Evidence of the continuing success in missionary work, the First Presidency has announced that four new missions will be created in Mexico and Central America.

The new missions, which will be organized about July 1, bring the Churchwide total to 239. Two new missions will be created in Mexico and one each in Honduras and El Salvador, bringing the Mexico/Central America total to 27.After the new missions are created, Mexico will have 17 missions, continuing to lead all countries outside the United States and all states in the United States in the number of missions. (See Jan. 27 Church News for article about creation of seven new missions in the United States.)

New missions to be created are the Mexico Tijuana and Mexico Oaxaca, and the El Salvador San Salvador East and the Honduras San Pedro Sula missions:

Mexico Tijuana

With the creation of this mission from the Hermosillo mission, the northern half of the Baja California Peninsula will have its own mission. The lower part of the peninsula in the state of Baja California South will remain in the Mazatlan mission.

The principal cities of the new mission are Tijuana and Mexicali in the state of Baja California North. In addition, the new mission will include the city of San Luis Rio Colorado, which is in the state of Sonora, across the Gulf of California. Tijuana and Mexicali each have two stakes, and a district is located in Guerrero Negro in Baja California South, making a total Church membership of about 8,000 within a population of 2.3 million. Missionary work is going well in both Tijuana and Mexicali, reported Pres. Tomas Valdes Ortiz of the Hermosillo mission.

In Mexicali, an average of 45-50 people are baptized monthly while about the same number are baptized in Tijuana. "We will open 10 new areas next month and another 10 to 15 the following month," said Pres. Valdes.

"We are doing great. In the mission we baptize from 200 to 250 every month," he said. "The missionaries are dedicated and happy, and they have willingly accepted the division of the mission."

Mexico Oaxaca

Under the direction of Pres. Alberto De La O Gamboa of the Tuxtla-Guiterrez mission, from which the new mission will be created, the work is progressing well in the land of the ancient Mixtecs civilization. About 6,500 members live in three stakes within a total population of about 2.6 million.

Last year in the city of Juchitan, one of the principal cities in the new mission, the branch had about 30 members and just a handful of Melchizedek Priesthood holders, said Elder L. Rawlin Bagnall, assistant to the president. Now, there are 30 elders, and more than 200 attending two thriving branches.

He said two new zones will be added to accommodate the increase in the number of missionaries prior to the division.

El Salvador San Salvador East

The El Salvador East mission will be the second in a country about the size of Massachusetts, with only slightly less population. About 5.5 million people live in El Salvador, which will have four stakes in the realigned El Salvador San Salvador Mission and two in the new mission. Some 12,500 members within a population of 2.5 million live in the existing mission, while 7,700 members within a population of 3 million live in the new mission.

According to Pres. Franklin Henriquez of the San Salvador mission, the San Miguel stake in the eastern part of the country has from 95 to 100 baptisms each month. Some 15 new areas will be opened in the eastern part of the country as the mission is prepared for division.

"Every missionary in El Salvador is from El Salvador," said Pres. Enriquez. "Being natives, most missionaries know what is going on, and they know how to handle themselves. They have learned where the potential dangers are. We are well-protected by the Lord."

He said the western part of the country is largely unaffected by the internal conflict, and the Church is strongest in that area. With the new mission in the eastern part of the country, the Church will also grow rapidly there, he said.

Honduras San Pedro Sula

The new Honduras San Pedro Sula Mission will divide the country north and south. The northern part, to be included in the new San Pedro Sula mission, will have three stakes and four districts within a population of about 2 million. This mission will also include the country of Belize with its single district of about 1,100 members, to bring the total membership to about 11,600. The realigned Tegucigalpa mission will have two stakes and four districts with about 14,600 members in a population of about 2 million.

Pres. Lehi Gracia of the Tegucigalpa mission said some 3,200 people were baptized in the northern sector of the mission during 1989.

"More people are converted in the north than in the south," he said, explaining that the north is an industrial area where the people appear to be more open to change. "They accept the gospel a lot quicker." The northern stakes are also able to send about one and a half as many missionaries to the field as their southern counterparts. Three-fourths of the missionaries in the country are Hondurans, and about half of those are converts of about a year.

"They are first-generation members," said Pres. Gracia. "Five years from now they will be a tremendous leadership force in this country. The area presidency has asked us to train them in administering the Church while they are on their missions. As soon as they are home and are married, they will become bishops and high councilors and branch presidents."