Mitt Romney’s Time in France
Mitt Romney has continued to receive a great deal of criticism from opponents and members of the media regarding his religious affiliation as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the nicknamed “Mormon Church” is officially known. Some allegations are so wild that they accuse him of being in sympathy with European politics because he lived in France for two years as a young man. Mitt Romney spent two years in France as a missionary for the LDS Church, teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to many who did not want to hear anything about organized religion. This experience, many argue, is exactly where he learned determination and perseverance in the face of opposition.
Mitt Romney arrived in France in the late ’60s and faced a public full of distrust for organized religion since the French Revolution in 1789 tore the church apart in its fury of oppression by the aristocracy, which it considered the church to be a part of. Many of these opinions have been passed down through now hundreds of years, and are still clung to by many people.
Despite their simple and earnest desire to share the joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world, Mormon missionaries in France find most doors slammed in their faces on average days and guns pulled on them or dogs chasing them on particularly bad days. Yet, they continue to try and share the message that has brought them there, that of the life before this life and the purpose of our lives on this earth.
Christian Euvrard, director of the Paris Institute of Religion for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, says that “Being a missionary [is] not an easy thing. You can’t go home without having learned a lot of lessons. Missionaries who served in France remember the experience as “character-building” and “life-changing.”
Mormon missionaries pay for their missions out of their own pocket. They receive no monetary compensation for their time and work, yet they still voluntarily sacrifice eighteen months (for women) to two years (for young men) to leave home, live a rigorous moral code, and face nearly constant rejection by many because they sincerely desire to share the message of Jesus Christ with the world.
Kenneth Cope, who served as a missionary in France in the 1980s, says of all missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “The main focus of a mission is to go out and help people find the joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but a very great by-product would be you grow into a man, you grow into a woman, you grow up.”
Mitt Romney actually served for 30 months in France, during which time he developed people and leadership skills which led him to become assistant to the mission president of France. While in this position, and throughout his mission, Romney followed the mission rules and helped ensure other missionaries did as well, following a rigorous schedule of waking up at 6:30 a.m. and having lights out by 10:30 p.m., with a full day of hard work in between. This work consists largely of knocking on doors, following up on referrals (suggestions given to them of people who may be interested in their message), teaching interested parties, studying their scriptures, serving in their communities, and taking care of personal business like laundry and letter writing.
“Missionaries avoid entertainment, parties, or other activities common to this age group as long as they are on their missions, so they can focus entirely on the work of serving and of teaching others the gospel of Jesus Christ,” says official LDS News website.
The influence of a mission is so strong that it is nearly impossible, according to Carter Charles, who is writing his doctorate thesis for the University of Bordeaux on the role of Mormonism in U.S. politics, to find anyone who served a Mormon mission who has not been significantly altered by his or her experience, regardless of current activity in or affiliation with the LDS Church. Charles says former Mormon missionaries “have different world-views, they see the world in different ways. In that, you can say the Mormon church has something special that you don’t see in other religious groups who send out missionaries. It is unique.”
Mitt Romney is no stranger to responsibility. Romney also learned a lot of leadership skills on his mission after tragedy struck in a head-on collision which injured the mission president, H. Duane Anderson, and killed Anderson’s wife Leola. Romney was driving his companion, the mission president and his wife, and another woman, Suzanne Farel, back from a conference in June 1968. An oncoming car, driven by a man who had been drinking, hit them head-on. Romney was actually pronounced dead at the scene, but was still taken to a hospital, where he made a full recovery.
In the wake of the tragedy, President Anderson was sent home, and Mitt Romney and another missionary were put in charge of the mission for several weeks, until arrangements could be made for a new mission president to arrive
With so much to be done, Romney did not have time to “sit around and philosophize,” but got the work done that needed to be done. The sense of discipline which so many Mormon missionaries learn through experience keeps them focused and determined to do what needs to be done.
Mormonism is still largely misunderstood, with many people still believing that Mormons practice polygamy and live like the Amish. Many people consider the Book of Mormon evil, when it is in fact a companion book of scripture to the Bible and testifies of Jesus Christ. Mitt Romney’s involvement in politics and current candidacy for President of the United States of America is bringing the discussion of Mormonism to the foreground. It is important to understand his beliefs and history to also understand that Mormonism is Christianity and that Mitt Romney is a moral person.
Read more on Mitt Romney’s time in France.
Additional Resources: Mormon News
Learn more about Mormon missionaries at the official site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”).
Learn some basic Mormon Beliefs.