New Stakes Created in Utah (3), Oklahoma (2), Peru (2), the Dominican Republic, the DR Congo, Ecuador, Idaho, Mozambique, North Carolina, Togo, and Washington; New District Created in the DR Congo; Stakes Discontinued in Utah (4), Florida (2), England, and Oregon; Districts Discontinued in Russia (3), Romania (2), Australia, Belarus, and Fiji

Utah

There new stakes were created and four stakes were discontinued in Utah.

The Lehi Utah Cold Spring Ranch was created on March 19th from the Lehi Utah Holbrook Farms Stake. The new stake includes the following six wards: the Cold Spring Ranch 1st, the Cold Spring Ranch 2nd, the Evans Farm, the Hardman Farms, the Holbrook Farms 2nd, and the Holbrook Farms 3rd Wards. There are now 20 stakes in Lehi.

The Eagle Mountain Utah Porter's Crossing was created on April 16th from the Eagle Mountain Utah East Stake. The new stake includes the following eight wards: the Brookhaven, the Chilton Park, the Kiowa Valley, the Liberty Farms, the Porter’s Crossing, the Ranches Parkway 2nd (Spanish), the Skyline Ridge, and the South Pass Wards. There are now 10 stakes in Eagle Mountain.

The West Haven Utah North Stake was created on May 21st from the Ogden Utah West Stake and the West Haven Utah Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards and two branches: the Riverbend, the Wilson 2nd, the Wilson 3rd, the Wilson 4th, and the Wilson 5th Wards and the Park (Care Center) and Water Tower (Correctional Facility) Branches.

The Salt Lake Foothill Stake (organized in 1957) was discontinued. The stake had five wards and one branch prior to its closure. One of the five wards was discontinued, and the retained congregations were reassigned to the Salt Lake Hillside Stake (renamed Salt Lake Wasatch Stake).

The Salt Lake Cottonwood Heights Stake (organized in 1978) was discontinued which had six wards and one branch prior to its closure. Three wards closed as part of the stake consolidation. Retained units were reassigned to the Cottonwood Heights Utah Brighton Stake, Salt Lake Butler West Stake, and the Salt Lake Cottonwood Stake.

The Sandy Utah Crescent Park Stake (organized in 1987) was discontinued which had six wards and one branch prior to its closure. Two wards closed when the stake was discontinued. All retained congreations were reassigned to the Sandy Utah Crescent North Stake (which was renamed to Sandy Utah Dimple Dell Stake).

The Kearns Utah Western Hills Stake (organized in 1981) was discontinued. The stake had five wards prior to its closure, and none of the wards were discontinued. Wards in the former stake were reassigned to the Kearns Utah Stake and the Kearns Utah Central Stake.

There are now 628 stakes and 2 districts in Utah.

Oklahoma

Two new stakes were created in Oklahoma on May 7th. 

The Gore Oklahoma Stake was organized from the Broken Arrow Oklahoma Stake (organized in 1978) and the Fort Smith Arkansas Stake (organized in 1978). The new stake is essentially a reinstatement of the Muskogee Oklahoma Stake which operated from 1983 until 1991 and which is the only stake to have ever been discontinued in Oklahoma. The new stake includes the following five wards and three branches: the Gore, Henryetta, McAlester, Muskogee, and Sallisaw Wards and the Eufaula, Poteau, and Talihina Branches.

The Owasso Oklahoma Stake was organized from the Bartlesville Oklahoma Stake (organized in 2014) and the Broken Arrow Oklahoma Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Claremore, Elm Creek, Lake Valley, Pryor, and Ranch Creek Wards and the Skiatook Branch. There are now three stakes in the Tulsa area

There are now 11 stakes in Oklahoma.

Peru

Two new stakes were created in Peru.

The Trujillo Perú Jerusalén Stake was organized on April 30th from a division of the Trujillo Perú Esperanza Stake (organized in 1998). The new stake includes the following five wards: the Arévalo, the El Milagro, the Jerusalén, the Los Robles, and the Nuevo Trujillo Wards. The new stake marks the first time since 1998 when a stake was organized in the city (there were three stakes created that year in Trujillo). There are now eight stakes in Trujillo.

The Iquitos Perú San Juan Stake was organized on May 21st from a division of the Iquitos Perú Nueve de Octubre Stake (organized in 1995). The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Avianca, Los Delfines, San Juan, Santa Clara, and Secada Wards and the Nauta Branch. There are now four stakes in Iquitos. The Church previously operated five stakes in Iquitos from 1995 until 1998 when two of the five stakes were discontinued (Iquitos Peru Mi Peru and Iquitos Peru Sachachorro - both of which did not operate in the area of the new stake in Iquitos but instead functioned in central and northern areas of the city). A temple was announced for Iquitos in April 2023.

