Rapid Growth in Sierra Leone

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland with first stake presidency in Freetown, 2012.

On December 2, 2012, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles organized the Freetown Sierra Leone Stake, the first stake in Sierra Leone and the 3,000th stake of the Church. “What is particularly poignant for me is not only that this historic stake is created … for a people who have only relatively recently had the gospel brought to them,” Holland said, “but it is also created in a war-torn and tragic land where there has been so much bloodshed, so much violence and vice in an earlier time.”

Despite ongoing regional conflict as well as health and economic problems, Saints in Sierra Leone have continued to preach and minister to one another and to their neighbors. Amidst tragedy and disease, they have reached out in love to invite others to come unto Christ. Hundreds have accepted that invitation.

Church growth continued at an astonishing pace after the Freetown stake’s creation. On November 12, 2017, a special conference was held in Bo. During the conference, two new stakes and 12 wards were created. “These Saints have the opportunity to press forward … blessing their families, their community, and their nation,” said Elder Marcus B. Nash of the Seventy. “We are here at a very exciting time for Sierra Leone,” Nash added.