Fully Establishing the Church in France

The Paris France Mission was reorganized in October 1912. The outbreak of World War I, however, caused the mission to close again in 1914. It was not until the mid-1920s, after the war and subsequent flu pandemic ended, that missionary work resumed in France. In 1925, Ernest Rossiter and his wife, Venus, were called to preside over the mission. The Rossiters had previously presided over the Tahitian Mission of the Church and were, as a result, both fluent in French.

President and Sister Rossiter built up the Church by sending missionaries to preach in new areas throughout France and Luxembourg and by fully establishing all of the programs of the Church, including the Sunday School, Mutual Improvement Association (a ministry for young adults and teens), the junior Sunday School (Primary), and Relief Society. On November 3, 1926, Venus Rossiter met with five sisters in the Lyon Branch and organized the first Relief Society in France. Shortly after the Rossiters were released, all Church auxiliary programs were functioning. During the decades that followed, these programs provided opportunities for the Saints in France to meet together often and to strengthen one another.