Brazil
A new stake was created in Brazil on January 26th. The Santa Maria West Stake was organized from the São Gabriel Brazil District (organized in 2001) and the Santa Maria Brazil Stake (organized in 1993). The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Rosário do Sul, the Salgado Filho, the Santa Marta, the São Gabriel, and the Tancredo Neves Wards and the São Pedro Branch. The Church has sought for many years to divide the Santa Maria Brazil Stake which had 10 wards and one branch. The new stake is within the boundaries of a previously discontinued stake, the Rosário do Sul Brazil Stake, which operated from 1995 until 2001. There are now 27 stakes and four stakes in Rio Grande do Sul State. Santa Maria appears a likely location for a temple, as there is only one temple in Rio Grande do Sul located in Porto Alegre. A temple in Santa Maria could service 11 stakes and one district.
There are now 288 stakes and 37 districts in Brazil.
Cote d'Ivoire
A new stake was created in Cote d'Ivoire on February 2nd. The Adzope Cote d'Ivoire Stake was created from the Adzope Cote d'Ivoire District (organized in 2016) and the Akoupé Cote d'Ivoire District (organized in 2017 and discontinued when the new stake was organized). The new stake includes the following four wards and five branches: the Adzope 3rd, the Affery 1st, the Affery 2nd, and the Akoupé 1st Wards and the Adzope 1st, the Adzope 2nd, the Adzope 4th, the Adzope 5th, and the Adzope 6th Branches. The four original branches in Affery were consolidated into two wards, the two branches in Akoupé were combined to make a single ward, and no branches were consolidated in the city of Adzope. Both district branches in the two districts were discontinued, which occurs whenever a district that has a district branch is organized into a stake. This new stake has followed the pattern seen with many other recently organized stakes in Cote d'Ivoire, such as in Gagnoa, Man, and San Pedro. Although it is discouraging that these districts have not been able to become separate stakes (which has appeared to be due to the significant slowdown in Church growth in the country during the past five years), it is nonetheless encouraging to note that these cities had no organized branches prior to approximately 10 years ago, and thus, there has been significant growth and leadership development in these nascent areas for the Church. The Adzope Cote d'Ivoire Stake is the first stake to be created in the cities to the immediate north and east of Abidjan that are outside of the metropolitan area.
There are now 22 stakes and nine districts in Cote d'Ivoire
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo)
The Church organized a new stake in Kinshasa on February 9th. The Kinshasa DR Congo Limete Stake was organized from a division of the Kinshasa DR Congo Stake (organized in 1996) and the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of Congo Masina Stake (organized in 1999). The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Kingabwa 1st, the Kingabwa 2nd, the Limete 1st, the Limete 2nd, and the Ndanu 1st Wards and the Ndanu 2nd Branch. The new stake is the Church's 15th stake in Kinshasa to be organized.
There are now 33 stakes and three districts in the DR Congo.
Hawaii
A new stake was created in Hawaii for the first time since 2014. The Puna Hawaii Stake was created from a division of the Hilo Hawaii Stake (organized in 1968). The new stake includes the following five wards: the Ka'u, the Kea'au, the Pahoa, the Waikahe 1st, and the Waikahe 2nd Wards. The Church has experienced steady growth on the western half of the Big Island of Hawaii, and there were only seven wards and one branch in the Hilo Hawaii Stake for many years in the mid-2000s. The neighboring Kona Hawaii Stake also appears likely to divide soon, as this stake has grown to 10 wards and one branch (up from eight wards in the mid-2000s).
There are now 17 stakes in Hawaii.
Idaho
A new stake was created in Idaho on January 12th. The Idaho Falls Canterbury Park Stake was organized from a division of the Idaho Falls Taylor Mountain Stake (organized in 1996). The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Bristol Heights, the Carriage Gate, the Castlerock, the Gem Lake, the Park Taylor, the Stonebrook, and the Victorian Village Wards. There are now approximately 20 stakes in Idaho Falls.
There are now 143 stakes in Idaho.
Liberia
A new stake and a new district were created in Liberia.
The Thinker Village Liberia Stake was organized on February 2nd from a division of the Paynesville Liberia Stake (organized in 2017). Approximately 1,500 attended the conference to create the new stake, and each stake now has approximately 2,000 members which is the minimum required to create a stake. The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Boys Town, the Duport Road, the Gbengbar Town, the Outland, the SKD Boulevard, the Thinker Village, and the Voker Mission Wards. There are now seven stakes in Monrovia - all of which have been organized within the past decade.
The Harbel Liberia District was created on January 12th from seven mission branches in the Harbel, Buchanan, and Tameque areas, including the Barclay Farm, the Buchanan 1st, the Buchanan 2nd, the Cotton Tree, the Dolo's Town, the Harbel, and the LAC Branches. The first branch in the area was organized in Harbel back in 2008. Over 900 attended the conference to create the new district. Harbel is the second city outside of Monrovia to have had a district organized.
There are now seven stakes and two districts in Liberia.
