I find it interesting--in the pictures the Morg provided--that the ordinance room shows four rows of chairs on the men's side. Each row has five seats. Repeat that for the women's side. So, at max, 40 people can do a temple session. Wow, that's one expensive, ugly building for those numbers!

http://www.sltrib.com/lifestyle/faith/5314844-155/lds-church-dedicates-paris-temple-in

Dozens of people attended! LOL!

Devoted Exmo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dozens of people attended! LOL!


:)

dozens could fall into accidental tourists category

Hahahaha!!! Yes, it could!

Seems like a high ratio of blacks at the "cultural celebration" compared to the people at the actual temple ceremonies.

http://www.sltrib.com/csp/mediapool/sites/sltrib/Pages/gallery.csp?cid=5314844&pid=4299608

"It's like a dream come true"

Yeah .... a bad dream.

A wet dream if you're a TBM Francophile.

Le Chesnay (where the temple is) was in my "tracting district" for several months when I was "stationed" in Versailles.

On the upside, the Versailles apartment was the best one in the mission. This whole area is very "upscale."

On the downside, it was very close to the mission home (in Le Vesinet), and nobody -- I mean NOBODY -- had any interest in converting. This wasn't Paris with its large immigrant population, and fairly high population of poor and desperate. This was Versailles. Former home of kings, current home of the ridiculously wealthy.

The church press release cracked me up:

"We've worked closely with the architects to make the temple a beacon in the area. The temple is in full harmony with the surrounding area. We want the temple to be not only a blessing for the members but an asset for the whole community."

Yes, an asset that the whole community can't get into, use in any way, and that doesn't pay any taxes. Such an asset to the community.

Mon dieu.

Do you notice how subtle the sun and moon stones are? I think they feel it's necessary to add them, but don't want people focusing on how Masonic it all is.

In the end, it just looks like another Trump hotel.

I've been to Paris a few times. I cannot think of a single building that looks like this. It rather reminds me of the way they initially covered the melted reactor at Tchernobyl.

The more temples that get built and dedicated, the more it feels like a way to spend money on appearances. Most of the far flung temples are never busy, so it seems more of a way to show the membership that things are just fine, "see we're growing" and all is fine in Zion.

That's exactly what I replied to my (French) wife when she asked me why LDS was bothering with a temple in France. It's a message to members, not to the outside world.

Tom in Paris

It's totally to shore up the faltering members. Mormoning is harder here in France and the numbers don't justify a temple. I think the leadership learned that recommends and therefore better compliance from membership might come with an in-country temple.

The article title in the church news is: 'Miracles Witnessed during Paris France Temple Open House'

Then you get to the text and read: “And all along, the hoped-for miracles came: many were ‘fascinated by the experience’ or ‘seized by something [they] had never felt,’ while a few even reported seeing through the veil as they saw deceased ancestors and loved ones while pondering in the celestial room.”

I guess the bar has been really lowered when being fascinated counts as a miracle...

It's a miracle anybody came...

We need thumbs up/down as per other forums. Consider this a thumbs up.

There was pressure on members. Our friends weren't planning on it because the mother is chronically ill, but they were strongly advised to attend and they caved.

windyway, is it too revealing to ask what region you're in?
Were you around in 79-80?
Just curious :)
I was there in the France-Paris mission then.
It would warm my heart to know a member I knew then was posting here!

I was a wee one then and growing up in Texas.

My husband was baptised in 90 in Toulon, and we have been in the Mulhouse ward for five years.

Sorry to disappoint, but I do probably know someone you know!

The Babin family from Versailles...
Richard family from Caen...

The former is well-known. The dad was stake president when I was there. His son later became mission president for the France-Paris mission, he was just a little kid when I was there. :)

It's about the real estate. That's how Ray Kroc took over the McDonalds franchise. His accountant was very clever and got him to buy the real estate that the franchise was placed on.

There's not much to say beyond that.

The temple stuff in Paris accellerated the inactivity of our family. Our ward was expected to fabricate costumes and I didn't want to burden the sisters with sewing four youth costumes for kids with only potential marginal interest with parents who had zero interest.

So I had to come out to my president, since I was serving in YW. Also, not being able to sincerely teach of priesthood restoration was an important factor.

tomorrow. One of his friends and I were teasing him about going to the open house. Sounds like he missed out. ha ha ha

I think it would be funny if he posted picture of his boyfriend and him in front of the temple on fb so my TBM daughter can see where her father is and that he has a new boyfriend.

The LDS Church has about 38,000 members in more than 100 congregations in France. Many are second-, third- and fourth-generation Mormons, the release states.

The current population of France is 64,901,903 as of Saturday, May 13, 2017, based on the latest United Nations estimates.

.0005854% of population is Mormon.

Wow, really making an impact.

It's worse than that.
Because probably only about 1/3rd of the church's declared "members" are actually active.

Let's be generous, and say there are 14,000 active members in France...

That makes it .02%.

(you appear to have forgotten to multiply your result by 100 to get %, yours should have been .0585% :)

Cumorah.com estimates that there are 8000 active members in France
http://www.cumorah.com/index.php?target=view_country_reports&story_id=160

"Nationwide active membership is estimated at 8,000, or 22-25% of total LDS membership."

They must be special to get a temple. Are they "tithing worthy?"

Not a very good ROI on that one.

It just makes me ill to think of the kind of money they spend on these worthless monstrosities when they know that the temple ceremony is a hugeass hoax. To think of what a sacrifice it was for us to pay 10% of our income when we were young married, the things it took away from our kids. To see my parents in a horrible positions because of giving LDS, Inc. so much money over the years that they can't afford assisted living. And what do they do with that money? This. It's just sick.

There is so much need in the world. There is so much need in their church. And instead of answering that need, they compound it by telling needy people they have to give more. And those people know they need the "blessings" so they can't afford NOT to give money they don't have. The geezer brigade should all be in jail along with Bernie Madoff. They have swindled way more people than he even did.

Oh the architecture! The Church of Latter-Day Merde ..

Zut!

(Barf!)

I have two friends who volunteered as ushers, both smiling broadly.

But on the bright side, no French peasants were (known to have been) asked to donate their gold fillings.

Nooooo!! They're corrupting the hard won liberation of the french. Haven't they had enough after centuries of Catholicism?