There are now 115 stakes and 17 districts in Peru.

Dominican Republic 

A new stake was created in the Dominican Republic. The La Vega Dominican Republic Stake was created from the La Vega Dominican Republic District and a portion of the Santiago Dominican Republic East Stake on December 18th, 2022. The new stake includes the following six wards: the Conani, Jarabacoa, La Espanola, Los Framboyanes, Moca, and Primavera Wards. The new stake is actually a reinstated stake, as a stake previously operated in La Vega from 1998 until 2009 when it was discontinued and divided into three districts (La Vega, Bonao, and Cotuí). With seven stakes in the Santiago area now, the region appears likely to have a temple announced given distance to Santo Domingo.

There are now 22 stakes and 8 districts in the Dominican Republic.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo)

A new stake and a new district were created in the DR Congo. The Ngandajika Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake was organized from the Ngandajika Democratic Republic of the Congo District on March 12th. The new stake includes the following five wards and two branches: the Kabanda, Kabidimba, Mboka, Ngandajika, and Tshioji Wards and the Kalubanda and Kasonji Branches. The original district in Ngandajika was created in 2016, and the first branch in the city was organized in 2008. 

The Kisangani Democratic Republic of the Congo District was created on April 1st. All six branches in the city that previously reported directly to the Democratic Republic of the Congo East Mission now pertain to the new district, including the Kabondo, Kisangani, Lubunga, Makiso, Mangobo, and Tshopo Branches. The Church created its first branch in Kisangani in 2015.

There are now 27 stakes and 3 districts in the DR Congo.

Ecuador

A new stake was created in Ecuador. The Riobamba Ecuador Stake was created from the Riobamba Ecuador District on May 21st. All five branches in the former district (organized in 1992) became wards in the new stake, including the Bellavista, the Guaranda, the La Joya, the La Primavera, and the Los Álamos Wards. The area has appeared to have been preparing for some time to become a stake, as evidenced by the discontinuation of the short-lived Guaranda Ecuador District which operated from 2016-2019 with only two branches (which were merged into a single branch). 

There are now 44 stakes and 4 districts in Ecuador.

Idaho

A new stake was created in Idaho on March 26th. The Caldwell Idaho Snake River Stake was created from a division of the Caldwell Idaho Stake and the Caldwell Idaho East Stake. The new stake includes the following seven wards and one branch: the Caldwell 16th, the Caldwell 4th, the Caldwell 6th, the Homedale 1st, the Homedale 2nd, the Marsing 1st, and the Marsing 2nd Wards and the Jordan Valley Branch. There are now three stakes in the Caldwell area.

There are now 138 stakes in Idaho.

Mozambique

A new stake was created in Mozambique on May 14th. The Beira Mozambique Munhava Stake was organized from a division of the Beira Mozambique Stake and the Beira Mozambique Manga Stake. The new stake includes the following six wards and one branch: the Mananga, Manga Loforte, Maraza 1st, Mascarenha, Munhava, and Pioneiros Wards, and the Maraza 2nd  Branch. The new stake was primarily made from the Beira Mozambique Stake which had 145 men sustained to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood at the time of the conference. Moreover, the Church organized two new wards and one new branch when the new stake was created - all located within the newly organized stake. There are now three stakes in Beira (the two previous stakes were created in 2015 and 2017). A temple was announced for Beira in 2021. 

There are now six stakes and one district in Mozambique.

North Carolina

The Church organized a new stake in North Carolina on March 19th. The Wake Forest North Carolina Stake was organized from a division of the Raleigh North Carolina Stake and the Raleigh North Carolina South Stake. The new stake includes the following seven wards and two branches: the Falls Lake, Franklinton, Henderson, Knightdale 1st, Wake Forest 1st, Wake Forest 2nd, and Zebulon Wards and the Creedmoor and Knightdale 2nd  Branches. 

There are now 20 stakes in North Carolina.

Togo

A new stake was created in Togo on May 7th. The Lomé Togo Agoe Stake was created from a division of the Lomé Togo Be Stake (organized in 2013), the Lomé Togo Tokoin Stake (organized in 2017), and a mission branch (Tsevie). The new stake includes the following three wards and five branches: Agoe Nyive, the Apedokoe, and Kélegougan Wards, and the Adetikope, the Adidogome, the Djagble, the Sanguéra, and the Tsevie Branches. It is highly likely that not all branches that have become wards have been updated in the Church's meetinghouse locator or the advancement of more branches into wards will occur in the immediate future (similar to what was seen in Nairobi, Kenya earlier this year when a third stake was also created in that city). 

There are now three stakes in Togo.

Washington

A new stake was created in Washington on February 26th. The Richland Washington South Stake was created from the Kennewick Washington Stake. The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Badger Canyon, the Badger Mountain, the Grandridge, the Meadow Springs, the Rancho Reata, the Temple Meadow, and the Willowbrook Wards. There are now seven stakes in the Richland area.