Montana
A new stake was created in Montana on February 16th. The Three Forks Montana Stake was organized from a division of the Bozeman Montana Stake (organized in 1979), the Butte Montana Stake (organized in 1953), and the Helena Montana Stake (organized in 1968). The new stake includes the following seven wards and two branches: the Belgrade 1st, the Belgrade 2nd, the Gallatin, the Sheridan, the Three Forks, the Townsend, and the Whitehall Wards and the Ennis and White Sulphur Springs Branches.
There are now 14 stakes in Montana.
Nigeria
A new stake was created in Nigeria on February 2nd. The Abuja Nigeria Karu Stake was organized from a division of the Abuja Nigeria Wuse Stake (organized in 2019). The new stake includes the follow five wards and three branches: the Jikwoyi, the Karu, the Masaka, the New Nyanya, and the Nyanya Wards and the Aso, the GRA, and the Orozo Branches. The new stake is the Church's fourth stake in Abuja, where a mission was organized in 2023 and a temple was announced in October of 2024.
There are now 79 stakes and 14 districts in Nigeria.
Portugal
A new stake was created in Portugal on February 16th. The Santarém Portugal Stake was created from a division of the Lisbon Portugal Stake (organized in 1981) and the Oeiras Portugal Stake (organized in 1989). The new stake includes the following five wards and three branches: the Alverca, the Bom Sucesso, the Carregado, the Santarém, and the Torres Vedras Ward, and the Abrantes, the Tomar, and the Vila Franca de Xira Branches. The Church previously operated a district in Santarém from 1991 to 2020, and the six branches that were part of the former district were reassigned to the Lisbon Portugal Stake or the Oeiras Portugal Stake in 2020.
There are now eight stakes and one district in Portugal.
The Philippines
The Malaybalay Philippines Stake was created on February 2nd from the Malaybalay Philippines District (organized in 1992). Nearly 1,200 attended the conference to create the new stake. All six branches in the district were organized into wards, including the Malaybalay 1st, the Malaybalay 2nd, the Malaybalay 3rd, the Maramag, the Quezon Bukidnon, and the Valencia Wards. There are now 16 stakes and 12 districts on the island of Mindanao.
There are now 132 stakes and 55 districts in the Philippines.
Virginia
A new stake was organized in Virginia on January 26th, 2025. The Brambleton Virginia Stake was created from a division of the Ashburn Virginia Stake (organized in 1995), the Gainesville Virginia Stake (organized in 2016), and the Oakton Virginia Stake (organized in 1963). The new stake includes the following six wards and one branch: the Algonkian, the Ashburn, the Brambleton, the Broadlands, the Sterling Park, and the Tall Cedars Wards and the Loudoun (Spanish) Branch. There are now 15 stakes in the DC metropolitan area.
There are now 23 stakes in Virginia.
Uganda
A new district was created in Uganda. The Lira Uganda District was organized from three mission branches located in the city of Lira, including the Adyel, the Lira, and the Odokomit Branches. The first branch in Lira was organized in 2011. The new district is the Church's third district to be created in Uganda within the past four months.
There are now three stakes and five districts in Uganda.
Japan
The Nagasaki Japan District (organized in 1982) was discontinued and consolidated with the neighboring Fukuoka Japan Stake. None of the four branches in the former Nagasaki Japan District were discontinued. The decision was likely made to consolidate the district with the neighboring stake to conserve leadership resources and perhaps for branches in the former district to become wards eventually. Stagnant growth or decline has occurred on Kyushu for decades.
There are now 22 stakes and nine districts in Japan.
Fiji
The Taveuni Fiji District (organized in 1997) was discontinued and consolidated with the Labasa Fiji District (organized in 2017 but which previously operated from 1989 to 2008). The realigned district is now called the Vanua Levu Fiji District. This decision was probably made due to a renewed effort to create a stake on Vanua Levu and surrounding islands. There are now 11 branches in the Vanua Levu Fiji District. No branches were discontinued with the closure of the district in Taveuni.
There are now four stakes and one district in Fiji.
73 comments:
This is quite good news. We are to at least 12 new stakes this year.
I was going to publish my temple prediction list, in fact I had it typed up, but it did not go through. I will wait until I get access to a computer. I think I will move Santa Naria to the top 15. I think 15 will be announced in April which will give us an even 200 houses of the Lord announced by President Nelson.
Abuja just in the 5 months since it had a temple announced has gone from 4 to 6 stakes in the temple district. However Makeudi is not close, and even Jo's is a ways away.
Continued growth of stakes in the Kinshasa area is quite impressive.
I think Ivory Coast only had 7 stakes when the temple was announced. That it will be to 22when the temple is completed almost suggests that getting 2 more temples announced soon would be logical. We shall see.
Liberia is also looking up. Keep in mind the Church has been there since sometime in the 1980s. However the effects of the Civil wars it has had were very hard. Liberia is one of only 3 countries (Nicaragua and Arkrnia bring the other 2) that have seen all their stakes discontinued. It may be one of only 2 stakes discontinued on the Afrucan continent ever. So to come from that to now having 7 stakes and 2 districts is quite encouraging.
Is The Philippines the country with the most districts in the world. Back when President Oaks was area president I believe there were more districts than stakes in the Philippines.
