, yes, and I think that there is always more room for more speculation and discussion.
The geographic aspects are endlessly fascinating to me. Social geography is a huge part of the world.
I wonder if there are many stories of hymns attracting and bringing in members of the faith. I can think of one, sort of.
I believe "Hark All Ye Nations" is the only hymn in the current English hymnal that was written by a Latter-day Saint in a language other than English. The writer Louis Moench, was I believe a native of Switzerland and a missionary, maybe mission president there when he wrote the hymn. However Moench was also the first principal of Weber Stake Academy, and succeeded in that role by David O. McKay.
I have now listened to all the new hymns at least twice. I very much like the work. Star Bright is possibly my favorite. Some like "Come Thou Fount" and "What Child is This" I have sung before. I believe in 2022 my grandkids sang "I Will Walk With Jesus" as part of the primary program. I may have sung "Gethsemene" before as well. I know I have heard it.
Sandy Utah YSA stake will be realigned this Sunday, with (I believe) 2 units going to the Murray YSA stake, and 3 going to the Draper YSA stake (both of which only have 4 wards at the moment). I'm unsure which city name the Sandy/Draper merger stake will retain, but either ways, one of the 2 stakes will be effectively dissolved.
Additionally, the La Pampa Bolivia stake has created 3 branches since the beginning of the year. I served part of my mission there, about two years ago, and the Stake President was actively pursuing ways to grow the membership and units of the stake, with the goal of splitting the stake in 5 years (although I would be the first to say this is probably somewhat unrealistic). Still, the stake now has 7 wards and 3 branches, and from the stakes Facebook page as well as anecdotal reports from missionary friends still in the area, both the new branches and the wards they split from have been seeing great attendance. Bolivia is a place where it's easy to baptize, but more difficult to retain, so here's to hoping the new callings available in this new units help create a stronger membership.
A question related to the discussion of the use of AI in FamilySearch: it seems to me that the most recent advances were not only used in the record analysis part. I didn't pay attention to when this started, whether it was more than two years ago or less than that, but suddenly my family tree connected with historical figures up to the legendary level.
Starting from a third-generation great-aunt, my lineage connects to Bandeirante families, founders of the colonization of Brazil. From there, it is possible to continue expanding the tree until you reach the Portuguese, Spanish, Galician, French, Merovingian nobles, and even the legendary family of the Lord Jesus Christ! From there, just follow the biblical genealogy to get to Adam. Interestingly, my daughter would be the 144th generation from the beginning, if we consider the shortest possible path. Obviously, everything beyond the last 400 years is speculative, but it is already there, it is already registered in the system. Was this done by human hands? I don't think so. I imagine that the FamilySearch teams fed the system all sorts of old armorials and letters of nobility to fill in the gaps between modern and medieval records, and the system automatically created historical individuals based on that information...
On the 16th, the Bacabal district will be created in the state of Maranhão, Brazil with the Bacabal, Codó, Pindaré and Santa Inês branches.
Luciano, That is great news. I wonder if the Itapecuru Mirim Branch will also get assigned to the new District, or not, also?
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/wards/2246074
Chris D., I think the Itapecuru branch is part of the São LuÃs east stake.
The Huntington Beach California North Stake has been renamed the Sunset Beach California Stake.
Ohhappydane33, Thank you for that update.
Other Matt here...
Sadly the Westminster Ward got dissolved. This stake is not doing a good enough job to adapt to the changing demographics in the stake. There should be multiple Spanish and Vietnamese units.
Is there a Sao Luis Ward or unit in the Piracicaba Mission? I have a friend in that mission, but someone told me his first area was Sao Luis, but when I look, I cannot find it. Now the missionary is closer to Campinas in the same mission.
Are there new missions to be stood up in Brazil soon or the near future?
Chile should have the newest La Serena Mission in about a month. I think Chile should get more temples, too. Punta Arenas makes as much sense, geographically, as most in the world, especially isolated islands with small memberships, like Okinawa or Guam.
I just updated the list of stakes and districts that have been created or discontinued. Please let me know if I missed any!
