A Story of My Conversion and Finding the True Church

Tshani Mbuyamba William in Family History LibraryBy Tshani Mbuyamba William

My conversion is quite interesting. I was born in a Catholic family and my parents, who are deceased, were faithful in the Catholic belief and doctrines. One special thing they indoctrinated deep in my heart was to effectively study the principles and sincerely pray to the Lord. At the age of 17 I moved over with my sister and she introduced me to her Pentecostal religion. At the same time I read the New Testament for the first time in my life. Since then my hunger for hearing more of the word of God grew exceedingly. I was assigned to preach among the young of my church and this assignment opened in me a door to search the scriptures, the gospel principles and doctrines more diligently. The more light I earned, the more skeptical I became about what was being preached in this church. For instance, the Godhead wasn’t taught as revealed in the New Testament; the Holy Ghost was taught as being the very priesthood of God and that the gift thereof is manifested in a believer by the speaking of tongues. It was an honor among the believers to speak in tongues, especially those in leadership positions. I did not speak in tongues, but I had the courage to confront the church leaders on the Holy Ghost matter as spoken of in Acts of the Apostles. Unfortunately, I was like a droplet of water in the Atlantic Ocean. After being resisted in my opinions I had two options: one, to leave the church and two, to stay in the church and continue in the false doctrines. While I was wrestling within my heart over the decision my mother’s words came to mind and filled my heart. I quote, “My son, rely upon the Lord always for guidance and He will direct you in all things. Pray sincerely and unceasingly unto Him and He will reveal Himself unto you.” I was comforted and decided to stay in this church until the Lord did something about it. From that time forth, I gave myself into mighty prayer and fasting to know the true church.

In 2001 I had three consecutive dreams that I did not understand fully but knew that the Lord was surely preparing a way for me to find his truth. The first dream came to me in the following manner: I saw the whole world was in darkness and in the mist of the darkness I saw the moon and its light was dim and could not enlighten sufficiently the whole world. Then I questioned myself about the darkness that covers the whole world and also about the dim light of the moon that fails to enlighten sufficiently. While I was in this state of wondering, I suddenly saw the sun and its light was very bright and in a little space of time it filled the whole earth and the darkness completely disappeared. I shouted for joy and went about telling people of what I had seen.

In the same year, I had another dream and this time I was shown a big church and inside it there were idols on the stand. I questioned myself again and I heard a voice telling me those idols represent the Gods of the world and the leaders of this church get their power from those Gods to act in abomination. I got more confused because I did not know which church is Christ’s and how should I know which one was true. I quit going to my usual church but I kept on praying for divine directions for the truth.

Then came my third dream: One night before going to bed I had a strong feeling to ask God if He would show me which confession I should go to in order to worship Him. I was looking for the right church and was tired of staying at home on Sunday without going to church. After my prayer I went to bed, having the faith that the Lord would answer my prayer to end my confusion. I was in the beginning of my last year in high school when this dream came to me and in it the Lord revealed to me the exact month and year in which I would come across the true church. There were words put in my ears and I could clearly hear and understand them and these were the words: “Join no church for the month you are completing your high school I will cause you to know My true church”. I suddenly woke up and pondered over and over the words I heard in my dream and I came to the conclusion that the Lord had shown me His will so I would have to follow it. The month and year I was to complete my high school was July 2002.

On the third Sunday of July 2002, I visited my brother Mulowayi Jaques. He was not home but I was told that he had gone to church. I did not ask which church but I was surprised that he had started going to church after a long period of not believing . He was baptized two weeks earlier with his wife. I decided to visit again later in the evening and that is when I met the missionaries at my brother’s house. They were there for a dinner appointment and Jacques referred me to them. That evening I had a discussion with them on the Gospel, the church, prophets and the Holy Ghost. They were amazed that I brought up those issues and on the other hand I already had a convincing testimony that they were the Lord’s true servants and that they had some truth to share with me. I even confessed this to them and my heart was filled with the Spirit. I booked another appointment that later changed my life for good. While I was taking the lessons with them I began to understand the dreams I had. The Lord was trying to show me that there was an apostasy on the whole earth and then the restoration had occurred to end the apostasy and all churches lack the priesthood to preach and perform sacred ordinances such as baptism and conferring the gift of the Holy Ghost. My first Sunday at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints brought the words of my last dream into my heart and from that time forth I knew that this was the true church of Christ on earth and what I was looking for and had now found. When the missionaries taught me about the priesthood, the family and temple work for the living and the dead these truths were very direct and unquestionable to my understanding and I desired to redeem my loved ones who had passed on without the knowledge of the restored gospel. I recalled setting that as a goal the very day I was taught these truths. I know that God leads the true and faithful seekers to the truth and helps them to find and embrace it. I am so grateful to be a member of the true church of Christ on the earth and feel honored for the privilege I had to serve a full time mission and take part in the building of the kingdom of God on the earth today. I am thankful to Heavenly Father for the Prophet Joseph Smith and for the mission he assigned him to fulfill in this last dispensation. I know that Thomas S. Monson was called of God to preside over His kingdom on earth. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and this knowledge has come to me by the power of the Holy Ghost. I am also exceedingly glad that I achieved my goal to perform temple work for my loved one, especially my loving parents, brothers and sisters who have passed on without the knowledge of the restored gospel. Now I am sealed to them and we are an eternal family. I am also thankful that Elder and Sister Ivie helped me as proxies to perform these sacred ordinances.

It is so amazing that Heavenly Father helped me find the genealogy information on my maternal side. Soon after my mission a cousin came from the village and he told me that my mother and his father were half-brother and half-sister. That is when I started asking him some questions about my mother’s genealogy, for I knew nothing about it. I had only met my grandma for the first time when I was about 12 years old so I was surprised when he started to explain my mother’s genealogy and I felt as if I was interacting with those relatives. At the same time I was finding the origin of some names that some of my brothers and sisters are named after. I felt linked to them and I knew they were happy for me to know them. I called it a miracle and blessing of the restored gospel.

We do not have a temple in the Republic of Congo so I was excited to have this information because I was preparing my trip to South Africa to join my brother Jacques Mulowayi and I knew that I was going to perform the temple work for these loved ones. This event of learning about my ancestors happened between July and November 2009. In December 2009 I left Lumbumbashi, DRC for the Republic of South Africa. I am so glad that Elder and Sister Ivie helped me work on my genealogy information, taught me how to use New and participated with me in the performance of these saving ordinances for my ancestors.

The spirit has prompted me to be active in the church and participate in all of the church activities and to pray and study the scriptures. As a result I have waxed bold in bearing testimony to them that were oppressing me about my membership in the church. I love the gospel, the church and would like to marry someday and be sealed to my wife in the temple. (Story Transcribed by Elder Lewis V. Ivie-Johannesburg Family History Centre)