Twelve New Temples Announced - Largest Number of Temples Ever Announced in a Single Weekend

This afternoon, President Russell M. Nelson announced 12 new temples to be built in the following locations:

• Mendoza, Argentina 
• Salvador, Brazil 
• Yuba City, California 
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia 
• Praia, Cape Verde 
• Yigo, Guam 
• Puebla, Mexico 
• Auckland, New Zealand 
• Lagos, Nigeria 
• Davao, Philippines 
• San Juan, Puerto Rico 
• Washington County, Utah

With these announcements, there will now be 201 temples announced, under construction, or in operation. For more information, click here.

Two-Hour Sunday Meeting Schedule Announced - To Begin January 2019

This morning, the Church announced adjustments to the Sunday meeting schedule. This schedule will include a 60 minute sacrament meeting, followed by a 10 minute transition to a second-hour class. This second hour class will last 50 minutes and consist of Sunday School on the first and third Sundays, and Priesthood/Relief Society/Young Men/Young Women classes on the second and fourth Sundays. Fifth Sunday meetings will be determined by the Bishop.

More information can found here.

LDS Church Temples Website Back Online

After nearly six months following a server failure, the LDS Church Temples website (now renamed Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is back online. The website can be found here. This website provides some of the most accurate and comprehensive information on temples in the Church, including news on temple construction. Special thanks to the owner and webmaster, Rick Satterfield, for his tireless efforts to restore the site which has proven an invaluable aid in the study of the growth of the Church.

Conference Rumors

It has been interesting to review the speculation online in recent weeks regarding potential changes that may be announced during the upcoming General Conference this weekend. I have reviewed many of these rumors. Most of these rumors lack credible information to substantiate them. However, recent comments from church leaders, such as President Eyring when he spoke in Seattle, Washington last month, hint that there will be "a new way of doing things" and the need for personal revelation to confirm to members that the "practical ways of doing things are changed by the Lord through his Prophet." In August, an article on lds.org quoted President Oaks in regards to changes in Church programs to help better address member needs. More specifically, President Oaks stated, “We have spent many hours talking about how we can simplify our Church programs to perform their essential function for a wide variety of family circumstances,” and, “Now, I am pleased to tell you that some help is on the way and more is under discussion.” These statements, as well as other information obtained from other unpublished sources, suggest significant changes may be in the works and may be announced this weekend.

As for the scope of this blog, it appears some of these changes may relate to church growth. As noted in a recent post, it appears highly likely that there will be a significant increase in temple announcements, perhaps with new temples announced numbering in the dozens in the immediate future. This is by far the most well-supported rumor for the coming conference. It appears that new temples will adopt a smaller building size with minimal maintenance to improve accessibility for membership. Thus, if these changes were to occur, it could significantly change the way we look at temple announcements as a sign of church growth if the standards for a temple to be announced for a given area are reduced.

Several other changes may be in the works but are not as well supported based upon sources I have reviewed. For example, there appears to be significant changes coming to the missionary program (such as discontinuation of the term "investigator" to refer to people who are not members of the Church and learning about the Church from missionaries) albeit it is unclear what changes may occur. Additionally, the Church's announcements of changes to its youth programs have been reported although details are scant. As for changes to the standard Sunday meeting schedule, what I can confirm from my direct knowledge is that the Church will likely continue to hold weekly Sunday School classes per the New Testament 2019 Come, Follow Me - For Sunday School manual. More specifically, this teacher manual specifically designates particular lessons to be taught on particular weeks (e.g. December 31st-January 6th introduction to the year and New Testament, January 7th-13th Matthew 1; Luke 1, etc). The manual was specifically developed just for the year 2019 and STRONGLY emphasizes individual scripture and gospel study during the course of the year.

I believe emphasis on use of the Church's full name and utilization of the Saints Church history series are likely topics to be addressed in the conference. The Saints book has enormous potential, particularly internationally, to help mature members' faith and familiarity with church history with accurate sources and within proper context as translations of the first volume in the series are available in 14 languages (Cebuano, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog and Tongan). All languages with at least 100,000 Latter-day Saint speakers have a translation of this new reference available, which is valuable considering the significant amount of negative, and often grossly inaccurate, information about the Church online in these languages.

In sum, the timing for these changes, whether already announced or speculated to be announced soon, does not appear to be a coincidence. Never in the history of the Church has there been as many active members as at present. Rates for missionary service among young adults have also increased albeit rates of early return from missions have also increased. Financial resources also appear to be the highest they have ever been. However, never in the history of the Church during the past 80 years has the international Church grown as slowly as it has in the past couple years (annual membership growth of 1.48% in 2017, number of convert baptisms in 2017 lowest since 1987). There are significant resources and manpower available, but significant problems of poor utilization of resources, lack of coordination between organizations, and unrealized potential - especially outside of North America. Announced and rumored changes have good potential to revitalize the growth of the Church, particularly in countries with large membership bases where growth has slowed in the past decade but where populations continue to appear receptive such as in Mexico, Brazil, and Peru. My greatest hope is that there will be a significant redistribution of mission resources and restructuring of the missionary program to enable more deliberate, methodical methods to open more cities and populated places to the Church. The greatest worldwide predictor for church growth is the creation of branches in cities where no LDS congregations previously operated. Therefore, the opening of thousands of additional cities to missionary activity will have likely the greatest impact on the growth and expansion of the Church in the coming years and decades.

