During the April 2026 general conference, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported 385,490 convert baptisms for the year 2025, a historic number increasing total membership to 17,887,212, according to the annual statistical report.
The last time the Church experienced such growth was in 1990, with 330,877 convert baptisms. The next closest year was 1996 when the Church recorded 321,385 convert baptisms.
At the 2025 Seminar for New Mission Leaders held at the Provo Missionary Training Center last June, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said that in 2024, the Church witnessed over 308,000 of God’s children enter the waters of baptism and receive the precious gift of the Holy Ghost.
This represents an increase of about 50,000 convert baptisms compared to 2023, marking the highest number in nearly 25 years, Elder Cook said.
Comparing the first quarter of 2025 with the first quarter of 2024, Elder Cook said every region of the world had seen at least a 20% increase in convert baptisms.
“This is remarkable,” he told new mission leaders. “And as exciting as this increase in baptisms was in 2024, we were delighted to learn that the rate of increase for new members attending sacrament meeting was even higher. We thank the Lord for allowing us to witness His hand in these remarkable outcomes — He is the reason for the hastening."
Elder Cook referenced three principles contributing to the “spiritual momentum” — missionaries focusing on the doctrine of Christ, finding the right people to teach and inviting them to sacrament meeting the first week they start to become curious about the church.
“We are blessed to live and serve in a precious time, when the gathering of Israel is accelerating across the earth,” he said.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who serves as chair of the Missionary Executive Council, testified of the Lord hastening His work in a devotional at the Provo Missionary Training Center on Jan. 27.
“It is a remarkable time to serve,” he said, adding that the increase in the number of missionaries has contributed to the highest number of convert baptisms recorded in any 12-month period of this dispensation.
The number of God’s children being baptized is “increasing in every region of the world,” he said, noting that the region with the highest percent growth in baptisms in 2025 was Europe. New members are also actively participating after baptism at a higher rate than any previous year.
No matter where a missionary is called, “you can have faith that the Lord is hastening His work in your area,” Elder Rasband said. “His miracles are filling the whole earth.”
Elder Cook also spoke about the growth of the Church in his October 2025 general conference address, “The Lord is Hastening His Work.”
“In the last 36 months, nearly 900,000 converts have joined the Church. These converts constitute approximately 5% of the total Church membership,” he said. “In the first six months of this year, conversions have risen by more than 20% over the previous year in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Pacific and Latin America. In North America we have seen a 17% increase.”
Accounts of large baptismal services have been reported around the world.
In Papua New Guinea, stakes have been organized faster than buildings can be erected for Latter-day Saints to gather. On June 14, 2025, 107 people stepped into the Bangoho River to be baptized. And another 129 were baptized on the weekend of Aug. 2-3, in Jiwaka Province, Papua New Guinea.
Last August, 120 men, women and children were baptized in Moriba Town, Sierra Leone.
In December, members, missionaries and friends gathered in the Kasumbalesa Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake center for the baptisms of 87 new converts.
Months of work from the Makurdi Nigeria District presidency, full-time missionaries and members of the Church in Nigeria resulted in an unprecedented baptismal service on June 24, 2023 — 73 people were baptized that day, with another 37 people baptized on July 23, 2023.
“These rising numbers are a clear witness that the gospel is touching hearts and changing lives everywhere,” Elder Cook said at October 2025 general conference.
In a May 11 social media post, Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles addressed the increase of missionary applications and the creation of new missions worldwide, which contrasts with trends that suggest the rising generation is less engaged in religiosity.
Elder Renlund outlined several factors, including:
- Bishoprics focusing more intensively on the rising generation.
- The availability of youth to attend For the Strength of Youth Conferences, which has increased interest in sharing the joy of the gospel.
- More families are engaging in earlier scriptures study, especially with the aid of “Come, Follow Me” curriculum, which has altered Sunday worship practices.
- An increase of young women serving missions.
- Young men and young women learning to work in counsel with one another.
“What we are witnessing today is more than growth in numbers. Across the world, missionaries are demonstrating a deep devotion to the Savior and a sincere consecration to His work,” Elder Renlund wrote. “An increasing number express that their fundamental reason for serving is their love for Jesus Christ and their desire to join Him in His work — an inspiring reflection of the faith and commitment that characterize today’s missionary force."
