Australia Sydney South Mission

On July 1, 2018 the Australia Sydney South Mission and the Australia Sydney North Mission where merged into the new Australia Sydney Mission.

About Australia

AUSTRALIA
Jan. 1, 2012: Est. population, 21,262,000; Members, 132,392; Stakes, 32; Wards, 204; Branches, 81; Missions, 5; Districts, 9; Temples, 5;
Percent LDS, 0.58, or 1 LDSin 172; Pacific Area. Inthe southwest SouthPacific, the island-continentofAustraliaisa democraticfederalstate inthe Britishcommonwealth.
Australia's population speaksEnglish, and is 26 percentAnglican, 25 percentProtestant, and 25 percentRoman Catholic. In 1840, William Barratt, 17, was called from England to serve a mission in Australia. He found circumstances difficult, but baptizedRobertBeauchamp wholater becamean influential mission presidentinAustralia. Thennextmissionary was AndrewAnderson who had been baptizedby OrsonPratt in Scotland. Before he emigratedto Australia, he was givenlicense to preach there. Heand his family arrived in 1842. By the end of 1844, he organized a branch of 11 members in the private
township of Montefiores,some 220 miles northwest of Sydney. JohnMurdoch and Charles Wandell arrivedfrom Utah 31 October 1851 in Sydney, and established mission headquarters
there. They published tracts, began preaching andfound a few converts among a people verydistracted bya gold rush. A yearlater, 47members wereinthemission when Murdoch leftbecause ofillhealth. On 6 April 1853, Wandell leftwith a company ofSaints. Afew days later, another10 missionaries arrived underthe direction ofAugustus Farnham.
Atleastnine companies emigrated from Australia to Utah inthe 1800s. Themostserious shipaccident among allthe LDS emigrating companies occurred 3 October 1855, when the bark Julia Ann, carrying 28 Saints emigrating to Utah from Australia, broke up on shoals near the Scilly Islands. Five peoplewere drowned in the mishap.
426 Deseret News 2013 Church News Almanac
When word of the Utah War arrived in Australia in late December 1857, all missionaries returned to Utah. From then until 1875 only a few American missionaries were sent to Australia. Moreover, with greater successes in New Zealand, efforts of the Australasian Mission were focused there and in 1880 mission headquarters were moved to Auckland. After 1875 efforts in Australia were renewed and on 1 January 1898, the Australasian Mission was divided, forming the Australian and NewZealandMissions. Atthe time,membershipin Australia was about 200.
Missionaries arrived in Perth, Western Australia, in 1888. The first LDS meetinghouse in the country was completed in Brisbane in 1904. Emigrating members continually depleted numbers and upset the Australian government, who in 1917 limited thenumber ofmissionaries who could enterAustralia andinl918forbade "emigration propaganda."
Meetinghouses were dedicated in Melbourne in 1922,Adelaide in 1923,Sydney in 1924,and Perth and Hobartin 1925. World WarIIbrought theevacuation ofmissionaries andslowed thework. Furthermore, shipping difficulties began immediately after the war and hindered the return of missionaries.
TheSouth Australian Mission wascreated in 1955, withheadquarters in Melbourne, and David 0. McKay authorized the construction of new meetinghouses that same year.
Australia's firststake was organized in Sydney 27 March 1960. Additional missions were created in 1958 (Adelaide), 1973 (Brisbane), and 1975 (Perth), 1993 (Sydney North) and 1998 (Melbourne West). The Sydney Australia Temple, dedicated 1984,was Australia's firsttemple. Additional templeshavebeen dedicated in Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth,and Brisbane.
Members assisted as volunteers with the 2000 Summer Olympic Games.
On 28 March 2003, Elder Kenneth Johnson presented 100,000 Australian Dollars to the Farmhand Foundation for drought relief.
In2003,membership reached106,930. In2005,membership reached 111,098. In2009,membership reached123,650.
On1 July 2010, the Australia Sydney North Mission wascombined withthe Australia Sndney SouthMission to formthe Australia Sydney Mission. The Australia Melbourne West Mission was combined with the Australia Melbourne East Mission to form the Australia Melbourne Mission.

