Over the past three months, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has experienced an unusually strong period of administrative growth and reorganization, marked by the creation of 28 new stakes and 11 new districts worldwide. In total, 93 new stakes have been organized in 2025—the highest annual total since 2016—while 31 new districts were created during the year, the most since 2015. This recent acceleration reflects continued expansion in high-growth regions such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Philippines, and across sub-Saharan Africa, alongside strategic realignment and consolidation in more mature areas including Utah and Brazil. Collectively, these developments highlight a Church that is rapidly establishing new centers of strength while simultaneously adjusting its administrative footprint to align with shifting demographic and membership trends.
Utah
The Church has organized five new stakes and discontinued three stakes in Utah.
New Stakes
The Orem Utah YSA 5th Stake was organized on September 21st from the Orem Utah YSA 4th Stake and other stakes in the area. The new stake includes the following eight wards: the Orem YSA 16th, Orem YSA 19th, Orem YSA 24th, Orem YSA 25th, Orem YSA 27th, Orem YSA 32nd, Orem YSA 33rd, and Orem YSA 49th Wards.
The Payson Utah Arrowhead Stake was organized on October 19th from the Payson Utah Mountain View Stake (organized in 1974). The new stake includes the following six wards: the Mountain View 4th, Mountain View 5th, Mountain View 6th, Mountain View 7th, Mountain View 8th, and Mountain View 11th (Spanish) Wards. There are now six stakes in Payson.
The Vineyard Utah YSA Stake was organized on October 19th from the Orem Utah YSA 1st Stake (organized in 1984), the Orem Utah YSA 3rd Stake, and possibly additional YSA stakes in the area. The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Orem YSA 6th, Orem YSA 9th, Orem YSA 13th, Orem YSA 31st, Orem YSA 45th, Orem YSA 47th, and the Orem YSA 48th Wards.
The Santaquin Utah South Stake was organized on November 2nd from the Santaquin Utah Stake (organized in 1917) and the Santaquin Utah East Stake (organized in 2019). The new stake includes the following five wards: the Foothills, Summit Creek, Summit Ridge 1st, Summit Ridge 7th, and Summit Ridge 8th Wards. There are now four stakes in Santaquin.
The Elk Ridge Utah West Stake was organized on November 16th from the Elk Ridge Utah Stake (organized in 2002). The new stake includes the following eight wards and one branch: the Elk Ridge 5th, Elk Ridge 6th, Elk Ridge 8th, Elk Ridge 10th, Elk Ridge 11th, Elk Ridge 13th, and Elk Ridge 14th Wards and the Elk Ridge 9th Branch. There are now two stakes in Elk Ridge.
Discontinued Stakes
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo)
The Church has organized four new stakes and five new districts in the DR Congo.
New Stakes
The Kasumbalesa DR Congo Stake was organized on November 9th from the Kasumbalesa DR Congo District (organized in 2020). The new stake includes the following four wards and two branches: the Bilanga, Golf, Kasumbalesa 1st, and Kasumbalesa 2nd Wards and the Musoshi and Peage Branches. It is unclear whether all of the information has been updated on the meetinghouse locator in terms of additional branches that may have become wards considering newly organized stakes typically have at least five wards.
The Kinshasa DR Congo Fer Bois Stake was also organized on November 9th from the division of the Kinshasa DR Congo N'Djili Stake (organized in 2018). The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Fer Bois 1st, Fer Bois 2nd, Kingasani 1st, Kingasani 4th, Mokali, Mulie, and Sakombi Wards. There are now 18 stakes in Kinshasa - more than any other city on the Afro-Eurasian landmass.
The Luputa DR Congo Katubi Stake was organized on November 23rd from a division of the Luputa DR Congo Stake (organized in 2011 and most recently divided in 2021). The new stake includes the following five wards: the Kasakayi, Katubi, Luputa 2nd, Lusuku 1st, and Lusuku 2nd Wards. There are now three stakes in Luputa (the second stake was organized in 2021 and also appears likely to divide soon).
The Lubumbashi DR Congo Upemba Stake was organized on November 30th from a division of the Katuba Democratic Republic of Congo Stake (organized in 2009) and the Kisanga Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake (organized in 2013). The new stake includes the following six wards: the Du Parc, Gecamines 1st, Gecamines 2nd, Katuba 3rd, Salongo, and Upemba Wards. There are now six stakes in Lubumbashi. The other three stakes not involved with the new stake creation were created in 1997, 2017, and 2024.
New Districts
The Luiza DR Congo District was organized on November 9th from mission branches in the DR Congo Kananga Mission. Two new branches were created when the new district was formed. There are four branches in the district: Kabumba, Luiza, Plaine 1st, and Plaine 2nd. The Church created its first official branch in Luiza in 2023.
The Muanda DR Congo District was organized on November 16th from mission branches in the DR Congo Kinshasa West Mission. One new branch was organized when the district was formed. The new district includes the following three branches: Muanda 1st, Muanda 2nd, and Muanda 3rd. The first branch in Muanda was organized in 2019.
The Boma DR Congo District was organized on November 23rd from mission branches in the DR Congo Kinshasa West Mission. One new branch was organized when the district was formed. The new district includes the following three branches: Boma 1st, Boma 2nd, and Boma 3rd. The first branch in Boma was organized in 2018.
The Kimpese DR Congo District was organized on November 30th from mission branches in the DR Congo Kinshasa West Mission. One new branch was organized when the district was formed which is also the first branch to ever be organized in the city of Lukala. The new district includes the following four branches: Kimpese, Lukala, Madiadia, and Mbuka. The first branch in Kimpese was organized in 2023.
The Tshikapa DR Congo District was organized on December 14th from mission branches in the DR Congo Kananga Mission. Two new branches were created when the new district was formed. There are four branches in the district: Kanzala, Sami, Tshikapa 1st, and Tshikapa 2nd. The Church created its first official branch in Tshikapa in 2024.
There are now 44 stakes and 10 districts in the DR Congo. At the beginning of 2025, there were 32 stakes and three districts in the country. Moreover, more than 80 new wards and branches have been created in the DR Congo since January 1st - the largest net increase in congregations for any country in the world (excluding the United States) since there was a net increase of 101 congregations in Nigeria in 2017.
Philippines
Four new stakes were created in the Philippines.
The Alaminos Philippines Stake was organized on November 2nd from the Alaminos Philippines District (organized in 1992). The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Alaminos 1st, Alaminos 2nd, Bani, Bolinao, and Hundred Island Wards and the Mabini Branch.
The Santa Rosa Philippines Stake was organized on November 2nd from the Calamba Philippines Stake (organized in 1992). The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Cabuyao 1st, Cabuyao 2nd, Santa Rosa 1st, Santa Rosa 2nd, and Santa Rosa 3rd Wards and the Santa Rosa 4th Branch.
Two new stakes were created in Spain on November 23rd.
The Granollers Spain Stake was organized from a division of the Barcelona Spain Stake (organized in 1982). The new stake includes the following four wards and five branches: the Badalona, Girona, Granollers, and Mataró Wards and the Blanes, Figueres, Olot, Platja d'Aro, and Vic Branches. Most of the branches in the new stake have been organized in the past couple of years. There are now three stakes in the Barcelona metropolitan area.
Arizona
A new stake was created in Arizona.
The Heber Arizona Stake was organized on December 7th from a division of the Payson Arizona Stake (organized in 2000) and the Silver Creek Arizona Stake (organized in 1980). The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Black Canyon, Buckskin Canyon, Clay Springs, Mogollon Rim, and Pinedale Wards and the Young Branch.
There are now 120 stakes and three districts in Arizona.
Canada
A new stake was created in Alberta, Canada.
The Calgary Alberta Nose Hill Stake was organized on November 9th from the Calgary Alberta North Stake (organized in 1966) and the Calgary Alberta West Stake (organized in 1979). The new stake includes the following six wards: the Arbour Lake, Dalhousie, Mount Pleasant, Panorama, Symons Valley, and Tipton Road Wards.
Chile
A new stake was created in Chile.
The Antofagasta Chile East Stake was organized on November 23rd from a division of the Antofagasta Chile Stake (organized in 1980) and the Antofagasta Chile La Portada Stake (organized in 1993). The new stake includes the following five wards: the Antofagasta Centro, Bolívar, Caliche, Centenario, and Las Rocas Wards. There are now three stakes in Antofagasta. The Church once operated three stakes in Antofagasta from 1993 to 2002 when the Antofagasta Chile Caliche Stake was discontinued.
There are now 81 stakes and nine districts in Chile.
Republic of the Congo
A new stake was organized in the Republic of the Congo.
The Kintélé Republic of the Congo Stake was organized on November 30th from a division of the Brazzaville Republic of Congo Stake (organized in 2003). The new stake includes the following five wards: the Ferme, Kintélé, Makabandjilou, Mikalou, and Nkombo Wards. There are now four stakes in Brazzaville. The other two stakes in Brazzaville were organized in 2014 and 2020.
There are now four stakes in the Republic of the Congo.
Idaho
A new stake was created in Idaho.
The Rexburg Idaho Teton River Stake was organized on December 7th from a division of the Rexburg Idaho Henry's Fork Stake (organized in 2008) and the Rexburg Idaho North Stake (organized in 1945). The new stake includes the following eight wards: the Mill Hollow 2nd, Moran View, Riverside, Salem 1st, Salem 2nd, Salem 3rd, Stonebridge, and Teton River 2nd Wards. There are now 23 stakes in Rexburg.