With 16 stakes in Mondanao it is tempting to wonder if there could be a 3rd temple there. I will look over the map to see.
The only place that looks likely to get a temple on Mondanao anytime soon is Butuan City. That temple could take in 3 stakes and 3 districts. It is a 3 and a half hour drive to the Cagayan de Oro Temple. The thing is that the 2 other stakes are about hour and a half drives. Even if Gingoog was made a stake, it is about the same distance, and 2 hours from Cagayan de Oro. Cagayan de Oro and Davao both have 3 stakes just in the city. Zamboanga stake at 10 hours from Cagayan de Oro and 14 hours from Davao is the most isolated. However even Pagadian City district, the closest is almost 6 hours away. If Orozmiz City and Dipolog City moved to being stakes, than maybe Oroquieta City or one of those other 3 could have a temple. However only Ozamiz City and Oroquiet City are within an hour of each other.
General Santos City at 3 hours from Davao also could eventually get a temple. However Digos City is the closest other stake, and it is closet to Davao than to General Sants City. Korondel City has a district and is an hour away, but we'll over 3 hours from Davao because it is further west and the road winds a lot while the one to General Santoz City is straight. Cotabato City with a district is 3.5 hours from Genersl Santos City but 4.5 hours from Davao. On the whole Butuan City is the only vaguely likely temple without new stakes and districts, and even that seems unlikely without another stake at a minimum. Sagay City actually looks like the most likely Filipino Temple outside of Luzon. Sagay City is 1.5 hours from Bacolob and has stakes in Cadiz City and Escalante City both less than half an hour away.
On Luzon somewhere like Lipa, maybe Angeles or Olongopo, and either a 3rd Temple in metro Manila or one just north of Metro Msnila seem doable. Legazpi City I think will eventually get a temple, but only after done of the surrounding districts become stakes.Bohol, Samar and Palawan Islands each only have 1 stake, although thry each have 1-2 districts. However Samar Island has a bridge to Leyte where Tacloban City is which is getting a temple. So the 2 districts are actually less travel time to Taclobsn City then to the 1 stake. Mindoro Island has 3 districts but no stakes.
Sariha Moya, who has served as Ecudaor's acting vice president. Is per this article https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2025/02/23/tabernacle-choir-orchestra-peru-tour-national-stadium-fonesca/ on the Tabernacle Choir performing in Peru a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Wikipedia has an article on Moya that lacks this detail.
That article I linked to above gives a lot of good insights on the concert. I am very much liking the way these tours try to incorporate the talents and culture from the area where thry have gone.
Heard that a stake was organized in St. George today.
Never mind, reorganized. My bad.
Other Noah here.
There are some rumors in our wards about the Medellin Temple location being revealed soon. Although I am skeptical since it hasn't been too long since President Nelson announced it, only time will tell.
The Tabernacle Choir concert in Peru was broadcasted to our stake centers in Colombia, mine was packed!!!! Hopefully this translates into many missionary referrals and baptisms in the future.
Church News released early the Interior and Exterior photos and Openhouse for the Auckland New Zealand Temple.
"Auckland New Zealand Temple opens doors for media, public tours
Interior and exterior photos of New Zealand’s 2nd house of the Lord are released during Monday, Feb. 24, media day
23 Feb 2025, 2:16 p.m. MST"
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2025/02/23/auckland-new-zealand-temple-open-tour-interior-exterior-photos/
The growth is going well or at least steady in most of these places. Even when one of those districts was discontinued in Cote d'Ivoire, it was the uniting of two to organize a stake. It was nice to know that no branches were consolidated.
Medellin Colombia Temple if announced nkw would he the 2nd temple from October 2024 to have a site announced. Since they already announced Huntsville Alabama's site, I would not rule out any other October 2024 site as possible. I would love to see them announce sites for Beira and Maputo at the same time. We shall see.
I think you meant 27 states and 4 districts in Rio Grande do Sul. That means Rio Grande do Sul alone has more stakes than Ivory Coast.
Well, I am going to post my temple prediction list. Here are my 15 most likely candidates. Since 15 temples announced would bring to 200 the number Presidents Nelson has announced, that is what I expect to be announced.
1. Santa Maria, Brazil
2. Sorocaba, Brazil
3. Resistencia, Argentina
4. 3rd temple for Lima, Peru
5. Chimbote, Peru
6. Olongapo. Philippines
7. Cardiff, Wales
8. Concord, New Hampshire
9. Otavalo, Ecuador
10. Poza Rica, Mexico
12. Thousand Oaks, California
13. Spanish Fork, Utah
14. Hattiesburg, Mississippi
15. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Here is my next 10 most likely temples:
1. Port Harcourt, Nigeria
2. Bo, Sierra Leone
3. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo MiKong / airport area
4. Luputa, DR Congo
5. Lome, Togo
6. La Serana, Chile
7. Rigby, Idaho
8. Caldwell, Idaho
9. Pleasant View, Utah
10. Kingston, Jamaica
This year the 12th stake was organized in mid February last year the 12th stake was organized in mid May last time a 12th stake was organized in mid February was 2016 when 100 stakes were organized. Could we see another 100 stake year? Maybe more?