Missionary Blogs

Sister Michelie Nilsson
www.mymission.com/michelieonamission
2018
Elder Shae Densley
www.mymission.com/eldershaedensley
2017
Elder Andy Smith
elderandysmith2015.com
2017
Elder Raymart Dolino Elizaga
www.mymission.com/elderraymartelizaga
2017
Elder Nathan Jaren Hale
www.mymission.com/eldernathanjarenhale
2017
Sister Tessara Rollins
www.mymission.com/sistertessararollins
2017
Sister Tia-Mariana Roos
sistertiamarianaroos.blogspot.com
2017
Elder Matthew Tyler Whitlock
www.mymission.com/eldertylerwhitlock
2017
Elder & Sister Kinghorn
kinghornsinaustralia.wordpress.com
2016
Elder Cameron Jenson
eldercamerondeanjenson.blogspot.com
2016
Elder Dalton Stott
daltonstott.blogspot.com
2016
Elder Hedgpeth
hedgpethadventures.blogspot.com
2016
Elder Matthew Whitlock
mymission.com/eldertylerwhitlock
2016
Elder Pearson
nearingkolob.com/elder-pearson-australia
2016
Elder Riley Millar
eldermillardownunder.com
2016
Elder Rusty Newman
elderrustynewman.blogspot.com
2016
Sister Itagia Sianava
www.mymission.com/sisteritagiasianava
2016
Sister Danielle Dundee
callmedanidundee.blogspot.com
2016
Sister Emmalynn Pace
sisteremmalynnpace.blogspot.com
2016
Sister Jacquelyn Jacobsen
jacquelynjacobsen.blogspot.com
2016
Elder Jarrad Larsen
elderjarradlarsen.blogspot.com
2015
Elder Joseph Weiss
elderweissdownunder1.blogspot.com
2015
Elder Justin Cederlof
jcederlof.blogspot.com
2015
Elder Nicholas Macfarlane
eldermacfarlane.blogspot.com
2015
Elder Nicholas Tingey
elderspencerburtontingey.blogspot.com
2015
Elder Chad Randle
www.mymission.com/chadrandle
2015
Sister Kennedy Rushing
www.mymission.com/sisterkennedyrushing
2015
Sister Heidi Sorensen
sistersorensen.blogspot.com
2015
Sister Micah Atkinson
storminmormonmicah.blogspot.com
2015
Elder & Sister Feil
feildownunder.blogspot.com
2014
Elder & Sister Larkin
maryannlarkin.wordpress.com
2014
Elder Kyle Shafer
elderkyleshafer.blogspot.com
2014
President & Sister Back
australiasydneysouthmission.blogspot.com
2014
Sister Ashley Boiteux
ashleyboiteux.blogspot.com
2014
Sister Brighton Ketts
missionsite.net/sisterbrightonketts
2014
Sister Carly Raitt
sisterraitt.blogspot.com
2014
Elder & Sister Crawford
onthegowiththecrawfords.blogspot.com
2013
Elder Joshua Robinson
missionsite.net/elderjoshuarobinson
2013
Elder Kuyler Thompson
elderkuylerthompson.blogspot.com
2013
Elder Michael Richardson
eldermichaelrichardson.blogspot.com
2013
Elder Ryan Faulkner
elderfaulkner.wordpress.com
2013
Sister Maren Ziegner
missionsite.net/marenziegner
2013
The Jorgensens
jorgensensaustralia.blogspot.com
2013
Mission Alumni
mission.net/australia/sydney
2012
Elder David Monson
elderdavidmonson.blogspot.com
2011
Elder Michael Nelson
eldernelsondownunder.blogspot.com
2011
Elder Blake Gammon
eldergammon.blogspot.com
2010
Elder Willy Brown
www.mymission.com/elderwillbrown
2001
Sister Brooke Hampton
www.mymission.com/sisterbrookehampton
2001
Elder Todd Mathew Schlappi
www.mymission.com/eldertoddmathewschlappi
1995

Address

PO Box 456
Mortdale NSW 2223
Australia

Mission President

Darrell Kenneth Back

Region

Oceania

Church Statistics

Australia

Members: 143891
Congregations: 303
Missions: 6
Family History Centers: 145

Languages

English, Samoan, Spanish, Tonga (Tonga Islands)

Population

About 3.5 million

Operating

173
Years
3
Months
13
Days
Organized on 30-Oct-1851