Matt, as you requested above, the only one I personally see missing from your updated list is the "Salt Lake Utah Central Stake (Tongan) (2253798)" from May 19th also.
The Tallahassee Florida Temple is nearly complete. A close friend of mine has been working on the temple for the last 12 months as a finish carpenter. This past week was his last on the job.
Hey, David Tilton. Thanks for the update on the Tallahassee Florida Temple. I knew it was nearly completed thanks to the update from the Church Temples site:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/tallahassee-florida-temple/
I did have a question for you, though: It's my understanding that parts of Florida, including Tallahassee, have been affected by recent flooding. Do you happen to know if or how those conditions might be affecting that temple or the likely timing for its' open house and dedication? Thanks.
Craig Shuler says,
The Draper Utah YSA Stake was dissolved this morning and the stake presidency released.
The Sandy Utah YSA Stake name, presidency, and stake center were retained. That building includes the Londonderry YSA Ward and 2 wards from my Sandy Utah East Stake.
Cfunk on June 1, said he thought two wards would go from Sandy YSA to Murray Utah YSA Stake. That would leave 7 wards in each YSA stake with Falcon Park and Willow Creek YSA wards in the city of Sandy, but in Murray YSA Stake. Those wards are 1 block and 4 blocks respectively from the Sandy YSA Stake Center. I'm not sure where their stake center is, but Murray is about 9 miles from Sandy.
Sandy YSA stake's Mount Jordan YSA Ward shares a an institute building where I am an office missionary in the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission. That building will become the Utah Salt Lake City East Mission office on June 24 when it is created June 24. Murray YSA and Holladay YSA stakes will also become part of our new mission.
Here is a podcast from the Salt Lake Tribune featuring our own Matthew Martinich discussing Church growth:
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2024/06/02/lds-church-growing-surprising-clip/
My thanks once again to you all.
We now have 192 temples. Taylorsville Utah Temple is complete. It covers 38 stakes. I am not sure if that is or is not including stakes that would be assigned to Salt Lake Temple were it in operation. Now that I have seen that number I understand why a temple is coming for West Jordan.
Of I understood the article correctly in the Church News, Sister Gong's father, the late Elder Richard P. Lindsey was bishop of the Taylorsville 2nd Ward when the building that was torn down to make way for the temple was built. I knew Sister Gong had rooymts in Taylorsville. I had not realized how connected to the site of the temple she was. I understand even more why Elder Gong dedicated this temple.
Craig Shuler says,
Matt, thanks for updating the list of stakes and districts that have been created or discontinued.
Two corrections: 1. Yesterday morning, Chris mentioned the Salt Lake Utah Central Stake (Tongan), created May 19th.
2. The discontinued stake June 2nd is Draper Utah YSA Stake not Sandy Utah YSA Stake.
The Newsroom site just posted the update of both the Teton River Idaho Temple and Cleveland Ohio Temple grounbreaking ceremonies this weekend past.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/ground-broken-for-two-us-temples
Hopefully I'm not too late commenting on here. Really interesting stuff to hear what everyone had to say about India. It is a wonderful country and I hope to see the gospel flourish there in the coming years. As I am currently attending university in a large town in the Midwest not far from Detroit (if Brother Lambert is reading this) I work over the summer here instead of going home to the east coast. Lots of the students I work with are International Students from India and many of them have been from Mumbai in the west. I have shared the gospel with many of them and though I hope some seeds have been planted from my efforts, I realize the time may not be now. But maybe one day the gospel and a stronger church presence can be established in Mumbai and reach many of my new university friends.
I looked on CDOL this morning and found that several things I posted yesterday and Sunday were wrong:
- The Draper YSA Stake is the continuing stake and name, not Sandy YSA Stake.
- Both Falcon Park and Mountain Jordan YSA wards share the institute & mission office building.
- The two wards transferred from Sandy YSA Stake to Murray YSA Stake are Falcon Park and Mount Jordan YSA wards (the two that share our mission office building.)
- Willow Creek YSA Ward goes to the Draper YSA Stake not to Murray.
