Uganda

UGANDA
Jan. 1, 2012: Est. population, 32,370,000; Members, 10,368; Stakes, 1; Wards, 6; Mission, 1; Districts, 1; Branches, 16; percent LDS, .02, or one in 4,678; Africa Southeast Area
Records fromthe SouthAfrican Mission indicatethat Lorel Nicole was baptizedin Uganda on 1 July1969,whichis quite possiblythefirstLatter-daySaintbaptisminthatcountry. Non-UgandanLatter-daySaintslivingandworkingthereinthe early 1970s metinsmall groups thatreported totheSwitzerland andInternational missions.
Inthe 1980s, several Ugandans living abroad joined the Church, returned to Uganda, andwrote to Salt Lake City wanting toknow iftheChurch wasestablished inUganda. TheInternational Mission responded withChurch literature and encouragementtolivethegospel. Atthissametime,otherUgandanswhocameacrossreferencestotheChurchalsowrote toheadquarterswantinginformationandcontactwiththeChurch. AmongthemwasMugisaJamesCollins,whohadheard about the Churchfrom a pen pal in Denmark.
CharlesOsinde,anativeUgandan,joinedtheChurchin1989whilelivinginScotland. JustbeforeOsindereturnedto Uganda, theArea Presidency inEngland gave him a listofseven members anda few investigators andasked thathetryto locatethem. OsindefoundMugisaJamesCollins.
In October 1989, Guy and Peggy Denton, Church members from Utah, moved to Uganda to organize agricultural educationprogramsatMakaseroUniversity. TheDentonsheldChurchservicesintheirhome. InFebruary1990,Elder Robert E. Sackley, a counselor intheUnited Kingdom-lreland-Afnca Area Presidency, visited Uganda andbegan applying for legalrecognitionoftheChurch. HelocatedOsindeandintroducedhimtotheDentons,andtheybeganmeetingtogetheron Sundays. Ashort while later, Collins was taught thegospel byGuy Denton and baptized inLake Victoria byhim, thefirst nativeUgandan to be baptizedin the country.
The first full-time missionary couple to be stationed in Uganda, Lark and Arlea Washbum, arrived in Kampala on 8 December 1990. Thefirst Ugandan missionaries, Robert Kagabo andAmos Tumwesigye, began theirservice intheKenya Nairobi Mission in December 1992.
The first branch in Uganda was organized on 31 March 1991 in Kampala, with Guy Denton as president, Charles Osinde asfirstcounselor,andMugisaJamesCollinsassecondcounselor. Ashortwhilelater,on16February1992,adistrictwas organized with Guy Denton aspresident. Asecond district wasorganized inJinja inDecember 1993.
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Uganda becamepart of the Kenya Nairobi Mission when it was organized 1 July 1991. In October of that year, Elder JamesE.Faustofthe Quorum ofthe Twelve visitedUganda and blessedthe land.
TheChurchwasregisteredinthecitiesofKampalaandJinjaon23April1991. On16June1992,theChurchreceived nationwide recognition as a registered religious organization by the National Boardfor Non-Governmental Organisations.
In 1997, two meetinghouses were constructed in Uganda, one in Jinja and the other in Kampala. The Kololo meetinghouse in Kampala, the firstto be completed, was dedicated in September1997.
In March 1998,missionaries, alongwith manycitizens of Kampala, were invitedto participatein a citywide cleanup campaignjustpriortothevisitofU.S.PresidentBillClinton. Severalmissionaries,whilehelpingtocutthegrassatthe presidential airstrip across the street from the Kololo meetinghouse, were interviewed by Uganda's First Lady, Janet Museveni.
Membershipin 2003 was 3,580. TheUganda Kampala Mission wasorganized 1 July 2005,and included the countriesofUganda and Ethiopia.
In 2005, membership reached 3,920.

Missions

Uganda Kampala Mission