Sunday, June 9, 2024

First Stake Created in Malawi

The Church organized its first stake in the African nation of Malawi on June 2nd. The Lilongwe Malawi Stake was organized from the Lilongwe Malawi District. All seven branches in the original district were reorganized into wards. Moreover, a new branch was also created when the new stake was organized. The new stake is comprised of the following congregations: the Kalambo 1st, the Kalambo 2nd, the Kawale, the Kasungu 1st, the Kasungu 2nd, and the Presidential Way Wards, and the Chinsapo Branch. 

The Church has had struggles for many years in Malawi with member retention and leadership development. The Church first organized a branch in Lilongwe sometime between 1991 and 2000, but the branch was discontinued in 2002. A branch in Lilongwe was later reinstated in 2007. A branch used to operate in Sitima - a small village approximately 50 miles northeast of Blantyre - from 1999 until 2008. The branch closed due to remote location and challenges with leadership development and sustainability. A branch once operated in northern Lilongwe that was closed in early 2020 (Kauma). The Church has worked for many years to create a stake in Blantyre, but the district has continued to not reach the minimum activity and priesthood standards to create a stake despite there being enough congregations and membership for the district to become a stake. In fact, the first meetinghouse in Blantyre was originally built to become a stake center (even though the building was constructed back in 2005 when there were only 540 members in the whole country).

Despite these challenges, much progress has occurred in the past decade with the Church's growth and stability. Sacrament meeting attendance in Lilongwe was only 30 people in late 2009, whereas today there is now a stake in Lilongwe with five wards and one branch in the city. Additional branches were created in Lilongwe in 2010 (Kauma which was discontinued in 2020), 2013 (Kalambo 1st and Presidential Way), 2016 (Kawale), and 2023 (Kalambo 2nd). Moreover, the Church has organized its first branches in northern Malawi since 2020. Kasungu is a city approximately 65 miles north of Lilongwe were a member group was organized in 2020 that quickly became a branch later that year. A second branch was created in Kasungu in 2022, and both branches have grown sufficiently to become wards in the new stake. The Lilongwe Malawi District was able to meet the more stringent qualifications to become a stake that were implemented for the worldwide Church as of January 2024. Earlier this year, a new branch was created in Mzuzu. Church membership increased by 23.3% in 2023 - the highest annual membership growth rate since 2011 when there were only 1,156 members as of the end of that year. As of year-end 2023, there were 4,776 members. The Book of Mormon translation in Chichewa is nearing completion, as only the books of Mormon, Ether, and Moroni have yet to be translated. 

The creation of the first stake in Malawi, combined with other recent developments in the Church's growth and expansion, signal that there is likely to be significant growth in the country in the near future. Unlike many other neighboring African nations, Malawi's population primarily speaks Chichewa which greatly simplifies translation work and missionary activity. Approximately two-thirds of the population is literate. The population of Malawi is approximately 21 million. Most Malawians are Christian. Malawi appears to be a strong candidate to have its own mission organized, as the country is administered by the Zambia Lusaka Mission and there has been significant recent growth in Malawi. The creation of a separate mission headquartered in Lilongwe may further sustain rapid growth that has recently begun. There are approximately one dozen cities in Malawi with at least 20,000 people without an official Latter-day Saint congregation. Prospects appear favorable to organize multiple congregations in Mzuzu where the first branch was recently organized, as Mzuzu is the third most populous city in Malawi with nearly a quarter of a million people. However, future mission outreach expansion will need to occur in rural communities, as only 18.3% of the country's population lives in urban areas. A temple announcement for Lilongwe is now a more likely possibility given a stake has been organized, although this appears unlikely until there are additional stakes organized.

68 comments:

The Chatelain's said...

Great news! I remember the show Quantico had a recruit that served in Malawi as a missionary. Also I see the Columbus Indiana stake on LDS maps

Chris D. said...

Thank you for the great news of the new Stake in Indiana. That is exciting.

https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2268132

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

Article that may be of interest to some here:

"4 charts show Church’s ongoing growth through 193 years"

https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2024/06/08/charts-growth-church-jesus-christ-latter-day-saints-1830-2023-member-temples-wards-stakes/

Cory said...

Today, two new stakes created in the Idaho Falls area out of the the Iona, Iona South, and Idaho Falls Lincoln stakes.

Idaho Falls Pheasant Grove Stake
Idaho Falls Green Valley Stake

miro said...

So Elder Uchtdorf was at my stake conference (Zurich Switzerland) the past weekend. As I expected there where no changes in the stake anounced (contrary to rumors). A lot of talks about missionary work. He has been in Europe for a few weeks and met with missoinaries of 5 missions. The meeting with the Alpine mission was about 3 weeks ago in Zurich. I am kind of suprised I have not seen any churchnews coverage of his ministry in Europe yet. The ministry of many ohter apostles is reported there.
For those instrested ther is a report in german on the swiss newsroom page.
https://news-ch.kirchejesuchristi.org/artikel/der-heilige-geist-ein-lebenslanger-begleiter-nicht-nur-an-pfingsten

Chris D. said...

Thanks, Cory, for that update. In looking over the Meetinghouse locator in the Idaho Falls Lincoln, Iona Idaho and Iona Idaho South Stakes currently. I couldn't find any wards currently called Pheasant Grove or Green Valley. Although they may have been realigned or renamed yesterday.

