Pressing Matters of a Sound Mind

Claire's Blessing Day

In accordance with D&C 20:70, Claire Brianne was blessed in Church ... almost a week an a half ago on Oct. 16th ;neither Melissa nor I had posted any pictures for those relatives who weren't able to attend.  There were two things which I did not expect about being a parent, 1. How AWESOME it is! and 2. How much of your times it takes up! Needless to say, we have been very busy over here with Baby, too busy to even keep up on blogging much about it. It was really neat that a good number of my folks, plus Melissa's family (including her Grandma) were able to make it out, even if only for a brief weekend. It was my first time giving an official "father's blessing"....EEEK! (Actually, I had given her one a few nights previous to help her get to sleep when she was having a tummy ache). It was a neat experience, to receive such direct revelation and responsibility for my family, the "mantel of being a patriarch". I am glad Melissa took notes, so that we can look upon them and maybe even show them to Claire some day. Claire is a very sweet little girl and I can't imagine how we got along without her. She slept right through her blessing, and didn't even cry once. Some of the highlights were:

-A blessing of strength and health
-Spared from sickness
-Develop a testimony, see miracles of the Lord at a young age
-Sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost
-Hearken to the word of the Lord
-A love of virtue and charity
-Live righteously and enter the House of the Lord
-Sealed and married in the temple
-To follow the example of her mother
-A love of the gospel and of the scriptures




















We love Claire! Happy blessing day Sweetie!

posted by Austin @ 10:07 PM 5 Comments

Generations Project: The Johnson's (Jonsson)

The Johnson girls



Hilma Johnson, 1943






The death certificate lists Gunnar's occupation as "Plasterer" , and  provides a street address of 747 South 3rd Ave in Pocatello, Bannock, Idaho and that he was burried in the Mountain View Cemetery.

Why is there a picture of a toe on your blog ?

William Wright

Norma Hilda Johnson, my grandma

Norma Johnson

Norma, my grandmother, was born Oct. 8, 1925, in Pocatello, Idaho. She attended school in Pocatello, graduating from Pocatello High School. While in school, she developed a strong love of music, drama and learning that she carried with her throughout her life. After graduation she moved to California and worked as a secretary for a few years. She then returned home to Pocatello and continued working as a secretary.

Grandma Palmer and my aunt, Maureen



Grandpa and Grandma Palmer

She was active in the LDS Church throughout her life, serving in numerous positions and callings. She taught Primary, Relief Society, Mutual and Sunday School, led music, sang in the choir, served on Stake Boards and with her husband served a Stake mission. Grandma loved missionary work.

Grandma Palmer and me, 2005

Shortly before I went on my own mission, she wrote me a touching letter about how her grandparents, the Wallin's, joined the Church  in Sweden (which started my interest in how my ancestors were converted ) what her testimony meant to her, and how she felt priveldged to help finacially support her older sister, Thelma on a mission to St. Paul, Minnesota. She was a major inspiration for to to serve a mission when I wasn't sure if I wanted to serve a mission. What a neat experience it was for her to come see me get set apart a few weeks before her death, though her health was declining. I do believe that her life was prolonged to see me on a mission. She died Aug. 25, 2005 only 1 month after I left for the MTC.









http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/IDONEIDA/2005-08/1125252248
http://newsarch.rootsweb.com/th/read/TheShipsList/2004-07/1090325210

