“Six New Missions to Begin July 1,” Ensign, May 1989, 102–3
Six New Missions to Begin July 1
The First Presidency has announced the organization of six new missions, effective July 1, bringing the number of missions in the Church to 228.
The new missions are: Philippines Naga, Mexico Queretaro, Panama Panama City, France Bordeaux, Texas McAllen, and German Democratic Republic Dresden. The Dresden mission is the first to be created in the German Democratic Republic; the Queretaro mission is Mexico’s fifteenth.
Growth in missionary work continues worldwide. More than 36,000 full-time missionaries are currently serving; more than 10,000 come from countries outside the United States and Canada. At the end of 1988, there were 1,296 couples and 6,345 sister missionaries serving missions.
Philippines Naga Mission
The Philippines Naga Mission is to be created from a division of the Philippines Cebu Mission. The Naga mission will have 9,000 members in the Legaspi and Naga stakes and the Daet, Lopez, and Sorsogon districts. The mission area has some 4.6 million people.
The Cebu mission will have 11,000 members in the Cebu City and Cebu City South stakes and the Calbayog, Catarman, Ormoc, Tacloban, and Tagbilaran districts. The mission area includes 3 million people.
Mexico Queretaro Mission
The Mexico Queretaro Mission will be organized through a division of the Mexico City North Mission. It will have more than 8,200 members in the Celaya, Leon, and San Luis Potosi stakes, which cover an area where 5.9 million people live.
The Mexico City North Mission will still have nearly 17,000 members living in the Mexico City Camarones, Industrial, Lindavista, Arbolillo, Zarahemla, and Tlalnepantla stakes and the Valle Dorado district. The population of the area is about 6.7 million.
Panama Panama City Mission
The Panama Panama City Mission will be organized from a division of the San Jose Costa Rica Mission. The new mission, in an area of 2.1 million people, will have more than 10,400 members in the David, Panama City, and San Miguelito Panama stakes and the Chitre, Colon, and San Blas Panama districts.
The Costa Rica mission will consist of some 6,700 members in the Managua Nicaragua, San Jose Costa Rica, and San Jose Costa Rica La Sabana stakes, and the Guanacaste and Guapiles Costa Rica districts. This new area will have a population of about 2.5 million.
France Bordeaux Mission
The France Bordeaux Mission was organized through a division of the France Paris and Switzerland Geneva missions. The new mission will include more than 2,500 members combined in the Bordeaux, Languedoc, and Limoges France districts. The area includes a nonmember population of about 8.6 million.
The Paris mission will have a nonmember population of 23 million, with more than 4,300 members living in the Paris France Stake and the Rouen and Nantes France districts. It is the largest mission, geographically, in western Europe. In the Switzerland Geneva Mission, with a total population of 13.3 million, there are nearly 5,000 members in the Geneva Switzerland and Nice France stakes, and the Dijon and St. Etienne France districts.
Texas McAllen Mission
The Texas McAllen Mission will be formed from a division of the Texas San Antonio Mission, whose area has contained about 4 million people. The McAllen mission will have more than 8,200 members in the Corpus Christi, Harlingen, and McAllen stakes.
Remaining in the San Antonio mission will be more than 17,000 members in the Austin, Killeen, San Antonio East, and San Antonio West stakes.
German Democratic Republic Dresden Mission
The German Democratic Republic Dresden Mission is located in an area where there has been no full-time missionary work for many years. Organization of the mission follows the announcement, in November 1988, that the German Democratic Republic had granted the Church the opportunity to conduct missionary work in that country and would allow Latter-day Saints living there to serve as missionaries in their own country and elsewhere. The population of the mission area is approximately 17 million, with 3,600 members combined in the Freiberg and Leipzig stakes.