Saturday, June 11, 2011

First LDS Stake in Russia, created in Moscow

Almost 170 years after the Prophet Joseph Smith sent 2 missionaries to Russia and 11 years after the former USSR recognized the church, the vast nation's 21,000 members in 116 units finally have a full stake.
The new unit includes six wards and three branches. Yakov Mikhaylovich Boyko was called to preside over the stake, with Vladimir Nikolaievich Astashov and Viktor Mikhaylovich Kremenchuk serving as first and second counselor.  Evidently you need a "v" in both your first and middle name to be in the stake presidency. 
www.ldschurchnews.com/Moscow-Russia-Stake-organized-June-5-2011
How long until the St. Petersburg stake?




For comparison here is a list of countries with similar membership as Russia ranked by LDS membership as of Dec 31, 2010 with number of stakes

Rank
Country
Membership
Stakes
35
Costa Rica
     38,337
5
36
France
     35,960
9
37
Dem. Rep of Congo
     27,058
7
38
Hong Kong, China
     24,425
4
39
Italy
     23,976
7
40
French Polynesia
     21,245
6
41
Russia
     21,023
1
42
Zimbabwe
     18,549
4
43
Papua New Guinea
     18,336
1
44
Haiti
     16,902
2
45
Thailand
     16,331
1
46
Fiji
     15,897
4
47
Ivory Coast
     15,638
4
48
Amer. Samoa
     15,159
4
49
Kiribati
     14,927
2
50
Ukraine
     10,880
1
51
Cambodia
     10,530
0
52
Kenya
     10,270
1
53
Mongolia
       9,896
1
54
Sweden
       9,206
4
55
India
       9,188
0
56
Netherlands
       9,052
3
57
Uganda
       9,024
1
58
Sierra Leone
       8,907
0
59
Switzerland
       8,092
5
60
Cape Verde
       7,456
0


* Yellow highlight means they moved up in ranking since the previous year

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