SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced plans to create 55 new missions, bringing the total amount to 506 worldwide.
The new missions include five in the southwest United States, two in Canada, five in the Philippines and seven in west Africa, among others. Church officials said the new missions will go into effect on July 1, 2026, and will help accommodate what they said was a growing number of missionaries.
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According to the Church of Jesus Christ, the number of young teaching and service missionaries and senior missionaries has gone up from about 65,000 in 2022 to the current number of more than 84,000.
“It’s inspiring to see the number of young Church members who continue to answer the call to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world,” President Dallin H. Oaks said in a statement. “These missionaries are helping to bless the lives of hundreds of thousands of people every year who are choosing to be baptized into the Lord’s Church.”…