New Branch Created in Ethiopia

The city of Awasa received its first branch a couple months ago. The new branch has at least 20 members/investigators attending its first worship service. Awasa is located around 150 miles south of the capital, Addis Ababa. Ethiopia currently has four branches with somewhere around 800 members. On the above map, branches are shown with green squares.

Follow Up on BYU News Article on Russian Mission Calls

The story published about the Church not issuing mission calls to Russia has been removed. It is possible that there was a misunderstanding between the reports and the Church. I will post more information when it becomes available. Looking at missionary blogs in Russia, none of them mention anything about this story.

Church Stops Issuing Russian Mission Calls

According to BYU NewsNet, the Church has suspended mission calls to serve in Russia's eight missions for North American Missionaries. Church spokesman Rob Howell said that all of the missions are fully functioning, if not overstaffed. There are a couple other factors that likely influenced the decision.

1. Visas are becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain. Missionaries have had to travel to neighboring countries to renew their visas. This would require several days to complete and was expensive.
2. The number of converts has declined in recent years. When the Church first went into Russia in the early 1990s, many converts joined the Church. Today the Church's growth is comparable to other Western European countries despite the fact that eight missions are in the country.
3. It would be easier for missionaries to serve in Russia who either are from Russia or other neighboring countries. Hence the announcement was only for North American missionaries. North American missionaries, however, form the bulk of the missionary force in Russia.

Aspects of the preaching of the Gospel are going forth in Russia. New branches have been created recently. Some districts are close to maturing into stakes and it is likely more districts will be created where there are not any currently. Hopefully any problems will be resolved with the government and visas so missionaries can continue to proselyte in the 9th most populated country in the world.

Potential New Stakes in Africa

Here are some predictions for new stakes in Africa. If a country is not listed, it is because I find it unlikely to have a new stake created in it within the next 18 months. However, I am not suggesting all of these new stakes to be organized in the next 18 months, let alone the next five years. These areas have seen growth and are maturing, which would bring them closer to stakehood. Cities in italics currently have a district; cities in regular font already have a stake, but it is likely it will split.


SIERRA LEONE

• Bo - 7
• Freetown - 10

GHANA

• Assin Foso - 8
• Koforidua - 10
• Takoradi

NIGERIA

• Eket
• Asaba - 10 (more likely to be divided into two districts instead of made into a stake)
• Enugu - 9
• Ibadan - 7
• Ile-Ife - 7
• Umuahia - 8

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

• Luputa - 6
• Lubumbashi (the single stake might be divided into three stakes since there are 15 wards in it)

KENYA

• Chyulu - 11

UGANDA

• Kampala - 10

ZAMBIA

• Lusaka - 7

ZIMBABWE

• Gweru - 7
• Mutare - 6

Stake Dissolved in Los Angeles Area

The second stake to be dissolved this year was recently dissolved in Walnut, California. Many stakes have been combined in recent years in the Los Angeles area. The Walnut California Stake was combined with the Hacienda Heights California Stake. Each of the stakes had five wards so now the Hacienda Heights Stake has 10 wards along with a branch.

Likely New Stakes in Central America: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama

Here are some likely new stakes to be created in Central America. Districts likely to mature into stakes are written in italics and stakes likely to split are in standard font. Plus signs indicate possible districts combining to form a new stake. I also give a short summary of the status of the Church in these countries as well. These predictions are made to the best of my knowledge and are not guaranteed to happen. If you have any questions or comments, please provide feedback. Lastly, the number of current branches in districts is provided to the best of my knowledge.

PANAMA: Most stakes are small with only around five to seven wards. Some districts close to stakehood.

• Alcalde Diaz - 8
• San Blas - 7
• Concepcion + Puerto Armuelles - 7

COSTA RICA: One of the highest ward to stake ratios in the world - 44 wards in five stakes, or about nine to one. Districts are small and unlikely to grow into stakes in the near future.

• Alajuela
• San Jose

NICARAGUA: Seven out of Nicaragua's eight stakes have been created since 2000, all of which were districts maturing into stakes. Like Panama, most stakes have five to seven wards. Most districts have few branches.

• Chinandega
• Granada - 5
• Managua Tipitapa (4)+ portion of a stake in Managua

EL SALVADOR: Almost entirely covered by stakes; most have six to eight wards.

• Usulutan - 6

First Stake Dissolved in 2008

A stake in Guatemala City was recently dissolved. The Guatemala City Monte Maria Stake was dissolved sometime in the past month or two. This lowers the number of stakes in Guatemala City to 17. Only one other stake has been dissolved in Guatemala before, which was back in 1988. Conversions have dropped substantially over the years in Guatemala, yet the number of wards has held steady in the country. There are areas where growth is occurring more rapidly. For instance, the Rio Blanco District by Quetzaltenango has seen many conversions according to returned missionaries. Furthermore a second temple in the country was announced just 18 months ago. I imagine that the stake was dissolved for a variety of reasons, and I think that the two biggest ones were active members moving away and inactivity. Lastly, back in 2002 the Guatemala City Monte Maria Stake had only five wards in it (which is the usual bear minimum for there to be a stake entirely made of wards).

New District Created in Mexico

A new district was recently created in Pinotepa, Mexico. The new district was a result of a split in the Puerto Escondido District, located on the Pacific Coast of the Mexican State of Oaxaca. This was likely a result of membership growth in the area (a second branch was organized in the city of Pinotepa in the past couple of years) along with trying to reduce travel times for Church meetings. The Pinotepa Mexico District has a least three branches in it.

New Stake Created in Zimbabwe

The Harare Zimbabwe Marimba Park Stake became the third stake ever to be created in this African nation. The first stake organized in Zimbabwe was back in 1999 in Harare and this was the first time this stake has been split. The second stake in the country was created in Bulawayo back in 2005. The Harare Zimbabwe Stake has been quite large (over 10 wards and a few branches as well) for a couple years and also has high activity. Back in 2004, the Stake President apologized to Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the 12 that only around 70-75% of his stake attended stake conference (which is quite high attendence even in areas of the world with high member activity). Hopefully the Gospel will continue to take hold in this African nation plagued by instability and food shortages in recent years. Membership is over 16,000 and the two districts in the country seem close to stakehood as well. However I have not had any missionaries confirm that. I would not be surprised to see a new district created Zimbabwe in Kwekwe or Kadoma as well. If it were not for the political instability, I would predict a temple to be announced in Harare soon.

New Stake in Tonga

For the first time in 12 years, a new stake has been created in Tonga. The new stake, the Nuku'alofa Tonga Harbour Stake was created in the capital city of Nuku'alofa. This brings the total number of stakes in Tonga to 17. Stakes are generally created in spurts in the South Pacific. For instance, between 1994 and 1997, six stakes were created in Tonga, three in Fiji, two in Tahiti, and eight in Samoa but no stakes have been created since then really. A similar spurt occurred in the 1970s. Only one other stake has been created in the South Pacific this decade, which was last year in Kiribati. The Church continues to grow steadily in all of these nations and in Tonga the number of wards has increased by around 15 from 2000 to 2006. This is impressive considering most of these countries have only around 100-200 thousand people with slowly growing populations. Membership stands around 53,000 in Tonga. The yellow squares are stakes; the green squares are districts.

I imagine more stakes will be organized in Tonga in the next two years considering Tonga has one of the highest ward to stake ratios in the world.