Far West Missouri Stake - The Trenton branch became the Trenton Ward on 2 23 25. It is amazing to see the growth in this Tongan ward in Trenton Missouri. Sai pe
The exterior rendering for my own new temple here in Lehi has been released today:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/rendering-released-for-lehi-utah-temple
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2025/02/24/lehi-utah-temple-rendering-released/
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2025/02/breaking-temple-news-rendering-released.html
My thanks once again to you all.
Apostolic ministry updates: President Holland recently comforted members of California stakes who lost their homes in the recent fires:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-holland-opens-his-heart-to-families-impacted-by-california-wildfires
Elder Dale G. Renlund is ministering in Southern Africa, reterning to the area for the first time since he served as an area president. It will be a multi-national tour:
https://news-africa.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-dale-g--renlund-and-sister-ruth-l--renlund-begin-a-multi-country-ministry-in-southern-africa
Elder Gerrit W. Gong is ministering in Mexico:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-gong-invites-mexico-saints-to-find-peace-in-the-house-of-the-lord
Elder Ulisses Soares is traveling with the Choir in Peru:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/tabernacle-choir-heading-to-brazil-in-2026
My thanks once again to you all.
Mostly good news! Great to see the growth. An organization which is based on divine beings spreading across the planet, making its way into culture after culture. Sad to see the attrition in Japan and Fiji, really cool to see the unit growth all those other places.
I hear anecdotally that baptisms are up in a lot places, here in the States.
I just spoke to a worker that says she will be going back to Church after years of less activity. Her husband, of another faith, stopped drinking. She has, too.
God moves in mysterious ways, we all say that and claim to know it, but the Lord truly is moving about the Earth through His people.
Amazing to see, observe, and chronicle.
Appreciate this blog for what it shows and documents.
Has anyone else noticed the changes this week on the Meetinghouse Locator website with regard to the 87 known current YSA Stakes in North America?
While reviewing this week Areas Lists compared to last week on the website. These are the only changes thus far this week. If needed, I can list the 33 changes of the 87 Total YSA Stakes. Just a minor change. I hope you all see the update also. If not, I can post the list of the 33 Stakes here.
Spanish branch to open in Huntington, Utah next Sunday. There is a sizeable amount of Hispanic/Latino people living in the county due to solar farms, coal mines and power plant jobs.
Hey Chris! You asked in another thread whether there were any changes to my temple predictions list. While I reported no changes in my response, today, in view of the reports of Elder Bednar's visits to Abu Dhabi UAE and to Pakistan, and because Pakistan's Church membership is over 5,000 (which may put Pakistan now in the top ten nations with the most Church membership without a temple, I have added Abu Dhabi and Lahore as potential candidates for the next temples in the Middle East/Africa North Area. Thanks.
Thanks for the update.
After reading a few previous comments, I have a serious question… I have often wondered, if some of my dreams were real experiences where my spirit was actually interacting with beings from the spirit world, where I was taught certain principles which I had never understood or never imagined before. If that be the case, then it would make a lot of sense to me as to why the church is really starting to rapidly grow, and that being that there are enough beings now in the spirit world from our time, that these spirits can come back and interact with people here upon the earth through dreams or visits I, having already been through and understanding a lot of the struggles that we are going through and being able to give guidance and inside accordingly. Any thoughts from any of you on this subject? I would love to hear. Thank you.
As per the Meetinghouse Locator, the branch already appears as the San Rafael Branch. Great news!
I wonder if the Bengaluru India Temple being temporarily halted will advance the "need" for a temple in Pakistan, especially if the halt is long-term.
Ryan, progress on the Bengaluru temple was halted because the government of India is not currently allowing foreign money (including funding from Church headquarters in Salt Lake) into the country to find such projects. My understanding is that the Church is actively working on resolving that problem, so the halt is expected to be temporary. But if those efforts are not successful in the near term, that would indeed accelerate the need for a Pakistan temple.
"to fund such projects" is what I meant above, not "to find such projects."
I had a couple of genuine near-death experiences, both of which were lost in my memory for a time. Both times, I saw a light and an angel. Though I can't remember the complete exchanges I had with them, I do recall being given a choice both times to either stay and continue with my earthly mission and purpose or to end my sojourn here and move on to the afterlife. Both times, I chose to stay. The second such experience happened just a few months ago during my one-month stint in 3 hospitals. As Isaiah said, in the last days, the old men will dream dreams, and the young men will see visions.
I have some good news, and some not so good news this week about Stake Changes.
1st, the not so good news, I just learned that the Antelope California Stake (519006), has been merged this week into the Anderson California Stake (511781). And the Meetinghouse website has updated that.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/511781
2nd, I have heard a rumor that during the upcoming Anonkoua Cote d'Ivoire Stake conference, a new Ébimpé Cote d'Ivoire Stake will be organized. Nothing official yet.
There is a Ebimpe Branch in the Agboville Cote d'Ivoire District, in the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan North Mission. Possibly this district will become the new Stake, located a few miles north of Anonkoua.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2074435
The Anonkoua Conference will be the weekend of March 15th and 16th.