Here are some statistics to put things into perspective with the size of the Church and its geographical reach. The Church currently has a legal presence in locations populated by approximately 20% of the world population. With only a few exceptions, nearly all countries report LDS congregations in locations populated by less than half of the national population. Even countries where the Church has had a legal presence for decades have vast unreached areas, including large cities. For example, the Church in Brazil continues to report more than 400 cities inhabited by 20,000 or more people without an official ward or branch. In India, there are over 200 cities with at least 200,000 inhabitants without a Church presence. Countries where the Church has a presence in at least 20 cities constitute only 25% of the world's countries. Significant advances in technology enable thrifty and efficient methods to expand the Church like never before and within the confides in the law in most nations. However, unless significant changes occur to the missionary program, the Church will continue to struggle to accomplish its mission to take the restored Gospel to the world as evidenced by steady recent declines in the number of converts joining the Church and lack of expansion into previously unreached or lesser-reached areas of the world. Although there will be challenges, there are also unparalleled opportunities for growth. It is therefore paramount that Church leaders seek out the needed inspiration and revelation to determine what can be done to mobilize the vast resources at the Church's disposal to maintain a vision for growth - a vision that maintains universal principles that can be adapted to meet the specific needs and opportunities for the diversity of cultures and societies throughout the world.

September 2018 Monthly Newsletter

Click here to access our September 2018 monthly newsletter for cumorah.com.

Updated Country Profile - Uzbekistan

Click here to access our updated Reaching the Nations country profile for Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is the most populous Central Asian nation but also experiences some of the most significant religious freedom restrictions. Although a small member group meets in Tashkent to service foreign members who temporarily live in the country, there is no LDS presence among the native population. Uzbekistan was assigned to a mission for the first time in 2015 when the Central Eurasian Mission was organized with headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey. Currently, the mission is headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Updated Country Profile - Azerbaijan

Click here to access our updated Reaching the Nations country profile for Azerbaijan. There has never been a missionary presence in Azerbaijan although a branch for foreign members who temporarily lived in the country used to operate in Baku until it was discontinued in the mid-2010s. Other proselytizing, nontraditional Christian groups established a presence in the 1990s when there were fewer restrictions on religious freedom than today.

Updated Country Profile - Iran

Click here to access our updated Reaching the Nations country profile for Iran. Iran is one of only two homogeneously Muslim countries to have had an LDS mission during the past 60 years (the other country being Turkey) as the Iran Tehran Mission operated for a few years in the mid to late 1970s. Iranians have been uniquely receptive to the LDS gospel message among peoples in the Middle East and Southwestern Asia. Today, there are more than one thousand Iranian Latter-day Saints who primarily reside in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia. Furthermore, the Church organized its first Iranian Persian (Farsi) branch in late 2017 in Del Mar, California. Nevertheless, the size of the Church among Iranians abroad remains significantly smaller than some proselytism-focused faiths. For example, Jehovah's Witnesses operate hundreds of congregations or congregation groups that hold worship services in Iranian Persian, particularly in Europe, according to the Jehovah's Witness meetinghouse locator https://apps.jw.org/ui/E/meeting-search.html#/dashboard.

New Stakes Created in Idaho (2), Florida, and Utah

Florida
The Church organized a new stake today in South Florida. The Naples Florida Stake was organized from a division of the Fort Myers Florida Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards and five branches: the Bahia (Spanish), Bonita Springs, Cypress, Naples, and Vanderbilt Beach Wards, and the Estero YSA, Hibiscus (Haitian-Creole), Immokalee, Liberte (Haitian-Creole), and McGregor Branches.

There are now 32 stakes in Florida.

Idaho
Two new stakes were organized in Idaho on September 16th.

The Middleton Idaho East Stake was organized from a division of the Middleton Idaho Stake. The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Middleton 2nd, Middleton 4th, Middleton 5th, Middleton 7th, Middleton 8th, Middleton 11th, and Black Canyon YSA Wards.

The Idaho Falls YSA Stake was organized from several stakes in the Idaho Falls area. Information on which congregations are assigned to the new stake remains unavailable although it appears that there are five wards and three branches assigned to the new YSA stake.

There are now 131 stakes in Idaho.

Utah
A new stake was created in Cache County, Utah on September 16th. The Logan Utah YSA 7th Stake was organized from a division of the Logan Utah YSA 3rd Stake, Logan Utah YSA 4th, and Logan Utah YSA 6th Stake. The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Logan YSA 19th, Logan YSA 25th, Logan YSA 30th, Logan YSA 32nd, Logan YSA 43rd, Logan YSA 46th, and Logan YSA 52nd.

There are now 595 stakes and one district in Utah.