The only reference I could find to a "Pheasant Grove" is a small side street off of Ammon Road, just a couple blocks north of the Meetinghouse where the Lincoln 4th Ward meets among others. The side street "Pheasant Grove Drive" seems insignificant as a Stake name.

https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/wards/437999

And a "Green Valley Park" on Patton Way, just a block north of the Iona 9th Ward meetinghouse (also the Iona Idaho South Stake center). Which doesn't seem to big of a landmark or street to call the new Stake.

https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/wards/1988905

J S A said...

Columbus Indiana Stake (2268132)
Active Date
2 Jun 2024
Child
Batesville Ward (126810)
Columbus 1st Ward (45403)
Columbus 2nd Ward (166650)
Columbus 4th Ward (2006383)
Franklin Ward (134309)
Madison Ward (75914)
North Vernon Ward (154865)

Religlang said...

Miro, thank you for sharing that news article! I appreciated reading about the church's recent efforts in Switzerland

The Chatelain's said...

The Bridgeland Texas stake is new to me. When was that created? Or was it just renamed?

Chris D. said...

Idaho Falls Pheasant Grove Stake (2271893)
- Berkley Park 2nd Ward (2261448)
- Lincoln 6th Ward (537667)
- Lincoln 7th Ward (563145)
- Lincoln 8th Ward (2054817)
- Red Rock 1st Ward (2113074)
- Red Rock 2nd Ward (2170248)

Idaho Falls Green Valley Stake (2271885)
- Deloy Ward (2159449)
- Discovery Ward (2159457)
- Iona 6th Ward (135615)
- Iona 9th Ward (1988905)
- Lincoln 1st Ward (28029)
- Lincoln 4th Ward (437999)
- Old Mill Ward (2114135)

Chris D. said...

The Chatelain's, the Bridgeland Texas Stake

https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2037963

Was originally organized 02/22/2015 as the Houston Texas Bear Creek Stake. Although the name changed within the last year or 2. i never did get the exact date of the name change.

James said...

I wouldn't be surprised if the Bloomington IN and surrounding stakes offloaded several units to make a new stake.

Bloomington: 8 wards, 1 YSA branch - could offload Bedford and/or Honey Creek/Wabash Wards out of Terre Haute.
Evansville: 7 wards, 4 branches - could offload Vincennes Ward, Robinson Branch, and Olney Branch
New Albany: 5 wards, 5 branches - could offload Paoli Branch, Tell City Branch, and Jasper Ward and pick up the Brandenburg Ward from Kentucky.
Champaign IL: 5 wards, 5 branches - could offload Paris Ward and Effingham Branch

The new Stake could include the two Terre Haute wards (Stake Center), Linton Ward, Paris IL Ward, Robinson Branch, Olney Branch, Effingham Branch, and maybe the Mattoon Ward or Vincennes Ward.

The only issue is that Champaing IL is already quite small for a stake. But this would really pull together a lot of wards and branches that are on the outskirts and make them more centered around a stake HQ.

James said...

Chris D., do you mind sharing your email again? I missed it the first time...

Chris D. said...

James, send the request to chrisduerig@hotmail.com.

Just to clarify my map is my personal opinion on future Temple districts for all 350 known Temples either working or under construction or announced. And does not reflect any decisions by the Brethren, or the Temple Department of the Church.

Daniel Moretti said...
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Daniel Moretti said...

The Londrina temple, like its shorter brother, the Ribeirão Preto temple, has just jumped the queue in Brazil. São Paulo East and Vitória were surpassed. I was wondering if this means modular temples are being shipped here, but we won't know for sure until the footings are curing on the buildings' decks.

John Pack Lambert said...

Very exciting news about new stakes. I was earlier today wondering how likely a 2nd temple in Indiana is. The Columbus Stake I think increases that as a possibility. However looking at a map, Fort Wayne seems the only place right now that could get a 2nd temple in Indiana. That would take that stake, South Bend, Muncie and Toledo. This loss is easier for Indianapolis now that it would retain now 8 stakes. I am not sure Muncie stake is actually closer to Fort Wayne, and Toledo stake might not all be closest to Fort Wayne. On the other hand Fort Wayne has a library with bmvery good family history holdings. My parents live going there. They would stop by the temple afterward if it existed. So Fort Wayne I think is a doable temple.

Another Temple I think is likely is Paduca, Kentucky. It would pull Evansville Stake, Paducah itself, Cape Girardeau and Hopkinsville.

2 new stakes in Idaho Falls is great news.

The Londrina Temple getting a ground breaking date and Santa Cruz Bolivia having a ground breaking are both good news.

Elder Renlund gave the dedication prayer in the Coban Guatemala Temple in Spanish. Here is the Church News article. https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2024/06/09/coban-guatemala-temple-dedication-dale-g-renlund-rivers-heart/ They mentioned some talks were given in Queqchi, which I think I misspelled. They tell the story of the conversion of Francisco Rosales Choc when he was 17 in 1977. He will be the 1st temple president. There are stories of pioneers even earlier than that. Including one sister baptized in a river in 1956 who has 156 descendants who are active in the Church.

I noticed though that Sister Rosales, the temple matron, has the maiden name of Poou. That is the last name of the couple who oversaw the open house. I wonder if Beleother Poou, who is also a counselor in the Coban Stake Presidency, is her nephew?

I am very hopeful for a temple announced for Bulawayo soon. Maybe even before Harare is done. Yes, I know no country without an operating temple but with one announced has had a second temple announced since 1875 when Logan was announced when there was no operating temple in the US.

