A Latter Day in Europe

Yes, we are to blame to be gone so long. We had to think if we wanted to proceed but after a lot of thinking and prayer, we decided we should just continue as we did. We take place behind our microphones and start to talk about things we talked about to each other last week(s). So we discuss the 100th birthday of the candy bomber, how to be a bomber ourselves, general conference, prayer, going back to church and religious freedom. Enjoy!

OK, we've been quiet during some time, but we had a good reason; and now we're back. We discuss the visit of president Nelson to the pope and the gifts they've exchanged, but we also take a look at the women during this visit. How important was this audience by the pope for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Secondly we have an interview with Per Herrey, famous Swedish singer/songwriter and author and member of our church. He and his brothers won the Eurovision song contest in 1984 and we wanted to know how it was to be famous and member of the church. Some extra links:

• Diggiloo diggiley on Youtube
• Dagen där allt blev bra on Spotify
• Per Herrey's website

 

After a few weeks of silence, Isabel and I are back home from their holiday and especially I'm puzzled about the almost revelation of president Nelson about the "new" name of the Church, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.   We understand the importance of pointing to the right name of the Church but it won't be easy. I'm especially concerned with the fact that people who are searching for information, will still use phrases like "what do mormons believe in" or "do mormons practice polygamy" rather than "are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints christians". It's even more difficult in other languages than it is in English.   Secondly we have a great interview with elder and sister Partridge, who are serving in public affairs, just a few moments before they will return home. At this moment they are back home, but the interview was recorded a few weeks earlier, but is a great testimony about leaving your family behind, going to Europe and discover new cultures, also in the church.

Isabel and I are enjoying a beautiful holiday in Sweden. It is a very hot summer in Europe, the hottest in almost 40 years. You cannot BBQ outside because of the hazard creating a fire, but on the other hand it is nice to be outdoors so often, so we decided to record this episode of "A Latter Day in Europe" also outside, to enjoy the sounds and smells of nature while talking about our faith.   This time we talked about the freedom of religion which is currently under threat in Europe. Several countries are considering to take the freedom of religion out of their constitution, all due because people don't know religion anymore except about the bad things. This scares us and we discuss about why this is happening and how we feel about it.   We also have a wonderful interview with Sister Roach. She is currently serving a mission in Germany and was struggling with the German language. Before she went on a mission, she was dreaming about a professional career in music, writing songs and singing, so when she felt down, she turned to her first love and wrote a song about this "Plans for me". She performed in the ward where she was serving and ended up on social media reaching thousands of people. Listen how this all happened together with us.   At the end Isabel and I discuss the use of humor in our attempts to tell other people about our faith. It's not always easy and I also tell about a joke that went wrong, shame on me. But often it works and maybe other people can use this in their efforts too.   Show notes:

• The video and song "Plans for me"of sister Roach on facebook
• Her weekly song post on facebook ‘Musikalischer Montag’

Isabel is on holiday in Sweden, making us wonder how we feel visiting another ward or branch while we are enjoying our holiday. It is amazing to feel as one big family across the planet. We also discuss the performance and fireside evening we experienced with the BYU Folk Dance Ensemble. Young people, students, who spend many hours practicing dancing, singing and music and still find the time to be ambassadors for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We had the opportunity to speak with some of them and we'll share this conversation with you. Isabel also wanted to share a modern parable about charity, a true happened story that changed her look on life and how to care about other people. And our pièce de résistance this time is an interview with Mylissa Demeyere about her debut novel "The Songs of You and Me". You can find Mylissa on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

In this first episode Isabel and David Geens explain why they started this podcast. We want to share European mormonism with other people, especially with other mormons throughout the world. We will focus on how sometimes small differences in views and interpretations exists in the way we experience what it is to be a mormon in (secular) Europe. In this episode we wonder about the new global hymnbooks. Will it be a universal book or will it have more eye for the different cultures living in our church? What kind of new hymns do we expect? Which hymns should definitely go out. We also have an interview with President and sister Bunnell, who just finished their mission as president of the Belgium/Netherlands mission. We talk about their experiences and how they felt when they arrived in Europe. We look around for how missionary work is different for American missionaries who come to Europe probably for the first time. Finally we take a look to the "Be one" devotional and ponder about the fact that this seems a bigger issue in the United States than over here in Europe, where we have a church with more color than what we generally see on television during a General Conference.