There are over 600,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Pacific Area. This includes Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and the island nations and territories of the South Pacific.
Within this area are 17 missions, with five more being created next year.
Members and friends of the Church worship each Sunday in nearly 1,300 congregations from Perth to Papeete, and Papua New Guinea to the South Island of New Zealand. The first missionaries, converts, and congregations in the South Pacific date back to the 1840s. Since then, the Church has experienced steady growth.
Here are a few examples of the Church’s growth in the South Pacific just from this past year.
Mission Growth
On 24 October 2025, the Church announced plans to create an additional 55 missions globally, effective 1 July 2026.
A mission is a geographically defined area where missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints share the gospel of Jesus Christ and bless communities through teaching and acts of service. Missionaries serve between 18 to 24 months, and while on a mission, they focus on faith, service, and helping others learn about and choose to follow Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
In a statement released by the Church, these new missions will be created to “support the increasing number of congregations throughout the world.”
Five new missions were added to the Pacific Area in this announcement:
- Australia Brisbane South
- Papua New Guinea Daru
- Papua New Guinea Madang
- Samoa Apia East
- Solomon Islands Honiara
New-Missions-Infographic.jpg
The Church announced 55 new missions; five will be in the Pacific Area. December 2025.© 2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Temples
11 temples are currently operating in the Pacific, with 11 more under construction or announced. The most recent temple news for the Pacific was the release of an artistic rendering of the Savai’i Samoa Temple in October, and the groundbreaking of the Wellington New Zealand Temple and Tarawa Kiribati Temple.
- An-artistic-rendering-of-the-Savai'i-Samoa-Temple-of-The-Church-of-Jesus-Christ-of-Latter-day-Saints.
- 20250802WellingtonTempleGroundbreaking013.jpg
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
In his prayer at the Tarawa Kiribati Temple groundbreaking ceremony in November 2024, General Authority Seventy, Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi, referred to the Lord’s promise in 2 Nephi 29:7.
“Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?”
Temples are being built or announced in Wellington (New Zealand) Pago Pago (American Samoa), Tarawa (Kiribati), Noumea (New Caledonia), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), Vava’u (Tonga), Sava’i (Samoa), Uturoa (French Polynesia), Liverpool (Australia), Brisbane South (Australia), and Port Vila (Vanuatu).
In an address to Latter-day Saints in April 2024, President Russell M. Nelson explained the blessings and promises of the temple.
“That is why we are doing all within our power, under the direction of the Lord, to make the temple blessings more accessible to members of the Church.”
Area Growth
Along with these new missions and temples in the Pacific, Kiribati just celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Church in Kiribati. Approximately one in five people in Kiribati are members of the Church of Jesus Christ. The country's president, Mr Taneti Maamau, attended the celebrations and acknowledged the Church’s growth in Kiribati.
The organisation of Kiribati’s fourth stake (a group of Latter-day Saint congregations in a geographical area) coincided with the anniversary.
In June of 2025, Papua New Guinea had 107 disciples of Jesus Christ baptised in the Bangoho River in one day. The following day, the fifth stake in the nation of Papua New Guinea was created.
Elder Taniela B. Wakolo, First Counsellor in the Pacific Area Presidency, attended, accompanied by Area Seventy (regional leader), Elder Jared V. Ormsby.
“The Prophet, Joseph Smith, prophesied that the Church would fill the earth,” Elder Ormsby said. “And although Papua New Guinea and the people living their lives here have many challenges, you wouldn’t know it if you spoke to them. That’s the nature of their faith. They believe the Lord will bless them and we will see the Church flourish and grow here because of their faith.”
Elder Brooks Young is a missionary currently serving in American Samoa.
“The Saints in the islands have turned to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by turning to their neighbours,” he said. “They recognise their calling and fully embody it. When prompted to invite, they invite; to serve, they serve; to teach, they teach. There’s always a seat open at the table in the Pacific Islands,” Elder Young said.
New Zealand Latter-day Saint, Niccole Witehira, says that since she was baptised earlier this year, she has “come to find joy.”
She continued. “I’ve come to find happiness. I’ve come to find that families are meant to be together.”
Witehira says the gospel of Jesus Christ has helped her find comfort, peace, and hope as she has participated in ordinances of the temple. According to Latter-day Saint beliefs, these ordinances, or ceremonies, can unite families for eternity as they keep promises they make to the Lord.
This is especially meaningful to Witehira as her husband and daughter passed away in recent years.
The need for additional missions, doubling the number of temples in the Pacific, the establishment of new stakes and many people choosing to be baptized, all point to the growth of the Church in the South Pacific.
“I was blown away by the faithfulness of the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Samoa when I first arrived on the islands,” Elder Young said. “Nineteen months later, my awe hasn’t ceased.”