I think the timing of the construction of the temple in India would have no bearing on the decision of when to construct a temple in Pakistan. It is virtually impossible for Indians to get visas to Pakistan and vice versa -- a temple in either country would be as inaccessible to members in the other country as if it didn't exist. (There is a district in Sri Lanka, as well as a branch in Nepal and one in Bangladesh, but the number of members is small enough that I doubt it would be a factor in those decisions, especially now that there is a temple in Bangkok that they can fly to for a comparable price as a flight to Bangalore).
--Felix
The Antelope Stake merged with the Citrus Heights Stake. Anderson isn't anywhere near Antelope.
Per facebook, the creation of the Ebimpe Cote D'Ivoire Stake is more than just a rumor and will happen on the weekend of March 15th and 16th. It was announced on the page of the Abidjan North Mission.
Sorry, "Anonymous", whoever you are. Thanks, I was searching for Antelope California Stake to confirm the change. And the Meetinghouse site lead me directly to the Antelope Ward in the Anderson Stake. Since I didn't know the Antelope Ward was NOT in the Antelope California Stake. I had erroneously posted the wrong Stake merged. Thank you for the correction.
James, to clarify, I was told that the "country of Pakistan, along with the Pakistan Service Mission (2178133), is under the direction of the Asia Area leadership", (same as the eastern border neighbor, India). Not under the Middle East/Africa North Area (like it's western border neighbor, Afghanistan).
That is correct, Chris. Not sure how I mixed that up. Thanks for the correction.
If anyone is curious, Elder Christofferson, during a recent ministry tour this month to various countries in the Africa West Area. Has met with His Majesty, the King of the Ga People in Accra, Ghana.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2025/02/26/elder-d-todd-christofferson-meets-with-king-of-ga-people-accra-ghana/
The Ga people are the dominant historic ethnic group in Accra. With Accra being a large modern metropolis there may now be more Akan people than Ga people there. However the Ga still have influence. The king of the Ga people has collaborated with the Church on projects to help schools and put in plbore holes to make water more accessible, or maybe the Chur h has collaborated with him.
He is now working to create a children's hospital in Accra. Elder Christopherson asked the people over welfare and self reliance services in the Africa West Area to look into how the Church can assist in the creation of this children's hospital.
Temple assignments can be done across area boundaries. Some of the stakes right along the lower Rio Grande in Mexico are assigned to the McAllen Texas Temple. Also some units along the southern boundary of Bolivia and in the South Anerica Northeast Area are assigned to the Salta Argentina Temple in the South Anerica South Area. So what area Pakistan is assigned to is not controlling for what temple people will go to from there. The think is even if Pakistan and India did make travel across the border simple, the sheer distance from even Karachi to Bsngalaru is such that travel by air is still the best option, and so actual air fares and cost of getting a visa or such is going to be a bigger consideration than travel time. At least if you have a few temples that are somewhat similar in distance.
I wonder if the church is recognized by Pakistan
The new president of the Frankfurt Germany Temple who lives in the Hanover Stake, Karl Günter Borcherding, was called as a mission president in 2006. When he was called as a mission president they listed 7 sets of new mission leaders in the Church News on that day. Today they listed 8 new temple presidents. This is partly because of pacing issues, there are not moe operating temples today than there were in 2006 (there were under 350 total missions in 2006, and there are 367 announced temples, but since they do not call temple presidents until close to when they are completed, 367 is not yet the number we need to look at).
Included this week are the Magaqas, the first black south Africans to lead the Durban Temple (the Mkabela's were leaders of the Johannesburg Temple). The Millers are the first leaders of the Yigo Guam Temple to be resident in Guam when called. They are originally from the mainland US, Colorado and Washington State by birth. Brother Miller's only listed callings are temple worker, high councilor and branch president (the first 2 are currently callings). So my chances of finding any listing of his past calling is none, unless something that would be traceable was omitted, and with names like Henry Miller and Debra Gay Wagner Miller they are not really searchable.
So we will now have two temple presidents called while living in Michigan at the same time. That actually happened before when Carlos Morales Bowan was called as president of the Peru Temple, but this time with Richard DeVries both temple presidents have been called to temples that they live in the temple district of. Richard DeVries is not the first Michigan resident to be president of the Chicago Temple, but the only other one I know of was Back well before the Detroit Temple was dedicated.
Also, recently reported on the Church News website, that Elder and Sister Bednar, during a recent Ministry Tour, visited Istanbul Turkiye, Berlin Germany and Lanarca Cyprus. If anyone is interested.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2025/02/26/elder-bednar-teachers-europe-middle-east-heavenly-father-covenant-connection/
Sorry, that was me, Chris D. who made the above "Anonymous" post. I forgot to verify if i was logged in.
Also, posted today on the Church News site, Elder and Sister Renlund visited recently Lusaka Zambia during Ministry Tour.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2025/02/27/elder-dale-renlund-africa-zambia-lusaka-return-book-of-mormon/
And YW President Freeman and General Primary Counselor Sister Browning, recently visited Sapporo Japan, and Japan Kobe Missionaries, Seoul South Korea and Guam and Chuuk Micronesia.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2025/02/27/emily-belle-freeman-tracy-y-browning-minister-asia-area/
This is not Elder Renlund's first return to the Africa Southeast Area since he was Area President. When he dedicated the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple in 2019 that was in the Africa South East Area. Anyway, technically Elder Renlund was president of the Africa South East Area and the current area is the Africa South Area, the Africa Central Area having been formed I believe in 2021.