However I think Bo, Sierra Leone; Yamosoukro, Ivory Coast; Maputo, Mozambique and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe all could be cases of that happening.

Chris D. said...

James, In case you didn't see my post above. Here is the view only link to my Church Areas folder that you can download and view the files. For example my 3 Google Earth Pro .kml format files and my Excel database spreadsheet of all known stakes and districts and temples and missions.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!As_DA0WaWLkdjuJVdFLv94lQvposPA?e=pKa07t

Let me know if the link works.

Anyone here who wants to view it also, can use the above One Drive cloud folder to view them. You will need to download and install the Google Earth Pro app to download and view my maps on Google Earth or on the Google Earth online website. But the map is too big for the online map to upload and open i have found.

Nephi said...

Bridgeland Texas Stake was renamed from the Houston Texas Bear Creek Stake on 08/29/2021

Nephi said...

Intibuca Honduras District 2259834
3 branches are Intibuca, Jesus de Otoro and Marcala

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

@miro

Vielen Dank für dieses Artikel. Das ist sehr schön!

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

@James

Side tangent from your lists of Southern Indiana Wards and Branches....

20 years ago I served as a missionary in both the Evansville and New Albany stakes. Nice to see some growth out there.

I'm interested to see what units got moved to the new stake.

Chris D. said...

Thanks, Nephi, for that great news from Honduras.

I have now been informed it was organized on May 12th, 2024, the same day as the Ifo Nigeria District was organized. If anyone is curious.

Thanks again for all the great updates.

Nephi said...

Thanks Chris for the organized date. Helps me keep my records straight.

Fredrick said...

Nice to see a new stake for Logandale, Nevada. That's been a very large stake for too long. That's now 31 stakes for Clark County, Nevada.

Chris D. said...

Matt, I am just recapping what Nigel posted this morning in the previous thread here,

"Blogger Nigel said...
The corrected name of the new stake in Bulawayo is Bulawayo Zimbabwe Masiyephambili Stake, not Masiyephambili Zimbabwe Stake

June 11, 2024 at 3:39 AM"

John Pack Lambert said...

Ifo that got a district in Nigeria last month is in Ogun State. That is the interior state with Lagos State being the narrow coastal state just beyond it. Ogun State is the most industrialized state in Nigeria except Lagos State.

Chris D. said...

For those interested, Sister Spannaus recently ministered to the Saints in South, Southeast Asia.

More Specifically, in Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/06/11/sister-andrea-munoz-spannaus-ministry-indonesia-mosque-thailand-sri-lanka/

Chris D. said...

It appears as though recently, the country of Belize has recently been transferred from the "El Salvador San Salvador West/Belize Mission (2011271)" to the "Guatemala Cobán Mission (1986481)". Any thoughts as to the date of transfer? Possibly when the new Cobán Guatemala Temple was dedicated last sunday? And the 2 districts were reassigned to the Cobán Temple District.

https://missioncall.app/worldmap.html?destination=details&missionId=el-salvador-san-salvador-west

https://missioncall.app/worldmap.html?destination=details&missionId=guatemala-cobn-belize

Chris D. said...

Among her 10 day ministry to South Asia, Sister Spannaus visited Jakarta Indonesia (already has a Temple announced). She also visited places like Ubon Thailand (I believe Matt had suggested as a possible 3rd mission in country), and Lahore Pakistan (a Stake or Temple announced, like President Nelson did for Russia and Shanghai, PRC and Dubai, UAE, I could see a announcement for our fellow members in Lahore.), and Colombo Sri Lanka (Matt suggested a separate mission in country). Any thoughts?

Chris D. said...

I wonder if this is the "official" boundary of the new Texas Dallas South Mission, getting ready to be organized in about 2 weeks?

https://missioncall.app/worldmap.html?destination=details&missionId=texas-dallas-south

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

Speaking of new missions, the local Elders reported to me on Sunday the official creation of the Missoula Montana Mission!

Chris D. said...

For those interested the new "Bulawayo Zimbabwe Masiyephambili Stake (2264331)" has been updated today on the Meetinghouse locator map.

https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2264331

Also the new "Idaho Falls Pheasant Grove Stake (2271893)"

https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2271893

Also the new "Idaho Falls Green Valley Stake (2271885)"

https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2271885

Your welcome.

Chris D. said...
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Matt said...

Thank you for the updates.

Also, the Bondoyi Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake was created. I believe it was on June 9th. The new stake is in Mwene-Ditu. There are now two stakes in Mwene-Ditu (the first was organized in 2019). If you look at the stake center for the Mwene-Ditu DR Congo Stake, it is on quite a large property. I imagine the Church bought many properties and consolidated them into a single one given it is pretty well surrounded by housing, and this area has likely had quite a bit of housing for some time before the Church was even established in Mwene-Ditu (the first branch was created in 2008). Pretty impressive to think a city that did not even have a branch when I started this blog now has two stakes!

Matt said...

One more observation - there will be 12 new districts organized in 2024 as of this Sunday, marking the most districts created in a single year since 2019. Looks like we have finally returned to district creation returning to pre-COVID levels. Districts being created are usually a sign of outreach expansion into more recently reached areas of the world. Many new districts appear likely in the works in DR Congo, such as in Kikwit, Luiza, Kamanda, and Uvira.

Also, the Juba Branch in South Sudan is not showing up on the maps site. Looks like this unit is classified as sensitive.

James G. Stokes said...

