When you mention pioneers in the Church, almost everyone’s minds go to handcarts and amazing stories of faith that come from crossing the great plains. For decades these stories rang true not only for the virtues they embodied, but most members were direct descendants of the pioneers. it was their heritage. But if you, or your family, are one of the 8 million converts over the last 30 years, there is a good likelihood that the pioneer stories that will resonate with you will be stories of people who never pushed a handcart, nor set foot in the Salt Lake Valley. So here are seven stories of international pioneers that you’ve never heard before. These trailblazers never pushed a handcart, but they laid the foundations of the gospel and Church nonetheless.

Joseph William Billy Johnson: Ghana

The first pioneer story I want to share is the Story of Brother Joseph William Billy Johnson. I think his story will resonate with many members because we can relate to it far more than those who crossed the plains. Brother Johnson was from Ghana. He was black. And he found the Church in the 1960s. During the prohibition of ordaining black men to the Priesthood. He reached out to the Church asking for missionaries and baptism, but due to the fact that there were no priesthood-able men to sustain and lead the Church, they refused to send missionaries.

Rather than becoming bitter, Brother Johnson decided his testimony was more important. Even though he was denied missionaries he not only lived the gospel the best he could, HE SHARED IT! Imagine a black man who was denied the Priesthood, sharing the gospel with his friends in Ghana, who too would be denied the Priesthood. But due to his and others’ actions, over 1,000 converts joined his groups awaiting the long-promised day! They had to wait nearly 20 years, until 1978. But now, nearly 40 years later there are nearly 90,000 members of the Church in Ghana and a temple! Here is the story of Joseph William Billy Johnson:

In the early 1960s, long before the Church was officially established in Ghana, several Ghanaians learned about the restored gospel either abroad or through friends. In February 1964, Joseph William Billy Johnson received copies of Church literature from his friend Raphael Abraham Frank Mensah, a preacher and spiritual healer, who had received a Book of Mormon from a woman in England.

Johnson awoke one morning after reading the Book of Mormon and heard a voice call his name. “If you will take up my work,” the voice said, “I will bless you and bless your land.” Moved by this experience and by what he read, he joined Mensah in preaching from the Book of Mormon, and the two organized congregations of believers in Accra and Cape Coast.

They began to write to Church leaders in Utah, asking for recognition and resources. The Church sent literature and encouragement in the form of letters, but leaders were reluctant to send missionaries and officially establish the Church in West Africa. As long as black African men could not be ordained to the priesthood, self-sustaining branches with local leadership would have to wait.

Johnson and Mensah continued to preach and establish additional congregations. In their meetings, faithful believers would often select the hymn “Come, O Thou King of Kings,” and when they sang the line “We’ve waited long for thee,” tears would spring to their eyes. Johnson felt a spiritual kinship with Brigham Young and looked to the example of the early pioneers for strength.

By the mid-1970s, there were 10 congregations with nearly 1,000 members. One of the largest congregations was in Takoradi, led by Rebecca Mould, a woman known as “the Mormon Prophetess.” These early believers waited and prayed for the day when the Church would send missionaries.

One evening during the summer of 1978, Joseph William Billy Johnson felt inspired to turn on his radio and tune to the BBC. To his astonishment, he heard the announcement that Church President Spencer W. Kimball had received a revelation authorizing the ordination of all men regardless of race. “I burst into tears of joy,” he recalled.

That December, the first missionary couples arrived in Ghana. Rendell and Rachel Mabey and Edwin and Janath Cannon met with Johnson and others in Cape Coast and planned a large baptismal service at a nearby beach. On December 9, Mensah, Johnson, and 123 converts from their congregations were baptized. The next morning a branch was organized in Cape Coast with Johnson as president. The missionaries then drove down the coast to Takoradi, where they baptized 124 more, including Mould.

The work of Johnson and others prepared the way for many more to be baptized in the coming weeks and months, and additional branches were established. Though some who belonged to the earlier unofficial congregations parted ways with the Church after the arrival of the missionaries, many stayed and formed the foundation for Church growth in Ghana.

“We’ve Waited Long for Thee” Global Histories

For a more detailed account of his life see this article by the Church. “A people prepared” or this short video about Brother Johnson. The Long-Promised Day.