I wonder why YSA wards and stakes have been discontinued in Salt Lake Valley. Some ideas:
- Many have moved to Utah Valley to live in apartments where there are higher concentrations of YSA to marry.
- Rent is very high and apartments are hard to find in Salt Lake Valley.
- Their parents want them out of the basement.
Any thoughts?
On June, 2nd a historic moment happened in Malawi one of the countries in the Zambia Lusaka Mission (1461788). The first stake in that country was organized from the Lilongwe Malawi District, the Lilongwe Malawi Stake (2041243). The stake comprises 8 units which are 7 wards from the initial 7 branches which were all upgraded and a newly created branch. The changes have been updated in CDOL and not yet in the Meetinghouse Locator maps at the time of this comment.
Thanks Nigel - I have not seen anything about this on social media channels or websites. I am surprised - usually the creation of a new stake is a huge deal. Mzuzu just got a branch by the way.
Nigel - Any update on Zimbabwe? I thought you had mentioned that Bulawayo would a third stake soon. Any idea on whether Masvingo may be close to becoming a district with the nearby branches in Zvishavane?
On social media, nothing has been said yet but with my access to CDOL, the changes were done today. Only a few friends on social media posted it but not the official church sites yet like the Africa South Area Facebook page. This is what I can share
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10233408344051772&set=gm.2208438749507222&idorvanity=1743386232679145
And on Zimbabwe, yes the third stake in Bulawayo will be organized this weekend the 9th making it the tenth stake in Zimbabwe.
As for Masvingo I only heard that plans to organize a district are being considered but not sure when that will be.
Brother Johnson I noticed your comment. Where I grew up in the north suburbs of Detroit we had many people from India. When I was a bot so young single adult in the Sterling Heights Ward we had a sister from India get baptized. To be fair her husband, also from India was a lifelong member.
That is quite exciting news about a stake in Malawi. I hope a temple for Malawi will happen before the decade is out. Zambia could also use a temple. Based on membership Bulawayo probably is closer. I wonder if Elder Dube organized the new stake in Malawi. He oversaw CES operations there, and when he was mission president that was in his mission.
I am also thinking Malawi is a good candidate for its own mission.
On a related note, what church materials are available in Chewa? Only 29l6% of the over 14 population in Malawi can speak English. Who knows how proficient even that 26% is. There are other languages spoken, but having Chewa materials will help.
What languages Indigenous to the Agmfrican continent are currently taught in MTCs? It may only be Malagasy (well that is technically Indigenous to an island off the coast), Swahili and Amheric. Unless we teach Zulu or Xhosa. There are other languages that might be at present, and I could see cases to teach Yoruba, Twi, Chewa, Shona, Kinyaranda, Lingala, Lubu, Kongo and maybe a few more.
JPL - Chichewa Book of Mormon translation is nearly complete.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study?lang=nya
Matt, don't forget to add the Salt Lake Utah Central Stake (Tongan), organized May 19th, 2024.
Thanks Chris D. I added this. Everything look update to date now?
It seems as if both the UCLA and USC student wards in the Los Angeles California Stake have been discontinued and not replaced with more traditional YSA units in either case, although I realize these wards were not limited to single students.
Do any other wards have names named after non-church schools? (I am not trying to disagree with the letter or spirit of what Ohhappydane is saying.)
Not to my knowledge, and I agree that this was highly unusual but true, they were literally named the UCLA student ward and the USC student ward.
It seems with the discontinuation of the UCLA and USC Wards, there are only 4 congregations remaining under the menu "Student (single)" - all of them in the Mid-Atlantic/New England Area.
-Cornell Branch (Student) - Owego New York Stake
-Morgantown University Ward (Student) - Clarksburg West Virginia Stake
-University Park Ward (Student) - Altoona Pennsylvania Stake
These 3 congregations also show up under the menu "Student (married)."
Then there is the Mount Auburn Ward - Cambridge Massachusetts Stake, which does not seem to be labeled as (Student), like the others, but does show up on the map like the others. It does not show up under "Student (married).
