Member Voices
How I and My Family Embraced the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ
I was born into the family of Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel Mamody Oyegwa of Ojantelle in Apa local government of Benue state. I usually attended the Methodist church but because of my zeal for Jesus Christ, I would often fellowship with numerous churches. However, there were some encounters that led me to decide not to take my children to church anymore. For a year we were home praying on our own. I told God that I wouldn’t go to any church until He showed me the one I should go to. I didn’t know how He would show me but that’s how I felt.
One day, I was coming from a neighboring household and saw two young men that were nicely dressed, clean and had tags on their shirts talking to my daughter Habiba and her friend. I shouted to them from a distance and asked them “What have I done to you that you gave them a Bible and you didn’t give me one or speak with me?” These two elders were Elder Ohenhe and Elder Okoko from the Nigeria Enugu Mission. They joyfully told me “Mama, we are here because of you”.
They took their time teaching me and never seemed to mind the uncomfortable state of my house. They asked me to pray about what they shared and left a Book of Mormon with me. I was instructed to read the introduction, which I did with much eagerness. I had two questions that I wanted to know the answers to. The first had to do with my ancestors and the second was about marriage. The answers they gave me brought me hope.
Before they came back again, I took the time to speak with my children who were all as eager as I was to hear more. All except one. He told me “Mummy, never open that Book of Mormon or else you will die”.
I asked him why he thought that. He told me that the leaders of other churches had told him it was an evil book and that the day that someone opens that book, they will die. I reminded him what we had decided before about staying at home and not going to church for a year. I suggested to him that perhaps the missionaries coming to us now is an answer to prayer.
He did not agree and did not want to see the missionaries. I then told him that I had read the Book of Mormon. He was shocked and still didn’t want anything to do with the missionaries or the Church. The other children and I kept praying for him with the love the missionaries showed us by helping us with our domestic work, not minding if we are poor nor rich. One day, his younger brother said to him, “Brother, let’s read this book and die for mummy”.
I told them that they wouldn’t die because I didn’t die. They decided to read it privately. Now, that son is fully prepared for a mission. He loved the missionaries more than I did and would go proselyting with them and served as a district clerk. My family has all been baptized.
Introducing the gospel to my father was important to me. He attended another church and was an elder in that church but had been denied baptism because he was married three times. My mother was the first wife. He visited us and I told him about the missionaries. He did not think there could be truth anywhere else but in his Methodist church. As he learned more about the Church, he decided to be baptized. He had been sick off and on for a while. After he was baptized, he felt better and went home.
My hope was that he would stay strong in the Church. Every Sunday he would sit with the Book of Mormon and sing hymns. He especially liked hymns 44 and 45— “Beautiful Zion, Built Above” and “Lead Me into Life Eternal.” Some of his family members deserted him because of the truth that he embraced. They said that I took him from the family church. He told them that God brought the Church to him for his sake. He was given a blessing by President Albert Mutariswa, of the Nigeria Enugu Mission.
A branch was established in Ojantell and my father gave his own house to be used for the Church and there were many baptisms because of that. Before his death, he said that the Church would have access to his house for meetings until they no longer needed it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave him a befitting burial. I plan to go to the temple and do the baptism for my mom and seal them together with his children.
My goal is to share the gospel with the help of the missionaries all over the Apa and Aguati local government area. The love the missionaries showed us made such a difference in our family. We were able to accept this truth for ourselves. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. God loves us and so we ought to love others by doing the needful, especially teaching about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know God will perfect what He started. I know that this testimony is true, and the love of the restored gospel binds us with all brethren all over the world.