Donald W. Cummings: Austrialia

The story of President Donald W. Cummings is a story of sacrifice that brings forth the blessings of Heaven! Living in Perth Australia as the District President he sacrificed everything, his house, car, and his job, to travel to New Zealand to be sealed to his family in the Temple. Then after setting the example of sacrifice, he led his district into becoming a stake, being called as the first Stake President of the Perth Australia Stake.

As Stake President, Donald W. Cummings led the stake in zeal for temple work. Despite their distance, the stake performed more temple work per capita than any other stake in their temple district! And then in 1999, President Hinckley announced they would receive their own temple! And in 2001, Donald W. Cummings became the first Temple President of The Perth Australia Temple. Now Australia has 5 temples and over 130,000 Latter-day Saints across 42 stakes! Here is the story of Donald W. Cummings as related in the Ensign, 25 years before his call as Temple President.

What sacrifices would you be willing to make to go to the temple? Would you sell your car? Jeopardize your home? Give up your job?

These thoughts nagged at the mind of young District President Donald W. Cummings of Perth, Australia. The mission president had challenged the Australian Saints to attend the New Zealand Temple dedication, just four months—but 4,000 miles—away. Perth was the farthest district from Church headquarters—so far that if you went any farther you would be heading back to Zion.

The mission president’s challenge kept ringing in his ears. “If you have a righteous goal and pray about it, the Lord will help you achieve it.” President Cummings reviewed his finances. He was struggling to purchase a home for his burgeoning family; he earned only a modest salary; he had no money in the bank; he drove an old car. The price of going to New Zealand was 600 pounds ($1,200 U.S. dollars). He set his jaw and picked up the newspaper to look in the classified section for loans.

Several years earlier, every Melchizedek Priesthood holder in the district, including Donald Cummings, had driven 3,000 miles round trip, much of it on primitive dirt roads, in two battered cars, to see President David O. McKay during his historic visit to Adelaide, South Australia. Now President Cummings was 26 years old, a convert of 10 years and district president for eight months over an area that encompassed the entire state of Western Australia, nearly one million square miles.

He began preparations for their temple trip. He borrowed money on his furniture, the last loan of that type granted by the company. He sold the car and started walking, riding buses, even hitchhiking. And, during the next 18 months, he never missed his visits to any branch. He recalls, “Yes, it was hard getting around, but my wife and I remember this as one of the happiest periods of our lives. We had discovered the joys of sacrifice for the Lord. We appreciated walking all the more.”

Even after selling the car and mortgaging both house and furniture, he was still $200 short—with no other funds in sight and only a few weeks to go. President Cummings had to give his company notice, for they would not hold his job open for six weeks.

With less than a week to go, a relative who was not a member of the Church met him on the street and surprised him with a gift of $100. With one day left before departure, another nonmember relative drove in from the country and pressed the final $100 into his hands. President and Sister Cummings both knew that “the Lord had intervened. He had touched the hearts of those closest to us.”

The 8,000 mile round trip started with a 2,000 mile, four and a half day train ride across the width of the Australian outback. In Sydney, the family delightedly met with the other Saints who had also arranged passage on a boat bound for Auckland.

To their wrenching disappointment, the boat had just been damaged in hitting the wharf, but remarkably, they were able to charter an airplane without any excess cost. They all flew to the dedication and witnessed this sacred event as President David O. McKay presided and prayed. President Cummings spoke in the spacious auditorium of the new Church College adjacent to the temple. The family was blessed to attend the first day of endowments; they were also members of the first company to do work for the dead.

The Cummings family planned to lodge in tents, for their funds were so meager. But at the last minute, arrangements were made for hotel accommodations. They could pay later—but they were never billed, nor could they discover whom to pay. Too poor to tour, they rejoiced in working in the temple for several weeks. Then, filled with the spirit of their new blessings, they traveled home with $10 in their pockets, no job, no car, and mortgages on their home and furniture. But they were rich in rewards that only a temple can provide: they were sealed together for time and eternity.

President Cummings went back to his old employer and, to his astonishment, was hired as a sales manager with an increase in pay. But he would not get paid until the end of the week, and their money had run out completely. There was nothing to eat. One of his wife’s country relatives paid a surprise visit and dropped off enough fresh garden produce to sustain them until payday.

When Elder Thomas S. Monson of the Council of the Twelve organized the Perth Stake in 1968, Donald W. Cummings became its first president. He had seen the kingdom of God swell from a handful to a stake, but he never forgot the promise of his mission president: “If you have a righteous goal and pray about it, the Lord will help you achieve it.”