posted by Austin @ 1:09 PM 0 Comments

Rage Over a Lost Penny

Benjamin Franklin is often quoted, "A penny saved is twopence dear" (often misquoted as "A penny saved is a penny earned.)
We’ve heard this adage all the time, but today a penny isn’t worth much, and besides, it’s no longer the truth. I’ve thought about this lately and intent to prove Ben wrong.
To illustrate, let’s say you have earned 1 penny that you intend on saving. Let’s start with taxes. If you happen to be in the lowest tax bracket at 10%, though that could be anywhere from 15% on up, depending on what you earn, every taxed dollar you earn is worth only $0.90; that means your penny is now worth $.009. Tack on FICA, 4.2% for most wage earners, and 1.45% Medicare for the calendar year 2011. Texas doesn’t have state income tax, but if it did, those would need to be subtracted, so it’s worth even less. So our dear penny’s net worth is $0.0084915.
Let’s start making some money, right? Next, you must find a bank that will allow you to open an account with a meager $0.0084915 deposit. Some banks will let you open a savings account with no minimum deposit, but most that have an interest rate that is more than negligible at this point require a minimum deposit anywhere from $25 or $500 and up. The amount of interest could vary widely depending on what types of account you open (CD, Savings, MMA, etc), though you probably aren’t eligible for much beyond a plain old savings account with your small deposit. We are adhering very strictly to the “penny saved” philosophy, no additional deposits or withdrawals, we are not doing anything to the penny except save it, etc, and we are not rounding, to illustrate the point. Let’s say that you open that account with .21%APY interest compounded daily, paid monthly. Let’s say you leave the $0.0084915 in the bank for 1 year, and the average APY during the duration for the year is .21%, just to be concise, though it may change. You make no other contribution to this fund. At the end of the month, you have $.0085093 in the account. Remember, we’re not rounding to illustrate this idea. So far, your saving a penny has cost you $.0014907, a far cry from a penny earned.
But, wait there’s more, the bank charges a monthly service fee of $ 5, because you have no automatic transfer or direct deposit, do not maintain a daily balance requirement, or have any other accounts linked with the bank. In the first month, your account balance goes in the red,-$4.9914907, and you have no overdraft protection. In Texas, state law prohibits both a NSF fee and a daily overdraft fee for the same item, again this may vary depending on different State legislature, but we are not adding to the fund, and not touching the penny. The penny stands alone. So, the next day the bank now hits you with an overdraft fee of $35, account balance is -$39.99149. Each day your account is in the red, an additional $35 charge for a maximum of 5 consecutive days is applied. Your failure to promptly pay back the overdraft results in this additional extended overdraft fee.
You now are $179.99149 in the hole at the end of your first month.
For the next 11 months, every month, you get hit with a $35 extended overdraft fee, for 5 consecutive days, plus the $5 monthly service fee.
Your account balance at the end of the year totals -$2159.9914.

We’re still not done, we haven’t accommodated for a 3.9 % per year cost-of-living adjustment and inflation while your money was in the bank “accumulating interest”. Total net worth in the account is -$2244.231 at the end of the year.

So, your penny worth $.001 today will be worth -$2244.231 in one year from now. Awesome.

However... a penny in good condiation minted in 1793, the first year the United States minted its own coins (and possibly Ben Franklin's era), recently sold at auction in Orlando, FL for ... $1.38 million dollars!



At this rate, I suggest taking your penny, stashing it under your bed for 200 years and cashing in on the profit!

posted by Austin @ 10:02 PM 1 Comments

Generations Project: The Gurr's

My grandfather and of whom I am the namesake, George Austin Palmer, was born in 1921.
He was adopted when he was 9 months old by Joseph Palmer, Jr. and Ella Colton.

Joseph  and Ella Palmer, and 3 granddaughters, my aunts

He wasn’t told that he was adopted until he left home for a mission, I believe. Although growing up in a small town in Idaho, and hearing the mean things that kids repeat that their parents say, he always suspected it.


Joseph Palmer, Jr.

His childhood was not a pleasant one. Grandpa was a very tender and caring man. His biggest fear was that he was illegitimate and he was branded with the nasty title of a bastard son. And he always wondered why his mother would give him up. For years, my grandfather wondered about his birth parents, who they were, what they were like. When he was a little older, he sent off for his adoption certificate, that is the only information that he had to go off. It listed his name as "Austin Gurr", and his birthmother’s name but no father, which stirred up the feeling that he was born illegitimately. His mother had signed "Lila Gurr", crossed out"Lila" and wrote "Eliza".

Grandpa's Adoption Decree

Shortly before his death, due in large part to family history research done by a daughter-in-law’s sister (kind of confusing), doing a genealogy project at BYU,  he was able to find out that he had a biological sister living in Cedar City, UT, a Norma Gurr Steiner (born 17 June 1918- Aug 30 2006) and in St. George a 1/2 sister, a LaFawn Crosby Robinson (born in 1925, living, as last I had been informed), and was able to meet them. What a neat occasion it must have been for him to met his sisters and finally solve a life long mystery. It was interesting because when my aunt contacted the family for the first time, they said that it probably wasn’t the same "Elizabeth Gurr", since their grandmother went by the name "Lila", which was a big step in finding my grandpa's biological family.


Grandpa Palmer

 Grandpa grew up in Malad, ID graduating from high school, and attended University of Idaho at Moscow, studying veterinarian medicine, having a deep love of animals. He served an LDS mission to the California El Centro Mission, which included California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and part of Mexico.


