Swaziland

SWAZILAND Jan. 1,2012: Est. population, 1,124,000; Members, 1,423; Branches, 4;Districts, 1;Percent LDS, . 1, or one in 993; AfricaSoutheast Area; South Africa Johannesburg Mission.
SwazilandisalandlockedcountryinsouthernAfricaborderedbySouthAfricaandMozambique. Thepeoplespeak SiswatiandEnglish. SixtypercentareChristianand10percentareMuslim,while30percentfollowtribalbeliefs.
The Robert Beckman family. Church members from Montana, lived in Swaziland from 1978 to 1981, the first known Latter-day Saints tolive inthe country. Robert Dlamini was the first known Swazi tojoin the Church. He was baptized in 1979whileinCardiff,Wales. HereturnedtoSwazilandaftergraduation. Agroupofnon-AfricanLatter-daySaintsmovedto Swazilandinthemid-1980s. Tomeettheneedsofthisgroup,theMbabaneBranchwasorganizedon5November1985, withGeorgeGardneraspresident. Twoyearslater,theChurchreceivedlegalrecognitioninFebruaiy1987. Senior missionary couple Kenneth andBetty Edwards arrived thatsameyear.
The first missionary from Swaziland, Paulo Cipriano Zandamela, a Mozambican, served inthe Pennsylvania Philadelphia Missionfrom1989to1991. FikileNolwaziDlaminiwasthefirstnativeSwazitoserveamission. ShewasintheEngland LondonMissionfrom1989to1991. ElderNealA.MaxwellwasthefirstmemberoftheQuorumoftheTwelvetovisitthe country on 21 February 1990.
The Mbabane Swaziland District was created on 18January 1991, but itwas disbanded when itsunits were incorporated intothe Benoni South Africa Stake on 7 May 1995.
Swaziland's first meetinghouse, built for the Mbabane Branch, was dedicated on 18July 1993, ina ceremony attended by government representatives andpresided overbyElder Richard P. Lindsay oftheSeventy.
In 1995, the Swazi units became part ofthe Durban South Africa Stake and in1999 they became part ofthe newly created Hillcrest South Africa Stake.
Membership in 2003 was 886.