There are now 60 stakes in Washington.

Florida

Two stakes were discontinued in Florida in May. The Fort Lauderdale Florida Stake (organized in 1970) was discontinued and retained units were reassigned to the Coral Springs Florida Stake (organized in 1994) and the Miami Lakes Florida Stake (organized in 1998). The Miami Florida South Stake (organized in 1992) was combined with the Miami Florida Stake (organized in 2015). The Church in South Florida originally had four stakes between 2008 until 2014 when the Boynton Beach Florida Stake was organized followed by the Miami Florida Stake in 2015 (there were five stakes between 1998 and 2008 until the Spanish-speaking stake was discontinued in 2008). Each of the stakes had few congregations after the creation of these two stakes, and consequently, it appears that the Church has sought to strengthen the stakes by essentially reverting back to having only four stakes again in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area. 

There are now 32 stakes in Florida.

England

The Church discontinued a stake in the London area in May. The Watford England Stake (organized in 1996) was discontinued and congregations in the stake were reassigned to the St Albans England Stake, the Thames Valley England Stake (was previously called the Reading England Stake), and the London England Hyde Park Stake. Local members report plans to discontinue two additional stakes in the area by mid-2023 in order to reduce the leadership burden on a small number of active members in the area. This marks the first time the Church in Europe has ever gone through a significant redistricting of stakes on this scale. Thus far, there have not been any significant consolidation of congregations, however. The Church in the United Kingdom has experienced steady decline in the number of congregations for decades, and these changes are unsurprising given this trajectory and efforts to create stakes with larger numbers of congregations with more active members than historical averages. The discontinuation of the Watford England Stake marks the second time a stake has been discontinued in the United Kingdom.

There are now 43 stakes in the United Kingdom.

Oregon 

A stake was discontinued in Oregon. The Milwaukie Oregon Stake (organized in 1979) was discontinued. Three of the five wards in the stake also closed, and the retained units were reassigned to the Oregon City Stake and the Portland Oregon Stake. The Church in the more central areas of Portland has experienced a rapid decline during the past decade. There has only been one other instance of a stake being discontinued in Oregon, and this was the Portland Oregon East Stake in 2015. 

There are now 34 stakes in Oregon.

Russia

The Church discontinued three districts in Russia, including the Samara Russia District (organized in 2015 but previously operated and was reinstated in 2015), the Volgograd Russia District (originally organized in 2002, discontinued in 2013, and reinstated in 2015), and the Vladivostok Russia District (originally organized in 1996, but has gone through periods of being discontinued and reinstated). Branches in the former Samara Russia District and Volgograd Russia District were reassigned to the Saratov Russia Stake, whereas branches in the former Vladivostok Russia District now report directly to the Russia Novosibirsk Mission. The discontinuation of these districts has appeared to be the result of consolidating limited leadership and the closure of many branches in recent years which has accelerated as a result of religious freedom restrictions and the current war in Ukraine. 

There are now three stakes and three districts in Russia. In contrast, there were 3 stakes and 10 districts in 2018.

Romania

The Church consolidated its three districts in Romania into a single district in early 2023. The discontinued districts were the Bucharest Romania District (organized in 1982) and the Cluj-Napoca Romania District (organized in 2009). The Brașov Romania District now has 15 branches. A similar change was made in Poland in 2020 and may signal efforts to try to strengthen local leadership and perhaps create a stake at some point, although only a couple of branches appear large enough to become wards. The Church plans to reinstate the Romania Bucharest Mission (originally organized in 1993) next month after it was discontinued in 2018.

Australia

The Church discontinued the Norwa Australia District (organized in 1992) which has had three branches for many years. One branch closed as part of the changes (Ulladulla) which had only approximately 10 active members as of the mid-2010s. The two retained branches were reassigned to the Canberra Australia Stake which previously had only four wards and one branch (and has had this few units for decades). Moreover, the Norwa Branch was advanced into a ward, resulting in the realigned Canberra Australia Stake having five wards and two branches now. 

There are now 41 stakes and 6 districts in Australia.

Belarus

The Church discontinued the Minsk Belarus District which had two branches prior to its closure. The Vitebsk Branch closed as part of these changes. The Minsk Branch was reassigned to the Moscow Russia Stake and became a ward. There are now no districts in Belarus.

Fiji

The Church discontinued the Korovou Fiji District (organized in 2017) and the five branches in the district were reassigned to the Lautoka Fiji Stake and the Nausori Fiji Stake. No branches were discontinued as part of this district discontinuation.

