Thank You L'association Francophone!

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The 2004 International Urantia Association Conference in Dourdan, France, was a success extraordinaire! Our French hosts did a superb job in organizing the conference and making sure that we were all comfortable and well nourished, both physically and spiritually. The French tradition of gourmet dining afforded us with ample opportunities to get to know one another better as we enjoyed leisurely meals together each afternoon and evening.

The presentations offered by devoted readers from around the world added unique insights into the conference theme, "Living the Ascension Plan in Terrestrial Human Experience." Successive days were devoted to the ascension plans of the Universal Father, the Eternal Mother Son, and the Infinite Spirit, as described in The Urantia Book. IUA members from each continent collaborated on their topics for the presentations and workshops. They also provided background and updates on the various activities of their associations. The main presentations will be available soon in the IUA Journal. (Non-members of IUA may subscribe to the Journal by contacting Urantia Foundation.)

Train your memory to hold in sacred trust the strength-giving and worth-while episodes of life which you can recall at will for your pleasure and edification. Thus build up for yourself and in yourself reserve galleries of beauty goodness and artistic grandeur. But the noblest of all memories are the treasured recollections of the great moments of a superb friendship. (1779:4)

Everyone enjoyed the opportunities for relaxation and the excursion to Vaux-le-Vicomte, the chateaux that inspired Louis XIV to commission the creation of Versailles by the same designer. The grandeur and splendor of the 1661 castle and gardens was breathtaking!

Congratulations to all who helped make the French conference an experience to remember. Kudos to the planners, the volunteers, the facilitators, the presenters, and the translators who enabled participants from twenty-five countries to enjoy this shared experience of learning and growing together. The friendships initiated and renewed at reader conferences are a treasure to be valued, a comfort to the soul.