There are now 147 stakes in Idaho - the second most of any state in the United States.
Kiribati
A new stake was created in Kiribati.
The Tarawa Kiribati North Stake was organized on October 19th from the Tarawa Kiribati North District (organized in 2016). The new stake includes the following five wards and four branches: the Abaokoro, Bonriki, Buota, Temaiku 1st, and Temaiku 2nd Wards and the Abatao, Kainaba, Nabeina, and Tearinibai Branches. The Church organized a third stake on Tarawa Atoll in September 2025.
There are now four stakes and two districts in Kiribati.
México
A new stake was created in Mexico which is technically a reinstatement of a previously discontinued stake.
The Minatitlán México Stake was organized from the Minatitlán México District (organized in 2018 following the discontinuation of the Minatitlán México Stake and the Minatitlán México Tecnológico Stake). The new stake includes the following six wards: the Buena Vista, Jagüey, Justo Sierra, Manantial, San Pedro, and Tenochtitlán Wards.
There are now 231 stakes and 42 districts in Mexico.
Peru
A new stake was organized in Peru.
The Huánuco Peru Viña del Río Stake was organized on November 30th, 2025, from the Huánuco Perú Stake (organized in 1990). The new stake includes the following five wards: the Cayhuayna, Huánuco Central, Pillco Mozo, Tarapacá, and Viña del Río Wards. There are now three stakes in Huánuco, and the city appears a likely candidate for a temple announcement due to remote location. The other stake in Huánuco was organized in 1995.
There are now 118 stakes and 17 districts in Peru.
Uganda
A new stake was created in Uganda.
The Gulu Uganda Stake was organized from the Gulu Uganda District (organized in 2019). All six branches in the district became wards, including Bardege 1st, Bardege 2nd, Gulu, Lacor, Laroo, and Pece. The new stake is a major accomplishment considering the Church had struggled for many years with leadership challenges that required significant mission president support. The first branch in Gulu was organized in 2008.
There are now four stakes and four districts in Uganda.
Zimbabwe
A new stake was created in Zimbabwe.
The Domboshawa Zimbabwe Stake was organized on November 9th, 2025, from a division of the Harare Zimbabwe Stake (organized in 1999). There are only four wards in the new stake (Domboshawa 1st, Domboshawa 2nd, Domboshawa 3rd, and Hatcliffe), suggesting that additional wards will likely be created in the immediate future.
There are now 12 stakes and two districts in Zimbabwe.
Kenya
Two new districts were created in Kenya.
The Bungoma Kenya District was organized on December 7th from a division of the Kitale Kenya District (organized in 2019). The new district includes the following five branches: the Bungoma, Mautuma, Misikhu, Ndivisi, and the Webuye Branches. The Church has experienced rapid growth in western Kenya in the past few years, resulting in the creation of many new branches and now five new districts since 2019. This growth appears to have prompted the creation of the new Kenya Kisumu Mission in 2026. Other districts in the area include Eldoret (organized in 2011), Busia (2019), Kisumu (2019), and Vihiga (2025). More districts are likely to be created soon, such as in Bomet, and the first stake in the region may soon be organized in Eldoret or Kisumu.
The Makindu Kenya District was organized on December 7th from a division of the Kyulu Kenya Stake (organized in 2024). At least two branches appear to pertain to the new district (Makindu 1st and Makindu 2nd).
There are now four stakes and 10 districts in Kenya.
Cote d'Ivoire
A new district was created in Cote d'Ivoire.
The Tiassale Cote d'Ivoire District was organized on December 14th from mission branches in the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission. The new district includes the following four branches: the N'Zianouan, Ndouci, Sikensi, and Tiassale Branches. All of these branches have been organized since 2022 in cities that were previously unreached by the Church.
There are now 23 stakes and nine districts in Cote d'Ivoire.
Ghana
A new district was organized in Ghana.
The Mankessim Ghana District was organized on November 16th, 2025, from the Yamoransa Ghana Stake (organized in 2016). The new district includes the following eight branches: the Ajumako, Denkyira, Mando, Mankessim 1st, Mankessim 2nd, Otuam, Pebi, and Saltpond Branches. The decision to create the district was likely to help prepare the area to become its own stake one day. Previous mission presidents have commented how Mankessim appears likely to have its own stake one day given the growth of the Church in the area.
There are now 31 stakes and 13 districts in Ghana.
Ethiopia
A new district was created in Ethiopia.
The Addis Ababa Ethiopia Bishoftu District was organized on December 7th. The new district was created from one branch (Debre Zeit) originally assigned to the Addis Ababa Ethiopia District (organized in 2009). The new district includes the following three branches: the Babogaya, Debre Zeit, and Dukem Branches.
There are now two districts in Ethiopia.
128 comments:
Any new stake to be created this year ? I mean dezembro 28...
Happy Solstice, everyone. :)
Some local church growth news:
I'm happy to report that over the past few months the Elders and I have been teaching a couple of friends of mine (a husband and wife and their two small children), and today I had the blessed opportunity to baptize them and help welcome them into our ward!
Johnathan, “congratulations” is not an appropriate word for that which you were able to do with your friends. I don’t know of any better thing to say other than thank you for your perseverance and for your following the spirit and helping to bring that brother and sister of ours into the church.!
Johnathan Reese WHiting, that's awesome! Thanks for sharing this.
Hello, Matt! Thanks for this report. My family lived in the Payson Utah Mountain View Stake for approximately 5-6 years in the 1990s, We were in what was then the mountain View 4th Ward (which is now the Mountain View 7th Ward, though a new 4th Ward was reestablished at some point). And I had some childhood friends in the Elk ridge and Santaquin regions, so I appreciate this report on that growth.
The growth in Africa is likewise remarkable. And the overall growth in terms of stakes and districts this year is astounding. I had asked about this in the previous thread, but don't think I got an answer: does anyone happen to know the year-to-date net increase in the number of congregations worldwide?
Also, do we anticipate that we are done with stake and district changes this year, or are other changes possible or likely next week? I am continually amazed by the growth of the Church worldwide.
There’s only one known possibility: 1-2 new stakes in Mbuji-Mayi in DR Congo.
That city currently has two stakes and a district. We know the stakes both have stake conference and have 17 units between them, enough for 3 stakes.
Here is an interview dome by the Salt Lake Tribune with our own Matthew Martinich:
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2025/12/22/55-new-lds-missions-will-bring/
My thanks once again to you all.
If anyone is curious, I found this on another site (unknown how accurate the data is) of Church Historical Facts and Statistics going back to 2012 by Countries and States. Where you can see growth comparison charts Year-to-Year. That they plan to update monthly with data up to December 8th, 2025.
https://latterdatasaint.github.io/LDS-Statistics-Dashboard/
Hello, in regard to the Domboshawa Zimbabwe Stake the 5th ward, the Domboshawa 4th Ward was created on Dec 21st. The new stake now has 5 wards
Some updates that I found in the Asia and Asia North Areas.
Cambodia
Chaktomuk Ward in the Phnom Penh South Stake (413003) discontinued
Hong Kong
New Territories Branch (2286491) in the Hong Kong China District (English) (617865)
India
In the Coimbatore India District (1098381), the branches previously called Gandipuram Branch, Ramanathapuram Branch, Tiruppur Branch have been changed/discontinued and replaced by the Coimbatore 1st Branch (310220)
and Coimbatore 2nd Branch (1260979).
Japan
Sado Branch in the Niigata Japan District (605298) was discontinued and combined with the Niigata Branch (71269). This now leaves the Niigata District with only 2 branches and could be discontinued in future. If so then it could combine with the Nagano or Koriyama Districts next to it.
Here is the facebook post from the Dibindi DRC Stake page, inviting all to a "Special Conference" with both the Mbuji-Mayi and Dibindi DRC Stakes attending.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1199298282144885?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22home%22%7D%2C%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22attachment%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22newsfeed%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D
I have posted this a week or so ago. But here it is again, the List of the first 85 known Stake / District Conferences of 2026, on 01/11/2026.