No temple groundbreakings this weekend, but two temple dedications: Salta Argentina and Layton Utah. Fun fact: Elder Bednar will be dedicating Utah's newest temple the day after his 72nd birthday. Another fun fact: This Sunday will mark Lloyd Newell's final Sunday as the voice of "Music & the Spoken Word". Derrick Porter takes over that role on the 23rd. The Newells were the guests of the Church News podcast this week:

https://www.thechurchnews.com/podcast/2024/06/11/church-news-podcast-lloyd-karmel-newell-tabernacle-choir-mission-leaders/

My thanks once again to you all.

Eduardo said...

Very excited about the new stake creations and districts, to see the Columbus IN stake is really nice. Could Terre Haute get one, some speculate? It would need more support from the Illinois units, for sure. Some former Bloomington and Evansville units have died over the years, which does not help. Washington, Spencer, Clinton, Brazil. All have dried up. In the Hoosier State. But, jobs in the state tend to be good, people keep moving there, or staying there.

Back in the 1990s I naively or optimistically thought that some loci of Latin America would become large concentrations of Latter-Day Saints, like Chile, that was baptizing in such numbers some of us believed it was becoming like Idaho or Arizona in dynamism. But, the retention did not bear it out. More recently in this century I thought that perhaps Peru would be a more dynamic center of growth for membership of the Church of Jesus Christ. Having visited and seen a few cities there this year, I think that Peru, despite some critical growth, is still not meeting those bigger penetration numbers of members, like I believe has happened more in Chile. Albeit not that strong either.

Now with the increased LDS growth in sub-Saharan Africa, (to include a smaller portion in the Sahel), I have reasons for the optimism that I felt for membership growth in the 1980s and 1990s, but I will temper it with realism and the overall pattern of how the Restored Gospel embodied in the priesthood and membership grows: little by little, but eventually having some decent presence and numbers.

The temple growth around the world is definitely inspiring. I would love to see more missionaries and converts. More children of record would be great, too. Perhaps this would happen more in countries of Africa, like Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Angola, Congos, and Mozambique.

Chris D. said...

Recently posted on the Church News online site, Sister Wright, during a 9 day visit, ministered the Saints in Singapore (already an announced Temple), Malaysia, Cambodia (already a Temple in construction), and Vietnam.

https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/06/13/sister-amy-wright-asia-ministry-singapore-cambodia-malaysia-vietnam-primary-youth-humanitarian/

Take that as you will, and with the spirit.

Chris D. said...

Also was just told recently organized also last sunday, June 9th.

Preston Idaho East Stake (2254751)
- Glendale Ward (2191059)
- Mink Creek Ward (28215)
- Preston 4th Ward (75310)
- Preston 9th Ward (158690)
- Preston 5th Ward (28762)
- Preston 8th Ward (24872)
- Riverdale 1st Ward (435767)
- Riverdale 2nd Ward (28908)
- Legacy 3rd Branch (Care Center) (499196)

Thanks.

Chris D. said...

President Lund recently visited Kenya, Uganda and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2024/06/14/president-steven-j-lund-brother-jan-newman-kenya-uganda-congo-ministry-training/

Ryan Searcy said...

Just a quick question - as I am updating my temples map, I am wondering if I should include stakes and districts that are not assigned to any temple, and how should I go about it? I have each temple district separate by region (following the pattern: https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/maps/north-america/ among other regions), and I am thinking about having an "Unassigned" folder separate from the regions.

In addition, are there any stakes and districts that are unassigned (and public knowledge) that I am missing?

Utah
-Great Salt Lake Utah District (Correctional Facility)
-Salt Lake Basin District (Correctional Facility)
-Wasatch Shoreline Youth District (Correctional Facility - Youth)

Russia
-Moscow Russia Stake
-Novosibirsk Russia District
-Rostov-no-Donu Russia District
-Saratov Russia Stake
-Yekaterinburg Russia District

Chris D. said...

Ryan, correct me if I am wrong, but the 2 Stakes and 3 Districts of the Russian Federation. On my excel spreadsheet i have them assigned to the Kyiv Ukraine Temple District, and the future "Russia Temple" on my Google Earth map. Even though Rick Satterfield has removed them "temporarily" from the Temples website.

https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/kyiv-ukraine-temple/district/

I haven't found any reason to reassign them to Helsinki or Freiberg or others during the ongoing "Special Military Operation" in the territory of Ukraine. The few members left in those units would choose to visit one of the other Temples available in North or Central Europe if they have the chance to leave the country for sealings, etc.

And I don't have an answer to the 3 listed Correctional Facilities Districts. I have them assigned on my list and map to the closest Temple to the District offices posted in the meetinghouse website. Even though the branch members in the facilities have their traveling rights restricted until their time is complete.

Chris D. said...

The Africa Newsroom posted today an update on the Restoration of the Gospel in South Sudan during and after the 2013 Civil War.

https://news-africa.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/the-continuing-restoration-of-the-church-in-south-sudan

Chris D. said...

Here is a quote from that article.

"On February 7, 2024, the Church’s legal status in South Sudan was renewed. And three months later (May 26, 2024), 82 Latter-day Saints gathered at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Juba for the reorganization of the Juba Branch. Some had come from great distances. For example, several Saints who had earlier fled north to Sudan had recently returned to South Sudan because of conflict in their neighboring country."

John Pack Lambert said...

With 2 stakes in Mwene-Ditu, I think this put Luputa as a strong contender to get a temple. That would put Mbuji-Maye at 2 stakes and Luputa at 5, or maybe 3 and 4. However with the level of growth DR Congo has seen, with it being an 8 hour bus drive from Luputa to Mbuji-Maye and other factors, I think a temple is doable. I may be misremembering the bus ride time.