Many Perth Stake members have since heard this same challenge. As a result, more living endowments per capita are performed in the New Zealand Temple by the Perth Stake than by any other Australian stake. One year the Perth Saints performed more endowments than all of the other six stakes in Australia combined. At present, every member of the Perth Stake high council, bishoprics, quorum presidents, and every other stake officer has been through the temple.

A fitting tribute to determined Saints blessed by the Lord for their perseverance.

Saga of Sacrifice, Ensign August 1974

Kim Ho Jik: Korea

Unless you are a Korean Latter-day Saint, Dr. Kim Ho Jik is a name that most Latter-day Saints have never heard. Dr Jik was the first Korean convert to the gospel, but his story is an example to all Latter-day Saints. Dr. Jik was only a member of the Church for eight short years before he suddenly died in 1959. But in those short eight years, he laid the foundations for the Church in Korea. He was respected by business, education, and political leaders across Korea. Due to his actions, Korea now has almost 90,000 members and a temple! The following story shows how Dr. Jik’s life was an example of putting the gospel first:

It was Sunday, nearly forty years ago, and an important political matter suddenly needed attention. Syngman Rhee, president of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), sent his secretary to find his vice-minister of education, Kim Ho Jik.

The secretary found the vice-minister teaching Sunday School in his LDS branch. “You’ll have to wait until the class is over,” Dr. Kim told the secretary.

When Dr. Kim finally arrived at the presidential palace, President Rhee scolded him for taking so long. Dr. Kim explained to the president and the others gathered there that his calling as a Sunday School teacher was important, and he had needed to finish his lesson.

President Rhee patted him on the shoulder. “Chal haesso (You did well)!”

Kim Ho Jik was the first Korean to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was born April 16, 1905, to Confucian* parents in P’yöngyang Province. As a young boy, he yearned to find the true religion, and he began attending many different church services. He joined the Presbyterian Church in 1925 and was very active, but something still seemed to be missing from his life.

Ho Jik wanted to learn about many things, so in 1950 he went to Cornell University in New York State to study nutrition. There he met Oliver Wayman, a fellow student and a Church member. Ho Jik was impressed by Brother Wayman’s clean lifestyle—he didn’t smoke, drink, or do other bad things.

When Oliver gave him a copy of The Articles of Faith by James E. Talmage, Ho Jik read it within a week and eagerly asked for more information. Soon he had finished the Book of Mormon, too, and believed it to be the word of God. He started attending Church meetings with Oliver; he also continued to attend Presbyterian services.

On the day Oliver left the university, he stopped his Korean friend in a hallway. “I then bore my testimony of the gospel and told him that it was my opinion that the Lord had moved upon him to come to America … that he might receive the gospel and take it back to his people.” He also told Ho Jik that “if he refused to do the work the Lord had for him to do, another would be raised up in his place.”

Those words had a powerful effect upon Kim Ho Jik. He read the Book of Mormon again, and the Spirit again told him it was true. In July of 1951 he was baptized in the quiet waters of the Susquehanna River, near the place where Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery had been baptized. As he came up out of the water, a voice said to him, “Feed My sheep. Feed My sheep.”

Brother Kim graduated from Cornell a short time later—getting the degree that entitled him to be called doctor—and returned home to South Korea, which was at war. Amid the violence and destruction, he felt the quiet peace of the Holy Ghost as he attended Church services with LDS servicemen from the United States.

Dr. Kim was given many important responsibilities by his country. He was a professor at various universities and president or dean of several colleges, and he later became vice-minister of education and president of the Seoul City Board of Education. He was also a well-known expert on the nutritional content of the soybean. In spite of his many duties, he faithfully obeyed the Lord’s command to feed His sheep.

In 1955, President Joseph Fielding Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Dr. Kim, and several servicemen traveled to one of the hills that overlooked Seoul, the South Korean capital. There, in a quiet, private place, President Smith dedicated the land for missionary work.

Soon Dr. Kim was president of the Korea District of the Church’s Northern Far East Mission. He helped the Church gain legal recognition in South Korea so that missionaries could serve there, and he even rented a house where they could stay. Members and investigators met there often to discuss the gospel with the elders.

Dr. Kim translated the Articles of Faith, the sacrament prayers, hymns, and other Church materials into Korean. He served as a branch president, and he donated much of his money to the missionary effort and the poor. His example led many to investigate the Church.

