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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines


As of April 2016, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) reported 728,295 members in 85 stakes and 84 districts, 1,201 congregations (537 wards and 597 branches), 21 missions, and two temples in the Philippines.

Since August 2016, the church's Philippines Area has included Shayne M. Bowen as president, with Allen D. Haynie and Evan A. Schmutz as counselors.

The first contact the church had with the Philippines was in 1898 during the Spanish–American War. Two LDS men, Willard Call and George Seaman, who were part of the United States artillery battery, were set apart as missionaries and began to proselytize after being deployed to the Philippines. However, they met with little success. Active proselytizing stopped on the onset of World War II.

The first Filipino to join the LDS Church was Aneleta Pabilona Fajardo in 1945, who was introduced to the church by Maxine Grimm, who was in the Philippines with the Red Cross in the aftermath of World War II.

The Luzon Serviceman's District was organized during the Korean War under the Japanese Mission for American servicemen stationed in the Philippines. In August 1955, the district was then transferred to the newly organized Southern Far East Mission, under the direction of Joseph Fielding Smith, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. During this time, Smith visited the Philippines. Due to legal issues, the LDS Church could not send missionaries to the country. Missionary work, however, was done by LDS servicemen and American residents, including Kendall B. Schaefermeyer, a returned missionary serving in the U.S. Navy. He had baptized four Filipinos by October 1957 and was teaching more than 20 others.


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