Ryan Searcy said...

Sorry for asking another question so soon, as I was looking at the Church Maps, I saw that the Saratov Russia Stake (https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/617245) only has 3 wards and 4 branches. I am curious about how many other stakes have less than 5 wards.

A few that I seem to recall having less than 5 wards that still are under that.
-Prince George British Columbia Stake (4 wards, 8 branches)
-Regina Saskatchewan Stake (4 wards, 5 branches)
-Saskatoon Saskatchewan Stake (4 wards, 4 branches)
-Sioux City Iowa Stake (4 wards, 5 branches)
-Victoria British Columbia Stake (4 wards, 3 branches)

Ohhappydane33 said...

There are at least 3 in California: Hanford, Napa & San Rafael.

miro said...

In the UK there is the Leicester stake at (4 wards 1 branch), Billingham (4w 3b) and Aberdeen (4w 6b)

JTB said...

Certainly take this all with a grain of salt, but some updates about the church in North Texas:
Overheard at the temple last night that there is going to be a shuffling of wards into different buildings in the Prosper-McKinney area due to lack of available space. There is a plan to create more wards when space is available.
Also heard that the Allen and McKinney stake presidencies sent out very good news regarding the temple. Didn't have a chance to hear exactly what was said but the consensus was that things will continue to move forward.

John Pack Lambert said...

Today the Church News published the biography of Sandino Roman. He began attending The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at age 6. At that time his dad seemed to have no prospect of ever joining. Yet thinks happened to change his Dad's heart. He prayed often as a child for this. At age 8 Sandino was baptized by his father.

They lived in Iguala, in the far north of Guerrero State. Acapulco is in the very south of Guerrero. At age 10 Sandino was sealed to his parents. That was very shortly after the Kexico City Temple was dedicated. His dad was branch president.

Today Iguala has a stake. It looks like the distance to the temple will be cut about in half when Cuernavaca Mexico Temple is complete. Travel time to the temple may go down more since traffic is do heavy in Mexico City.

Elder Sandino went to college because his mom petitioned everyone to get a scholarship for him. She managed to ambush the governor of Guerrero into giving him a scholarship. Then after he has been in college some time the governor changed and his scholarship was revoked. He wanted to give up, his mom got him to stay. He went to class part time. He did not Finnish until he was 27. Then he went to BYU and got an MBA.

Elder Sandino served his mission in Torreon. He went to college in Monterey. There he again met Guadalupe "Lupita" Villanueva Rojas, who he first met while a student at Benemerito de Las America's, the Church's high school in Mexico City where the MTC is now and soon a temple will join the site as well. They married in 1998 (he was then 25), and were seaked the next day in the Mexico City Temple.

They married in Vera Cruz. Sister Roman was born in Minatitlán, the site of Mexico's first oil refinery, which is in Vera Cruz state.

I think some literature at the time of his call as a general authority said Elder Roman was from Toluca. He was at the time of his call mission president in Quito. Prior to that he was an area seventy for 5 years in Mexico. He lived in the Lerma Ward, in the Lerma Mexico state. Lerma is just east of Toluca, thus towards Mexico City. The Aztecs called it Cacamilhuacan, and that name was still used in the colonial area, also Santa Clara Cacamilhuacan. Elder Sandino at one point worked as a sales manager for Johnson and Hohnson, then he had his own medical products company, and then he worked for the Church. His last position was Area Services Center Manager.






Chris D. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kentswana said...

Malawi has been approved for a second stake.

Pascal Friedmann said...

Overall I am quite upbeat about the direction stake creations are going. I'm especially excited to see that the relatively large number of discontinued stakes over the past few years has come down quite a bit.

Would Malawi getting a second stake say, this year, break some kind of record?

Chris D. said...

I wonder if this is the official boundary of the newly reinstated California Modersto Mission in 2 weeks?

https://missioncall.app/worldmap.html?destination=details&missionId=california-modesto

And the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo North Mission ?

https://missioncall.app/worldmap.html?destination=details&missionId=dominican-republic-santo-domingo-north

Chris D. said...

And Texas Dallas South Mission boundary?

https://missioncall.app/worldmap.html?destination=details&missionId=texas-dallas-south

Matt said...

Pascal - Cambodia holds the designation of the country to have the first two stakes organized the fastest (they were both created on the same day 10 years ago). Mozambique is second, as the first two stakes were organized in 2015 just one month a part from each other.

Chris D. said...

The Church News just posted an article about the growth of the Church in South America since it was Dedicated to the Preaching of the Gospel in 1925 about 99 years ago be Elder Melvin J. Ballard in Buenos Aires Argentina. And as I say organized the first Mission, the South America Mission, that later became the Argentine Mission 10 years later. If anyone is interested in reading it.

https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2024/06/16/church-in-south-america-prophecy-dedication-1925-melvin-j-ballard-acorn-oak/

Craig said...

Craig Shuler says,

Chris, the official new mission boundaries were set last December, at least here.

A list of stakes was created then and sent to the 3 teaching mission presidents (Utah Salt Lake City, SLC South, and Utah Layton) to realign those 3 to create the new UT SLC East mission. Within those boundaries, a few stakes have been created and discontinued, but without changing the boundaries.

The Utah Salt Lake City West Mission keeps its same boundaries.