Six New Missions to be Created in July 2023: Analysis

As promised, see below for an analysis of the six new missions to be organized in July 2023. The Church announced plans to organize these new missions on November 23rd, 2022. It is important to note that all but one of the new missions announced are in Africa. This decision likely reflects increasing numbers of African members serving full-time missions as well as good opportunities to expand missionary outreach in nations with populations that have exhibited strong receptivity to the Latter-day Saint gospel message. No missions have been announced to close in 2023.

Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan North Mission

The new Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan Mission will be the Church's third mission headquartered in Abidjan and the fourth mission in Cote d'Ivoire. The new mission will be organized primarily from a division of the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan East Mission (organized in 1993), although some areas of the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission (organized in 2014) will be included in the mission boundary realignment. It is likely that the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission will include the six stakes in the Yopougon area of Abidjan, whereas the nine stakes in the eastern half of Abidjan will probably be fairly evenly divided between the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan North Mission and the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission. There are also six districts located in the current boundaries in the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan East Mission - most of which will probably be assigned to the new mission. The Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan East Mission also currently includes the Bamako Branch in Mali. It is unclear what mission will administer Mali after the new mission is organized. A member group in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso has also been administered by the Cote d'Ivoire Yamoussoukro Mission, although Burkina Faso is assigned directly to the Africa West Area per the Church's meetinghouse locator. The boundaries of the Cote d'Ivoire Yamoussoukro Mission (organized in 2018) are not reportedly affected by the creation of the new mission. The Church in Cote d'Ivoire has reported some of its most rapid growth in the world during the past decade, with the number of cities/towns with an official ward or branch increasing tenfold, the number of stakes increasing from 5 to 18, the number of districts increasing from 1 to 15, the number of congregations increasing from 42 to 257, and the number of Latter-day Saints increasing from 16,248 to 56,804. In another historical milestone, the creation of the Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire North Mission will mark the first time that the Church has ever organized three missions within the same metropolitan area on the African continent. The Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Temple has been under construction for more than four years and appears to be nearing completion. It is suspected that the temple construction has taken so long due to difficulties with local work teams meeting the high standards for temple construction. There are nearly 29 million people who live in Cote d'Ivoire.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) Kananga Mission

The creation of the new DR Congo Kananga Mission will increase the number of missions headquartered in the DR Congo to five. The new mission will be created from a division of the DR Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission (organized in 2016). Senior missionaries have reported that the DR Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission has baptized as many as 1,000 converts in a single month during 2022. Convert retention remains among the highest in the worldwide Church. It is not uncommon for many congregations in the DR Congo to have a larger number of people in attendance than there are members on the records for the particular congregation, although sacrament meeting attendance is generally about 80% nationwide. The new mission in Kananga will likely include just the three stakes in Kananga where the first stake in the city was organized in 2011. Reports from senior missionaries indicate that two new stakes will likely be organized in Kananga in 2023. The new mission will likely play a pivotal role in the expansion of the Church's presence into unreached cities where groups of members reside such as Tshikapa and Lodja. Moreover, the realigned DR Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission will likely include four stakes and one district. The creation of new stakes in the DR Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission also appears imminent considering the Mbuji-Mayi DR Congo Stake has 13 wards, the Mwene-Ditu DR Congo Stake has nine wards, and the Ngandajika DR Congo District has seven branches. The Church announced a temple for Kananga in 2021. The other missions headquartered in the DR Congo include the DR Congo Kinshasa West Mission (organized in 1987), the DR Congo Lubumbashi Mission (organized in 2010), and the DR Congo Kinshasa East Mission (organized in 2019). Also, the recently organized Rwanda Kigali Mission (organized in 2022) includes branches and member groups in the eastern DR Congo near the borders of Burundi and Rwanda. The Church in the DR Congo reported its most rapid membership growth in the world during the past two years as membership increased from 68,871 to 89,136 - a 29.4% increase. During the past 10 years, the Church in the DR Congo has grown from 30,435 members to 89,136 members, 9 stakes to 25 stakes, and 107 congregations to 255 congregations. The DR Congo is now the world's 14th most populous nation with 108 million people.

Nigeria Aba Mission

The Nigeria Aba Mission will be the Church's eighth mission in Nigeria following the creation of the Nigeria Lagos Mission (organized in 1980 as the West Africa Mission and renamed in 1985), the Nigeria Port Harcourt Mission (originally organized in 1988 as the Nigeria Aba Mission, relocated to Port Harcourt and renamed in 1995), the Nigeria Enugu Mission (organized in 1992 as the Nigeria Jos Mission and relocated to Enugu and renamed in 1993), the Nigeria Uyo Mission (organized in 2002, relocated and renamed the Nigeria Calabar Mission in 2008, relocated back to Uyo and renamed in 2019), the Nigeria Benin City Mission (organized in 2013), the Nigeria Owerri Mission (organized in 2016), and the Nigeria Ibadan Mission (organized in 2002, relocated to Lagos and renamed the Nigeria Lagos East Mission in 2007, discontinued in 2009, reinstated in 2018). The Church's first and only operating temple in Nigeria is located in Aba where there are now five stakes. The new mission in Aba will be organized primarily by a division of the Nigeria Owerri Mission, albeit the Church announced that other missions (Nigeria Benin City Mission, Nigeria Enugu Mission) will be realigned as part of the creation of the new mission. The Church in Nigeria has discontinued one mission that was never reinstated: the Nigeria Ilorin Mission (1992-1993). 

