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Show .., oo C' N tN i. 3r 4 , a64 11111. - - Taft Benso,n at Stuttgart Airport (I to r)fres., Blythe tii. Banner greets Beth Benson, President Benson, Mrs. ,Benson, Mrs. South German Missian; Gardner, aPrei.-Ezr- - - - Pres. Benson presents the "Mormon Story' to Mayor Pfister of Esslingen at mayor's home. (Photograph by Norman Robinson).....:- , , - Elder Benson welcomed to Europe mission STLITTGAR'LGERMANY Pres. Ezra Taft Benson of the European Mission anda Om of the , Council of Twelve was aveLc.nmed by Church lead tt'S and civic digmitaries as opened conferences In the South German Mission and. Stuttgart . Stake, . Elder Benson took over his 'new ditfies the first of January following the release of Pres Theodore ;.' Over 200 members and mls sioneties accompanied Mission Pres.. Blythe111 Gardner and Stake Pres. Hermann Moessner to the...airport where President and Mrs, Benson were greeted with- - songs andwelcoming ban- ilers. A Motorcade escorted by po- Bee saw that the guests and others riding in chartered buses at the hotel in - arrived safely , -Stuttgart. - be builtwithin a - - -. year- , , Mayor Pfister of Esslingen Benson, Gardner and Moessner to his home for- - a visit The ma showed genuine -interest in Pres ident Benson's message and ae-cepted a copy of "The Mormon story,0 A n - appointment was made for missionaries to visit lihn in his home and explain the teachings of the Church. - nib. e gt, ftgactst.10,4 confer. ence 'Saturday sins, Walter Stover from the Church Welfare Committee gave ment---welcorn-ed le - -- DATES SET FOR HILLCUMORAH PAGEANT ' , 1 . 1 big those times of extreme bard'' ' shill TheStuttgart--StakeH--1 gb Council was completed for since its organization first time under the direction of the late Henry D. Moyle in the fall of 1961. Five-- hi set g h councilmen i apatt for this calling included Manfred Mueller, a recently re, turned missionary, who at the age of 22 is belle'vel to be ona otthe youngest high councilmen in the Church-- . 0 t e r high councilmen set apart were Friedrich Eliner,--Ma-xKneaht, and Eberhard Peter Hugg ershof - - - -- - - afternoonserving .: ' instructionon-the-organizati-on ot welfareworkin the stake. , &hurt scicial-ho- ur Zelph Erickson representing A the Genealogical Society a Is a followed .the conference in the so'utir cerman--missiorimopened new fields in this fin-Itant hashurchwork,,-.11Pnqm- ; accompanied by their daughter, During the Sunday- - morning Bess' ion, President Benson told Beth, left the following morning of his4xperiences with the Ger-for Munich, Germany, to visit -' The Bavarian-Missi- on tn the welfare man -- membersunder------woritshortly -aftehe Setbnd - --Fres .- Owertflacobs. World War in 1946; Many tears Favorable stories appeared in building sites purchased by the were shed as he told of his ex-local newspapers,,rith, pictures Church, including a five-acr- e piece ot ground-- a new housing: periencesthroughout - LEurope- - and and President Benson's visit. and especially in Stuttgart dur- area where a stake center will - ., , --- ----- - --- Baplisms Inclicale Church Islefabership Passed The steady progress of the - Churchin membership groWth; through conyert baptisms and .... natural growth, is expected to push at the total tnemberSlliP mark-the beginning of 1964 near the 2,100,00(l mark-Exact figures on Church mem- will be formallyan-wasi,965,78fLattnounced at April conference., Complete' reports are yet to be - - compiled. SHOWN AT Convert baPtisms In stakes and missions totaled 115,727 bap- fisms for 1963 compared with 115,690 in stakes and missions durhig1962. urch passed the 2 . 000 ' 000nember mark early in 1963. The total membership - figure - : - ot 1962. There were 389 stakes in the Church as the new year started, n gstakes-duriend- - TEN-YEA- INTERVALS R The march of progress in the following chart shows Church growth figures ever)? 