01/11/26 El Tigre Venezuela
01/11/26 Chinandega Nicaragua West
01/11/26 Guatemala City La Laguna
01/11/26 Huehuetenango Guatemala Central
01/11/26 Managua Nicaragua
01/11/26 San Salvador El Salvador
01/11/26 Campeche México
01/11/26 Guadalajara México Tlaquepaque
01/11/26 México City Bosques
01/11/26 México City Netzahualcóyotl
01/11/26 Puebla México Amalucan
01/11/26 Tecalco México
01/11/26 Guayaquil Ecuador Prosperina
01/11/26 Lima Perú Callao
01/11/26 Lima Perú Pueblo Libre
01/11/26 Lima Perú San Felipe
01/11/26 Lima Perú Surco
01/11/26 Quito Ecuador La Ofelia
01/11/26 Santa Cruz Bolivia El Bajío
01/11/26 Tacna Perú Arias Aragüez
01/11/26 Trujillo Perú Laureles
01/11/26 Caldwell Idaho East
01/11/26 Firth Idaho
01/11/26 Idaho Falls Lincoln
01/11/26 Idaho Falls Taylor Mountain
01/11/26 Loveland Colorado
01/11/26 Meridian Idaho West
01/11/26 Nampa Idaho South
01/11/26 Pocatello Idaho Alameda
01/11/26 Pocatello Idaho
01/11/26 Pueblo Colorado
01/11/26 Cincinnati Ohio
01/11/26 Columbia Maryland
01/11/26 Virginia Beach
01/11/26 Woodbridge Virginia
01/11/26 Atlanta Georgia
01/11/26 Cocoa Florida
01/11/26 Denham Springs Louisiana
01/11/26 Fort Walton Beach Florida
01/11/26 Jacksonville Florida West
01/11/26 Macon Georgia
01/11/26 Pensacola Florida
01/11/26 Searcy Arkansas
01/11/26 West Columbia South Carolina
01/11/26 Albuquerque New Mexico East
01/11/26 Houston Texas
01/11/26 Kirtland New Mexico
01/11/26 Longview Texas
01/11/26 Mesa Arizona Desert Ridge
01/11/26 Odessa Texas
01/11/26 Peoria Arizona North
01/11/26 San Antonio Texas
01/11/26 Tucson Arizona North
01/11/26 Tyler Texas
01/11/26 Yukon Oklahoma
01/11/26 Alpine Utah North
01/11/26 American Fork Utah West
01/11/26 Brigham City Utah North
01/11/26 Fruit Heights Utah
01/11/26 Hurricane Utah West
01/11/26 Layton Utah
01/11/26 Logan Utah Mount Logan
01/11/26 Mapleton Utah
01/11/26 Ogden Utah West
01/11/26 Orem Utah City Center
01/11/26 Orem Utah Lakeridge
01/11/26 Orem Utah Orchard
01/11/26 Orem Utah Timpview
01/11/26 Payson Utah
01/11/26 Pleasant Grove Utah Manila
01/11/26 Pleasant View Utah
01/11/26 Provo Utah Edgemont South
01/11/26 Provo Utah Sunset
01/11/26 Riverdale Utah
01/11/26 Roy Utah West
01/11/26 Salem Utah West
01/11/26 Springville Utah Spring Creek South
01/11/26 St George Utah East
01/11/26 St George Utah Morningside
01/11/26 St George Utah Pine View
01/11/26 Tremonton Utah South
01/11/26 Washington Utah Coral Canyon
01/11/26 Washington Utah East
01/11/26 Provo Utah 1st (Tongan)
01/11/26 Luganville Vanuatu
Including the Luganville Vanuatu District.
I personally feel we may see changes in the Washington Utah Coral Canyon and Washington Utah East Stakes that weekend.
And the 82 Conferences planned for the following weekend of 01/18/2026.
01/18/26 Tainan Taiwan
01/18/26 Hiroshima Japan
01/18/26 Belo Horizonte Brazil East
01/18/26 Curitiba Brazil Portão
01/18/26 Curitiba Brazil
01/18/26 Hortolândia Brazil
01/18/26 Londrina Brazil
01/18/26 Passo Fundo Brazil
01/18/26 Barcelona Venezuela
01/18/26 Amatitlán Guatemala
01/18/26 El Carmen Honduras
01/18/26 Guatemala City Mariscal
01/18/26 San Miguel El Salvador
01/18/26 Valle de Sula Honduras
01/18/26 Arequipa Perú Selva Alegre
01/18/26 Bucaramanga Colombia
01/18/26 Cartagena Colombia
01/18/26 Huacho Perú
01/18/26 Lima Perú Vitarte
01/18/26 Trujillo Perú Primavera
01/18/26 American Falls Idaho
01/18/26 Nashua New Hampshire
01/18/26 Baton Rouge Louisiana
01/18/26 Palm Bay Florida
01/18/26 Amarillo Texas
01/18/26 El Paso Texas Mount Franklin
01/18/26 Gilbert Arizona
01/18/26 Globe Arizona
01/18/26 Harlingen Texas
01/18/26 Henderson Nevada Anthem Hills
01/18/26 Las Vegas Nevada South
01/18/26 Mesa Arizona Boulder Creek
01/18/26 Mesa Arizona Eastmark
01/18/26 Mesa Arizona Skyline
01/18/26 Phoenix Arizona South Mountain
01/18/26 Prescott Arizona
01/18/26 San Antonio Texas Cibolo Valley
01/18/26 Sparks Nevada East
01/18/26 St David Arizona
01/18/26 Citrus Heights California
01/18/26 Fremont California
01/18/26 Laguna Niguel California
01/18/26 Long Beach California East
01/18/26 Modesto California North
01/18/26 Rialto California
01/18/26 San Diego California East
01/18/26 San Mateo California
01/18/26 Alpine Utah West
01/18/26 Bennion Utah
01/18/26 Franklin Idaho
01/18/26 Heber City Utah East
01/18/26 Herriman Utah Butterfield Canyon
01/18/26 Herriman Utah Rose Canyon
01/18/26 Midvale Utah
01/18/26 Nephi Utah
01/18/26 Nibley Utah
01/18/26 Ogden Utah East
01/18/26 Orem Utah Sunset Heights
01/18/26 Pleasant Grove Utah Manila Creek
01/18/26 Providence Utah
01/18/26 Richfield Utah
01/18/26 Riverton Utah Harvest Park
01/18/26 Riverton Utah North
01/18/26 Salt Lake Cannon
01/18/26 Salt Lake Granite Park
01/18/26 Salt Lake Grant
01/18/26 Salt Lake Millcreek
01/18/26 Sandy Utah Midvalley
01/18/26 South Ogden Utah
01/18/26 Spanish Fork Utah River
01/18/26 Springville Utah Hobble Creek
01/18/26 Taylorsville Utah South
01/18/26 Taylorsville Utah
01/18/26 West Jordan Utah Cobble Creek
01/18/26 West Jordan Utah Jordan Oaks
01/18/26 West Jordan Utah Welby
01/18/26 West Valley Utah Granger
01/18/26 Bogo Philippines
01/18/26 Bongabon Philippines
01/18/26 Sogod Philippines
01/18/26 Visakhapatnam India
01/18/26 Battambang Cambodia
@James G. Stokes & Gary C Williams
Thanks, guys!
Does anyone know which countries with sufficient religious freedom do not currently have a Church missionary presence?
Additionally, which cities worldwide—whether or not the country has a missionary presence—have the largest populations without any missionaries?
During my review of the Brazil Area, found that the São Paulo Brazil Jaragua Stake has been renamed the São Paulo Brazil Franco da Rocha Stake. No changes to the wards.
Other Matt here...
@Rocky
Looks like the Sado Branch operates now as a group tied to the Niigata Branch. Still meeting in separate buildings (since Sado is a island off the main island of Honshu) in Japan.
If anyone is interested, this site just went live again after being down a few years. It was posted on another site earlier today on Christmas Day 2025 with Unit Updates from 2023-2025. Some may remember if from years gone by.
https://www.fullerconsideration.com/DeseretDemographer/units.php
You're welcome. And a Very Merry Christmas.
I curious what the YoY increase in wards and branches were going to look like for the year with the large increase increase in stakes. I was curious if the ward growth was going to match the stake growth or if it was simply due to the US allowing less priesthood and overall membership numbers needed for stakes.
Found a website that updates the number of wards and branches in real time, (though dates haven't been attached for a couple a years, but still essentially line up with the year end total published by the church.)
https://www.fullerconsideration.com/DeseretDemographer/units.php
Even with 93 new stakes created thus far this year, there have only been an increase of 120 new wards, which means that the number of wards per stake is going to greatly decrease this year, from 6.84 to 6.72, the biggest drop YoY I have data of going back at least 15 years.
The interesting part though, is that normally there is a decrease in total branches each year. This is usually due to there branches being upgraded to wards each year than new branches created, and of course with some branches closing. The past 15 years have averaged a net decrease of 47 branches per year. This year, for the first time in a quite a while, there has been an INCREASE in branches, and not by just a few, but by 259 in 2025. That is bonkers. I'm not sure if it is from Africa planting or what, but that is a huge (positive) outlier. Even with the paltry ward growth of 2025, that YoY branches number means the net increase in units will be 259, the 2nd highest of the past decade.
Would love any thoughts people may have on that.
Elder Jeffrey R Holland has died, he was 85.
Are we sure that your +120 is comparing apples to apples rather than 2024 including sensitive units vs 2025 non-sensitive only?
What is the net increase in units for the year ? Does anyone know ?
Well, I suspect there may be some unit changes tomorrow, so it is probably too soon to know net unit changes.
One other thing going on with branches is in the US there has been progress of some groups to branch status especially among language branches.
DR Congo is the biggest place for branch growth. The growing number of branches there is quite impressive. There are some other factors though.
It depends as there are certain levels of allowance for missionaries. I don't know of any missionaries in the Middle East/North Africa Area outside of the Jerusalem Center. There is no proselyting missionaries under the definition we're familiar with in Muslim Countries, Russia, and other countries.
Russia use to have proselyting missionaries until nearly a decade ago when Russia introduced it's "antiterrorism laws". At that time, FHC's were discontinued and church websites were taken down, even members aren't forbidden to talk to others about the church building and home. Restrictions weren't limited to this. Also, membership reported by the church was cut by more than half.
A few countries like China allow missionaries in certain locations. However, since Xi Jinping came into power, restrictions in and outside mainland China has been increasing, at least for religion in general - not just ours.
Also, while there's exceptions and a lot of other factors in play, countries with greater religious freedom thrives.
As for cities, many in southeast quadrant of Asia, namely China and India.