In large part he proselyted to Navajo Indians in the area. He told storied of eating prairie dogs among the Indians and a story about going into Mexico and being put into prison. He had a dark complexion and black hair they thought that he was trying to cross the border, but he had blue eyes so that threw them.


In 1948, he married grandma, Norma Johnson in the Logan, Utah LDS Temple, where they were sealed for time and eternity. They were blessed with seven children, five daughters and two sons, one of which is my father.
He spent his life working and enjoying his family on the family dairy farm. His pride and joy were his children, grandchildren, and family, and having them stay and work with him on the farm. He was active in the LDS Church as a high priest, serving on the stake Sunday school board, as a stake missionary and other callings. He had a love of music, the outdoors and a great appreciation of family. I remember how every time we had to leave after visiting, he would weep and would come outside and wave to see us off.  

My paternal grandparents, Norma Hilma Johnson and George Austin Palmer

Grandpa was born in 1921 in Salt Lake City, UT to his birth mother Elizabeth "Lila" Catherine Gibson (1895-1940, daughter of David William Gibson (1870-1958) and Elizabeth Stewart Hunter (1871-1937)),  and birth father John William "Jack" Gurr (1894-1944). At this time, his biological sister, Norma would have been 3.

Jack Gurr

It was believed that Jack was a bit of a player, and that Lila’s parents were very upset about the whole thing. They were married, mostly for a name to the child. Jack had married Lila, on 6 August 1918, two months after Norma was born, and soon after, Jack went into the Army. Jack served in World War I from 1918-1919 as a  Private First Class in the D Company of the 319th Engineers of the U.S. Army. He was a sheepherder and farmer by trade.

Norma Gurr and Lila Gurr



Jack's WWI Service Questionnaire







War Questionaire Cont'd

  

Vetern's with Federal Service Burial record


Grandpa was able to put to rest two of his biggest fears, he was not illegitimate and his mother did not want to give him up. Lila's overbearing father and the pressures of single life left her feeling she had no other option. Elizabeth Gibson put grandpa up for adoption sometime around Dec. 1921, as I recall.

   

Death Certificate, Jack Gurr






posted by Austin @ 10:40 PM 5 Comments

Church History in France

With the recent announced temple in Paris, France, I thought it'd be interesting to do a little research and post about the LDS Church History in France. Having served there myself, this announced temple meant a lot to me. I remember nights on my knees petitioning the Lord to help the people of this country be able to receive the temple blessings. I remember when the thought of assisting to help others receive the temple blessings I so enjoyed was the only thing keeping me going. I remember the passion I felt for my personal goal of bringing families in to the church and helping them receive the blessings of an eternal family.
In 1845 an unnamed Scottish elder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints went to France, reportedly made two converts, and stated that if the gospel were “preached in the language of the country … thousands [would] embrace it. …”.  How right he was!

Map of France, note location of temple near Versailles, and cities I served in  (white)

The first mention of France in the history of the Church is a report of a council meeting held at Nauvoo, Illinois, 6 May 1844, when it was voted to send Almon W. Babbit (an "on-and-off-again" early Church leader) there on a mission. For reasons unknown, Babbitt never fulfilled the assignment.
 In a general conference of the British Mission held in Manchester, England on 14 August 1848, it was resolved that William Howells of Wales would be sent to France and Brittany to preach the gospel. He was the first LDS missionary in France. Prior to his conversion to Mormonism, Howells had served for the Baptists as a missionary in Brittany (a region in Northern France), though he did not speak Breton, and his French was very limited. Nevertheless, the fact that he had had this experience and his great missionary zeal resulted in a call to return to Brittany, this time as a Mormon missionary. Within six months following his conversion, the thirty-two-year-old Howells was asked to prepare to serve, the call made official on 14 August 1848. The French Mission was organized on 18 June 1849, and a month later, Howells arrived in Le Havre, France with a bag full of pamphlets in English and French. He experienced some frustration, but on 30 July 1849, baptized Augustus Saint d'Anna, a "single, intelligent young man." of foreign birth. A month later Howells traveled to St. Malo, where, later that same year, he baptized a man named Pebble and a young woman named Anna Browse. Browse had been ill for years and her friends feared that her baptism in the icy waters of the bay would end her life, but her illness left after she emerged from the waters and her health was restored. In February 1850, Howells traveled to Boulogne and distributed tracts with greater success. Despite political and economic upheaval in France in the mid-nineteenth century, missionary work was going well across the channel in England and it was felt that France too should be opened for the preaching of the gospel. The Boulogne-sur-Mer Branch was organized with six members on 6 April 1850.  On 18 June of the same year several missionaries from Utah were called to serve in the French Mission.