New Stakes Created in Argentina, Ecuador, Ghana, Haiti, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Utah; Stakes Discontinued in Ghana (Downgraded to Distrct) and Mexico (Downgraded to District)

Argentina
The Church organized a new stake in Cordoba, Cordoba Province on September 2nd. The Córdoba Argentina Chacabuco Stake was organized from a division of the Córdoba Argentina North Stake (renamed Córdoba Argentina Patricio Stake), Córdoba Argentina Sierras Stake, and Córdoba Argentina West Stake. The new stake includes the following four wards and two branches: the Alta Córdoba, Córdoba Chacabuco, Jesús María, and Nueve de Julio Wards, and the Los Boulevares and Parque Liceo Branches. Given the small number of wards in the new stake, it appears that one or both branches may advance into wards, or a new ward will be organized in the stake from a division of one of the four wards. The Church in Córdoba Province has organized six new branches in the past three years and some branches in the province have also advanced into wards during this time. The Church completed its second temple in Argentina, the Córdoba Argentina Temple, in 2015. There are now six stakes in the city of Córdoba, and eight stakes and one district in Córdoba Province.

There are now 77 stakes and 29 districts in Argentina.

Ecuador
The Church organized a new stake in the Guayaquil metropolitan area on August 19th. The Samborondón Ecuador Stake was organized from a division of the Duran Ecuador North Stake, Guayaquil Ecuador Las Orquideas, and the Guayaquil Ecuador Pascuales Stakes. The new stake includes the following five wards: La Aurora, La Joya, Metrópolis, Pascuales, and Samborondón Wards. There are now 17 stakes in the Guayaquil metropolitan area.

There are now 40 stakes and 9 districts in Ecuador.

Ghana
The Church organized a new stake in Central Region. The Assin Foso Ghana South Stake was organized on September 9th from a division of the Assin Foso Ghana Stake and the Yamoransa Ghana Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards and six branches: the Abakrampa, Assin Achiasi, Assin Foso 1st, Assin Foso 2nd, and Paramu Wards, and the Abura Dunkwa, Asebu, Assin Akrofuom, Assin Anynabrem, Assin Darmang, and Assin Edubiase Branches. The new stake is the Church's third new stake organized in Central Region since 2015. There are now six stakes and two districts in Central Region.

Additionally, the Winneba Ghana Stake was discontinued following its division to create the Swedru Ghana Stake last month. This marks the first time in Church history that a stake has been discontinued in Ghana, albeit it is more accurate to state that the Church created a new district and no stake was discontinued given the administrative changes to stakes/districts in the Swedru/Winneba area. The Winneba Ghana District has five branches.

There are now 24 stakes and 11 districts in Ghana.

Haiti
The Church organized a new stake in Haiti on September 9th. The Les Palmes Haiti Stake was created from a division of the Carrefour Haiti Stake and three branches previously assigned directly to the Haiti Port-au-Prince Mission in the Jacmel area. The new stake includes the following three wards and three branches: the Leogane 2nd, Petit-Goave 1st, and Petit-Goave 2nd Wards, and the Jacmel, Meyer, and Tenier Branches. It appears information on which congregations assigned to the new stake, and which branches became wards, remains unavailable based upon information provided on the LDS meetinghouse locator site given there are currently only three wards reported in the new stake.

There are now five stakes and four districts in Haiti.

Nigeria
The Church organized a new stake in Ogun State, Nigeria on September 2nd. The Abeokuta Nigeria Ibara Stake was organized from a division of the Abeokuta Nigeria Stake. The new stake includes the following six wards and three branches: the Ibara, Ilewo-Orile, Lafenwa, Oke-Ata, Ope-Oluwa, and Rounda Wards, and the Ilaro, Obada-Oko, and Olomore Branches. The Church organized its first stake in Abeokuta in 2014. There are now two stakes in Ogun State - both of which are located in Abeokuta. There is also a district in Ogun State located in Ijebu-Ode which appears close to becoming a stake.

There are now 53 stakes and 16 districts in Nigeria.

The Philippines
Today the Church organized a new stake in the Philippines Cavite Mission. The Naic Philippines Stake was organized from the Naic Philippines District. Information on which of the eight branches have become wards in the new stake remains unavailable. With the organization of the new stake, the Philippines Cavite Mission becomes the first mission in the Philippines to be entirely covered by stakes.

There are now 105 stakes and 70 districts in the Philippines

Utah
The Church organized a new stake in the Vineyard area of Orem, Utah. The Vineyard Utah Grove Park Stake was organized from the Orem Utah Suncrest Stake. The new stake includes the following six wards: the Suncrest 11th, Suncrest 12th, Suncrest 13th, Suncrest 14th, Suncrest 15th, and Suncrest 16th Wards.

There are now 594 stakes and one district in Utah.

Mexico
The Church discontinued the Los Mochis Mexico Stake and reorganized the former stake as a district (Guasave Mexico District). There are six branches in the district. This is the eighth stake to be discontinued in Mexico in 2018 due to a significant restructuring of administrative organizations and congregations in Mexico designed to better utilize meetinghouse space, strengthen local leadership, and establish congregations with larger numbers of active members.

There are now 221 stakes and 45 districts in Mexico.