Thank you for that update, Sydbear. For those interested it can be found also on the Meetinghouse Locator map.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2255278
Also, as Craig Shuler mentioned sunday, the Draper Utah YSA Stake, retained now has been updated on the Meetinghouse Locator map also with now 7 YSA wards.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/1609173
And the Sandy Utah YSA Stake has been removed from the map as the discontinued unit.
Looks like the Falcon Park YSA Ward went to the Murray Utah YSA Stake.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/wards/1982605
The stakes in Salt Lake City that were student stakes back in the day were labeled as Salt Lake University stakes.
One thing to keep in mind is YSA wards have a unique requirement of 125 active members. This is per the handbook.
I do see the benefits to student units. I had a friend who joined the Church while at Penn State. The student nature of the ward allowed for better fellowship from his fellow students who happened to be married.
I think this works best though where you have mainly undergrad students, or if you just insist on limiting the student ward to undergrads. Of maybe have the rule that undergrads can armttebd regardless of age, but grad students need to be single.
However this does leave non-student YSAs somewhat in an odd situation. You have symuch almost anywhere. It also in some ways leaving locals feeling like the unit is mainly for those from elsewhere.
I know the Kalamzoo University Branch at one point functioned as a general student unit, but I believe it also functioned somewhat as a YSA unit. Kalamazoo Michigan is home to Western Michigan University, which is a very large university, not quite as big as Michigan State, but still large. Many of the people I once knew in that branch had joined the Church while students at Western Michigan University.
In the case of USC and UCLA wards you had the unique issue of 2 universities large enough to have significant student populations close enough that it made sense to have a ward for each. New York City could have had an NYU and a Colombia Ward in theory, but on a lot of levels that never made sense.
In the deep history possibly the earliest student branch was the Ann Arbor branch in late 1880s with Josrph F. Merrill as the president. Merrill was an undergrad at the University of Michigan, his dad an apostle who wanted some religious organization. It was a small branch of all students, there were no other Church members anywhere near by.
When my grandfather was branch president in Ames, Iowa in about 1954, there were enough students in the branch that thry called their branch building an institute building and that is hoe thry funded building it. The fact my father who was a little baby then has lived to see a temple announced for Iowa is very awesome. We also have a temple for San Jose where my dad spent his teenaged years, and one in Santos which was one of his mission areas.
Wisconsin, where my Dad was baptized, is the biggest temple gap in his lifetime. Sorocaba is another of his mission cities that I think are likely to get a temple.
Y Dad also served in Maua, President Predente (I may have misspelled that) and Apucarana.
In this week's Church News podcast Elder Christofferson mentions he served in Cordoba, Salta, Corientes, Tucuman and Santa Fe Provinces. He was in Corrientes when he first met President Scott. Corrected and Resistencia were one district. There were no stakes then in the Argentine North Mission. Santa Fe is where Rosario is. So Elder Christofferson served in 3 areas that now he temples announced. He did not serve in Mendoza, but that was the first place in Argentina he ever was. His plane landed in Mendoza before going on to Cordoba.
Elder Christofferson assisted a little on the construction of the first church built Chapel in Salta and was there for that dedication. Now he will return to dedicate the Salta Argentina Temple.
Looks like another new stake was also formed in Maple Mountain, the Maple Mountain Maple Canyon Stake, with 9 wards, according to the meetinghouse locator. Unsure when it would have been formed.
I'm more than a little surprised that no one has mentioned this:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/99-1-president-nelson-gift-of-love-100th-birthday
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/06/01/president-russell-nelson-100th-birthday-invitation/
That prophetic invitation, issued exactly 100 days before President Nelson's 100th birthday, was followed up by this:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/06/05/president-nelson-100th-birthday-invitation-church-leaders-social-media-posts/
President Holland has also posted a tribute to President Nelson:
https://www.facebook.com/jeffreyr.holland
President Nelson is now just 95 days from becoming the first apostolic and prophetic centenarian.It will be interesting to see whether another Churchwide broadcast is held in honor of that milestone. My thanks once again to you all.