The new boundaries will show up in CDOL on the day when the mission splits officially take place. The mission presidents' seminar in Provo is this coming week.

The new presidents at UT SLC East and South Missions will start June 24th because the new presidents can come straight from Provo to the mission homes in South Jordan and Draper and the offices in West Jordan and Sandy. Everything is supposed to be in CDOL that day.

Other new presidents will take a few days to get to their new missions around the world. So those missions' maps and lists of stakes will not be in CDOL until the new presidents are in place.

Teaching areas and zones and missionaries in our UT SLC South Mission all know which mission they will be in. My wife and I and one other senior couple will be in the new UT SLC East mission along with vehicle and housing coordinator couples who were in the MTC the past 2 weeks.

Missions, at least in Utah, usually have 6 zones.

The new East Mission will have Sandy and Draper zones from the South Mission, and Midvale, Murray, and Holladay zones, plus a Spanish-speaking zone from the Salt Lake City Mission.

The South Mission will keep the West Jordan, South Jordan, Riverton, and Herriman zones and 2 new Spanish-speaking zones.

The Utah Salt Lake City Mission will get the Bountiful Zone from the Layton Mission, to add to their zone in southwest Wyoming, and 2 or 3 in Salt Lake City, including a Spanish-speaking zone.

Two couples, including my wife and me are staying in our Sandy office, but transferred to the Utah Salt Lake City East Mission. There are also a vehicle coordinator couple and a housing coordinator couple assigned here that finished up at the MTC last week.

We're really excited to be part of this mission split and to see the stake lists and boundaries of other new missions as they are added to CDOOL

Chris D. said...

Thanks, Craig for clarifying.

These are the Stakes I currently have listed for each of the Metro Salt Lake City area.

#1 Utah Layton Mission

502081 Bountiful Utah
505935 Bountiful Utah Central
504203 Bountiful Utah East
506028 Bountiful Utah Heights
513148 Bountiful Utah Mueller Park
502863 Bountiful Utah North
513946 Bountiful Utah North Canyon
500720 Bountiful Utah Orchard
502898 Bountiful Utah South
514551 Bountiful Utah Stone Creek
505528 Bountiful Utah Val Verda
1629379 Bountiful Utah YSA
506303 Centerville Utah
520616 Centerville Utah Canyon View
515248 Centerville Utah North
510513 Centerville Utah South
503053 Clearfield Utah
511269 Clearfield Utah North
525995 Clearfield Utah South
507970 Clinton Utah
516813 Clinton Utah North
1588184 Clinton Utah West
501670 Farmington Utah
2163616 Farmington Utah Farmington Bay
515485 Farmington Utah North
520136 Farmington Utah Oakridge
519936 Farmington Utah South
1647776 Farmington Utah West
517976 Fruit Heights Utah
503851 Kaysville Utah
524263 Kaysville Utah Central
511889 Kaysville Utah Crestwood
2035545 Kaysville Utah Deseret Mill
506249 Kaysville Utah East
434043 Kaysville Utah Haight Creek
511730 Kaysville Utah South
486884 Kaysville Utah West
502200 Layton Utah
426644 Layton Utah Creekside
504939 Layton Utah East
511099 Layton Utah Holmes Creek
523682 Layton Utah Kays Creek
525278 Layton Utah Layton Hills
1578588 Layton Utah Legacy
517542 Layton Utah North
518913 Layton Utah Northridge
2163195 Layton Utah Shoreline
518646 Layton Utah South
522244 Layton Utah Valley View
509574 Layton Utah West
1592971 Layton Utah YSA
500151 Morgan Utah
514470 Morgan Utah North
2103036 Morgan Utah West
511684 North Salt Lake Utah
1121979 North Salt Lake Utah Legacy
515280 North Salt Lake Utah Parkway
503614 Roy Utah
365637 Roy Utah Midland
504815 Roy Utah North
519200 Roy Utah South
510939 Roy Utah West
519502 South Weber Utah
2247208 South Weber Utah Pioneer
504645 Sunset Utah
500712 Syracuse Utah
463566 Syracuse Utah Bluff
2203642 Syracuse Utah Fremont Park
1591975 Syracuse Utah Lake View YSA
537098 Syracuse Utah Legacy Park
521477 Syracuse Utah South
364657 Syracuse Utah West
506354 West Bountiful Utah
513059 West Point Utah
377589 West Point Utah Lakeside
505471 Woods Cross Utah
382140 Woods Cross Utah North


Chris D. said...

#3 Utah Salt Lake City East Mission (from your previous post)

