Memorable Sculptures

 

The Weight of Oneself (Le poids de soi-même)
is a famous statue in the heart of Lyon, 
across from the Palais de Justice.

President LePoré, a past mission leader here, grew up in Lyon
and showed all the new missionaries this symbolic work of art.

Among the many possible meanings that could be inferred,
we can consider how the burden of our own mistakes
is too heavy without our Savior's mercy.

Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc)
is memorialized in her hometown of Orléans. 

She was born here in 1412 and showed her heroism
 in leading French armies against the invading English.

She won the victory at age 17, 
but was accused of heresy and executed at age 19.

Another court reviewed her trial
and overturned the verdict 26 years later.

She was then known as a heroic defender of France,
and was later named a Saint in the Catholic Church.

The city of Orléans boasts several statues,

museums and cathedral windows telling her story.

This Fontaine Bartholdi depicts France as a woman, 

with 4 wild horses representing four great rivers of France:

la Seine, la Loire, le Rhône, la Garonne.

The sculptor was Auguste Bartholdi,
who also created the Statue of Liberty,
a gift to the U.S. from France.

The statue is located at the Place des Terreaux square in Lyon.

Church History Moments

We recently had the privilege of hearing stories from several local members. 

One was a woman who grew up in Baghdad, Iraq, and moved to France. She was from a devout Christian family, and had two aunts who were nuns. She read the Bible daily, but told us she didn't attend the Catholic church because she never felt the spirit there, and preferred to read by herself at home.

One day in Paris she saw an Instagram post about our church, with the invitation to send her phone number to learn about Jesus. She filled out the form expecting to get inspirational Bible messages, but was surprised to receive a phone call the next day from missionaries who invited her to church. She attended out of curiosity and stayed after church to watch a baptism. During the baptismal service she felt the Spirit more strongly than ever before in her life.

It troubled her, to think this new strange church had a stronger Spirit than the Catholics of her family tradition, and she prayed to understand. That night she had her answer in a dream, where she saw herself being pulled out of the Catholic church and being placed in the LDS church she had attended in Paris. She heard a voice distinctly tell her "this church is Acts 2."

She went to her Bible and read the account in Acts 2 where the Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost. She eagerly sought more information from the missionaries, and was touched to learn how similar our church is to the New Testament church she was familiar with in the Bible. She was excited to learn the Latter-day Saints have apostles and prophets. At first she thought the young missionaries were some of the Apostles. We assured her that some day soon she will most likely have an opportunity to meet a real Apostle in person. [Sure enough, Elder Caussé visited Paris shortly thereafter].

She was baptized in October, and was welcomed into the Paris Ward. In November she was called as RS Secretary. When we met her in January she told us she has been to the temple several times to do baptisms for her family members, and continues to feel the Spirit in the temple and in her ward.

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click on the arrow or 3 lines to the left of NEVILLES IN FRANCE
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