Jakarta is now the world's largest city. While there's missionaries there, proselyting activity is highly restricted. This requires missionaries to focus on teaching members, hosting English classes, conducting service, etc. Indonesia's laws bans people from targeting people of other faiths - especially Muslims.
Of the top 7 largest cities by population, only Tokyo allows proselyting activities as we're familiar with. Delhi India is the next closest when it comes to proselyting. However, most missionary work focusing on strengthening members and improving local leadership due to visa, national and local laws, and other restrictions.
So yes, it depends on your definition of "missionary". Of the same 7 largest cities, 4 does not have LDS missionaries, 2 have missionaries but are highly restricted, and only one allows proselyting to other faiths by non-natives.
With the passing of President Holland, I wanted to invite everybody to listen to the Church news podcast that was just released. It’s a great summary of his ministry and devotion to the apostleship. He gives a great background of his sense of not being prepared for a mission and how it changed him Forever more in his life
🔴SPECIAL LECTURE🔴
CREATION OF THE PUK OF ZION OF DIULU
The Diulu stack was created on Sunday. During a special conference held this Sunday 28th December 2025, bringing together the Dibindi clan and Mbuji-Mayi clan.
Presided by ELDER THIERRY K. MUTOMBO, authority general and president of central Africa interregion.
CALL:
Brother ALAIN MUKADI KABEYA has been called, supported and set aside as chairman of the new Diulu pile.
Brother DAVID-OBED KALONJI MALOJI and brother ELIE KASANGU TSHITE have been named as first and second councillors in the Diulu pile presidency respectively.
This new pile consists of the following units:
Diulu Parish 1
Diulu Parish 2
Dibindi Parish 2
Tshikila Parish
Parish of masanka
Mpokolo branch
https://www.facebook.com/people/Pieu-de-Dibindi/61568291703847/#
🔴 SPECIAL LECTURE 🔴
RE-ORGANIZATION OF MBUJIMAYI POKE.
RISE UP:
Brother ALAIN MUKADI KABEYA has been relieved of his call as president of Mbuji-Mayi pile.
Brother JEAN YAMAPIA SOMUE and brother DAVID KALONJI MALOJI have been relieved of their calls as first and second councillors in the chairmanship.
CALL:
Brother KABONGO NUMBI FREDY has been called, supported and set aside as the new chairman of Mbuji-Mayi pile.
Brother JEAN YAMAPIA SOMUE and brother CIMBOMBO GEKULUKA LADISLAS have been called, supported and set aside respectively as first and second councillors in the Mbuji-Mayi pile presidency.
In its new boundaries the Mbujimayi pile consists of the following units:
Muya Parish 1
Muya Parish 2
Muya Parish 3
Tshikama Parish
Tshiya Parish
🔴 SPECIAL LECTURE 🔴
RE-ORGANIZATION OF DIBINDI POKE.
RISE UP:
Brother KALAMBA NGINDU LOUIS-MICHEL and brother RICHARD KAYEMBA MBOLELA have been relieved of their calls as first and second councillors in the Dibindi pile presidency.
CALL:
Brother RICHARD KAYEMBA MBOLELA and brother THEOPHILE-JUNIOR MPANDA KAMPILU have been called and supported as first and second councillors respectively in Dibindi parishioner presidency.
Within these new limits the Dibindi pile consists of the following units:
Dibindi Parish 1
Dibindi Parish 3
Parish of misesa 1
Parish of misesa 2
Parish of bipemba 1
Parish of bipemba 3
Kanshi Parish
I just learned there is now a French speaking group in Lansing Michigan. It will be sharing meeting space with the Spanish speaking group. They meet in a rented space that only the two groups use.
St George East (my stake) and St George Pine View before straddle the St George Morningside Stake. We have a general authority coming to our conference on the 11th. The stakes have 26 wards (2 Spanish) in all. We've had a few units close in the area in the last year or so. I don't see a way to create a new stake out of the three, but there are enough Spanish units in the region (including Enterprise, Cedar City, and Mesquite) to create a stake - plus a Portuguese Ward. I predict the creation of a Spanish stake on the 11th, the merging of a few English units in the other two St George stakes involved, and the dissolution of the Morningside Stake.
Also, the Hurricane Utah West Stake (11 Wards), the Washington Utah Coral Canyon Stake (9 wards), and the Washington Utah East Stake (13 Wards) have a total of thirty-three wards, and it is in an area of rapid development, so it is highly likely new wards will continue to be created in years to come (in fact, there is a severe chapel shortage out there). The three stakes share borders. I envision one to two new stakes now with more to come.
I'm hoping for an additional stake in Toquerville - though it may not happen this so soon. The town has three wards, and nearby Leeds has two, but they are in separate stakes. If you include the Virgin River Ward you would have six, and New Harmony to the north is in a Cedar City stake but could be added for seven. It would leave the La Verkin Stake with six wards, all in La Verkin.
Just had a look at Ukraine and it seems like the Kharkiv Ukraine Stake has had a language change from Russian to Ukrainian. The name changes seem to be changing from Russian to Ukrainian spelling as well, but I can't be too sure.
Some exciting news from Seychelles. The senior missionaries that were set apart a while ago have had their first authorised baptism on the island last week.
According to the church directory of leadership (CDOL), the Chimoio Mozambique Stake continues to only have two wards and four branches.
The increase in branches is certainly concentrated in Africa.
The fullerconsideration site notes that in the last year, Brazil has lost 69 wards and 20 branches. And yet, an increase of 2 stakes in 2025. Seems to support the idea that the number of wards per stake is going down.
While 5 wards was the minimum for each stake, it seemed like in urban areas stakes weren't wanting to split it until there were 7+ wards 25 years ago. Now, it seems as long as both sides has 5+ wards for each stake its a contender. However, this isn't automatic as there's still plenty of 10+ ward stakes.
Also, I'm seeing a number of stakes surviving with 4 wards. Tasmania, for example, has had two stakes with 4 wards since I started observing that a couple of years ago. The congregations for the two stakes are clustered on opposite ends of the island. I don't know what's the actual size of these stakes are, but it makes sense that they remain separate even if they're the size of a district.
The meetinghouse locator show's the same thing. My main assumption is that it's simply a clerical error with it likely already having 5 wards. However, unless I'm missing something, the 2023 change in policy for stake creation doesn't specify that it has to be 5 wards, but at a minimum, the equivalent of 5 minimally sized wards.
It may be worth noting a slight update to the numbers: Brazil has lost 82 wards and 16 branches in the last year.
Not official by any means, but appears that there was an increase of 121 wards and 261 branches, for a net gain of 382, 3rd highest since 2006. The new branches are highest I have on record for quite a while, whereas the wards are the 2nd lowest I have outside of one Covid year for at least 30 years. Total branches have always decreased the past 30 years aside from a couple years when many stakes were downgraded to districts in the mid-2000's, but never grown more than 69 in a single year.
I think historically international units were able to be upgraded to wards at 15 Melchizedek priesthood, but have since upped that 20 to match with the US. My guess is that it has created a slight bottleneck of branches that would've previously been wards by now having to wait an extra year or two. So we would've have the same increase in total units, but the branches are much higher and the wards much lower than we'd usually be seeing. I'd think it may stay that way for another year and then see a significant uptick in wards as those branch delays get pushed through.
Stakes appear to have increased an estimated net of 87 while districts decreased a net 6 due to all the district-to-stake upgrades, for a total increase of 81. This means there was an average increase of 4.72 units per new S/D. Still lower than the current average across the church, but not significantly so.
I'd guess Brazil was put off for a while and they bit the bullet and made the changes all at once with the increased thresholds. While the church still did great overall, take them out and it would've been a historically headline year. Hopefully they at least tread water next year and then we'll have historic numbers going forward. Brazil's fertility rate dropped to below replacement in 2005, which also coincided with when immigration cratered to positive but much less historically. May finally be catching up with church numbers.
Kinda seems like Brazil was in a place where a lot of stakes had many undersized wards, so they were able to consolidate wards pretty consistently without consolidating stakes.
The new stakes in Brazil this year were both district upgrades, but yes, wards per stake has slightly declined this year. However, with the huge increase in branches this year, has units per stake increased?
There are 10 wards in both the Pine View and Morningside Stakes, plus 6 in the St George East Stake, with 4 branches in between them as well. That doesn't seem like a recipe for a new stake to be created in Utah at least, but it also doesn't seem to suggest that a stake will be discontinued unless there is A LOT of unit merging, which hopefully won't happen.
If the 3 stakes mentioned in St. George have 2 Spanish Wards even creating a Spanish stake would not seem to require a consolidation.
A big driver of growth this year was DR Congo and Kenya. Right now both have lots of areas in a place where they are going from just 1 base branch to a whole network of branches in an areas. I think we also saw this with Moriba Town in Sierra Leone. These situations will lead to many more wards in a few years but right now it is just a proliferation of branches and districts.
I do not think the increase to 20 Melchezidek pristhood is the reason for fewer wards outside the US, but the new requirement of 100 participating adults and the increase from 150 to 250 members on the records are the main reasons. I would say that in most regions of the world, when you have 100 active adult memers you will also have 20 M. Pristhood. Where I live most branches that have became wards had sacrament meeting attendance between 70-80. Consisting of 20 MP 30-40 other adults and 20-30 children. Now they need about twice that much. Let's say your branch is in a slow growth area an increases by 10 memers per year. Just the change from 150 to 250 members causes a 10 delay for the branch to become a ward.