Dr. Kim passed away suddenly on August 31, 1959, at the age of 54, just eight years after his baptism. But he had tried hard to feed the Lord’s sheep, preparing the way for tens of thousands of Koreans to become members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Heroes and Heroines: Kim Ho Jik— Korean Pioneer, The Friend, April 1997

For a more detailed account of the amazing life of Kim Ho Jik see this Ensign article, Kim Ho Jik: Korean Pioneer also this short vignette from the documentary “An Ensign to the Nations.”

Helvécio Martins: Brazil

Imagine being a black Latter-day Saint during the priesthood prohibition (that means you won’t be able to attend the temple). Now imagine being asked by the Church to be the spokesperson when they announced the first temple in South America was going to be built in your home nation, a temple you would not be able to attend. This is the trial that Helvécio Martins faced and how he handled it is a story of commitment and integrity to witnesses of the Spirit. Helvécio Martins became the first General Authority, and South America now has over 20 temples with his home nation having over half of them! Here is the story of Helvécio Martins:

As vice president of a large corporation, Helvécio Martins lived a comfortable life in Rio de Janeiro. He and his wife, Rudá, felt a spiritual longing and began to attend several local churches. Yet over time, their search left them unsatisfied. One night in April 1972, while stuck in a traffic jam, Helvécio cried out to God for help. “My God,” he thought, “why don’t you help us find that something that will bring relief, satisfaction, [and] joy?”

When the missionaries knocked on the Martins family’s door a few days later, Rudá turned the missionaries away, knowing her husband did not want visitors that evening. But Helvécio told her to find them and invite them back.

Helvécio and Rudá, both of African descent, pointedly asked the missionaries, “How does your religion treat blacks?” Concerned how the family would react to the Church’s restriction that prevented black members from entering the temple or holding the priesthood, the missionaries asked to pray with them first. They then explained to the best of their ability the Church’s teachings on priesthood and the temple. “The missionaries’ explanations seemed clear to me,” Helvécio said later. He remembered the “calmness, serenity, and happiness” that entered their home. The couple was soon baptized.

An excellent public speaker, Helvécio was asked to serve as a spokesperson for the Church in Brazil. In 1975, when the São Paulo Brazil Temple was announced, Helvécio served on the public relations committee for the temple. Though he understood he would not be able to enter the temple, Helvécio traveled the country, explaining its significance to others. When the cornerstone of the temple was laid, President Spencer W. Kimball spoke to Helvécio privately. “Remain faithful,” Kimball encouraged, “and you will enjoy all the blessings of the gospel.”

On June 8, 1978, Helvécio returned home from work to find Rudá very excited. “I have news, amazing news!” she declared. Earlier that day, the First Presidency had announced that temple blessings would be extended to all worthy members, regardless of race. “I could not contain my emotions,” Helvécio recalled. “We wept as we thanked our Father in Heaven.” They were soon sealed in the São Paulo Brazil Temple.

On March 31, 1990, Helvécio Martins became the first man of African descent to be called as a General Authority.

“Joy of an Eternal Covenant” Global Histories

Yumba Muzimba Paul and Muba Wa Umbalo Delphin: Democratic Republic of the Congo

I love the story of Brother Paul and Delphin. Why do I love it? Because it took place in 2014. Not 1914, not 1844, but only 7 years ago. These faithful brothers show that there are pioneer stories STILL being written TODAY. Their story of faith is amazing, and their commitment to the gospel and Church for over 38 years until the Priesthood came to their village is awe-inspiring, and one of the many examples of faith behind the Church’s rapid growth to almost 70,000 members in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

One rainy Saturday morning in 2014, President Elie K. Monga, a counselor in the mission presidency in Lubumbashi, and Elder Jeffrey Wright, a senior missionary, came to the meetinghouse in Kolwezi early to prepare for a district conference that would be held over the next two days. When they arrived, two haggard-looking men were waiting for them. They introduced themselves as Yumba Muzimba Paul and Muba Wa Umbalo Delphin. They had only a beat-up bicycle with a flat front tire and a parcel wrapped in a torn, dirty plastic bag.

Eight days earlier, Paul and Delphin had left their home in Kikondja with a large group to attend the district conference in Kolwezi, more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) to the southwest. Although there was no official branch in Kikondja, they reported that more than 60 people were attending the group’s weekly meetings. During the journey, many of the members had become ill and decided to return to their homes. Only Paul and Delphin continued, determined to attend the district conference. They traveled day and night the last three days, walking their bicycle through the pouring rain because it had a flat tire. Now there, they presented their parcel to Wright: the year’s tithing for 33 members of their group. Although Wright had processed large donations before, he recalled, “I have never felt like I had handled such sacred money before.”