Elder John Taylor, 1853

Elder John Taylor of the Quorum of the Twelve and Curtis E. Bolton arrived in Boulogne, and joined  Howells in the proselyting efforts. John Pack and two Englishmen called by Taylor to assist in the work joined them a few days later. One week after arriving, Elder Taylor dedicated  the country to the opening of the gospel in prayer asking “wisdom to lay before this people the principles of eternal truth,” and further to “. . . help us to fulfill the callings that devolve upon us, in a manner that shall bring glory to thy name, do honor to ourselves, and lead many to a knowledge of the truth; that thousands in this land may rejoice in the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel of peace.”
Over a period of a few weeks, Taylor held several public meetings and debates with some success before traveling to Paris. The procedures used by John Taylor to get established in new circumstances varied somewhat from those which William Howells had used. It was an advantage to come from America, a credential which carried far more weight than merely coming from across the Channel. Elder Taylor brought with him official letters and papers from the governor of Deseret. When these were presented to the mayor of Boulogne with a request to be allowed to preach the gospel in his city, permission was “granted nobly with the greatest amiability". While in Paris, the missionaries devoted their time to translating literature into French and writing new tracts including a monthly newspaper called L'Etoile du Deseret, though their fluency in French was limited. They continued to preach the gospel, but due to the difficulty with the language, the work progressed slowly. However, by November 1850 there were a few people desiring baptism, so on 8 December 1850 a branch was organized in Paris. In December 1851, John Taylor appointed Curtis E. Bolton as president of the French Mission. Though membership was small, by this time there had been four branches established: Paris, Le Grande Luce, Le Havre and Boulogne-sur-Mer. Opposition and government restrictions due to the unsettled state of political affairs under Louis Napoleon III slowed progress. The government prohibited the gathering of any more than 20 people, making it difficult for the missionaries to hold meetings.
Church members were also prohibited from publishing materials expounding Mormon doctrine. John Taylor was forced to leave the country when he defied the printing ban in 1851 with a tract entitled, "The Kingdom of God." In 1852, the French translation of the Book of Mormon, Le Livre de Mormon, was completed , largely due to the efforts of Elder Louis Adolphe Bertrand, one of the first French converts, but members were prohibited by law from distributing it. French was the third language the Book of Mormon was printed in (English, and Dutch proceeding it). The work continued very slowly over the next several years. In 1859, Elder Bertrand was called to preside over the mission, but in 1864, Betrand left France, bound for Utah. The Emperor would not allow Mormonism in France and the mission was officially closed with Bertrand's departure. The Church remained closed for nearly half a century. The later half of the 18th century was a tumultuous times in French History. After the mission's closure, several attempts were made to re-establish missionaries in the country, but none met with lasting success until the French Mission was re-organized in 1912.
In spite of the mission closure, in 1890 a unique group of Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived in France. In the spring of that year John Hafen wrote a letter to the First Presidency requesting that he and two other aspiring artists be allowed to go to Paris to pursue their training in the arts. They wished to gain the skill necessary to paint the murals inside the nearly completed Salt Lake Temple. Their request was granted and on 3 June 1890 Hafen Lorus Pratt, and John B. Fairbanks were called as "art missionaries." They arrived in Paris on 24 July of that year and were later joined by Edwin Evans and Herman Haag. They studied at the Julian Academy. They returned home in 1892 and immediately made plans to complete the murals in the garden and world rooms of the temple. The murals were completed, just in time for the dedication of the temple on 6 April 1893.