For wards to split now they need to grow so large that they would not fit into most chapels aside from stake centers. To have more than 200 participating andults you would most liköy also have 50 to 150 active children. So between 250 and 350 active mebers. Very few chapels in continetal europe fit that many. So yo can see from the example of Spain (witch has the strongest growth in europr), that many new branches have been crated often charing a chapel with a ward or in new rented spaces.
Steadily updating my Europe map. The past week has been a bit...demanding. I was hoping to have the map updated before Sunday, but doubtful it will happen. Done with the British Isles, Central Asia, Austria, Czechia, and started with Germany. Was toying with the idea of making a Canada map, but considering my pace just updating an existing map, might have to postpone it to July for the next update.
Other Matt here...
I would take that Fullerconsideration website with a grain of salt. I looked at the list of local units I personally know, and half the info was incorrect. He had wards closed that were just renamed.
FYI - I am also 'Crazyacorn', two different emails but the same uncouth hominid.
Keep in mind, a few years ago the church up'd the standards of becoming a stake/ward/branch outside of the US/Canada. I would have thought I would have seen an overall slowdown outside the US/Canada because of this, but haven't so far. The Brazil Area maybe more stringent about it, than others.
Just note that this maybe only be speculation coming from me as I'm not part of Brazil area meetings.
I guess we'll know which area the new Idaho Mission is going to be part of by June. Historically, the mission would go to the North America Central Area unless a new area is created. Here's why:
- All missions headquartered within each state is also in the same area. This is true for all states with multiple missions (Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia/DC/MD area, Washington State)
- When Oklahoma Tulsa Mission moved its offices to Bentonville Arkansas, it also switched areas (North America SW to North America SE), even though there was no change in coverage area for the mission at that time.
Consequently, it appears what state a mission has its headquarters dictates what area it's in. However, just because it has been done this way, doesn't automatically mean it will continue. I don't know of any policy that states it has to be done this way, and even if there was, it doesn't mean it can't change.
I remember this site, very happy to see it come back! Thanks for the heads up
Possible Units for a St George Regional Spanish Stake:
1. St. George 28th Ward [StG UT East Stake]
2. Sunset 9th Ward [StG UT Sunset Stake]
3. Snow Canyon 12th Ward [StG UT Snow Canyon Stake]
4. Paradise Ward [StG UT Pine View Stake]
5. Hurricane 18th Ward [Hurricane UT South Stake]
6. Cedar Mountain Ward [Cedar City UT Canyon View Stake]
7b. Enterprise 6th Branch [Enterprise UT Stake]
8b. El Valle Branch [Kanab UT Stake]
9b. Virgin Valley Branch [Mesquite NV Stake]
? - Pioneer Ward - PORTUGUESE [Washington UT Stake]
Personally, I wouldn't include the Portuguese Ward, as a Portuguese speaker married to a Spanish-speaking wife, I understand about 60% of what she says, and she understands maybe 40% of what I say. Best just to stay attached to an English-speaking stake.
I just saw this from moronichannel.org:
The Seoul Korea Temple has introduced a new "Family Name Card Kiosk" to make submitting ancestors’ names for temple ordinances faster and more convenient. Members can now print standard name cards directly from their smartphones using a QR code, eliminating the need for home printers or manual preparation. The Korean Family History Center hopes this system will encourage young members to make taking ancestral names to the temple a regular and meaningful spiritual practice.
I wonder what the possibility of the Douala Cameroon District (2088363), with 8 Branches currently becoming a Stake in 2 weeks at the scheduled District Conference on January 24-25, 2026? What a blessing for the people of Cameroon if that happened.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2088363
The Mwanza Tanzania District (2236230), with 11 Branches, has Conference planned for this weekend. I wonder if it could become a Stake this Sunday 01/11/26? Or at the very least, split into 2 Districts 6+5 ?
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2236230
Here is the next list of 123 known Stakes + Districts with planned Conference 2 weeks from now on January 24-25, 2026
01/25/26 Kampala Uganda North
01/25/26 Harare Zimbabwe Marimba Park
01/25/26 Eket Nigeria
01/25/26 Chung Hsing Taiwan
01/25/26 Fukuoka Japan
01/25/26 Tokyo Japan West
01/25/26 Bauru Brazil
01/25/26 Birigüi Brazil
01/25/26 Campo Grande Brazil
01/25/26 Cotia Brazil
01/25/26 Curitiba Brazil Boqueirao
01/25/26 Maceió Brazil
01/25/26 Mogi Mirim Brazil
01/25/26 Pelotas Brazil
01/25/26 Praia Grande Brazil
01/25/26 Santa Maria Brazil
01/25/26 Sumaré Brazil
01/25/26 São Paulo Brazil Jaçanã
01/25/26 Calgary Alberta
01/25/26 Surrey British Columbia
01/25/26 Barquisimeto Venezuela
01/25/26 Valencia Venezuela Candelaria
01/25/26 Thames Valley England
01/25/26 Guadalajara México Unión
01/25/26 Morelia México
01/25/26 Mérida México
01/25/26 México City Cuautitlán
01/25/26 México City La Perla
01/25/26 Puebla México Angelópolis
01/25/26 Querétaro México Los Arcos
01/25/26 Salina Cruz México
01/25/26 San Luis Potosí México
01/25/26 Tierra Blanca México
01/25/26 Valle del Mezquital México
01/25/26 Bogotá Colombia Tunjuelito
01/25/26 Cali Colombia Calima
01/25/26 El Alto Bolivia
01/25/26 La Paz Bolivia Miraflores
01/25/26 Mantaro Perú
01/25/26 Ventanilla Perú
01/25/26 Eagle Idaho
01/25/26 Idaho Falls East
01/25/26 Lenexa Kansas
01/25/26 Meridian Idaho
01/25/26 Nyssa Oregon
01/25/26 Pocatello Idaho Central
01/25/26 Shelley Idaho
01/25/26 Twin Falls Idaho South
01/25/26 Twin Falls Idaho West
01/25/26 Wilmette Illinois
01/25/26 Chesapeake Virginia
01/25/26 Leesburg Virginia
01/25/26 Suitland Maryland
01/25/26 Coral Springs Florida
01/25/26 Gulfport Mississippi
01/25/26 Albuquerque New Mexico West
01/25/26 Duncan Arizona
01/25/26 Fallon Nevada
01/25/26 Gilmer Texas
01/25/26 Henderson Nevada Green Valley
01/25/26 Logandale Nevada East
01/25/26 Mesa Arizona Kimball
01/25/26 Carlsbad California
01/25/26 Cypress California
01/25/26 Eureka California
01/25/26 Fontana California
01/25/26 Kennewick Washington East
01/25/26 Kona Hawaii
01/25/26 Lake Oswego Oregon
01/25/26 Menlo Park California
01/25/26 Newbury Park California
01/25/26 Ontario California
01/25/26 Penasquitos California
01/25/26 Rancho Cucamonga California
01/25/26 Redding California
01/25/26 San Francisco California
01/25/26 Snohomish Washington
01/25/26 Spokane Washington
01/25/26 Spokane Washington Valley
01/25/26 Turlock California
01/25/26 Vancouver Washington North
01/25/26 Whittier California
01/25/26 Bennion Utah West
01/25/26 Bountiful Utah North
01/25/26 Bountiful Utah Stone Creek
01/25/26 Brigham City Utah Box Elder
01/25/26 Farmington Utah North
01/25/26 Heber City Utah North
01/25/26 Huntington Utah
01/25/26 Hurricane Utah North
01/25/26 Hyrum Utah East
01/25/26 Layton Utah Holmes Creek
01/25/26 Lehi Utah Central
01/25/26 Lehi Utah Pheasant Pointe
01/25/26 Malad Idaho
01/25/26 Mesquite Nevada East
01/25/26 Midvale Utah Union Fort
01/25/26 Minersville Utah
01/25/26 North Ogden Utah Coldwater
01/25/26 Orem Utah
01/25/26 Paradise Utah
01/25/26 Pleasant Grove Utah East
01/25/26 Pleasant Grove Utah Grove Creek
01/25/26 Pleasant Grove Utah North Field
01/25/26 Preston Idaho South
01/25/26 Provo Utah Oak Hills
01/25/26 Provo Utah
01/25/26 Salina Utah
01/25/26 Salt Lake Holladay South
01/25/26 Salt Lake Hunter East
01/25/26 Sandy Utah East
01/25/26 South Jordan Utah Parkway
01/25/26 Springville Utah Hobble Creek West
01/25/26 Springville Utah Kolob
01/25/26 Sunset Utah
01/25/26 Vernal Utah Glines
01/25/26 Washington Utah
01/25/26 West Jordan Utah Mountain Shadows
01/25/26 Douala Cameroon
01/25/26 Ozamiz Philippines
01/25/26 San Carlos Philippines
01/25/26 Sipalay Philippines
01/25/26 Tabaco Philippines
In the Philippines, they apparently have rolled this out as well. I found this when searching to back up what you posted so I could sent it to my mom.
https://www.facebook.com/churchofjesuschristph/posts/scan-print-and-be-ordinance-ready-bringing-others-to-christ-by-taking-family-nam/898551212497753/
The Eket Nigeria stake has 12 wards and 3 branches, enough to potentially split.
At Detroit Temple we have a way for someone to come in and scan a QR code to print cards. For those going to do baptisms we have cards they can write the QR code on. This is because the way our office is set up we do not let people with a baptisms only recommend come there. Back before we started the slips to write down the numbers I had two youths give their dad their phones to go get the card printed. Then we had to wait to let them in because they had mobile recommends.
