My father, my brother, and my two younger sisters were members of the church, but I was not. We lived in Talangai, Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo. While I was still at school in 2002 I was introduced to the missionaries. Elder Nimene was from Liberia and Elder Bosi from the Democratic Republic of Congo. After I had been taught all the lessons, I decided not to be baptised. But then this scripture made me rethink my decision: “For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.” (Alma 34: 35)
My heart was touched by this idea and I thought about the possibility of being baptised. The missionaries invited me to read and ponder the invitation in Moroni 10: 3, 4: “Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”
While I was contemplating all of this, I had a dream one night. I saw a man standing in the baptismal font. He spoke to me and said, “Once you get baptised, you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” This made me decide to be baptised because I had been praying to know what to do. I knew that this was an answer to my prayers. I knew then that God lives and will communicate with us any time, and in different ways. He is willing to speak to us.
I was baptised just before my birthday and confirmed a member of the church a week later. I am so grateful to be a member of the Lord’s church, and for the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Lord is aware of each of us and at times will send His messengers to tell us what we should do. His hand is over our lives and He prepares people to come into His kingdom. I am happy to be one of them.