SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Friday that 55 new missions will be created next year by adjusting the boundaries of existing missions.

“The new missions will help to accommodate a growing number of missionaries already called and will allow missionaries to better support the increasing number of congregations throughout the world,” the church said in a news release.

With the additional missions, the total number of missions worldwide will be 506, starting July 1, 2026.

“It is 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,” said President Dallin H. Oaks, president of the church. “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.”

The number of teaching and service missionaries, including senior missionaries, has increased from 65,000 at the end of 2022 to more than 84,000 current missionaries. Missionaries serve in more than 150 countries and teach in more than 60 languages, according to the church.

“It’s a blessing to see how each missionary contributes to the individuals they teach and serve as they share the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Cook chairs the church’s Missionary Executive Council.

“These additional missions help to balance the number of missionaries in each mission, allowing mission leaders to better support and mentor the missionaries they lead,” Elder Cook said.

The boundaries will be adjusted to create these 55 new missions (grouped by church administrative areas):

Africa Central

DR Congo Kinshasa NorthDR Congo Mwene-DituKenya KisumuUganda Kampala East

Africa South

Angola Luanda NorthMalawi LilongweMozambique NampulaSouth Africa East LondonZimbabwe Harare West

Africa West

Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan SouthCote d’Ivoire DaloaGhana Accra SouthGhana SunyaniLiberia Monrovia WestSenegal DakarTogo Lomé

Asia North

Mongolia Ulaanbaatar West

Brazil

Brazil GuarulhosBrazil São BernardoBrazil Sorocaba

Canada

Canada HalifaxCanada Toronto East

Europe Central

France Paris SouthGreece AthensSpain Madrid East

Europe North

México

Pacific

Australia Brisbane SouthPapua New Guinea DaruPapua New Guinea MadangSamoa Apia EastSolomon Islands Honiara

Philippines

Philippines LingayenPhilippines LipaPhilippines OrmocPhilippines OzamizPhilippines Puerto Princesa

South America Northwest

Perú Lima NorthwestPerú Tacna

South America South

Paraguay Asunción SouthUruguay Salto

United States Central

Missouri Kansas CityWyoming Cheyenne

United States Northeast

Indiana Fort WayneVirginia Norfolk

United States Southeast

United States Southwest

Arizona Phoenix EastOklahoma TulsaTexas Dallas NorthTexas Houston NorthTexas San Antonio South

United States West

California OceansideCalifornia OntarioCalifornia VictorvilleIdaho Coeur d’Alene

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.