Mormon Life - France tag

Following in Romney's footsteps: A Mormon missionary in France

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:21:00 -0600

source: france24.com

Mormon Life says: This french newspaper talks to an LDS missionary in France about life as a missionary, and his thoughts on Mitt Romney. At age 19, Mormon men typically leave home to do voluntary mission work for two years. France24.com caught up with one young Mormon, Taylor Johnsnon (pictured), who is doing his mission in France, as Mitt Romney did nearly 50 years ago.

Taylor Johnson is a 20-year-old Mormon from Orem, Utah, currently doing two years of volunteer missionary work in France, as per Mormon tradition. First placed in Vannes (in the Western coastal region of Brittany) and then closer to Paris (in Torcy and Antony), Johnson had never previously met the other Mormon missionaries – an international group including other Americans, French, Finnish, and British – with whom he found himself working in France. In accordance with the Mormon Church’s recommendation, he will not return to the US during the two-year mission, or have his family visit him in France.

'Fablehaven' author Brandon Mull makes it big in foreign countries

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:11:00 -0700

source: deseretnews.com

Though "Zzyzx," the name of a prison for demons in his book series "Fablehaven," was quickly becoming a well-used term and teens everywhere had their eyes glued to the travels of Kendra and Seth, writer Brandon Mull was still a little skeptical of his newfound success.

He had been trying for five years to break through into the world of full-time writing, and finally, he sold enough copies to quit his day job.

"It was a huge relief," said Mull, who served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chile and now lives in Utah. "Any writer hopes that they can turn their passion for stories into an actual job, and for me, I had tried long enough and failed long enough to know it may never happen."

French Mormons find a less hospitable ‘Mormon moment’

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:50:00 -0700

source: washingtonpost.com

Mormon Life says: A lot of French think the Church is a religious sect, which is against the law in France. Past clusters of houses and frozen fields in this Paris suburb, the Palace of Versailles sparkles in the evening sun. But Mayor Philippe Brillault has his eyes set on a different landmark: an abandoned, asbestos-choked power plant.

It’s the spot where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would like to build France’s first Mormon temple.

“We weren’t overjoyed, because Mormons have an image that’s pretty much negative,” the mayor said. “But for what can we reproach these people? Not polygamy. Proselytizing was the biggest concern.”

France's first Mormon temple sparks controversy

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:35:00 -0700

source: voanews.com

Mormon Life says: Thousands of French have signed petitions against its construction. So sad. The United States may get its first Mormon president this year, if Republican candidate Mitt Romney prevails in his bid. But in France, the Mormon faith is viewed with deep suspicion and a project to build the country's first Mormon temple is proving to be controversial. The temple is expected to be located in the Paris suburb of Chesnay.

Mitt Romney recalls frugal life as A Mormon missionary In France

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:30:00 -0700

source: huffingtonpost.com

Mormon Life says: This is the first time Romney has broadly talked about his LDS faith since 2007.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, under fire for being "out of touch" after offering a $10,000 bet to rival Rick Perry over the weekend, is reminding primary voters that he wasn't always worth upwards of $250 million.

During a campaign stop in New Hampshire over the weekend, Romney recounted serving as a Mormon missionary in France as a young adult in the 1960s. He scraped by on around $110 a month and lived in places that likely held little resemblance to the extravagant houses he now owns more than 40 years later.

Promises of prophets reflected in hoped-for French temple

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:14:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

Mormon Life says: Remarkable stories of promises and hopes for a temple in France. How exciting for the members there. Based on promises of prophets, Latter-day Saints in France have looked forward for years to the day a temple will be built in France.

President Spencer W. Kimball, in 1978, declared that he saw that the time would come when a temple would be built in France.

Twenty years later, in 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley told members in France that he felt the time had come for a temple to be built there. In 2004, he once again spoke of the possibility of a temple being constructed in France.

That Wonderful Mix That Is Normandy

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 00:03:00 -0600

by S. Michael Wilcox - FUN FOR LESS TOURS
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: We have unique emotions and thoughts evoked wherever we travel in the world. There are unique emotions and thoughts associated with every place we may visit around the world from reverence, to delight, to surprised pleasure, to awe. Some are due to the majesty and beauty of nature, the significance of historical events, or the fascination of cultural distinctions. To find places where a combination of feelings and thoughts are presented is always a goal when I travel. So I was more than thrilled to visit Normandy this summer and discover a wonderful mixture of history, art, beautiful countryside vistas, and spiritual power born of unforgotten sacrifice. This is the land of Mt San Michel, Bayeux, and, of course, the D-Day Beaches.

We drove through French villages toward the coast, everyone inviting a quiet stroll past cottages, farms and hedgerows. This is the Europe one never tires of seeing. At last, in the distance the pinnacle of Mt San Michel rose against the backdrop of a summer sky. We were greeted by the cries of seabirds circling that vast pyramid of rock, village and monastery which fills the view and holds it there as if to blink or look aside would be a sacrilege. The tide was out, and the island home to Catholic monks for centuries looked reverent in its isolation, surely a retreat worthy of contemplation and inviting communication with the highest powers. A brisk climb to the highest point brought a cooling breeze and a view well worth the exertion as the coast of France stretched out in both directions.

This is a coast where invasion dominates its character, is infused in the very air and stones, turning the mind naturally towards the sea. Twelve hundred years ago these beaches and river estuaries saw the advance of the Viking long boats filled with ax wielding Norsemen. Their raids were only stopped when a French king gave the northern coast of France to a Viking chieftain stamping the area forever with its name-Normandy, land of the North men.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

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S. Michael Wilcox is an educator traveling the world with Fun for Less Tours.