The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced the Church’s 2026-2027 area leadership assignments, which feature changes in numbers and naming.
The changes — an increase of members in some area presidencies from three to four and the dropping of specific counselor assignments — were described as “adaptions” that increase support in area presidencies to better meet the needs of a growing, modern Church, in a news release published Wednesday, April 15, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The 2026-2027 area assignments become effective Aug. 1.
Area presidencies, which continue to have an assigned area president, no longer have specific counselor designations. In the area presidencies shown below, the area president is shown first at left, with an asterisk by his name.
The Church has 24 administrative areas — six that cover the United States and the remaining 18 covering the other countries. (See below for more information about the areas and how the Church administers its global work.)
View or download a PDF of the 2026-2027 area leadership assignments.
Area presidencies — within the United States
United States Central Area
The United States Central Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder José A. Teixeira, president; Elder Ricardo P. Giménez; Elder Karl D. Hirst; and Elder James O. Fantone.
United States Northeast Area
The United States Northeast Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Robert M. Daines, president; Elder Joni L. Koch; Elder Alan T. Phillips; and Elder Kevin J. Hathaway.
United States Southeast Area
The United States Southeast Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Massimo De Feo, president; Elder Aroldo B. Cavalcante, and Elder John D. Amos.
United States Southwest Area
The United States Southwest Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Michael A. Dunn, president; Elder Joaquin E. Costa; Elder Sergio R. Vargas; and Elder Christian C. Chigbundu.
United States West Area
The United States West Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Takashi Wada, president; Elder Peter M. Johnson; Elder Hugo E. Martínez; and Elder Hutch U. Fale.
Utah Area
The Utah Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Brian K. Taylor, president; Elder John A. McCune; Elder Jorge T. Becerra; and Elder Thabo Lebethoa.
Area presidencies — outside the U.S.
Africa Central Area
The Africa Central Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Paul B. Pieper, president; Elder Alfred Kyungu; and Elder Christophe G. Giraud-Carrier.
Africa South Area
The Africa South Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Carlos A. Godoy, president; Elder Vaiangina Sikahema; and Elder Ozani Farias.
Africa West Area
The Africa West Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Adeyinka A. Ojediran, president; Elder Isaac K. Morrison; Elder Jonathan S. Schmitt; and Elder D. Martin Goury.
Asia Area
The Asia Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Kelly R. Johnson, president; Elder David L. Buckner; and Elder Wan-Liang Wu.
Asia North Area
The Asia North Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder J. Kimo Esplin, president; Elder Christopher H. Kim; and Elder Michael John U. Teh.
Brazil Area
The Brazil Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Ciro Schmeil, president; Elder Denelson Silva; Elder Ronald M. Barcellos; and Elder B. Corey Cuvelier.
Canada Area
The Canada Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Vern P. Stanfill, president; Elder Matthew L. Carpenter; and Elder James E. Evanson.
Caribbean Area
The Caribbean Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Valeri V. Cordón, president; Elder Hugo Montoya; and Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt.
Central America Area
The Central America Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Patricio M. Guiffra, president; Elder Ryan K. Olsen; and Elder Gregorio E. Casillas.
Eurasian Area
The Eurasian Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Aleksandr A. Drachyov, president; Elder Nikolai Ustyuzhaninov; and Elder Vladimir N. Astashov. All are Area Seventies.
Europe Central Area
The Europe Central Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Jack N. Gerard, president; Elder James W. McConkie III; and Elder Michael Cziesla.
Europe North Area
The Europe North Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Kevin W. Pearson, president; Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis; and Elder Paul H. Sinclair.
Mexico Area
The Mexico Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Moisés Villanueva, president; Elder Jose L. Alonso; Elder Brik V. Eyre; and Elder Jorge M. Alvarado.
Middle East / Africa North Area
The Middle East / Africa North Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Anthony D. Perkins, president; Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella; and Elder Edward B. Rowe.
Pacific Area
The Pacific Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Taniela B. Wakolo, president; Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi, Elder Hans T. Boom; and Elder Matthew Johnson Eyring.
Philippines Area
The Philippines Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Carlos G. Revillo Jr., president; Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong; and Elder Steven D. Shumway.
South America Northwest Area
The South America Northwest Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Juan Pablo Villar, president; Elder Sandino Roman; and Elder Steven C. Barlow.
South America South Area
The South America South Area presidency for 2026–2027, from left to right: Elder Alan R. Walker, president; Elder Mathias Held; and Elder Aaron T. Hall.
More about area presidencies and administration
The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles preside over all affairs of the Church.
The Church has 12 quorums of the Seventy. The First and Second quorums are composed of General Authority Seventies, who have authority to serve anywhere in the world. The remaining 10 quorums are composed of Area Seventies. Under the direction of area presidencies, Area Seventies meet with and teach Church leaders, missionaries and members of the Church in local congregations. The work of each Area Seventy is generally limited to a specific area.
For each administrative area, a member of the Seventy is assigned by the First Presidency to serve as area president. Area presidencies work under the direction of assigned members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Presidency of the Seventy.
Doctrine and Covenants 107:34 reads: “The Seventy are to act in the name of the Lord, under the direction of the Twelve … in building up the Church and regulating all the affairs of the same in all nations.”
The Church first established these area designations in 1984 to help direct the work in geographic locations across a worldwide Church.
Most members of area presidencies are General Authority Seventies, with some Area Seventies — there are three Area Seventies comprising the Eurasian Area presidency, headquartered in Moscow, Russia.
Areas in the United States are administered from Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, as is the Middle East/Africa North Area.
Other international areas are administered from area offices in those areas:
- Africa Central — Nairobi, Kenya;
- Africa South — Johannesburg, South Africa;
- Africa West — Accra, Ghana;
- Asia — Hong Kong;
- Asia North — Tokyo, Japan;
- Brazil — São Paulo, Brazil;
- Canada — Calgary, Alberta;
- Caribbean — Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic;
- Central America — Guatemala City, Guatemala;
- Eurasian — Moscow, Russia;
- Europe Central — Frankfurt, Germany;
- Europe North — London, England;
- Mexico — Mexico City, Mexico;
- Pacific — Auckland, New Zealand;
- Philippines — Quezon City, Philippines;
- South America Northwest — Lima, Peru; and
- South America South — Buenos Aires, Argentina.