10 years during the past 63 years: Mbsion ,Stake Total - Total - Total members members members stakes missions Year - - 1900 1910 1920 1940 1950 1960 1961 1962 1963 - 236,331 325,187 426,912 L L 703,017 .898,478 1.408,772 1,514,551 1,629,965 , 32,000 68,250 99,820 -- 159,647 212,838 284,408 309,M , ; 335,821 ,, (approximately) 268,331 11 393,437:- tUtt pUO& 672,488 862,664 1,111,3141,693,180 1,823,661 1,964,786 2,180,000 - '16 62 83 21 24 ou 35 43 58 64 :2104 "134 - 180 - 319 ' 345 364 --- - 389,.. : 71 77 mias Central American 18.04.. - By The same token, mission presidents 7arterare-assistin- g the new mem- 'bers to accept responsibilities In district, branch and MISS1011 auxiliary organizations. This en- - The new mission will Include ;;L: .allofAhearea of theformer EasternStates Missiorrexcept-- -the areas covered by the New. York and .This4trea-ot-more-&ncentrat- Mark In 1963 - Jersey stakes. - ed population will continue as the Eastern States Mission with in New York city; headquarters -the new. CuIleadquarters---of morah Mission will be in Rochester, N.Y. Cumorah. Mission; , - ables the General Authorities to a 'historic one, and includes - organizations, . is the area near flochester where ' the Hill Ctunorah and Sacred fulfilling the purposes of the --.-Grovearelbcated.---7----- . . .. missions. . . - - This unusual organizational ' took place Sun- day at a Session held in Sche- procedure in which ' " receive - nectady attended by 878 mon- mai nriPcthYnnti be.rs. ' DY:ecti!IgAlle d)Visig"yas, and arattkat apart the ElderAiarow13. Lee of the7,-- to bolcrixecutive offices in mis- Council of the Twelve aided by sion branches while young worn- daer,Ieranktin ' D. Richards, tpnohtna ofthe :, 4tions,trauximalies and rom; ,..... AssistantILtheCounril T we I v e. Eld er officer Relief pletely Society and Brockbank, Assistant , to the YWMIA organizations is impor- Council of the Twelve and man- ta n t ground ork for stake for- ' aging director of the Church, mations. New York World Fair Exhibit, Statistics of the Church again was also in attendance. bear out the inspir,ation of such President Wilburn C. West a preparation formula.- - In the will continue as president of the year 1900, there were only 488 States - Mission. Pres'. , Eastern wards and independent branches dent of the new mission is A. in the 43 Stakes of the Church. - Lester Petersen of " Today there are approximately .Rexburg, oo - establish-- - stake The-divisi- on 5,560;-Ca11bers- L: a P-re , Southers:-States,--- and Western States, 1939. Northwestern States Mission also led the missions In converts per missionary with , , a total of 46.31 converts per missionary during the past year The other top ten rrrissions finished as tal-lows: Northern California, 27.24; East Central ?rates, 2142: Gulf States, 23.04; Central. Atlantic ,States, 22.76;,;Calif.rua, t,21, leal - Eastern States Mission, was or - Be. . - Idahoi-wh- 3,700 a 18.64; Northern Modean t 18.30;, - Figures In the. -- - , , N.Y. The SCHENECTADY, ne-I n,recent1y an 2,00,0,000 4 457' Centfal Atlantic States, 4:369; tiall States, 4,124; Central AmorirAn iKI joLail, ,,,,F,a, Ma., , decy from a division of the mission total now stands at 77 The top ten missions in total -converts baptized during 1963 in- - , eluded Northwestern Statesj- -9,632; Northern California, 6,593; East Central States, f- -- , , , - ' forniai---5,548- - By---Divisi- - 1963. Six new missions also were - organized daring: the year The ' -- . , . Mission Created ely C umorah, Easternitales---7:-, - GROWTH - 11 - - on p Olt-visit- -- - -- - - Dates of the Hill Cumorah Pageant 4or1964e annoaced this week by President Wilburn C. Wel of, the Eastern States Mission. The pageant will be extended one day making five days of regular performance plus one dress reheareal. The pageant will be held from TuesdaythrougbSaturday, July 28 to August 1. The dress rehearsal to which the public is also invited will be held Monday evening, Jtily 27. Special emphasis is directed to having as many people as possible attend the pageant earlier in the week because of the tremendous crowds which usually attend on Friday and Saturday - aCcornpanying table reflect the steadygrowth of the Church since the the century when the 1900 total was 269,331 members was-als- in anee at the organizational meet- ing Tke226 missionariesserving )6. the Eastern States:ML5 Finn 11 be divided between the two missions - Week Endina februarv.21. 1964 CHURCH- -3 0,,t |