Cfunk, did you mean the Mapleton Utah Maple Canyon Stake?
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2255367
Whoops, Yes, that is what I meant.
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/fairview-city-council-punts-decision-temple-with-controversial-spire/287-c45294ed-adf5-4daf-a915-56d599227ef0
Fairview City Council decided to punt on the temple approval issue.
"After nearly three hours, council decided to continue Tuesday's public hearing in August. Instead of voting in the moment, the mayor said, they'd allow the church two months to return with a proposal more reasonable in size."
Looks like the city council is hoping the church will be more accommodating and provide an alternative height by August. I think what kind of did the church in during the hearing was a church member who flew in from England and provided recent quotes from Elder Bednar and President Nelson explicitly stating that the height of the temple wasn't important, and then noting that 90% of all temples have a shorter height than the one proposed for Fairview. He and another member both asked the council to push back on the height of the temple. Given that the temple would become the tallest building in the town by more than 50 feet, the council seems to have grounds to restrict the temple height without it infringing on rights to worship.
All that said, Fairview has very few resources, and a team of lawyers for the church met just hours before the council meeting. It may be that the church and council are coming to an agreement behind the scenes. I'm guessing Fairview wants to avoid a 'no' vote as much as possible because it can't compete financially with the church's ability and resources to litigate. So we'll see!
Here is the article on the upcoming Utah Portuguese Devotional. https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/06/05/portuguese-speaking-devoctional-elder-ulisses-soares-utah-area-sunday-june-9/
This is not only having Elder Soares as the main speaker, but they will perform a hymn entitled "Jesus Calls Everyone". The lyrics of that hymn are in Portuguese and written by Elder Soares. This is a very interesting development.
My understanding is Fairview, Texas recently approved a Methodist Church having a clock tower that was 158 feet tall. If the temple plan goes to court the refusal will fail. Especially since the part of the building that is anything like a clock tower is only 107 feet tall. The stuff above that point is so totally narrow it is in another set of things, and would not be many measures count as building height at all.
I am hoping that we get more ground breaking announcements next week. Also new sights, and maybe even some dedication announcements past 200.
JPL, the 158 foot tall bell tower for the UMC was never approved and never built. As far as I know, the highest structure in Fairview - a town of less than 10,000 - is the radio tower at 163 feet. Many religious buildings have received variances from the 35' standard, but the highest religious building currently is the 68' spire of the LDS chapel in town, followed by the 51' spire of the Creekwood UMC. So this idea that the church is being abnormally persecuted against is kind of odd.
Even the 107' steeple height (excluding top spire) is higher than every building in town except the radio tower and the water towers. Imagine being a neighbor of a town that size, and then an organization comes in wanting to build something taller than the Statue of Liberty.
Elder Stevenson recently joined in a youth cultural celebration in the Philippines. Among the groups that performed was the youth choir that sanfmg with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square when they were on tour in the Philippines. Things in the Philippines are looking up. Elder Stevenson and his wife were on an eleven day tour there, I hope we will here more.
Right now they are at 3 temples with 10 more in some stage of announcement. I am hoping at least two more temples are announced for the Philuppines in October.
On the issue of the end of the USC and UCLA wards, I am wondering if the change of age guidelines for YSA is a factor. Many grad students are in their 30s, so it might make sense if as some have said there is a shift to YSA running to 35 to reevaluate other set up.
Just judging by the meetinghouse locator, it seems as though there was a relatively big realignment of stakes in the Washington area. I'm still pretty sure the Coral Canyon Stake is a new stake, although it looks as if one stake may have been renamed to be the Washington Utah Riverside Stake. Perhaps someone with more knowledge of the area can provide an explanation.
Cfunk, thank you for that wonderful update.
Yes, correct. The "St George Utah Washington Fields North Stake (2087804)", originally organized on January 29th, 2017, has recently been renamed the "Washington Utah Riverside Stake (2087804) on the Meetinghouse Locator website. I'm sure someone with access to the CDOL can confirm.
I will make both corrections in my excel spreadsheet and my Google Maps.