I am glad to see an apostle ministering in Zambia. That is the only country the Church News article mentions. Zambia is by far the country in Africa that has got The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Aaints there the earliest that does not have a temple announced. The catch is that although the Church had a presence in Zambia in the 1940s to 1950s, all those members ended up leaving after the end of British rule. That was when it was northern Rhodesia. Southern Rhodesia which became Zimbabwe on the other hand has seen one of the most successful transformations of the ethnic scope of outreach by the Church. There were reasons that would have made that difficult, and there were people who did a lit to cross boundaries. However with how small the English-speaking white population was there. Crossing boundaries was absolutely needed. It is over 2 decades from the start of o7treach to the black population in Zimbabwe until they even get a stake. Zimbabwe was the location of the first post-1978 baptism of a black person in the South African mission. That was 1979, so still the year after the first baptisms in Ghana and Nigeria. South Africa itself did not see any black people baptized until 1980. This despite the fact there was a group of black people from Soweto attending meetings as early as about 1972.
There is a reason for this. There was a deliberate decision in Aouth Africa to go slow with baptizing black people, and to have them go through a long and extended process before baptism. Russell Stevenson in his book "For the Cause of Righteousness" discusses this. There were lots of factors. The fact that sone part of the black population in South Africa practices polygamy was one reason for the beliberate rate, but there were other factors. In the long run it seems to have worked out. I think as many or more black temple presidents and mateons have been called in South Africa as in the US. Probably more black area seventies. There are two Africsn-American general authorities and have never been black South African general authorities, but there has also only been 1 white South African general authority.
I have at times been tempted to do a general authority prediction list, sort of like temple prediction. I have made a list in my head, it does include one black South African man, but I have decided it would be crazy to publish. The general authority pelrediction list would be more akin if I wrote my temple prediction list as I think the church will announce a temple for 2135 Temple St, Detroit Michigan, or at least the temple will be built on a lot that includes that parcel. Which leaves my correction invalid not just if the Detroit City Center Temple is not announced anytime soon (I do not expect it to be announced until the number of stakes all in metro Detroit has gone from 3 to 6, and not until the number of stakes in the greater region has gone from at least 5 to 9, and even then I think a temple in or around Ann Arbor is probably going to come first), but I would also seem off if the temple built in Detroit does not cover that spot even if it is at 138 Temple Street. Yes, I think it would be awesome to have a temple on temple street. I am not very hopeful it will happen in my lifetime, but I am only 44 so lots could happen in my lifetime.
Last November Elder Renlund went on a tour to Kenya, the Republic of Congo and maybe some other countries that were in the area when he was Area President.
President Astashov the newly called president of the Russia Moscow Mission served in the Las Vegas Nevada mission partially overlapping with me. I am not sure I ever actually met him. He is the first person who served in that mission while I was there to be called as a mission president.
6 of the 16 leaders of missions called this week are from outside the US. Based on church membership it should average more like 6 of the 16 from the US, but this is way ahead of 25 years ago so I will take it.
It also was odd because the first 5 were all from outside the US. We have leaders called from Nigeria, Russia, South Korea, the Philippines, Argentina and Brazil. Only the Russia leader is inability to call Americans there clearly the reason. 4 of the 6 are called to within their home country. The Korea couple tfrom Seoul to lead a mission in Seoul, but I am not sure if where thry live in Eroul US within the boundaries of the mission thry will lead.
The Argentine couple are called to lead the mission in Ecuador, so outside their country but still where Spanish is the main language. The Nigerian couple are called to lead the mission in Sierra Leone. In both countries the Church largely funtions in English. Also the Nigerian couple were both born in Legos, although thry now live I believe in the so called South Douth region of Nigeria, where most of the Church membership is, I believe in Ikwa Abom state, which has the most stakes of any state in Nigeria. Legos is heavily influenced by Yoruba culture. Many of the people freed from slave ships by the British authorities and brought to Soerra Leone were Yoruba. So there are a lit of Yoruba elements in Krio or Creole culture in Sierra Leone (I once read some of a book on this issue, with the writer arguing that the word Krio in Sierra Keone actually has different roots than Creole, the more useful point was that despite some having argued the Krio/Creole were mainly English-speaking Christians, this writer pointed out even in the 19th-century many considered part of Krio/Creole culture in Sierra Leone colony were Mulims who spoke little to no English. Modern Aierra Leone by area was mainly in the Sierra Leond protectorate, and even that not until the end of the 19th-century. Although Freetown was the base of the colony, more recently many people from other parts of the country have moved to Freetown. The people's living in the other parts of Sierra Leone in the 19th-century were primarily Muslim and spoke various languages.) Thus couple from Nigeria will have a better cultural understanding of Sierra Keone than most Americsn couples would, and probably even than a couple called from DR Congo or Kenya, but probably less than if you called mission leaders from Sierra Leone.