Nigeria Abuja Mission

The Nigeria Abuja Mission will be the Church's ninth mission in Nigeria. The new mission will be created from a division of the Nigeria Lagos Mission. The Church realigned its missions in Nigeria in 2019 and transferred northern Nigeria from the Nigeria Enugu Mission to the Nigeria Lagos Mission. The new mission will likely include the three stakes in Abuja (all of which have been organized in the past decade) and one district in Jos. The new mission will likely include half of the population of Nigeria - more than 100 million people - although most the population lives in states with Sharia law with predominantly Muslim populations and significant conflict between Muslims and Christians. Kano is the second most populous metropolitan area in Nigeria (4.9 million people) and remains without an official ward or branch of the Church. 

The Church has reported significant growth in Nigeria during the past decade, growing from 103,898 members to 211,219 members, 21 stakes to 68 stakes, and 315 congregations to 758 congregations. However, the number of districts has decreased in the past decade from 20 to 16. Three additional temples are planned for Nigeria in Lagos (announced in 2018), Benin City (announced in 2020), and Eket (announced in 2022). Nigeria is now the sixth most populous country in the world with 225 million people.

South Africa Pretoria Mission

The new South Africa Pretoria Mission will be the Church's fourth mission headquartered in South Africa (assuming that the Botswana/Namibia Mission will be relocated to Gaborone, Botswana from Pretoria, South Africa. It is possible that this mission may continue to be headquartered in South Africa, and thus, Johannesburg, South Africa will together with Abidjan become the first metropolitan areas to have three missions). The new mission will be organized from a division of the Botswana/Namibia Mission (organized in 2013), although the boundaries of the South Africa Johannesburg (organized in 1903) and South Africa Durban Mission (organized in 1991) will also be realigned. There is one more mission headquartered in South Africa: the Cape Town South African Mission (organized in 1984). The new mission will likely assist with greater focus on missionary efforts in Botswana and Namibia. The Church has reported moderate growth rates in South Africa during the past decade. During the past decade, Church membership has increased from 57,546 to 69,438, the number of congregations has increased from 151 to 195, the number of stakes has increased from 12 to 17, and the number of districts has increased from 4 to 10. There are 57.5 million people who live in South Africa.

Romania Bucharest Mission

The Church will reinstate the Romania Bucharest Mission which operated in Romania from 1993 until 2018 when it was consolidated with the neighboring Hungary Budapest Mission. I previously wrote about this decision to close the Romania Bucharest Mission here. Church growth trends have been stagnant in Romania for many years, and receptivity to Latter-day Saint proselytism has been poor for more than a decade. The decision to reinstate the Romania Bucharest Mission may be partially explained by difficulties with a single mission effectively servicing both Hungarian and Romanian speaking populations as well as efforts to provide greater mission leader oversight over members in both Romania and Hungary. As of 2021, there were 3,087 members, 15 branches, and 3 districts in Romania, whereas there were 5,278 members, 21 congregations, one stake, two districts, and one announced temple in Hungary. The current population of Romania is 18.5 million, whereas the current population of Hungary is 9.7 million.

Six New Missions to be Created in 2023

Today, the Church announced plans to organize the following six missions in July 2023:

• Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan North Mission
• Democratic Republic of the Congo Kananga Mission
• Nigeria Aba Mission
• Nigeria Abuja Mission
• South Africa Pretoria Mission
• Romania Bucharest Mission
  

The creation of the new missions will increase the number of missions in the Church to 416. I will provide additional analysis regarding these new mission creations in the coming days.

Updated Country Profile - Romania

Click here to access our updated Reaching the Nations country profile for Romania. I think the Future Prospects section of this entry sums up the current status of the Church, although I want to add that convert retention rates have markedly improved in the 2010s to 50-70% for recent converts one year after baptism:

The outlook for future growth in Romania appears poor within the foreseeable future. The Church currently reports one of the lowest member activity rates in the world in Romania and consistent efforts to strengthen local leadership and expand national outreach have yielded few results. External factors the Church faces that have posed difficulties for growth include strong cultural ties to Orthodox Christianity and societal suspicion of foreign, America-based religious groups. The closure of the Romania Bucharest Mission and the reassignment of Romania to the realigned Hungary/Romania Mission indicates a significant reduction in mission resources allocated to the two nations despite a combined population of more than 31 million. This decision appears rooted in extremely few convert baptisms in Romania since the early 2010s combined with worldwide efforts to redistribute mission resources from less productive areas to more productive ones. Thus, progress with reversing current stagnant growth trends will require greater participation from local members and leaders in proselytism and national outreach expansion combined with effective vision from mission leadership to strengthen remaining branches.

