Area Authority Seventy in Switzerland

The first clear spiritual experience Elder Franz R. Gaag remembers occurred when he was a young boy in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1962. After praying for years that they might find the Lord’s true Church, Franz’s parents were approached by two missionaries and eagerly heard the discussions. When nine-year-old Franz chose to be baptized, “it was impressed upon me that my decision to enter into sacred covenants with the Lord was guided by the Spirit,” remembers Elder Gaag.

After the family’s baptism, he says, “I decided that Heavenly Father, who provides me with the richest blessings, would hold first place in my life. I determined to accept any calling I received through His servants.”

Elder Gaag served as president of the first non-English seminary class in Europe, full-time missionary to Austria, Young Men president, bishop, stake president, and now Area Authority Seventy. “Through service, I have been blessed to learn,” he says.

Elder Gaag has worked in advertising, public relations, and marketing. His hobbies include gardening, landscaping, and caring for a pair of parrots. But “my true hobby and endless source of joy and challenge is my family,” says Elder Gaag. “Every moment I have I enjoy spending with my wife and children.”

Elder Gaag, his wife, Fabiola, and their children, Annabelle, Oliver, Sebastian, and Rebekka.