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SALT LAKE CITY — Mitt Romney and his family made up nearly a third of the congregation of the Wolfeboro branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday, the Associated Press reports.
Romney attended services with his wife, Ann, five sons, five daughters-in-law and 18 grandchildren. This wasn't the first time the Romneys attended there. Each year, the GOP presidential hopeful and his family spend a week at his estate on Lake Winnipesaukee.
Romney's campaign doesn't tell reporters when Romney is going to church, but an Associated Press reporter attended the same church service as the Romneys on Sunday. The AP's look at the church service notes one of Romney's middle-school-aged granddaughters shared her testimony during the meeting. Romney sat next to his wife, with grandchildren occupying the rest of the row.
"At different points, several walked over to receive a kind smile and quiet word from their grandfather. At one point, Romney took charge of a Ziploc bag of colored cereal, offering it to a grinning blond toddler."
According to people familiar with his private schedule, Romney goes to church nearly every week. The family's devotion to the Mormon faith is a part of Romney's life that the electorate rarely sees.
Sunday's service was a cornerstone of a week that will see all 30 members of the Romney clan pack into the family's sprawling lakefront estate. They'll gather for family dinners, waterski on the lake, paddleboard off the beach and discuss family affairs, all traditions the family has been developing at this home for more than a decade.
Romney has been visiting Wolfeboro for decades, first coming here with his father, George Romney, to visit the J.W. Marriott family. The Marriott family played a significant role in building the LDS church in Wolfeboro several decades ago, according to the AP.
The branch president, Matthew Jensen, told the AP there are now more than 60 Marriott family members who will appear in Wolfeboro - and at church - sometime in the summer. They haven't arrived yet, so the Romneys have the largest contingent.