Chris, do you happen to provide public access to your spreadsheet and map? It's amazing how well you are keeping track of units!
The Lilongwe Malawi Stake has been updated on the mapsite.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2041243
In a recent Asia North Area ministry visit, Elder Soares recently traveled to meet with members in these cities in Mongolia and Japan. If anyone is interested.
"Elder Soares held member meetings in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, as well as five cities in Japan: Kyoto, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sapporo and Tokyo."
As reported by the Church News online earlier today.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/06/08/elder-ulisses-soares-joy-in-the-journey-ministers-in-mongolia-and-japan/
Hmm... This could mean that we should put Hiroshima on the radar for an upcoming temple in Japan. Kyoto I think is more difficult because it is conurbated with Osaka.
Is Elder Soares overseeing the Asia region at this time?
Daniel, he visited the Asia North Area. It's possible he is overseeing that area now, but I'm not sure. It appears that either Elder Uchtdorf or Elder Rasband is overseeing the Asia Area now, and the coverage of Elder Kearon's call to the Twelve mentioned he had some role in supervising the Church in Asia. So if Elder Uchtdorf or Elder Rasband is overseeing the main Asia Area, that would mean Elder Kearon is overseeing the Asia North Area. So it's possible that Elder Soares' visit to the Asia North Area doesn't mean he has oversight for that area.
The articles about Elder Kearon's call also mentioned he has apostolic oversight for the Philippines Area, which has recently been visited by several other apostles. So an apostolic visit doesn't automatically mean that the apostle in question has oversight for that area. Elders Bednar and Kearon visited the Africa West Area earlier this year, but neither of them have oversight for that area insofar as I'm aware. I wish the Church was more transparent about apostolic assignments. I see no reason why that information has been publicly withheld the way that it has been nowadays.
Some positive exposure on the Church in upstate New York:
https://www.post-journal.com/news/top-stories/2024/06/local-congregation-to-counter-misconceptions/
If I'm not mistaken, the Community of Christ is very transparent about the area assignments of its members of the quorum of the twelve. Thanks James
Daniel, you are correct. The Community of Christ is very much transparent and clear on the assignments of its' apostles in the Council/Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and even its' First Presidency. I know the Church Almanac once shared those assignments at least for the Quorum of the Twelve up until the mid-1990s or so, but that stopped for undisclosed reasons. I imagine that there is a good reason we don't have that information now, but that's still something I wish there was more transparency about now. Oh, well. It is what it is.
I think one reason that we see less sharing of the Geographical assignments of apostles now as opposed to in the past is that the nature of those assignments is different. At times in the past, especially the 1960s and 1870s, we had apostles functioning a lot more in Church operations where they oversaw them than thry do now. I get the impression that in the 1960s and 1970s apostles normally only traveled outside the US to their assigned areas, but that it is now a different story.
On the other hand, some of this may be from taking the wrong lessons from published biographies of Presidents Kimball, Hinckley and Monson, and to a lesser extent President Benson. President Brnson is an outlying because either he or he and Elder Cowley were the only apostles resident outside the US in the second half of the 20th-century.
I also wonder if some of this is over estimating knowledge in hindsight. Biographies published later often give information contemporaries lacked.
In connection with Coban Guatemala getting a temple the Church News published an article mentioning Coban was a temple Elder Boyd K. Packer prophesied in 1979. He Aldo at that point prophesied Guatemala City and Quatzaltenangi. The fact that two cities that Elder Packer did not prophesy temples for have temples on the way is one I like.
We live in a day in dome ways beyond the dream of those in the past.
I was born the day the 18th temple was dedicated.
they dont say where the 12 are going for safety reasons
In the 1970s they had people trying to kill president lee
And for president monson they send in the bomb squad just for him to come to a conference
JoellaFaith, if that were true, the Church News and the Newsroom wouldn't publish information about apostolic and prophetic ministry trips. Since they clearly detail where the Twelve and First Presidency have traveled, that is not the reason behind the lack of transparency in this day and age. I see no reason why identifying the assignments of the apostles would be a safety concern, and the examples you cited are the rare exceptions when crazy people were involved, which isn't generally true of the ministry of our apostles now. I know for sure that the prophet, his counselors, and the senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve specifically have security details, but to my knowledge, that is not true of the other 11 members of the Twelve when they are out and about now.