A meeting was held in Lille on 27 June 1909 by the missionaries of the French Conference. It was attended by approximately 50 members. It was the first meeting held by the Church within French boundaries since the religious expulsion of the 1860s. By 1912 there were 400 French-speaking members in Europe, most of them in Belgium and Switzerland. Twenty-eight elders were laboring among the French, and one of them, 23-year-old Edgar B. Brossard, was called to preside over the newly organized French Mission, which would encompass all of French-speaking Europe. On 15 October 1912, the French Mission was re-organized with Edgar Brossard as president. The mission, much larger in area this time, included French-speaking sections in western Switzerland and southern Belgium. Sixty-two converts were baptized that year. Only two years later, with the threat of World War I, all missionaries were withdrawn in August 1914. After the war in November of 1919, Elder George Albert Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve visited France to meet with the Saints. Not until 24 February 1924 was the French Mission formally re-organized with Russell H. Blood as president. It was headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
Missionaries worked hard to build the Church's image by getting involved in the communities. Some helped by singing in groups while others played on successful basketball teams. During the 1930s interest in the Church picked up with the introduction of elders’ basketball teams. One team in 1937 supposedly defeated the Belgian team that was to represent Belgium in the Olympics. The favorable publicity, of course, paved the way for gospel discussions.
Two new branches were established in Lille and Blois on 5 August 1930. The Mission headquarters were moved from Geneva to Paris on 1 October of that year, and then from Paris to Liege, Belgium, in 1936 because the majority of the converts were being found in the Belgian District. From 1932 to 1936, branch after branch was closed because fewer missionaries could serve due to the Great Depression. The number of missionaries in France diminished by two-thirds in 1932 due to lack of progress. Golden L. Woolf, mission president at the time, made an appeal to local members to share the gospel in their own country. Many volunteered their time to keep the work progressing. Members were encouraged by an increase in the arrival of American missionaries in late 1936 and a visit by President Heber J. Grant in June of 1937.
In 1939, at the onset of World War II, all missionaries and mission President Joseph E. Evans were evacuated. This left a local leader, Leon Fargier, as the sole, active Melchizedek priesthood holder in France. With the approval of priesthood leaders, Fargier almost single-handedly conducted the affairs of the Church in France during the war. LDS members were few in number and widely separated from each other. On foot or bicycle he traveled around the country to members' homes, often across enemy lines, to administer the sacrament, bless, baptize, confirm, confer the priesthood and simply administer to the needs of the Saints. A major national daily paper at the time, Paris-Soir, noted on its front page that “Mr. Fargier, the only Mormon pastor in the free zone, has baptized fifteen of his flock in the municipal swimming pool in Grenoble.” Of Léon’s activities, his former bishop and home teacher in Grenoble, Pierre Oger, said, “[As] the only representative of the priesthood in France [during the war], he traveled many kilometers by train, bicycle, and foot to bless, baptize, present gifts or bless the sacrament. … He was often arrested by the Gestapo and many times crossed the line of demarcation [between the free and occupied zone] at the peril of his life.”