New Stakes Created in the Philippines (2) and Nigeria; New District in Romania; Two Stakes Discontinued in Mexico

Philippines
Today the Church organized two new stakes in the Philippines.

The Agoo Philippines Stake was organized from the Agoo Philippines District. The Agoo Philippines District included seven branches and most of the branches have become wards in the new stake. The Church initially organized the Agoo Philippines Stake in 1999, but discontinued the stake and reorganized retained congregations into branches in 2004. The Church has experienced steady progress in Agoo in recent years as two new branches have been organized in the district and branches in the district have had increases in active membership. The Agoo Philippines Stake is the third new stake organized within the Philippines Baguio Mission and Philippines Urdaneta Mission since 2015.

The Morong Rizal Philippines Stake was organized from the Morong Rizal Philippines District. Most, if not all, of the branches in the former district were organized into wards. The Morong Rizal Philippines District was originally created in 1992. With the advancement of the district into a stake, there are now no districts within the Greater Metro Manila area. Steady growth has occurred in the Greater Metro Manila as evidenced by four new stakes organized in the area since the beginning of 2017, and nine new stakes organized in the area since 2011. There are now 28 stakes in the Greater Metro Manila area - more than any other metropolitan area in all of Africa, Asia, Europe, or Oceania.

There are now 107 stakes and 68 districts in the Philippines.

Nigeria
A new stake was organized in Nigeria on October 28th. The Abakaliki Nigeria Stake was organized from the Abakaliki Nigeria District. Information on which of the 10 branches in the former district became wards remains unavailable. However, local members report that most of the branches were advanced into wards when the new stake was organized. The new stake is the Church's first stake to be organized in Ebonyi State, Nigeria - home to 2.9 million people. The Church organized its first branch in Ebonyi State in 2005 in Abakaliki, whereas the first branches were organized in Afikpo in 2006, Okposi in 2007, and Edda in 2018. Today, there are five congregations in Afikpo, two congregations in Abakaliki, two congregations in Okposi, and one congregation in Edda. The creation of the new stake came as a complete surprise to me considering half of the congregations were organized just within the past two years and the 10 branches were spread across four different cities. Generally in these situations, the Church divides districts instead of creating a stake to reduce travel times. Nevertheless, the organization of the new stake indicates strength in local leadership that has warranted the district to mature into a stake only four years after the district was initially organized from four mission branches.

There are now 54 stakes and 15 districts in Nigeria. The number of stakes in Nigeria has increased by nine since January 2018 - the largest annual increase in the number of stakes for an African country in the history of the Church. Nigeria is now the country in the world with the eighth most stakes.

Romania
A new district was organized in Romania. The Iaşi România District was organized from a division of the Bucharest Romania District. The new district includes the following four branches: the Bacãu, Braşov, Galati, and Iaşi Branches. The decision to organize the new district does not appear due to any recent growth in the area as overall membership growth has been stagnant in the country for several consecutive years. Rather, the decision to create the new district appears related to mission leaders abandoning plans to try to organize a stake from the Bucharest Romania District, and instead focus on strengthening individual branches while reducing travel times for district leadership. The Church in Romania used to operate two districts in eastern Romania, with a former district headquartered in Ploiesti until 2009. There are now three districts in Romania. The Romania Bucharest Mission closed last summer and was consolidated with the Hungary Budapest Mission.

Mexico
Two stakes were recently discontinued in Mexico City.

The Mexico City Xalostoc Stake (organized in 1997) and the Mexico City Pantitlan Stake (organized in 1997) were discontinued. The Mexico City Xalostoc Stake was consolidated with the Mexico City Azteca Stake and the Mexico City Ecatepec Stake, whereas the Mexico City Pantitlan Stake was consolidated with the Mexico City Netzahualcoyotl Stake and the Mexico City Moctezuma Stake. Additionally, five wards were discontinued as part of this realignment of stakes and congregations. Mexico City is one of the last metropolitan areas in Mexico where the Church had not combined congregations with smaller numbers of active members (usually between 50-100 active members). Additional stake and congregation realignments are underway, which will result in the discontinuation and creation of congregations and stakes in the immediate future. I predict there may be as many as 25-50 ward closures and 5-10 stake closures before the end of the year. However, there may also be several new congregations and stakes organized as part of these changes. The Church in Mexico City has sought for many years to make a plan to better utilize meetinghouse space to conserve costs and establish congregations with larger numbers of active members. I just received a report that the Mexico City Centenario Stake was discontinued today, and a new stake, Mexico City Villa Madero Stake, was organized. However, I will officially report these changes in another update once I have more information.