The tithing paid, Paul told Monga and Wright the true reason he was so determined to attend the district conference. In 1975 he and two other men from Kikondja, including Delphin’s father, had written letters to Church headquarters requesting missionaries come to their village. Although Paul’s partners in the endeavor had both died, he had maintained his desire that the Church would one day be established in his village. “I have waited for this event for 38 years,” Paul told them.

Over the next two days, Monga and Wright taught and trained Paul and Delphin in the duties of priesthood holders, including how to administer the sacrament and to use their priesthood to bless the lives of their families and neighbors. Before they left for the return journey, Paul and Delphin were ordained as elders and authorized to bless the sacrament and hold meetings in their homes.

“Taking the Priesthood to Kikondja” Global Histories

Jiří and Olga Šnederfler: Czech Republic

So much of European Church history ends with the same storyline, “they migrated to Zion.” There were tens of thousands of early pioneers to left Europe for America and then crossed the plains to build up the Church in the Rockey Mountains. But the story of Jiří and Olga Šnederfler did not follow that course. Their story is a tale about holding true to the faith despite godless communism seeking to destroy their faith. In their nation, the Church is still relatively small, with less than 3,000 members of the Church. But pioneers like brother and sister Šnederfler have laid the groundwork for growth by their example of faithfulness:

After World War II, the mission reopened and, for a time, had significant success in Czechoslovakia. Among those who converted during this period were many young people, including 17-year-oldJiří Šnederfler and 19-year-old Olga Kozáková. Less than a year after Šnederfler and Kozáková were baptized, however, the Communist Party banned foreign missionaries from Czechoslovakia.

Contact with Church leaders outside the country was limited, and the government refused to recognize the Church. Members were unable to meet regularly, obtain printed materials, and perform ordinances publicly. In the face of government repression, members continued to practice their faith. Each year, members met on July 24 at the site near Karlštejn Castle where the country was dedicated in 1929. At one of these annual meetings, Šnederfler met Kozáková. A short time later, the two were married.

For the next several decades, Jiří and Olga Šnederfler continued to teach their children gospel principles, hold weekly devotionals, study the scriptures, and pray in their home. For many years, however, the risk of openly practicing their faith was such that they told no one they were Latter-day Saints, including their children until they were old enough to keep the secret. In this era, printed Church materials were difficult to obtain and dangerous to own. When they were acquired, members translated, typed, and hand delivered copies to one another. Together, members translated and distributed hymns, leadership handbooks, lesson manuals, scriptural commentaries, and even a complete translation of the Doctrine and Covenants. Despite the persecution Czech Saints faced, Jiří recalled: “We never felt alone. God is above. I always felt that we were part of the larger family of Church members in the whole world.”

In 1975, a district was created in Prague with Jiří Šnederfler as president. Although the Church still lacked official recognition, the Šnederfler family spent weekends traveling the country, visiting other Church members. Soon branches were organized in Prague, Brno, and Plzeň. Members in Czechoslovakia began to have more regular contact with one another and with Church leaders outside the country. With the encouragement of Church leaders in Europe and the United States, Šnederfler renewed efforts to obtain official recognition for the Church.

In late 1989, the Communist Party relinquished power, and Czechoslovakia began a peaceful transition to democracy. This Velvet Revolution led to greater freedom and allowed Church members to publicly practice their faith. In February 1990, after 40 years of rejected petitions, the Church was granted official recognition. In May, missionaries returned to Czechoslovakia, and on July 1, 1990, the Czechoslovakia Prague Mission was formally organized.

On May 20, 1991, Jiří and Olga Šnederfler received a phone call from President Thomas S. Monson of the First Presidency asking them to serve as president and matron of the Freiberg Germany Temple. Jiří was stunned silent. “Are you there, Jiří?” Monson asked.

Composing himself, Jiří responded simply, “I accept humbly this calling.” The Šnederflers served in Freiberg from 1991 to 1995. During their tenure, they played a crucial role in extending the blessings of the temple to many Eastern European Saints who, like them, had persevered in their faith under communism.