501549 Draper Utah
527815 Draper Utah Corner Canyon
526223 Draper Utah Crescent View
514985 Draper Utah Eastridge
2047896 Draper Utah Meadows
483338 Draper Utah Mountain Point
427144 Draper Utah River View
417009 Draper Utah South Mountain
1609173 Draper Utah YSA
502707 Midvale Utah
501034 Midvale Utah Union Fort
618012 Midvale Utah Union Park
501999 Murray Utah
505986 Murray Utah Little Cottonwood
511668 Murray Utah North
521205 Murray Utah Parkway
502642 Murray Utah South
505129 Murray Utah West
1629573 Murray Utah YSA
506346 Salt Lake Big Cottonwood
503975 Salt Lake Butler
504580 Salt Lake Butler West
502618 Salt Lake Canyon Rim
500690 Salt Lake Cottonwood
501654 Salt Lake East Mill Creek
511404 Salt Lake East Mill Creek North
502480 Salt Lake Holladay
510521 Salt Lake Holladay North
505080 Salt Lake Holladay South
504769 Salt Lake Holladay YSA
526339 Salt Lake Little Cottonwood
501972 Salt Lake Millcreek
504319 Salt Lake Mount Olympus
502952 Salt Lake Olympus
503800 Salt Lake South Cottonwood
501980 Salt Lake Wilford
503029 Salt Lake Winder
507695 Salt Lake Winder West
517038 Sandy Utah Alta View
506680 Sandy Utah Canyon View
510912 Sandy Utah Central
510610 Sandy Utah Cottonwood Creek
506907 Sandy Utah Crescent
508551 Sandy Utah Crescent Ridge
511145 Sandy Utah Crescent South
512834 Sandy Utah Dimple Dell
504017 Sandy Utah East
511323 Sandy Utah Granite
515531 Sandy Utah Granite South
518492 Sandy Utah Granite View
520799 Sandy Utah Hidden Valley
508810 Sandy Utah Hillcrest
526649 Sandy Utah Lone Peak
514497 Sandy Utah Midvalley
503045 Sandy Utah Mount Jordan
506397 Sandy Utah West
506834 Sandy Utah Willow Creek

Chris D. said...

And for Utah County, Not sure how many of these will go to the new Utah Spanish Fork Mission

#6 Utah Provo Mission (as of today)

517488 Altamont Utah
500208 Castle Dale Utah
500666 Delta Utah
512044 Delta Utah West
500623 Duchesne Utah
387169 Elk Ridge Utah
515337 Ferron Utah
272205 Goshen Utah
500186 Heber City Utah
507156 Heber City Utah East
440248 Heber City Utah North
2176734 Heber City Utah Old Mill
513458 Helper Utah
510157 Huntington Utah
507865 Mapleton Utah
2245604 Mapleton Utah East
2255367 Mapleton Utah Maple Canyon
526983 Mapleton Utah North
2072688 Mapleton Utah West
516244 Midway Utah
2101491 Midway Utah West
506109 Moab Utah
500097 Nephi Utah
517585 Nephi Utah North
500437 Payson Utah
559598 Payson Utah Mount Nebo
506990 Payson Utah Mountain View
515027 Payson Utah South
515167 Payson Utah West
500615 Price Utah
501662 Price Utah North
525669 Price Utah YSA
501360 Provo Utah
462810 Provo Utah 1st (Tongan)
516317 Provo Utah Bonneville
500046 Provo Utah Central
501808 Provo Utah East
505943 Provo Utah Edgemont
519243 Provo Utah Edgemont North
510106 Provo Utah Edgemont South
2075067 Provo Utah Freedom
513962 Provo Utah Grandview
526177 Provo Utah Grandview East
506036 Provo Utah Grandview South
504351 Provo Utah Married Student 1st
519758 Provo Utah Married Student 2nd
521698 Provo Utah Married Student 3rd
525065 Provo Utah North Park
509078 Provo Utah Oak Hills
467278 Provo Utah Parkway
502170 Provo Utah Sharon East
512591 Provo Utah South
516279 Provo Utah Sunset
501824 Provo Utah West
511455 Provo Utah YSA 10th
511463 Provo Utah YSA 11th
518468 Provo Utah YSA 12th
519251 Provo Utah YSA 13th
528803 Provo Utah YSA 14th
273287 Provo Utah YSA 15th
277452 Provo Utah YSA 16th
459291 Provo Utah YSA 17th
507636 Provo Utah YSA 18th
1940120 Provo Utah YSA 19th
502464 Provo Utah YSA 1st
2077043 Provo Utah YSA 20th
2076918 Provo Utah YSA 21st
503258 Provo Utah YSA 2nd
503266 Provo Utah YSA 3rd
504335 Provo Utah YSA 4th
504343 Provo Utah YSA 5th
504742 Provo Utah YSA 6th
505269 Provo Utah YSA 7th
505277 Provo Utah YSA 8th
507644 Provo Utah YSA 9th
500844 Roosevelt Utah
516708 Roosevelt Utah East
507571 Roosevelt Utah West
507598 Salem Utah
525294 Salem Utah West
2172933 Salem Utah Woodland Hills
501379 Santaquin Utah
2128233 Santaquin Utah East
471658 Santaquin Utah North
502553 Spanish Fork Utah
462470 Spanish Fork Utah Canyon Ridge
379190 Spanish Fork Utah Canyon View
525014 Spanish Fork Utah East
1385577 Spanish Fork Utah Maple Mountain
500984 Spanish Fork Utah Palmyra
1118188 Spanish Fork Utah River
512907 Spanish Fork Utah South
510386 Spanish Fork Utah West
504750 Spanish Fork Utah YSA
502588 Springville Utah
1325582 Springville Utah Dry Creek
516929 Springville Utah Hobble Creek
365815 Springville Utah Hobble Creek West
500976 Springville Utah Kolob
507792 Springville Utah Spring Creek
526754 Springville Utah Spring Creek South
462373 Springville Utah West
1081128 Vernal Utah
502634 Vernal Utah Ashley
516511 Vernal Utah Glines
510319 Vernal Utah Maeser
500267 Vernal Utah Uintah
513679 Wellington Utah

Chris D. said...

And which of these will go to the new Utah Saratoga Springs Mission.