There are now 219 stakes and 45 districts in Mexico.

Unprecedented Consolidation of Missions in Eastern Europe/Southeastern Europe

The Church announced last week that the following missions will be discontinued in Eastern Europe and Southeastern Europe this July:

• Bulgaria Sofia
• Greece Athens
• Romania/Moldova
• Russia Samara
• Ukraine L'viv

After these missions are merged with surrounding missions in the region, the number of missions in Eastern Europe/Southeastern Europe will decrease from 20 to 15. The remaining 15 missions in the mission will include:

• Adriatic North
• Adriatic South
• Armenia/Georgia
• Baltic
• Central Eurasian
• Czeck/Slovak
• Hungary Budapest
• Poland Warsaw
• Russia Moscow
• Russia Novosibirsk
• Russia Rostov-na-Donu
• Russia St Petersburg
• Russia Yekaterinburg
• Ukraine Dnepropetrovsk
• Ukraine Kyiv

Information on which countries will pertained to realigned missions remains unavailable. However, it appears likely that the Central Eurasian Mission will include Turkey, Bulgaria, and Greece. Missionaries report that the Ukraine L'viv Mission will be consolidated with the Ukraine Kyiv Mission. Missionary activity will continue in all of the countries where mission consolidations are scheduled to occur. However, there may be fewer missionaries assigned to these countries after these changes go into effect.

As I mentioned in my post last week that announced changes to LDS missions this July, the Church in Eastern Europe and Southeastern Europe has experienced some of the slowest growth in the worldwide Church during the past decade. To put things in perspective, there is a total of approximately 65,000 Latter-day Saints on church records for Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and Central Asia combined after approximately 25-30 years of consistent proselytism in most countries within this region. Member activity rates for the region as a whole appear to be approximately 20-25%. Most countries in the region report annual membership growth rates of 2.0% or less. Of the 27 countries in this region that currently have at least one official ward or branch, the Church reports more than 10,000 members in only two of these countries: Russia and Ukraine. Sixteen of the 27 countries in the region report official LDS memberships of less than 1,000. In countries where the least growth has occurred such as Greece and Serbia, the number of full-time missionaries that have ever served in these countries since they opened to proselytism has exceeded the number of converts ever baptized in these countries. In areas of the world that report rapid LDS growth such as in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Church generally maintains approximately one mission per every 15,000 to 20,000 members. Areas of the world that experience slower growth report larger numbers of members per mission. For example, in 2016 the Church in South America reported an average of 42,231 members per mission, whereas the Church in the United States reported an average of 52,738 members per mission. In contrast, the Church in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and Central Asia maintained approximately one mission per every 3,250 members in 2016. If the ratio of members per mission most recently reported in South America were applied to Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and Central Asia, there would need to be only two missions for the entire region.

The Church's efforts to begin proselytism in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and Central Asia during the late 1980s and the 1990s numbers among the most proactive and methodical observed within the worldwide Church during the last century. The Austria Vienna East Mission (organized in 1987) and the Finland Helsinki East Mission (organized in 1990) began proselytism efforts in the region until these missions could later be relocated to Ukraine and Russia in 1992. The number of missions headquartered in the region increased from zero in 1986 to six by 1992 and 16 in 1997. Many of the countries in the region reported moderate to rapid growth in the 1990s, especially in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Hungary, and the Baltics. For the most part, moderate or rapid growth has never occurred for the Church in several countries such as Poland, Serbia, Greece, and Moldova. Furthermore, the longer the Church has maintained a missionary presence in most Eastern European and Central Asian countries, the slower growth rates have become.

The decision to close approximately one-quarter of the missions in Eastern Europe/Southeastern Europe and Central Asia has appeared warranted for many years due to low productivity. Effective strategies for missionary work require allocation of the greatest amounts of resources to target the largest populations that exhibit the highest receptivity to the LDS Gospel message, meanwhile continuing to target less receptive populations with fewer resources. The closure of five missions in the region this summer does not indicate a "throwing in the towel" type of mentality that the Church is taking for this region after frustratingly few results, but rather a wiser appropriation of resources to the region particularly in regards to mission administration. The Church in Eastern Europe and Central Asia will likely continue to maintain a disproportionately large full-time missionary force in comparison to the number of cities with an LDS presence, number of congregations, number of converts baptized, and number of members due to the large size of target populations for proselytism, long distances between cities with an LDS presence, low activity rates, and need for outside assistance with basic church administration needs in many locations. Moreover, more mission resources are also needed to effectively proselyte individual countries in local languages and in order to avoid overwhelming logistical challenges in regards to the assignment of full-time missionaries.