Léon Fargier, his wife, and membres in the south of France in the 1940's

The mission reopened in 1946, after World War II and missionary worked resumed. Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve arrived in April of 1946 to tour the French Mission and assess the condition of the members and the country. One month later, James L. Barker arrived to re-open the mission and re-establish its headquarters in Paris. Over the next several years, missionaries continued to arrive as did thousands of cases of food, clothing and bedding. These supplies were shipped from Salt Lake City to support members and missionaries suffering because of the economic crisis following the war. Many branches were re-opened, while new ones were organized, including Belfort, Toulouse, Lille, and Cannes.
Two years later 80 elders and sisters were laboring there, and many programs were undertaken to combat adverse publicity the Church had received in France over the years. The elders were able to get the French National Broadcasting System to play recordings of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, along with explanations of the history of the choir and the Church. A missionary quartet toured 30 cities with favorable reception, and other musical groups were also well accepted.
On 13 July 1952, a mission-wide conference was held and was attended by President David O. McKay, who was en route to Switzerland to announce a temple there. Three months later, on 9 October 1952, the Church was granted status by the French Government as "Une Association Etranger" (A Foreign Society). As of 1 January 1947, when missionary work resumed after the war, there were 13 active branches in the mission, 754 members and 13 missionaries. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir also concluded its tour of Europe in 1955 with a concert in Paris.
The late 1950's proved to be especially challenging for the French Mission. It was soon discovered that a group of missionaries were studying and adhering to questionable doctrine rather than teaching the fundamental elements of the gospel. A growing number of missionaries began to foster beliefs contrary to the teachings of the Church. When mission President Milton Christensen became aware of the apostasy within the mission, he immediately notified the First Presidency. Interviews were held with the missionaries involved to discover their convictions. Apostle Hugh B. Brown "described what had happened as the worst missionary apostasy in the history of the Church and further confided that they had discussed the possibility of closing the mission". Nine were excommunicated for adherence to apostate doctrine contrary to the teachings of the church and left the mission.
In the years following, Edgar Brossard served again as mission president and under his leadership, the mission reached the high point of its history. In January of 1960, in anticipation of the new year, mission leadership set a goal of 400 baptisms, more than twice that of prior years. By June the goal had been surpassed and was revised to 800. Total baptisms reached more than 900 that year.
In June 1960, a building project was announced for the construction of chapels in Europe through the use of "labor missionaries." The Bordeaux Chapel was dedicated by Elder Howard W. Hunter of the Quorum of the Twelve on 10 December 1965. Less than a year later, on 23 October 1966, the first Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in the Paris area was dedicated. In the next decade, land was purchased and chapels were completed in Sceaux, Nogent, Nantes, Paris, Epinay, Rennes, Brest, Le Mans and Angouleme.
In 1961, the French-East Mission, later named the Switzerland Geneva Mission was organized. It covered eastern France and the French- Speaking portion of Switzerland. It was followed in 1963 by the formation of the Franco-Belgian Mission, later named the Belgium Brussels Mission. This mission covered northern France and the French-speaking portion of Belgium. In 1968–69 in the France-Switzerland Mission, tithing increased 80 percent and the mission became financially independent for the first time in history. In fact, members there were asked to contribute financially to the support of other missions. Also, with the missionaries freed for proselyting, baptisms increased 500 percent.
In 1970, the name of the French Mission was changed to the France Mission, and in 1974 to the France Paris Mission. The France Toulouse Mission, was created from portions of the France Paris and Switzerland Geneva Missions.
The Paris France Stake, the first stake in France, was created 16 November 1975. There were 28,454 members organized into seven stakes by 1996. President Spencer W. Kimball spoke to 4,200 members at an area conference in Paris in 1976.
The France Bordeaux Mission was created in 1989, and the France Marseille Mission was created 1 July 1991. They were later consolidated into the France Toulouse, my mission, and France Paris Missions in 2001.
On June 4, 1998, during a European tour to dedicate the Preston England Temple, President Gordon B. Hinckley met with about 2,400 members from two Paris stakes and three outlying districts. In his remarks, he noted, "When I came here after the war, there were so few members of the Church, and now there are 30,000 of you." He continued, "I don't want to build up your hopes, but the time has come when you deserve to have a temple among you, and we'll look for a place to build one. I don't know how long it will take to find a suitable site. I invite every one of you, my brethren and sisters, to plead with the Lord individually in your prayers to lead us to a property in this great city .... Please unite your prayers with ours, and the time will come, and I hope that it will be quick in coming, when we can construct somewhere in this area a house of the Lord, a sacred temple, into which you can go and do that work which is found only in the temples of the Lord."
In May 2004, President Hinckley returned to Paris, shortly after the dedication of the Copenhagen Denmark Temple. He met with French members, again President Hinckley expressed, "I wish I could announce that we could have a temple here, but we do not have a suitable place yet, in my judgment, to build it. And so, we will continue to look. I don't know when it will be built, but I am confident that we will have a temple for the French-speaking people of the Church sometime in the future." Continuing he said, "You are worthy of the richest blessings of the Church. You are worthy of every blessing which this Church has to offer. And there is no blessing greater than the blessing of the house of the Lord. And so, my brothers and sisters, I ask you to be patient for a time... sometime in the future a beautiful house of the Lord will grace this land."
As the April 2006 General Conference approached, hopes rose that the Paris France Temple would be announced when French media disclosed the Church's interest in purchasing a huge tract of land outside Versailles. On July 15, 2011, the Church released an official statement from President Thomas S. Monson acknowledging the Church's hope to build a temple on the outskirts of Paris.President Monson gave the official announcement on October 1, 2011, in the opening session of the 181st Semiannual General Conference. After reading a list of several new temples, he stated, "in addition we're moving forward on our plans for a temple to be built in Paris, France." The Paris France Temple is intended to be constructed just north of the renowned Château de Versailles in the suburb of Le Chesnay. The property at 46 Boulevard Saint-Antoine, Le Chesnay, France, presently is leased to Électricité de France (EDF), but representatives of the company affirmed that they would not be renewing their lease after it expires in October. City planners now have two months to verify that the permit complies with the city plan. Upon completion of the investigation, the permit will have final approval and construction can begin.
Today there are more than 35,000 Latter-day Saints in France in nine stakes, 57 wards, 54 branches, two districts and two missions, and one announced temple.

posted by Austin @ 10:47 AM 1 Comments