ThecPalmyra Temple which is otherwise almost the exact same as Detroit, has the door to its office in a different spot in the room so they can let anyone with a recomend in.
The Church newstmroom just published an article on large scale baptismal services in DR Congo. One in a stake in the Lubumbashi Mission had 87 baptized, including 35 from a community a ways from the srltake center. Then in a stake in the Kasai region, where Elder Kyungu was the first mission president back in 2016 and thry will get a 3rd mission this summer, there was a baptism of 97 people.
I also think there will likely be a stake split this weekend in the Ngandajika DR Congo stake, there is a special stake conference being advertised with another stake conference posted for March. There are 11 wards in the stake, plus two nearby branches that could easily join the stake but are currently mission branches.
Today was announced the first Temple President and Matron for the Pago Pago American Samoa and Bacolod Philippines Temples
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2026/01/08/new-temple-presidents-matrons-manti-american-samoa-bacolod-philippines/
It appears there was a consolidation this week of the Salt Lake Granite Park Stake into the Salt Lake Grant Stake. From a report on another church website.
Although the Granite Park Stake currently has 3 Wards only. And both have a Conference in about 10 days, Jan 17-18, 2026. With the Salt Lake Granite Stake having 3 Stake Conferences planned this year 2026.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/516694
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/500399
Chris, can you include how many units each stake has in future posts?
A cool article about baptisms in the DR Congo.
https://news-africa.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/baptisms-flourish-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo
The Newsroom and the Church News also reported today on the appointment of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. If I'm not mistaken, he is the first foreign-born apostle to serve as Acting President of the Quorum, which I think is a pretty significant Church Growth milestone.
Other Matt here...
Does anyone else find the new "Find a Church" feature on the church's website cumbersome and not very useful? You can't find now which wards belong to which stakes. You can't search by key word like ward name, language, or specialty ward (like YSA or SA Ward) .
The former meetinghouse locator feature not long works.
Are there better ways to locate branches, wards, and stakes now that I'm missing? I understand there's a need for a "find a church" feature explaining church meetings in a language non-members understand, but wonder why the former meetinghouse locator was removed?
The Complete List of the 2026 New Mission Presidents and Matrons called was posted earlier today.
Among those it appears the Paraguay Asuncion Mission is to be renamed the Paraguay Asuncion East Mission. With the creation of the new Paraguay Asuncion South Mission.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2026/01/09/2026-new-mission-leaders-presidents/
At face value, from todays post, also the new Mission that was announced as California Oceanside in October last year, has been renamed California Carlsbad Mission with President E. Tyler Wallis, presiding.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2025/10/24/55-new-missions-announced-for-2025/
And the Arizona Phoenix Mission will be renamed Arizona Phoenix West Mission.
And the Bulgaria/Greece Mission will go back to the old name of Bulgaria Sofia Mission.
The Colorado Denver North Mission (that I have scheduled to change this year may be renamed Colorado Denver East Mission ?
The France Paris Mission will be renamed France Paris North Mission.
I had the Russia Novosibirsk Mission scheduled for possible change this year. Not listed in todays post. I wonder if due to security from conflict, or if the mission is booked to be consolidated with the Yekaterinburg Mission?
The Samoa Apia Mission to be renamed the Samoa Apia West Mission.
I had the Texas Dallas West slated for change this year, not the Dallas Fort Worth Mission listed today. The Fort Worth President has only been in the calling 1 year (2025-2028), i wonder if he will finish his call in transfer to Dallas West and the Newly called President of the Texas Fort Worth Mission will take his place?
The Texas Houston Mission appears to be renamed Texas Houston West Mission.
I also had on my list, the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission (2013215) President scheduled to change, not the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission (545457).
And the Washington Tacoma Mission change was not listed (2024-2026).
I also had not calculated the following changes. Possibly due to GA reshuffling?
Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan North, Nevada Henderson, Paraquay Asunción East (transferred to new South Mission), Orem Utah Missions.
This is my analisis of the posted changes. Besides the 55 new missions already announced.
It's interesting that the new Angola Luanda North Mission, includes the country of Sao Tome and Principe, to the north. If the new mission boundaries 2026 are accurate on the Mission Call app.
https://missioncall.app/worldmap.html?destination=details&missionId=angola-luanda-north
I use this website pretty regularly. If you sign in using your LDS account you can do all of those things still.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/
I'd love to know more about the church's attitude and policies toward non-English stakes in the United States. I ask because I was browsing and found the potential for two Portuguese language stakes in Utah. One based in Utah County (with about eight Portuguese wards), and another in Salt Lake County (with about six wards in the county and three more branches between there and Logan). Does the church support or encourage this, or is there a sense of caution? Anyone care to elaborate?
It's not removed. Click on the 3 dots in the upper right hand corner of the main Church web page, whether signed in or not. The stake name will appear when you click on a ward name in the meetinghouse locator.
I'm not sure where missioncall gets its info, but I find missioncall not being the most accurate, but it good and easy to get to for a general idea. The most accurate would be cdol which most does not have, but is good for existing boundaries, not future. The meetinghouse Locator also shows a chopped up version of the boundaries but you have to know the link to use for each mission which makes it tedious to get to, but also shows current and not future.
The Salt Lake Temple Square mission is bring phased out. The sisters there will be assigned to the 4 Salt Lake City missions, as well as the Layton, Ogden and Saratoga Sorings missions. I am surprised not Orem or Provo. They will have the sisters have geographical areas and cover temple Square. This is how all other temple visitors centers operate. To be fair I do not think any other visitors center is even remotely close in size.
In the case in Russia it 8s also possible they are leaving the existing mission president in longer than 3 years. This is sometimes done in sensitive areas. Elder Joseph, who was later the first president of the Port-au-Prince Temple and is currently a general authority seventy was mission president nearly 5 years in the 1990s in Haiti. Subandriyo from Indonesia who was also later an area seventy was mission president in Indonesia at least 4 years.
President and Sister Joseph not only lead the Port-au-Prince mission nearly 5 years, but they were temple leaders for over 4 years. They served September 2019 until September 2023. There were at least 2 other sets of temple leaders who served a similar periods, so that case may be a result of different factors.
I believe this relates to Church Growth:
"Young adults are joining institute in record numbers as Latter-day Saint program hits 100 years — here’s why
With a 30% growth surge in 2 years, the Church of Jesus Christ’s century-old institute program is creating community for Latter-day Saints"
https://www.deseret.com/faith/2026/01/10/young-adults-join-institute-in-record-numbers-as-program-hits-centennial/
President Oaks the day before dedicating the Burley Idaho Temple gave an interview. He explained that he feels the best location to announce a temple is locally to where it will be built. This would seem to indicate we are unlikely to have many temple announcements in general conference.
President Oaks also stated there are 83,000 missionaries serving.
He indicated other temples will be announced in a similar manner to the announcement of the Portland Oregon Temple but did not give a number or time frame. I expected we will see some more announcements before general conference but have no idea beyond that.
Makes sense, Sao Tome and Principe is Portuguese-speaking (like Angola) and doesn't have enough Church presence to justify a mission of its own.
It appears the 1st new known stake of 2026 is the Kabanda DRC Stake from yesterday 01/11/2026 special conference from Ngandajika DRC Stake.
Unknown from the post if the official name is the "Kabanda DRC Stake" or the "Ngandajika DRC Kabanda Stake"
(14) PIEU DE SION DE NGANDAJIKA l'église de Jésus-Christ des Saint des denieres | Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1711086549353128
"Today Sunday 11/01/2026 in Msr Tharcisse Tshibangu Tshishiku multipurpose room from 10:00 to 12:00 a special lecture on the splitting of the Ngandajika stake was held.
The latter was presided over by Elder Christophe G. Giraud-carrier, Sixty-ten and member of the presidency of the interregion. He was accompanied by Elder Nyembo Kabemba Faustin, Sixty from Interregion and leaders of Congo Mission Mbuji Mayi, President Malonga and Sister Malonga. At the request of Elder Giraud, the president of the Ngandajika parish, Matthieu Tshibumbu Ilunga was at the leadership. Brother Jean-Michel of Mboka parish interpreting.
Tshilombo Kalemba Tharcisse leading music, accompanied by Elder Kasongo on the organ.
To open the session of this special conference, the choir sang Hymn N01201( hail the blessed day) and the opening prayer by the Bishop of Tshioji1 Parish, Brother Pascal Lukusa Kazadi. Just after the prayer, the Ngandajika parish choir led the special hymn.
The first counsellor of the pike Albert Tshibangu Kayembe was invited for support from elders and Elder Nyembo for presentation of boundaries between Ngandajika and Kabanda Pike. In addition to that, he has gone on to calls and calls.
I. Rise up
1. Tshibangu Kayembe Albert relieved of his position as the first Councillor of the Ngandajika pile
2. Mukendi Nkonyi Theodore, from the post of the second Councillor of Ngandajika pile. Members have shown a token of appreciation for their dedicated service in the Ngandajika pile by raising their right hands.
II. Appel:
1. Brother Tshibangu Kayembe Albert, president of Kabanda parish
2. Mukendi Nkonyi Theodore, First Counselor,
3. Muzemba Ndomba Marcel second counselor. These brothers were supported by the members by raising their right hand. No disagreement noticed.
For the Ngandajika pile:
Tshibumbu Ilinga Mathew, President.
