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.
On Friday, July 15, President Thomas S. Monson announced that the Church hopes to build its first temple in France on property on the outskirts of Paris.
There have been several previous attempts to find a suitable site for a temple in France, but none was finalized, according to a statement released by the Church. French Latter-day Saints wishing to visit a temple usually travel to one of several in neighboring European countries.
Serge Gaston, president of the Paris France Stake, said he remembers the meeting in 1978 when President Kimball told members that a temple would be built in France someday.
"I was 10 years old at that time and I had the privilege to attend this wonderful conference and I still remember the deep spiritual impact this announcement had then on my young heart," President Gaston told the Church News in an email. "President Monson at that time was serving in the Quorum of the Twelve and attended this conference."
On June 4, 1998, at a meeting in Les Pyramides Convention Center in Paris, President Hinckley addressed some 2,400 members from the Paris France and Paris France East stakes, as well as members from the Caen, Tours and Rennes districts.
On that occasion, President Hinckley said he had been coming to France for a long time; his first visit to Paris was in 1935 after he had completed his mission in England.
"When I came here in 1935, there were so very few members," he said. "When I came here after the war, there were so few members of the Church, and now there are 30,000 of you. I believe the time has come, and I want to be very careful of what I say; 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, or its environs, where we can build a house of the Lord so that you won't have to travel five hours to Frankfurt, or six hours to Zollikofen (Switzerland). 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 . …"
President Hinckley told the members in France, "Now, under the plan which the Lord has revealed in these holy houses, we may go, you and I, equal before the Lord, all dressed in the same way, and stand vicariously in behalf of those who have passed away. What a blessing."
Hope for a temple in France was buoyed further when, on May 28, 2004, President Hinckley met with members of the Church in a hotel convention hall on the Disney property at Marne-la Vallee, an eastern suburb of Paris.
He referred to the Copenhagen Denmark Temple, which he dedicated on May 23, and then said, "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.
"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. I know it is a long way to Frankfurt where you go (to the temple). I hope that you will continue to go there, but sometime in the future a beautiful house of the Lord will grace this land" (Church News, June 5, 2004, p. 6).
President Gaston said, "I wasn't living in Paris at the time of the meeting at Les Pyramides in 1998, but I must say that there is still a huge picture of the original announcement for this meeting with a picture of President Hinckley, pinned on the wall of the stake president's office in the stake center, as the constant reminder of those prophecies and announcements. This allowed the local leaders, since then, to always strive to enhance the faith of the local members regarding the temple on French ground, in the Paris area, and many were the members who kept praying earnestly and sincerely, many times a day, to plead with the Lord that He might fulfill His prophet's announcement and that the local government might have their hearts softened to grant the administrative authorization to build a temple here.
"The members from our stake were participating in a stake temple week in Frankfurt Germany this whole week and I've heard so many prayers in favor of the temple in Paris. And now, returning last night (July 15), I was thrilled, and I must say, amazed, to learn that President Monson felt it was time to make public the decision of the Lord to bless this country with a temple that will be a blessing, both to members and to non-members. …
"Paris, known as a city of light, will now shine with a greater light than ever. The light beaming from heaven will illuminate the life of the French people and will promote the establishment of the kingdom of God in this country.
"Even though the Church leaders are still working to get the full authorization for completion of the building, we know that the Lord is opening the doors for His will to be fulfilled and to, thus, honor the word of His prophets."
President Eric Malandain of the Paris France East Stake, said, "Having a temple in France will be wonderful for the members: a great help and relief in their spiritual lives."
He said although there are four temples "not so far from us (less than 700 kilometers)," it has been difficult to bring couples facing difficulties to the temple, as President Monson counseled during April general conference.
"For the past years, as we could not draw the temple closer to the members, we have worked drawing the members closer to the temple, in their hearts, in their attendance, in the respects of their covenants. No doubt a temple nearer will first help the less strong.
"I was at the 1998 meeting. I was completely at the back, holding my year-old boy in my arms, when the prophet made the announcement. We could feel a great joy in this very big room. We did not know at that time it would take quite a long time and that Satan would be so aggressive.
