u/yorgasor

Here's an update on the ward growth & shrivel around the world. The US is winning the shrivel competition with -41 wards! Brazil -8, Taiwan -5 and the UK -4 are putting in a good show. Unfortunately, huge growth continues in the DRC 28, Nigeria 22, and the Philippines 24, to lead the world to a +99 net ward gain.

Oops, forgot to mention the source! My thanks goes out to the Deseret Demographer on fullerconsideration.com for all his work gathering the raw data.

Here are the raw numbers of shrivel in the US so far in 2026. Utah is still getting hammered, Idaho continues to grow by making wards smaller. For example, between 2023-2025, Idaho grew by 111 wards while only gaining 6,787 members on the rolls. They added a new ward for every 60 new people, but you need a minimum of 250 members on the rolls to add a new ward.

With the US down a net 41 wards so far this year, this looks like unprecedented shrivel happening. Of course, if you look only at the stake level, you'll see great growth. We've closed 10 stakes (all in Utah) but opened 16 stakes! See? the church is growing!

Oops, forgot to mention the source! My thanks goes out to the Deseret Demographer on fullerconsideration.com for all his work gathering the raw data.

I really hope the church builds all the temples they've announced. They'll be the albatrosses that drag the church membership down. Star Valley, WY has a small temple. I listened to a talk by one of the temple leaders (maybe a presidency member?) a couple years ago and he said it took over 400 volunteers to keep that temple running every year.

Right now, that temple is fed by 5 stakes. But this fall, the Montpelier, ID temple opens. Montpelier will get 3 stakes from Star Valley (both Montpelier stakes and a WY stake), Soda Springs, ID (from the Pocatello temple) and Paris, ID (from the Logan temple). That leaves Star Valley with 2 stakes to supply all 400 volunteers and patrons. It's not going to bode well for them. I'm just glad I'm not being asked all the time to clean the temple, be a temple worker, and attend the temple regularly there in an attempt to keep it running. The US lost gross members last year for probably the first time in history. If they lost members of record, the number of attending members had to be huge.

To get a feel for how the temple service load is going to be distributed, there are 99 operating temples in the United States, with 59 under renovation, announced, under construction or almost ready to open. With 12,821 wards in the US, we currently have 129.5 wards per temple. (about 17 stakes). If they build all 59 of those temples and the number of wards remains the same, we'll have 81.1 wards per temple (about 11 stakes). There are 27 temples under construction, renovation or about to be opened, so they're committed to doing at least these. That leaves them 101.7 wards per temple (about 14 stakes). Note that the large temples require a lot more people to maintain. The West Jordan temple hosts 45 stakes, Salt Lake hosts 40, Mount Timpanogos hosts 34. The large temples tend to need 20-30 stakes to operate.

From 2022-2025, the US grew by 54 wards, largely fueled by smaller ward size requirements. For instance, Idaho gained 6,787 members on the rolls during those 3 years, yet grew by 113 wards, meaning they got a new ward for every 60 new members, when every ward needs a minimum of 250 members on the rolls. We're halfway through 2026 now and the US has lost a net 41 wards! We're well on our way to erasing the gains over the past 3 years in one year. So, the church will be lucky if they can keep the current number of wards over the next 10 years.

Here's a sample of Utah temples and a few large temples around the US:

Taylorsville Temple - 30 stakes
Jordan River - 45 stakes
Oquirrh Mountain - 30 stakes
Mount Timpanogos - 34 stakes
Draper - 19 stakes
Bountiful - 28 stakes
Salt Lake - 40 stakes
Provo City - 31 stakes
Lindon - 17 stakes
Portland - 24 stakes
Seattle - 31
Washington DC - 24 stakes

32 of all US temples are in Utah

I came across this 1931 version of the temple endowment covenants a couple years ago, and all this time I just thought they were naive for allowing the homosexual loophole:

LAW OF CHASTITY FOR MEN
"You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will not have sexual intercourse with any of the opposite sex except your lawful wife or wives who are given you by the holy priesthood."
"All bow your heads and say yes."

LAW FOR WOMEN
"You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will not have sexual intercourse with any of the opposite sex save your lawful husband, given you by the holy priesthood."
"All bow your heads and say yes."

But with all the talk about the William Clayton journals, I remembered this entry from Aug 24, 1843, where Clayton asked his mother in law if it was ok to have a threesome with her two daughters that he was married to:

"At night I asked mother if M might sleep with Ruth & me she appeared very rebellious & would not consent but said we might do as we had a mind."

And when I read the "except your lawful wife or wives" I remembered that this covenant was made during the time of polygamy. I wonder if this phrasing was selected specifically to allow polygamous husbands to have three(+)somes with his wives!

I came across this 1931 version of the temple endowment covenants a couple years ago, and all this time I just thought they were naive for allowing the homosexual loophole:

LAW OF CHASTITY FOR MEN
"You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will not have sexual intercourse with any of the opposite sex except your lawful wife or wives who are given you by the holy priesthood."
"All bow your heads and say yes."

LAW FOR WOMEN
"You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will not have sexual intercourse with any of the opposite sex save your lawful husband, given you by the holy priesthood."
"All bow your heads and say yes."

But with all the talk about the William Clayton journals, I remembered this entry from Aug 24, 1843, where Clayton asked his mother in law if it was ok to have a threesome with her two daughters that he was married to:

"At night I asked mother if M might sleep with Ruth & me she appeared very rebellious & would not consent but said we might do as we had a mind."

And when I read the "except your lawful wife or wives" I remembered that this covenant was made during the time of polygamy. I wonder if this phrasing was selected specifically to allow polygamous husbands to have three(+)somes with his wives!

Getting back to his roots, NewNameNoah talks with missionaries and gets the cops called on him for recording from the sidewalk outside a church, all while bringing awareness about the latest SA scandal. Granted, the term "latest SA scandal" is pretty vague. There are so many in the news right now that you need to be way more specific.