Celia Cruz—Puerto Rico

A Robbery Has Unexpected Results in Puerto Rico

You Are Assaulting a Servant of the Lord

On the evening of August 9, 1995, fifty-nine-year-old Celia Ayala de Cruz decided to walk to her Relief Society activity. She liked to be on time for meetings, and the person who had promised to give her a ride to the church had not shown up. Fortunately, the meetinghouse was only an eight-minute walk from her home. If she left right away, she could arrive at the church with a few minutes to spare. The activity was a quilting class, and she was teaching it.

Celia lived in Ponce, a city on the southern coast of Puerto Rico, in the Caribbean Sea. Missionaries had been serving in the Caribbean since the 1960s, especially in Puerto Rico and later in the Dominican Republic, both of which now had tens of thousands of Saints. The restored gospel had also taken root in other island nations and territories, reaching people of diverse cultures, religions, languages, and ethnicities. Saints could now be found in cities, towns, and villages across the Caribbean.

As she set out for her meeting, Celia carried a handbag containing a five-dollar bill and a gift-wrapped copy of the Book of Mormon. Ever since President Ezra Taft Benson had challenged the Saints to renew their focus on the Book of Mormon, she and other Church members had looked for opportunities to share the book with others. The Church’s Family-to-Family Book of Mormon Program had encouraged Saints to write their testimonies on the inside of the book before giving it away. At first, Latter-day Saints had to buy their own copies of the Book of Mormon, but in 1990, the Church set up a donation fund to provide the book free of charge to anyone in the world.

Since joining the Church sixteen years earlier, Celia herself had read the Book of Mormon multiple times. Now, a coworker was having a difficult time in her marriage, and Celia believed the book could help her. She had placed a copy in a gift box, wrapped it up in nice paper, and tied a ribbon around it. In the box, she had also included a postcard with her address and her written testimony of the Book of Mormon. She was bringing the book to church that evening to show her Relief Society sisters how they could share the Book of Mormon with others.

When she neared the meetinghouse, Celia decided to take a shortcut behind a park. As she was passing through a gate, a tall young man with a knife jumped out at her. He shoved her, and she fell backward onto a patch of damp weeds.

“You are assaulting a servant of the Lord,” Celia told him.

The young man said nothing. At first, Celia thought he was going to kill her. But then he snatched her bag and rummaged through it until he found the five-dollar bill and gift-wrapped Book of Mormon. A calm feeling rested over her. She knew the young man was not going to hurt her.

“Lord,” she silently prayed, “if that’s the way you have chosen for that boy to convert to the gospel, he’s not going to kill me.”

Clutching his knife, the young man took the money and Book of Mormon and ran off into the night.

See the full text in Gospel Library for notes and source citations.

I Know That It Is True

Not long after being robbed, Celia Ayala de Cruz checked her mailbox. Inside she found a one-page letter with no name attached. “Forgive me, forgive me,” it read. “You will never know how sorry I am for attacking you.”

Celia kept reading. The young man described how the Book of Mormon he stole had changed his life. When he first saw the gift-wrapped book, he thought it was something he could sell. But then he opened it and read the testimony Celia had written for her coworker. “The message you wrote in that book brought tears to my eyes,” he told Celia. “Since Wednesday night, I have not been able to stop reading it.”

The young man had been particularly moved by the story of Lehi. “The dream of that man of God has shaken me,” he wrote, “and I thank God that I found you.” He did not know if God would forgive him for stealing, but he hoped Celia could. “I am returning your five dollars,” he added, “for I can’t spend them.” The money was with his letter.

He also wrote of his desire to learn more about the Church. “I want you to know that you will see me again, but when you do, you won’t recognize me, for I will be your brother,” he wrote. “I am not from your city, but here where I live, I have to find the Lord and go to the church you belong to.”

Celia sat down. Ever since the attack, she had been praying for the young man. “If God is willing,” she said, “may that boy be converted.”

A few months later, the new year started. Sunday Schools throughout the Church began a yearlong study of the Book of Mormon. To assist the Saints in their studies, the Church News devoted its first issue of the year to the book. The issue included an overview of the Book of Mormon’s teachings about Jesus Christ, various charts and articles to help readers better understand its peoples and events, and information about a new videocassette containing nine short Book of Mormon films to supplement Sunday School lessons. With Celia’s permission, the final page of the newspaper featured a short account of her experience with the young man, including the full text of his letter.

In February 1996, Celia received another letter from the young man. He was still too embarrassed about the robbery to tell Celia his name, but he had seen the story in the Church News, and he wanted her to know that he was doing well and trying to change his life. He thought often about her and the Book of Mormon. “I know that it is true,” he wrote. In fact, he had recently joined the Church and received the priesthood. “I am working for the Lord,” he told her.

He let her know that he now lived near a temple, which he had recently visited. Although he did not go inside the building, he had felt the Spirit powerfully there, and he knew it was the Lord’s house.

The young man signed the letter as Celia’s “brother of faith.” He expressed his love for her and her family. He knew the Lord had a purpose for him.

“I don’t want to leave the Lord’s path,” he told her. “I feel very happy.”

See the full text in Gospel Library for notes and source citations.