I used 'agenda' in the sense of schedule, script, routine. The translator didn't understand it well and added the term in the sense of 'policy'. Sorry
You would have to consider that even when details about future visits are not shared ahead of time to the whole Church, they are shared with ample notice to members in those areas visited (at least if this is the purpose of the visit). In the last 10 years I have been able to enjoy visits from Elders Uchtdorf, Ballard and Bednar in person, and each of these events were announced weeks, perhaps months, in advance. I believe that working on something other than a need-to-know basis would get overwhelming.
I have dealt with cases where we were told that a certain level Authority would come, but not who it would be. I do not think this is done for security reasons. Mainly because the rare nuts who want to bump off a top leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in general would be just as happy to kill Elder Bednar and Elder Gong.
The biggest reason to not share some of these things beforehand is because they are not always determined beforehand. How would people feel if they were told Elder Gong was coming, and Elder Renlund came? OK, I think people in general would not mind.
Some of this also boils down to resources to publish.
For example in the late 1990s the Church News I think covered the travels of apostles a lot less. Some of this is it took a lot to cover President Hinckley's travels. I have no idea hoe President Hinckley traveled so much and gave so many talks.
Literally half or more of all temples were dedicated by President Hincley until Elder Gong dedicated the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple 13 years after President Hinckley died.
It is very vaguely possible that Elder Gong may live to also break President Hinckley's record of temples dedicated. Elder Stevenson and Elder Soares might be able to so do as well. It will probably living about as long as President Nelson, and is unlikely to happen before 2055.
I wonder where the number of temples dedicated sits for each past and present apostle. I am not sure if we count rededications even half of all temples have been neither dedicated otlr redecorated by President Hinckley. It is at least a more recent than 2021 event.
Here is a comprehensive list through 2022:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/2022/5/1/23265845/temple-dedications-dates-and-church-leaders-offering-dedicatory-prayers/
And here is a document showing all dedications and rededications by each apostle during President Nelson's prophetic administration:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w_RAy_dGdiS0YOhkjfA2Fm4lIT5D8W7xKYL5MkXeRoc/edit?usp=drivesdk
An update on the creation of the 3rd stake in Bulawayo Zimbabwe which took place today June 9th, 2024
The new Masiyephambili Zimbabwe Stake was created from the division of the Nkulumane Zimbabwe Stake and the realignment of some wards and branches affecting the Bulawayo Zimbabwe Stake and the Nkulumane Zimbabwe Stake.
In summary
The new Masiyephambili Zimbabwe Stake comprises 5 wards; Emganwini Ward, Nketa 1st Ward, Nketa 2nd Ward, Tshabalala Ward all four from Nkulumane Zimbabwe Stake, and Famona Ward from Bulawayo Zimbabwe Stake.
The Nkulumane Zimbabwe Stake comprises 5 wards and 2 branches; Nkulumane 1st Ward, Nkulumane 2nd Ward, Nkulumane 3rd Ward, Pumula Branch all remaining unchanged, and Gwabalanda Ward, Cowdray Park Ward, Luveve Branch all from Bulawayo Zimbabwe Stake.
The Bulawayo Zimbabwe Stake comprises 5 wards and a branch; Mpopoma Ward, Emakhandeni Ward, Entumbane Ward, Bulawayo Ward, Mahatshula Branch all remaining unchanged, and Mzilikazi Ward from the Nkulumane Zimbabwe Stake.
Just realized that the second link in my last comment may not be working correctly for some of you. Here's the correct link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w_RAy_dGdiS0YOhkjfA2Fm4lIT5D8W7xKYL5MkXeRoc/edit?usp=sharing
Sorry about that.
The corrected name of the new stake in Bulawayo is Bulawayo Zimbabwe Masiyephambili Stake, not Masiyephambili Zimbabwe Stake
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