brad halsey

The LDS Church is entering a stage where more members are found outside of the United States than within. This is a new and exciting stage for the Church. The progress, in large part, is due to a consistent push for missionary work. The LDS Church has an expectation for all of its male youth to eventually serve a full-time mission. During the 70's and 80's many of those willing to serve were sent to Mexico, Central, and South America. The growth those serving experienced was unprecedented. The spike in membership within Latin America has lead to a consistent growth in those regions. While the Church has seen growth, there have been some areas that are growing at a more rapid pace.

 

I have color-coded countries based on percentages—meaning the countries in a darker shade of green have a higher percentage of LDS members. If we were to look at only percentages we would be mislead to believe that a country like Brazil is lacking progress in comparison to a country like Peru. What is more telling are the numbers of stakes and missions within a country.

 

The map shows the number of stakes and missions in clusters. There is a correlation between missions and growth rates. There is also a correlation between stakes and number of members. The Church will often expand and add stakes as the membership in an area grows. Likewise, more missionaries are sent to areas where there is more “work” to be done. This work can include teaching, baptizing, administrating, and working with local leadership.

 

We can now look at a country like Brazil and see that the LDS population is low in percentage simply because its total population is enormous. The country is only behind USA and Mexico in total LDS membership. Chile and Peru are next behind Brazil, but have less than half of the amount of members.

 

I really enjoy this map because it gives a good perspective of the LDS world outside of the USA. It does a wonderful job at putting overall LDS population into perspective with the added information of Stakes (established membership) and Missions (potential growth).