"We are thrilled with this announcement but we know that we still have a lot to do before we can enter a House of the Lord in our country. This great step will give us strength to do what the Lord expects us to do."
President Gaston said the temple has always had a significant place in members' lives. Members from his stake have attended the temple in either Switzerland or Germany.
"We learned to love the temple more and more as we usually spend a full week at a time at the temple due to the cost of traveling. That taught us how to consecrate usually one or two weeks a year in the House of the Lord and we will have to keep consecrating ourselves in the same manner as our temple will now be in Paris, so close to us but to our heart as well."
Upon hearing that President Monson had announced that the Church hopes to build a temple in France, Don H. Staheli, who recently completed his tenure as president of the France Paris Mission and who was personal secretary to President Hinckley, said, "The Latter-day Saints of France are as devoted and faithful as any in the Church. The light of the gospel shines in their eyes. Their families are strong and committed to gospel living, and their priesthood leaders are completely dedicated to the work. They have waited patiently to have a temple in their beautiful country, and now the time has come. How happy we are for them!"
Customarily, new temples are announced by the Church president during general conferences, after local government building approvals and property acquisition have been secured. Although the local government approval process for the temple in France is still under way, French newspapers were already reporting Church plans to build at Le Chesnay, near Versailles, and this prompted the announcement on July 15.
Church spokesman Scott Trotter said that the Church has been working for many months with local officials and more details will be given later.
Total members: 34,960
Stakes: 9
Wards: 57
Branches: 54
Missions: 2
Districts, 2
Percent LDS: .05, or one in 1,835
May 6, 1844: The first mention of France in the history of the Church is a report of a council meeting held at Nauvoo, Illinois, when it was voted to send Almon W. Babbit there on a mission. For reasons unknown, he never went.
Aug. 14, 1848: In a general conference of the British Mission held in Manchester, England, it was resolved that William Howells of Wales would be sent to France and Brittany to preach the gospel.
June 18, 1849: The French Mission was organized.
July 30, 1849: First converts baptized in France.
April 6, 1850: The Boulogne-sur-Mer Branch was organized with six members.
June 18, 1850: Elder John Taylor of the Quorum of the Twelve arrives in Boulogne, where he held public meetings and debates before traveling to Paris.
Dec. 8, 1950: a branch is organized in Paris.
December 1851: John Taylor appointed Curtis E. Bolton as president of the French Mission.
1852: The French translation of the Book of Mormon is completed.
1864: France mission is official close.
Oct. 15 1912: The French Mission is re-organized with Edgar Brossard as president.
Aug. 5, 1930: Two new branches were established in Lille and Blois
In 1939: At the onset of World War II, missionaries and mission President Joseph E. Evans were evacuated. This left a local leader, Leon Fargier, as the sole, active priesthood holder in France. After World War II, 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.
July 13, 1952: a mission-wide conference is held and was attended by President David O. McKay
Oct. 9, 1952: the Church is granted status by the French Government as "Une Association Etranger" (A Foreign Society).
Jan. 1, 1947: There were 13 active branches in the mission, 754 members and 13 missionaries.
June 1960: a building project is announced for the construction of chapels in Europe through the use of "labor missionaries."
Dec. 10, 1965: Bordeaux Chapel is dedicated by Elder Howard W. Hunter of the Quorum of the Twelve.
Oct. 23, 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.
1961: The French-East Mission, later named the Switzerland Geneva Mission was organized. It was followed in 1963 by the formation of the Franco-Belgian Mission, later named the Belgium Brussels Mission. 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.
Nov. 16, 1975: The Paris France Stake, the first stake in France, was created.
1976: President Spencer W. Kimball speaks to 4,200 members at an area conference in Paris.
1989: The France Bordeaux Mission was created.
July 1, 1991: The France Marseille Mission was created. 2001: The France Bordeaux Mission and the The France Marseille Mission were consolidated into the France Toulouse and France Paris Missions.
June 4, 1998 and May 28, 2004: President Gordon B. Hinckley visited and spoke in Versailles and Paris. Speaking of temples, he encouraged the French members to be patient, and told them that they were "worthy of the richest blessings of the Church" and was confident that "sometime in the future a beautiful house of the Lord [would] grace this land."
