OREM – The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has approved a new Utah Orem Mission that will open about July 1, 2015, according to a letter sent to missionaries in the Utah Provo Mission through mission office communications.

The new mission is being formed by a division of the Utah Provo Mission. It will cover the area from Orem north toward Salt Lake City, and will encompass some of the current areas in the Utah South Salt Lake Mission.

While approval for the new mission may have already been granted by leaders of the LDS Church, an official announcement has yet to be made.

According to Dale Jones, spokesperson for the church, “Announcements regarding missions are made by the First Presidency. Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time.”

The Utah Provo Mission was officially created in January 1989. President John A. McCune serves as the mission president.

The LDS Church thrives in the Provo mission, according to the mission web site. It is one of the highest-baptizing missions in the church in which English is one of the instructional languages. Missionaries called to the mission speak English or Spanish.

Provo and Orem are the two major cities in the mission, which also includes numerous small cities and rural towns in north-central Utah.

There are currently 406 missions worldwide.