#7 Utah Orem Mission

500429 Alpine Utah
525316 Alpine Utah North
429775 Alpine Utah West
1572970 Alpine Utah YSA
504122 American Fork Utah
523577 American Fork Utah Central
511676 American Fork Utah East
2236761 American Fork Utah Harbor
524786 American Fork Utah Hillcrest
506877 American Fork Utah North
2109204 American Fork Utah South
513954 American Fork Utah West
517348 Bluffdale Utah
2113279 Bluffdale Utah Independence
2026155 Bluffdale Utah South
365696 Cedar Hills Utah
463752 Cedar Hills Utah West
2027100 Draper Utah Suncrest
277223 Eagle Mountain Utah
2022788 Eagle Mountain Utah Cedar Pass
1444182 Eagle Mountain Utah Central
2199599 Eagle Mountain Utah Eagle Valley
471534 Eagle Mountain Utah East
2102013 Eagle Mountain Utah Nolen Park
1218778 Eagle Mountain Utah North
2221489 Eagle Mountain Utah Porter's Crossing
2052024 Eagle Mountain Utah Silver Lake
2255278 Eagle Mountain Utah Sweetwater
412570 Eagle Mountain Utah West
512796 Highland Utah
2000091 Highland Utah Central
520837 Highland Utah East
465054 Highland Utah South
380490 Highland Utah West
501069 Lehi Utah
2187280 Lehi Utah Canyon Hills
1221574 Lehi Utah Cedar Hollow
2101823 Lehi Utah Central
2224399 Lehi Utah Cold Spring Ranch
363804 Lehi Utah East
481599 Lehi Utah Gateway
2135280 Lehi Utah Holbrook Farms
422983 Lehi Utah Jordan River
2169371 Lehi Utah Jordan River YSA
1986627 Lehi Utah Jordan Willows
2200422 Lehi Utah Meadow View
507040 Lehi Utah North
2240815 Lehi Utah North Lake
1979639 Lehi Utah Pheasant Pointe
2240823 Lehi Utah Snow Springs
525022 Lehi Utah South
2055031 Lehi Utah Thanksgiving
486701 Lehi Utah Traverse Mountain
516414 Lehi Utah West
557552 Lehi Utah Willow Park
1575988 Lehi Utah YSA
516058 Lindon Utah
412600 Lindon Utah Central
523976 Lindon Utah West
501816 Orem Utah
2133067 Orem Utah 2nd (Tongan)
519235 Orem Utah Aspen
516899 Orem Utah Canyon View
525502 Orem Utah Cascade
502995 Orem Utah Cherry Hill
502766 Orem Utah Geneva Heights
526185 Orem Utah Heatheridge
518069 Orem Utah Hillcrest
509361 Orem Utah Lakeridge
513644 Orem Utah Lakeview
505889 Orem Utah North
519227 Orem Utah Northridge
508314 Orem Utah Orchard
513563 Orem Utah Park
501093 Orem Utah Sharon
508829 Orem Utah Sharon Park
525170 Orem Utah Stonewood
510068 Orem Utah Suncrest
506095 Orem Utah Sunset Heights
512176 Orem Utah Timpview
510696 Orem Utah Windsor
517097 Orem Utah YSA 1st
379204 Orem Utah YSA 2nd
456071 Orem Utah YSA 3rd
2165236 Orem Utah YSA 4th
505838 Pleasant Grove Utah
510297 Pleasant Grove Utah East
363715 Pleasant Grove Utah Garden
522465 Pleasant Grove Utah Grove Creek
512788 Pleasant Grove Utah Manila
2129809 Pleasant Grove Utah Manila Creek
536911 Pleasant Grove Utah Mount Mahogany
527831 Pleasant Grove Utah North Field
501077 Pleasant Grove Utah Timpanogos
1072285 Pleasant Grove Utah West
503339 Riverton Utah
364967 Riverton Utah Central
526231 Riverton Utah South
379468 Saratoga Springs Utah
1733397 Saratoga Springs Utah Crossroads
2022982 Saratoga Springs Utah Israel Canyon
2184036 Saratoga Springs Utah Lake Mountain
2071037 Saratoga Springs Utah Mount Saratoga
461490 Saratoga Springs Utah North
2227649 Saratoga Springs Utah Quailhill
2227657 Saratoga Springs Utah Riverside
2108925 Saratoga Springs Utah Saratoga Hills
1042661 Saratoga Springs Utah South
2157136 Saratoga Springs Utah Springside
1995693 Vineyard Utah
2122634 Vineyard Utah Grove Park
2219387 Vineyard Utah Springs Park
2195542 Vineyard Utah Springwater

Zefu said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John Pack Lambert said...

Malawi getting a stake this year would technically not break a record. Both Cambodia and Ghana got the first 2 stakes on the same day. Ghana in part bemcause of the freeze, Cambodia for other reasons.

Malawi having a temple announced this year might be the shortest positive time from temple announced to stake created. Since Laine Hawaii has the absolute shortest time from temple dedicated until stake created, in that it is negative 36 years. Shanghai will not be able to beat that record unless it still does not have a stake sometime in the 2050s.

I am not sure what the shortest time is from stake creation to temple announced for places where the stake pre-dated a temple being announced.

John Pack Lambert said...

I meant Lain'e. I do not like auto correct.

John Pack Lambert said...

Lai'e. I am even more frustrated at auto correct.

Anonymous said...

Its really amazing and so excited to have a branch near my home village, mzuzu Branch.God has a purpose in Malawi, soon we will have a temple.Foe the creation of a stake in Lilongwe City and Blantyre city,it shows the commitment of church leaders.
May God bless Malawi