Tshibangu Tshibangu Poli first counselor and Kalamba Matadi René second counselor."
This gives us another reason to keep our ears open for special conferences, stake conferences, etc.
Hurricane Utah Sky Mountain Stake (2311518)
Organized on 11 January 2026
- Hurricane 11th Ward
- Hurricane 20th Ward
- Hurricane 22nd Ward
- Hurricane 25th Ward
- Hurricane 27th Ward
- Hurricane 30th Ward
Mission: Utah St George Mission
Temple: Red Cliffs Utah Temple
Hurricane Utah West Stake reorganized as the Hurricane Utah Sand Hollow Stake
Reorganized on 11 January 2026
When The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints formed the Spanish stakes in Provo and Orem thry organized them to cover just Provo and Orem. Spanish units in Springville are still in their local geographical stakes. I am not sure about Vinyard, but Lindon is not in the Orem Spanish stake.
The stake in Salt Lake County I believe only covers units in West Jordan. I know in tye 1980s the leaders of the New York Stake tried to split it into English and Spanish stake and higher level Church leaders said no. There were no Spanish-language stakes in the US until the 1990s, which I'd also when the first Tongan language stakes are formed.
The Spanish-language stakes in Utah may have first been formed in about 2023, it was after 2020.
In Salt Lake County the Tongan stakes are exclusively Tongan units and Samoan units are in geographical stakes. In Utah County the Tongan and Samoan units co-exist in the Tongan stakes.
I believe the first Tongan Stake in the US was forked in San Francisco when John H. Groberg was area president in California. He may have also been area president when the first Apanish-langusge stakes were created.
A key issue to look at might be what coordinating council boundaries are. While stakes can transcend coordinating Council boundaries, if you have enough units of some type to create a new stake in the coordinating council tou have an area seventy who can easily be the one to shepherd it and meetings on a regular basis where the pool Lans can be drawn up before submitting. The fact that some area seventies lead multiple coordinating councils means if he has to did into more than one of his councils to forge a new stake it might be easier than from someone else's coordinating council.
The net result is it works a lot easier to create a Spanish stake if you draw the units from a bunch of neighboring stakes than from a series of stakes that do not touch each other.
Another thing to keep in mind is I believe stakes can be split between missions and at least at one point in Los Angeles area different missions had differing boundaries for different language efforts. So there were places covered by I thinknLong Beach mission for English and Anaheim for Spanish or the other way around. It still is less headache making if stakes are all in one mission when formed. Utah County is in 4 missions, Salt Lake County is as well with another in Davis County and Weber County another, although I believe the mission boundaries are not always at the County lines. As I said stakes can transcend mission boundaries, but it would probably be easier to form a Portugues stake in Utah County if the while stake was in just 1 mission than if it had units in all 4 missions in the county.
One thing to keep in mind is that the assignment of Temple Square sisters to geographical areas will increase the number of available missionaries in Utah fluent in languages other than English. My impression was Utah already had a fairly high number of non-native English speaking missionaries compared to other areas if the US and the number of people who have some knowledge of at least Portuguese in the member population is not low, so at least for Portuguese I am not sure this will be a big factor.
Also keep in mind there are in some places language groups. So there might be more potential than just existing units represent.
When the Church created the Sanish language stakes in Utah it was in large part seen as a way to better develop Spanish speaking Church leaders.
A key question is are the existing stakes regularly calling Brothers and sisters from the Portuguese units to serve in stake leadership callings, or are they not. The key is there are people who attend language units who are functionally fluent in English and others who are not.
There are also 3 stages. Uf your language units are mainly recent Converts or reactivated people with little branch level leadership experience the stake is not going to call many leaders from thd unit whatever the language situation is.
To justify a stake you need both gospel maturity of leadership paired with that leadership not being functional enough in the dominant language for it to be adequately used and further trained by the existing stake structure.
The upshot is that language stakes are firmed when they are and it is hard to anticipate them. YSA stakes feel a little the sane way. I am still surprised none exist in Las Vegas or in California.
The Woodbridge Virginia Stake with 10 Congregations, just had a Stake Conference this past weekend January 10-11, 2026 and has another in 3 weeks from now on January 31-February 1, 2026.
So either a GA visit Special Conference or a change planned then ?
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/450847
The Annandale Virginia Stake (505625), bordering just north of the Woodbridge Stake, also has a conference in 3 weeks on Feb 1st, with 8 Wards. And another conference on Feb 22nd.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/505625
And Brambleton Virginia Stake (2285614) with 7 Wards, located just Northwest of Annandale Stake, has a conference same weekend Feb 1st. and another a week later on Feb 8th.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2285614
Along with the Centreville Virginia Stake (508209) with 10 Congregations, just east of the Brambleton Stake. Has a Conference on Feb 1st, and again in June and November this year.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/508209
So i think something can happen in the 4 Stakes to the West and South of DC on Feb 1st.
The Annapolis Maryland Stake on the eastside of DC has Conference the same day. But no other neighboring stakes to split with. So i doubt any changes there.
The Layton Utah Stake, just had a Stake Conference this weekend January 10-11, 2026. And has another scheduled in 2 weeks on January 24-25, 2026. The same day as a Stake nearby to the southeast, the Layton Utah Holmes Creek.
I wonder if it's a GA visit or changes. The boundaries don't really align to split. The meet at one street corner only. At I-15 and E Gentile St.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/502200
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/511099
It's just a curiosity to have Stake conference 14 days apart.
The Luganville Vanuatu District, with 14 Branches, just had a conference this weekend January 10-11, 2026 and has another conference in 3 weeks on January 31-February 1st. I wonder if to become a Stake or to split into 2 Districts, or a GA visit?
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/528870
I found out that my stake will have a special stake conference on March 1. A Member of the Presidency of the 70 (Elder Palmer) is comming, acommpanied by the Europe Area President.
The multistake conference happening on February 1st in Northern Virginia that was mentioned by Chris D. is to create a Spanish stake. This will involve the Mt. Vernon, McLean, Oakton, Woodbridge, Annandale, Brambleton, and Centreville stakes. Every Spanish unit in the Washington D.C. South Mission boundaries will be in this new stake. My in-laws have been members of one of these wards for a long time, so this is very exciting for our family. If I'm not mistaken, this will be the first Spanish stake in the eastern United States, so this is a really big deal!
Among other Ward / Branch changes reported in the CDOL, and posted on this other site Since January 1, 2026 :
https://www.fullerconsideration.com/DeseretDemographer/units.php
The Penny Cove Ward (3026) and Winslow Park Ward (189022), from the Salt Lake Granite Park Stake (516694), were reported Closed on January 7th.
In the same Stake, the Granite Ward (Spanish) (446920) has been renamed Alta Vista Ward (Spanish) (446920).
In preparation I believe for the remaining 2 English + 1 Spanish language Wards merger with neighboring Salt Lake Granite Stake (500339)
And the Millstream Ward (78) and Springview Ward (4553) in the Salt Lake Grant Stake (500968) were reported closed on the same Unit Changes site on January 7th also. With a Stake Conference scheduled this weekend January 17-18.
Of the remaining 4 Wards of the SL Grant Stake, the Ridgedale Ward (4278) was renamed Lorraine Ward (4278).
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/500399
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/500968
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/516694
I think we may see changes between the Salt Lake Granite (500399), Salt Lake Granite Park (516694) and Salt Lake Grant (500968), all 3 with common boundaries. And all 3 with a Stake Conference this weekend January 17-18, 2026. One has 3 Wards, another 4 Wards and the 3rd has 6 Wards and 2 Branches.
It's interesting that R. Tyler Wallis was the Mission President shot in Mexico is now the Mission President for the California Carlsbad Mission
Ngandajika Democratic Republic of Congo Kabanda Stake (2307472)
Organized on 11 January 2026
- Kabanda 1st Ward
- Kabanda 2nd Ward
- Kabidimba Ward
- Lunga Ward
- Ngandajika Ward
Mission: Democratic Republic of the Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission
Temple: Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple
Nope, Miami Florida was the first.
In the West Jordan Westbrook Stake (517283), the recent changes took place :
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/517283
https://www.fullerconsideration.com/DeseretDemographer/units.php
The Westbrook 2nd, Westbrook 4th and Westbrook 8th Wards were reported closed on January 3rd, 2026.
- Westbrook 1st Ward (96636) renamed Dixie Valley Ward (96636)
- Westbrook 5th Ward (174335) renamed Misty Hills Ward (174335)
- Westbrook 6th Ward (178144) renamed Westbrook Ward (178144)
- Westbrook 7th Ward (183296) renamed Willow Glen Ward (183296)
- Westbrook 9th Ward (377791) renamed Center Park Ward (377791)
- Westbrook 11th Branch (471895) renamed Legacy Villas Branch (471895)
The Cleveland Ohio Stake (503703), recently reported January 6th, the closure of the Lakewood Ward (99341).
- Cleveland Ward (46485) renamed Independence Ward (46485)
- Elyria Ward (172316) renamed Grafton Ward (172316)
- North Olmsted Ward (186643) renamed Westlake Ward (186643)
- Strongsville Ward (116602) renamed Brook Park Ward (116602)
https://www.fullerconsideration.com/DeseretDemographer/units.php
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/503703
You're right, I stand corrected.
Miro, What Stake are you in?
Scott S, he's in the Zurich Switzerland Stake.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/503762
I had the next one marked at 06/14.. But it has since been updated to 03/01 and 06/07/26
Other Matt here...