Growing numbers of citizens of the Czech Republic have made their way to the Freiberg Temple since then as branches in the country have witnessed gradual yet sustained growth. Though there have been many obstacles and interruptions since Thomas Biesinger arrived in Prague in 1884, the dream that generations of Czech Saints have shared of seeing the Church firmly planted in their homeland is being fulfilled: on May 15, 2016, the Prague Czech Republic Stake, the first stake in the country, was organized.

“We Never Felt Alone” and “I Accept Humbly This Calling” Global Histories

Anthony Obinna: Nigeria

Absolutely no story about international pioneers would be complete without the conversion story of Anthony Obinna. I love his story as once again it highlights trusting in the Lord when we don’t understand the why behind it. Anthony Obinna found the gospel nearly a decade before the prohibition of black men being ordained to the Priesthood was lifted. Of all the members who get upset or struggle with this aspect of Church history, none have greater reason to be bitter than Anthony Obinna. After having a vision of the Salt Lake temple his requests for missionaries to be sent were denied. repeatedly for almost a decade.

This story is enough to make many people’s blood boil, but Anthony Obinna did not get bitter. EVEN THOUGH HE DID NOT KNOW WHY, behind the prohibition, HE KNEW THE CHURCH WAS TRUE. So he held on. Not only did he hold on. Like Brother Johnson in Ghana, he shared the gospel. He continued to write to Salt Lake City and organized unofficial church groups of other blacks who gained testimonies of a gospel whose ordinances were denied to them. The most inspiring part of his story comes at the end when the prohibition was lifted, he wrote one final letter to Salt Lake City to thank the Prophet and Apostles and members for their prayer and fasting that the restriction on the Priesthood would be lifted so that he and his family and friends could enjoy the blessings of the temple! He understood far better than most members how revelation works. Under the leadership of men like Anthony, the Church in Nigeria has grown to almost 200,000 in the last 40 years. Here is his story:

One evening Anthony Obinna dreamed of a beautiful building he had never seen before. Several years later, while confined to his home during the Nigerian Civil War, Obinna read an old issue of the Reader’s Digest. He was stunned to see the building from his dream in an article about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“From the time I finished reading the story,” Obinna recalled, “I had no rest of mind any longer.” He immediately told his family about his discovery, but more than a year passed before the political situation in Nigeria allowed Obinna to contact Church headquarters. In 1971 LaMar S. Williams of the Church’s Missionary Department sent him a copy of the Book of Mormon and other Church literature but informed him there were not yet plans to organize the Church in Nigeria.

Despite his disappointment, Obinna continued the correspondence and shared the gospel with friends and neighbors. In 1975 he became a member of Ime Eduok’s committee to coordinate unofficial Latter-day Saint congregations in Nigeria. Within a few years, 71 people were regularly attending the meetings Obinna held. The group built a small church, which they called the LDS Missionary Home, and posted a sign on the roof announcing it as the home of the “Nigerian Latter-Day Saints.”

In November 1978, soon after the Church announced the revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy male members, Rendell N. and Rachel Mabey and Edwin Q. and Janath Cannon became the first missionaries sent to West Africa. Almost immediately, they sought Obinna and soon met him at the Missionary Home. “It has been a long, difficult wait,” Obinna said, “but that doesn’t matter now. You have come at last.”

Elder Mabey told Obinna that the other congregations needed to be visited and estimated it would be six weeks before they could return to baptize his group. Obinna protested. “No. Please,” he quietly implored. “Please, if it is humanly possible—go ahead with the baptisms now!” Mabey agreed, and on November 21, 1978, 19 converts were baptized in the Ekeonumiri River. Anthony Obinna was the first.

Anthony Obinna was called to preside over the newly organized Aboh Branch with his brothers Francis and Raymond as his counselors. Obinna’s wife, Fidelia, was called as Relief Society president.

“We are happy for the many hours in the Upper Room of the Temple you spent supplicating the Lord to bring us into the fold,” the Obinna brothers wrote to Church leaders after the branch was established. “We thank our Heavenly Father for hearing your prayers and ours,” they added, expressing gratitude that “revelation has confirmed the long-promised day, and has granted the holy priesthood to us, with the power to exercise its divine authority and enjoy every blessing of the temple.”

“The Church Comes to Nigeria” Global Histories

For the more detailed story of Brother Obinna see “You Have Come at Last” and “Story of a Nigerian Member” By Anthony Uzodimma Obinna also this short vignette from the documentary “An Ensign to the Nations.”