We are moving past the days when missionaries and mission presidents were called from Utah to serve everywhere else. My grandmother was baptized in Cslifornia in the late 1940s by a missionary from the US south with a very strong accent. Elder Soares' first mission president was a Brazilian, Hrlio da Rocha Camargo. However there is still more progress to make.
And his wife, Anna Astashova, served a mission in the California Sacramento Mission. She is from Chita, Russia.
You might find this interesting, John. I wonder if Damon Trejo, who was called to lead a mission in Mexico City, has any relation to Melitón Trejo, who was one of the first Spanish speaking missionaries sent to Mexico.
Damon Trejo is a descendant of Meliton Trejo. Meliton Trejo and wife and subsequent descendants settled in St. David Arizona, a little bit of heaven as described to me by my St. David resident grandmother.
RE Pakistan and India:
India and Pakistan are two countries that have NEVER gotten along. In fact, if you are a Pakistani or of Pakistani descent, you need a specific government clearance to enter India, unless you are 65 plus years old.
Pakistan conversely requires Indian citizens to register with the police and only travel through different ports of entry as the rest of the border is closed and patrolled by the army.
The Bengaluru temple will NOT help Pakistan. But the Dubai temple will as the UAE has a much easier travel policy for those from Pakistan.
Still hoping for an additional temple in Arizona. A Flagstaff Arizona Temple would accommodate Page AZ Stake, Tuba City AZ Stake, Flagstaff AZ Stake, Flagstaff East AZ Stake, Winslow AZ Stake, Cottonwood AZ Stake, Prescott AZ Stake, Prescott Valley AZ Stake. These stakes are currently assigned to the Red Cliffs UT Temple, Snowflake AZ Temple and Phoenix AZ Temple. The new temple would reduce driving time to the temple for Page, Tuba City, Flagstaff, Flagstaff East, Winslow, Cottonwood. In addition, the new temple would accommodate the following Native American tribes - Navajo, Hopi, Kaibab Band of Paiute, Havasupai, Hualapai, Prescott Yavapai, Yavapai-Apache.
JPL, you are correct about all of that. I was just going on what was stated in the Church News or Newsroom release that originally shared information about Elder Renlund's current ministry in Southern Africa. Those reports were obviously in error at least on that point. It happens sometimes. Thanks for setting the record straight.
Dad Little, I have thought for a while now that Flagstaff will get its' own temple. Since my research supported that theory, I have had Flagstaff on my personal list of potential future temples for years now. The announcement of the Yuma Arizona Temple surprised me, since I felt reasonably certain that Flagstaff would be the next Arizonan city to have a temple announced. After the announcement of the Yuma temple, I am more convinced than ever that Flagstaff will be the next city in that state to get a temple. How soon might that happen? I think it will be within the next 3-4 General Conferences, if not sooner than that.
With Uganda having a temple announced in October, that nation is now removed from the top ten nations with the strongest Church presence without a temple. Based on my own research, I think the top ten nations list now looks like this:
1. Malaysia
2. Togo
3, Jamaica
4. Guyana
5. Marshall Islands
6. Benin
7. Micronesia
8. Zambia
9. Belize
You'll notice I didn't list the tenth-placer. That's because I'm not entirely certain which nation should be in that spot. In an earlier report on this blog about Pakistan, he mentioned at the time that Pakistan had about 5,000 members. That update was from a few years ago, but if the membership in that nation has either remained as it is or has increased, then Pakistan might now be in that tenth spot. If not Pakistan, I don't know which other nation might be in that spot.
Here's the document I used to track membership numbers for the nine nations listed above. I got the relevant numbers from the Newsroom, but those are almost a year old. I'll be interested to see if anything has changed.
By the way, it appears extremely likely that the net increase in Church membership for 2024 may turn out to be at least 300,000, so 2024 was a good year for Church growth just in terms of Church membership increases. My thanks once again to you all.
Sidenote: If anyone here is interested, this week I completed 3 more Cities Maps online version in Google Earth, for the countries of Japan (North), Japan (South) and Korea (North + South). They have been added to my previously posted Excel Spreadsheet with all other links of completed Cities Maps.
FWIW I've had Flagstaff on my top 30 potential temple locations for the last two conferences. It's really the only very isolated area in the entire intermountain west with a significant concentration of stakes that doesn't have a temple announced (you could make an argument for cities like Blackfoot, Rigby, and Nampa in Idaho, but they're all relatively close to multiple temples--that said, Nampa is also on my list).
Pew has released their 2023-2024 Religious landscape survey: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/religious-landscape-study-executive-summary/
Lots of interesting stuff certainly, we continue to hold our own at 2% of the population. I'll post some more highlights later, but it would be great to get some analysis from Matt on it.
Maybe the church should put a temple in Chinle or Window Rock, AZ instead of Flagstaff
If the goal of the new temple is to give the Navajo better access to the temple, than a temple in Window Rock or Chinle would best achieve that goal. There may well be reasons to build a temple in Flagstaff, but getting better access to the temple for the Navajo on the reservation is not a big plus from it. In fact Chinle is 2 hours 15 minutes from the Farmington New Mexico Temple and it is 2 hours 50 minutes to Flagstff. So the Flagstaff Temple would not improve Temple access at all for much of the area of the Navajo Temple.