I keep getting a 500 error when going to the meetinghouse locator website.
Other Matt, I would recommend clearing the cookies and cache saved for that site. it worked for me. So it can load any security updates on the site.
FYI, Today the first President and Matriarch of the new Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple were called.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2026/01/15/new-temple-presidents-matrons-2026-cedar-city-edmonton-alberta-belo-hoirzonte-brazil/
FYI - a South Africa Area training video shared online in Nov 2025 showed a planning slide with possible stake creations for 2025–26. Listed were:
Madagascar: Antsirabe; Antananarivo (4th)
Mozambique: Chimoio; Beira Aeroporto; Beira Chamba; Nampula (2nd); Maputo (4th)
Zimbabwe: Domboshawa; Luveve; Harare (7th); Harare East (8th); Gweru; Kadoma
Zambia: Ndola
Eswatini: Mbabane
South Africa: Gqeberha; Soweto
Some have already been created, others were marked approved to be organised, others as planned submissions for approval into early 2026, so timelines could change, but still interesting to see the scope of growth being discussed. Mentioned on pace for 2 new stakes a month.
The video also noted that young missionaries and senior couples are now serving in São Tomé and Príncipe. Other significant growth indicators in the area include substantial increases in baptisms, retention, attendance, recommends, missionaries serving, seminary and institute, FSY, self reliance and BYU pathway participants and graduates among others.
It's still working fine for me. Suggestions: Make sure you have the latest browser version, clear your cookies and cache and try again.
The meetinghouse locator website is still working for me. It's concerning this may be reduced. Classic maps a while back would show mission and area boundaries, reducing guesswork.
The "Classic" maps from a few years ago was the best. You could toggle on/off mission and area boundaries, and church facilities such as distribution centers, church camps. You saw the boundaries worldwide just by scrolling. You didn't have to click on each stake to see boundaries. All you had to have was an lds login to see them.
Then I used cdol which was allowed since I was previously in a calling that allowed access. Then they cut access to those with previous callings with an access.
Now I use the current or maybe previous meetinghouse locator. It started cumbersome but then started allowing access to view other stakes and other features. It's still more cumbersome than what's listed above, but not as cumbersome as it use to be. I would hate to see that go.
I'm not sure the reasoning.
* They don't show meetinghouses in a number of areas where the church is not recognized. You'd think they could toggle it off if it's an issue.
* I know the church doesn't like members moving to choose their ward (ie. look for wards with small boundaries, which means more members in a smaller area). This is not something I do. However, pulling access is a speed bump at most. If they're intending to do this, they could still do so. Even if they took it all down, one can still look at meetinghouses that are clustered on Google maps to determine member concentration.
Josh,
Is there a link to that training video?
Yes, I would love a link as well if it's still online.
You can find it on the Africa South Area Facebook page. Leadership training posted 18 November. Elder Sikahema’s presentation in the first 10 mins which includes a slide with all of the planned stakes up to 31 March 2026.
For South Africa you may have meant "Gqeberha (2nd)"? Since there has been a Gqeberha South Africa Stake (472174), previously known as the Port Elizabeth South Africa Stake (472174) until a few years ago the name changed.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/472174
It has a Conference planned in March and again in August this year, with currently 9 Wards and 3 Branches (12 Congregations). So i could see a split 6+6.
Does anyone have an update on the progress of the new buildings in the Centerton, Bentonville, and Rogers AR stakes? 4 buildings still have 5 wards each and 1 unit still travels to SW Missouri for church.
Saw a post on Facebook of around 20 baptisms taking place in Malemba-Nkulu, a previously unreached town in the DR Congo Kolwezi Mission. It is a little up the road from the town of Kikondja, where faithful members of the Church have resided for many years. Hopefully both of these towns will receive branches of the Church soon.
An interesting note i found on the Meetinghouse site today, the Shelley Idaho Stake, has 2 conferences planned. One next weekend 01/25, and another 2 weeks later on 02/08/26.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/500682
I wonder if one is a Special Conference with GA visit or changes.
There at least in the past have been Spanish stakes in Florida so the Virginia one will not be the first in Eastern US, but I am not sure there are any currently in Florida.
It will be the first in the US Northeast Area. New York City maybe could have a Spanish-speaking stake as well. The New Jersey Morristown Mission might also be an area where such a stake could be created.
Josh that in very exciting news from the Africa South Area. A 2nd stake in Zakbia and a 1st in Eswatini are quite exciting developments. As are all the stakes. With growth in Zimbabwe I hope a Bulawayo Temple is close.
The big question is does a temple in Zambia or Malawi get oriotlritized before one in Bulawayo. I think Bulawayo would serve more stakes than a Malawi Temple. However the cost to get documents to leave a country and just the wait to get approved can be so long that there are logistical reasons to prioritize first temples for countries.
The fact that the Africa South Area reported on Sao Tome and Principe at all seems to indicate that country is assigned to the Angola Mission.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1KUggWAoXR/
For a few years, there were none in Florida, but I'm pretty sure sometime in mid-2025 (I'm terrible at dates), the Miami Florida Stake was reorganized as a Spanish stake. I remember making a comment about it, but again, don't recall specifically when it occurred. Pretty certain it was just last year.
The Shelley Idaho South Stake also has a conference on that day.
The Shelley Stake has 10 wards.
The Shelley South Stake has 14 wards.
4 stakes of 6 wards or 3 stakes of 8 wards?
Anyone know how long Shelley South has had 14 wards?
The New Jersey Liberty Park Stake has only one English speaking ward (and two branches) with the other 5 units being Spanish and Portuguese. All stake leaders must be fluent in Spanish.
I dont see any recent posts from the Centerton Stake on facebook. Most recent post was from the summer where they anticipated a fall 2025 opening on the building in Centerton. As for Pea Ridge there was a recent city council meeting for approval of the stake center to be built there and construction start should be imminent, if not already.
My thanks once again to you all
I do have to wonder if it might make more sense to make the New Jersey Liberty Park Stake fully Spanish-speaking and move the 3 English language units to other stakes. There are a lot of factors to consider though.
My branch we have started a gospel principles class. We had about at least 8 recent Converts or people learning about the church in the class plus 4 of the full time missionaries, and then me and a sister co-taught the class. The room we were using imwas not really big enough. We really need a new building with more rooms and ideally a larger cultural hall for my branch.
So many wonderful developments within Zion! While the rest of the world is occupied with “things” and being entertained, the kingdom of God rolls forth in ever-increasing speed throughout the world, noticed by only those who are touched by the Spirit. I pray that Greenland opens up very soon!
There was some construction delay on the Centerton Stake building so they still haven't opened even though the new stake was created a while back. But apparently they have moved furniture in so hopefully not too much longer. A lot of people driving further than they'd prefer each week that'll get resolved once that is open and units can get moved around from the buildings they are currently in.
Pea Ridge passed approved the plans in planning commission back in October but they still haven't moved any dirt on it yet. Hopefully in the next month or two. My guess is it won't serve as stake center upon opening, but it will still be the size of one for whenever the area has grown enough to warrant it. They could probably gerrymander to make it happen, but as of today the chapel would only serve two units.
Also heard that Pinnacle Hills/Cave Springs building is good to begin construction, but don't have a ton of info on that one.
The Flagstaff Arizona and Kahului Hawaii Temples just had their locations announced. Both will be in the general range of 19,000 square feet.
When I saw ond of thd locations being announced was Hawaii I thought we would get the info on the Honolulu Temple. That is not yet.
I have to admit that President Oaks remarks about more temples to be announced like Portland Maine have me hoping each weekend we will learn of another temple being announced.
I still think Port Harcourt Nigeria; southern frabce; Kinshasa Temple number 2; Haapai islands in Tonga; Tanna, Peru, Olongopo or Angeles in the Philippines; Poza de Rica, Mexico; Ciudad Obregon, Mexico; Tremont, Utah; Charleston, West Virginia; Little Rock Aemrkansas; a 4th metro Dallas Temple; a Temple Texas Temple and somewhere in Mississippi are all stron contenders with Lome Togo also a high priority and Yamasoukro Ivory Coast doable.
On the other hand it would be really nice to see the number of temples waiting for groundbreaking to fall below 100.
As someone who has traveled many, many, many times through Flagstaff, I am absolutely thrilled at the announced location of the house of the Lord in Flagstaff! What a beautiful site it will be not only for the people in Flagstaff, but for those who travel along interstate 40/Route 66, going east and west! Accessibility of that house of the Lord is so perfect where it will be built, and knowing that many of our LDS brother and sisters are professional truckers, it’s in a perfect location very close to the Little America truck stop Those with recommend will have an opportunity to visit the temple while parked at the truck stop overnight! Awesome!
Greenland is already "open". As per the Newsroom:
"A branch (a small congregation) of Latter-day Saint military servicemen began holding Church meetings in 1953 at the Thule Air Force Base and continued to meet for at least five years.
The branch was discontinued in 1989, but as of 1998, a Church group of Danish natives was meeting weekly under the direction of the Denmark Copenhagen Mission president."
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/country/greenland
Greenland is administered by Denmark (also by the Copenhagen Mission). Denmark has two stakes and a temple. That makes Greenland as unreached as any of the many 50,000 people cities in many countries with church presence that are yet unreached (i.e. its on us, not them).
The Butler Creek ward was discontinued in the cartersville stake in Georgia
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