Jusqu'à ce qu'on se rencontre à nouveau, Sœur Martha Bown

Martha Bown, youngest of Southgate Stake President James and Paula Bown’s 6 children, has been called to serve the Lord and His children in the France Lyon Mission.  She speaks in Sacrament meeting on Sunday, June 12 and on Monday, June 13 she begins 2 weeks of at-home MTC followed by 4 weeks in the Provo MTC where she will be studying French before traveling to her mission field.

She is excited to be serving in the world’s most popular tourist destination and home of the most visited museum on the planet.  She studied French for two years in high school and can’t wait to learn more of the language and the culture and meet the people.   

Sister Martha is the last of a long line of Bown missionaries.  Dad served in Argentina … Mom in Brazil.  Oldest sister Sarah served in the Nebraska Winter Quarters Mission.  Elizabeth spent 18 months in Poland.  Only brother Peter was a missionary in Texas while Caroline was in Peru followed by Grace who served in Canada.

 

“A mission has always been part of my life plans and I would be happy to serve wherever the Lord called me, but France will be both a challenge and a blessing.”

When missionaries first arrived in France in 1849, they only found interested listeners among religious dissenters and cultural outsiders. One early convert, Louis Bertrand, would lead the French Mission until it closed in 1864. Missionaries returned to France in 1908, but world wars and economic hardship limited the Church’s presence for the next four decades. Faithful French Saints such as Léon Fargier and Eveline Kleinert helped carry the Church through the difficulties of World War II.

After the war, the Church established a stronger foundation in France. Church President David O. McKay announced a temple where ceremonies would be performed in French would be built in Switzerland, the Church gained legal recognition in France, and Church literature was translated and published in French. During the 1960s, Church membership increased fivefold as missionaries and members worked to spread the gospel. In 1975, the first stake in France was organized in Paris. Though the laborers in France have often been few, the harvest has indeed been great.
 

Today, France has a growing membership of 38,200 in ten stakes and since the 1970s, French Saints prayed for a temple in their own country. In 2011, the Lord through His prophet President Thomas S. Monson, announced the construction of a temple to be built near Paris. Members in the area held open houses to help their neighbors understand the temple project. The Paris France Temple was dedicated in May 2017.

Tu vas nous manquer pendant ton absence, Soeur Bown