President Oaks in Paris
By Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News assistant editor
2 October 2013
Two Apostles visited five European countries this
September—addressing members and missionaries, creating stakes in two major
cities, holding an area review, presiding at a seminar for 32 European mission
presidents and their wives, meeting with government and faith leaders, and
checking on the status of temples under construction in Rome and Paris.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve and his
wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, and Elder M. Russell Ballard, also of the Quorum of
the Twelve, and his wife, Sister Barbara Ballard, traveled to Europe September
6 to September 16. They were accompanied by Elder Richard J. Maynes of the
Presidency of the Seventy and his wife, Sister Nancy Maynes, and Bishop Dean M.
Davies, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, and his wife, Sister Darla
Davies, and members of the Church’s Europe Area Presidency.
Elder Ballard said it is a great privilege to serve as a
witness of the Savior Jesus Christ. “To be able to go out into the world and
declare that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is the most marvelous privilege,”
he said after returning home from Europe. “To be able to be part of this work,
in trying to bring the light of the gospel to the people of the world, is a
great blessing.”
Priesthood leadership meetings held in Leeds and Manchester,
England; Madrid, Spain; and Paris, France, served as bookends to the trip,
during which the wives of the General Authorities also taught women leaders
from the cities close by. In the special stake conferences that followed,
Church leaders addressed some 12,000 Latter-day Saints from dozens of stakes.
“The Church is alive and well and progressing impressively
in Europe,” said Elder Oaks.
The trip marked Elder Ballard’s fourth assignment in Europe
in the last 90 days. Still, he was grateful to return to the British Isles, the
area where he served as a young missionary and that is rich in Church history.
“The British Isles have made a contribution to the bringing up of the Church
worldwide, which to me is a very significant thing that always needs to be
recognized,” he said.
Speaking of the priesthood leadership meetings in Leeds and
Manchester, Elder Oaks noted that both cities are home to a “great
multigenerational base of the Church. We met some converts, but we also met
people who are third- and fourth-generation members of the Church,” he said. “The
Church is strong and mature.”
Still, he said, Church members face many challenges in
Europe, where the general trend is that religion is considered to be less and
less important. “[Members] have worldly pressures bearing upon their youth and
their families,” he said.
Elder Ballard said in many countries members are bombarded
with pornography, addictions, and attacks on fundamental values and religious
freedom. “All of these things destroy the possibility of men and women having
faith in God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
In several member meetings, Elder Ballard asked the
full-time missionaries to come to the front of the congregation. In Rome, for
example, some 50 full-time missionaries came forward.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to the problems in
Europe, he explained, asking members to help the missionaries find people to
teach.
Today “we have the greatest number of missionaries in the
history of the Church,” he said. “We all have to rally around this great work
now. We all have to be missionaries. They have come here to teach the great
message of the Restoration.”
Elder Ballard told the European members that the whole
Church needs to “recognize the Lord is hastening His work of salvation and that
we all have to be engaged.”
The 30 mission presidents and two MTC presidents who
attended the mission presidents’ seminar—held September 10–13 in Versailles,
France—are helping their missionaries learn how to teach, said Elder Ballard.
Elder Oaks said Church leaders also learned from the mission
presidents some of the challenges they are facing, especially as they absorb a
large number of new missionaries into their missions. In addition, they
discussed the “special challenges we face with the many worldly influences in
Europe and how do we respond to those challenges,” he said.
Still the growth of the Church in Europe is evident.
“The increasing strength of the youth in Europe is
remarkable,” Bishop Davies shared after participating in stake conferences in
York, England, and Brussels, Belgium. “They reflect the Light of Christ and are
fervent in their testimonies. They will be future leaders.”
Elder Oaks said a “very exciting part of this trip was for
Elder Ballard to go to Rome and to organize a new stake in Rome, where a temple
is under construction, and for me to organize a new stake in Paris, where a
temple will soon be constructed.”
The stake in Rome is the second in that city. The creation
of the stake in Paris, the third in the city and its surroundings, set in
motion realignments that resulted in the absorbing of the last mission district
in France. “Nine stakes and one district in France became 10 stakes covering
all of France,” said Elder Oaks, noting that local members were excited about
this milestone in their country.
Elder Maynes, who assisted Elder Ballard with
the creation of the new stake in Rome, said he was “very impressed with the
experience and spiritual maturity” of the priesthood leadership in the country.
Elder Maynes said one of the primary assignments of the trip
to the Europe Area was to attend and participate in an area review. “This is an
opportunity to discuss the challenges and progress of the Church in Europe,” he
said. “Those attending the meeting included the visiting authorities, the
Europe Area Presidency, and key temporal affairs personnel. One of the
highlights of the meeting was learning that sacrament meeting attendance in
Europe has never been higher.”
During the trip, Elder Oaks also had the opportunity to meet
with government and faith leaders.
In London, he met with three different members of British
Parliament. “We had discussions about religious freedom,” he said.
He also met with and discussed religious freedom with five
Muslim leaders. “We talked at great length about the importance of religious
freedom and the things that we have in common,” Elder Oaks said. “What we have
in common with the responsible leaders in the Muslim world is a great deal
larger than our differences.”
Elder Oaks said the work of the Church will move forward in
Europe, thanks to a “loving, diverse, and faithful” membership with great
spiritual strength.