The closure of additional missions in Eastern Europe appears likely within the foreseeable future, particularly in Russia. It seems likely that the Russia Moscow and Russia St Petersburg Missions may combine one day, as well as the Russia Yekaterinburg and Russia Novosibirsk Missions into one mission. However, it will be imperative that the Church continue to maintain consistent proselytism programs in local languages in order to prevent even further deceleration in growth, and in case conditions improve one day and population become more receptive to LDS proselytism efforts. Moreover, it is also possible that the Church may reestablish some of the missions discontinued in the coming years and decades if local populations become more receptive or there are large increases in the number of members serving full-time missions. Bulgaria and Romania appear the most likely countries to have a mission reestablished one day given their large populations and comparatively larger LDS memberships compared to surrounding nations.

Third District Created in Romania

The first district in western Romania was created in Arad. The Arad Romania District likely includes branches in Oradea and Timisoara and possibly Cluj-Napoca and Deva. The other two districts in Romania are based in Bucharest and Ploiesti. A district is made up of two or more branches which is presided over by a district presidency. Districts report to the mission president of the mission in which they are located and can mature into stakes.

Like most Eastern European countries, Church growth was rapid a first and has slowed substantially in Romania. There are about 2,700 members of the Church in Romania and 19 branches. Today membership typically increases by around 100 each year, whereas in the 1990s membership increased by around 200 each year. Not very many cities have opened to missionary work in Romania in the past five years. The latest city to have full time elders assigned to it was Craiova.

It is exciting to see the leadership of the Church develop and strengthen enough in Eastern Europe to support the new districts created in Arad this month and Moldova last January. Perhaps we will see future districts created in L'viv Ukraine, Hungary and Athens Greece as leadership continues to mature and grow in this area of the world where the Church is yet in its infancy.

City Opens For Missionary Work in Romania

Located in southwest Romania, the city of Craiova has recently opened for missionary work. The first baptism in the city occurred in the past week or so as well. With over 300,000 inhabitants, I am surprised it has taken so long for Craiova to open to missionary work, especially because it is not far from the capital, Bucharest, where the mission offices are based. There are six other cities which have over 100,000 inhabitants without a branch or missionaries in Romania from what I know: Braila, Targu Mures, Baia Mare, Buzau, Botosani, and Satu Mare. Most of these cities are in the northern part of the country.

The Church in Eastern Europe

I wanted to take some time and write about the Church and Eastern Europe. The majority of the countries considered to be in Eastern Europe were opened for missionary work most recently in the early 1990s. Since that time, the Church's presence and spread into most of the largest cities, but with relatively few members. For instance, the country in Eastern Europe with the highest membership is Ukraine with around 10,200 members (out of 46 million people). However, the countries in Eastern Europe with the lowest Church membership (among countries with a Church presence) are Serbia with fewer than 300 members in three branches and Moldova with around the same number of members in two branches. There is a strong potential for future growth of the Church in Eastern Europe, especially because unlike many other places in the world, there are branches organized through these countries. If conditions change and people become more interested in religion, the Church is mobilized to need such a demand.

Below is a map of Bulgaria; a country which provides the best example of this phenomenon. Click on the map in order to see it more clearly. Each green square is a branch.

Notice how the largest city, Sofia, has several branches organized in it and that branches are scattered fairly evenly throughout the country.

Romania is another good example, and here's a map below.

Here are some exciting recent developments of the Church in Eastern Europe.

New Branches in the Baltic States, Eastern Europe and Georgia

Branches have recently (last 12 months or so) been estabished in the following cities.

• Jelgava, Latvia
• Parnu, Estonia
• Shkoder, Albania (see earlier post)
• Kosice, Slovakia
• Tbilisi, Georgia (second branch in city, the Avlabari Branch)
• Alexandria, Romania (last June)
• Pula, Croatia
• Subotica, Serbia
• Kremenchuk, Ukraine
  

Church Launches New Latvian Website

In the past week or so, the Church has launched a country website for Latvia. It is in Russian and Latvian, and is found at http://www.jezuskristusbaznica.lv/ .

Lastly, I wanted to conclude that the activity rate in these nations are actually not as low as you might think. The LDS Church News stated in the Church Almanac that there are over 1,000 temple recommend holders in Ukraine and the temple has been under construction in Kyiv for the past six months. Furthermore, there are two stakes in Eastern Europe: One in Ukraine and the other in Hungary. The Church is close to organizing stakes in St. Petersburg, Russia ; Kharkiv, Ukraine ; and Donetsk, Ukraine. As for Future missions, Serbia, Romania and Ukraine seem most likely. It will be interesting how soon missionaries will be placed in newly independent Kosovo. I imagine that Kosovo will be included with the mission in Albania, since the majority of the population is Albanian.