Kayenta Arizona is less than 2 hours from the Monticello Utah Temple, and 2 hours 24 minutes from Flagstaff. So some of the Navajo Reservation is closer to the MonticellonUtah Temple. With these distances having a temple in Chinle is going to need to happen. There is no other way to get even close to the temple within 1 hour which is a goal.
Chris, you deleted your comment here again before I could see it. I'm sorry if anyone here made you feel like you need to keep doing that. I hope all is well with you.
Well, it’s Sunday morning, and I like many of you here, are amazed at the rapid progress of the work of the Lord throughout the Earth. The preceding comments have had a lot to do with houses of the Lord to serve the people and remote areas, and especially those on the Navajo reservation where communities are Far away from each other. I just have a question and maybe a related comment or two to that question, but I would definitely like to hear back from those of you who read this. I watched a video about a year ago where Elder Bednar said “it’s not the size of the temple that matters, but what goes on inside it and “. With that in mind, With him being on the temple committee, and with him not too far in the line of succession from being the profit, I personally don’t see why the church couldn’t build several rather small temples in remote locations… Locations like Rio, Iceland, Windrock, Arizona, Chile, Arizona, page, Arizona , locations in Pakistan and India, where travel distances are humongous, the southern tip of Argentina, Rio, Gallegos, Argentina, Tra, Lao, Argentina, and other locations throughout the world that take at least one hour of plane trip or much more going by car. Temples are not built because the local members asked for but they’re built because of a need by the local members. I need that the Lord knows and that need to help build us up individually And to help build up Zion. I don’t know when it will happen, but I certainly feel it within the next 3 to 5 years maximum. There will be some announcement about such smaller temples. And it would be so easy to staff them simply by calling two missionary couples to serve in the areas where those smaller temples would be built because two couples could certainly provide the leadership for making sure that baptisms are done and in conjunction with other local leaders could make sure that there were enough leaders to staff the temple, or maybe three or four couples would need to be called, but it could easily be done. it would be so cool if couples from the reservation could be called to serving their own temples in that capacity and if there weren’t enough locals, I’m sure that people elsewhere would jump at the gun to return one or both of them serve their missions and serve a second mission there. I’m tearing up as I say this cause a lot of those people don’t have the opportunity to go over the temple very often and yet they should and they need it, and the Lord loves them too so anyway, I just like to hear comments from all of you as to what you think about these things that I’ve just presented .
Elder Bednar no longer serves as chairman of the Temple & Family History Executive Council. He's currently the chairman of the Church Correlation Committee. Elder Andersen now oversees the Temple and Family History Executive Council. That said, the Church is in fact building smaller temples all the time. Yigo Guam, Praia Cape Verde, and San Juan Puerto Rico are all smaller temples with rooms that can switch between endowment and sealing rooms as needed. The 10,000 square foot design is modular, with components that can be assembled on site for a quicker construction process. Other innovations will likely come in the future as well. Elder Bednar is the sixth in apostolic seniority, and is young indeed for a sixth most senior apostle.
As for his probability of becoming Church President, our current prophet is still in relatively good health and could easily last another decade or two despite his recent back injury. President Oaks is still going strong too. Presidents Eyring and Holland do have health issues, but it appears President Holland is on the upswing. Insofar as I know, Elder Uchtdorf is in good health.
So if and when Elder Bednar might become Church President is anyone's guess. But I feel certain the next several prophets will build on the momentum President Nelson has set.
The Church is on track to have at least 300 temples in operation by the Church's bicentennial anniversary, with the temple grand total being 500 in any phase by that same date.
So there will be lots to look forward to in the years ahead. Hope these insights are helpful.
Thank you JTB
Chinle or Window Rock would be a dream come true for Navajo members of the Church! However, a temple should be on land owned by the Church. I do not know of any private land available for sale in the Chinle area. Navajo individuals living on the reservation cannot sell the land they live on. The Navajo Nation does not sell reservation land to other entities, although land was allotted to trading post owners in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Church meetinghouses have been built on private land and land leased from the tribe within the boundaries of the reservation. Window Rock may have some private land available, but a temple there would only reasonably serve the Chinle Arizona and Gallup New Mexico stakes. I don't think a temple in Window Rock would have sufficient active members to provide enough temple workers to operate at present.
Perhaps the Lord will provide a way for the Church to purchase and own land adequate to build a temple to operate on the Navajo Reservation. The reservation is the size of West Virginia and with current restrictions of purchasing land from the Navajo Nation government, building a temple on the reservation would have many legal obstacles to overcome. When a new meetinghouse was needed in Tuba City because the Hopi Tribe ended the lease of the land the old meetinghouse in Moenkopi was on, it took a miracle to find a new location. Land was purchased from the descendants of the Tuba City Trading Post owners who had previously refused to sell land to the Church for many years. To build a temple on land leased by the tribe would leave that temple under a possible threat for the tribe to decide to cancel the lease which would allow the Navajo tribe to take possession of the temple itself. Still, nothing is impossible to the Lord.
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