Back to the Bible and the Book of Mormon this is a new study,totally from the Bible, supporting the divinity of the Book of Mormon.
Helio da Rocha Camargo
Saul Messias de Oliveira
Walter Guedes de Queiroz
Helio da Rocha Camargo
There have been a few examples in scripture in which contact with God has been associated
with a great cataclysm, something sudden and violent, like a flash of lightning which
tears through the skies unexpectedly. That was the type of conversion experienced by Paul.
The religious experience of Joseph Smith was of the same nature. In cases like these the
person undergoes a violent shock and, thus overcome, kneels at the feet of the Creator.
The spiritual side of life which until then was wandering in darkness is now suddenly
illuminated, transformed by the brightness of eternal truth. Thus in a marvelous and rapid
manner there is a total transformation of the personality.
Here is a persecutor of the believers who becomes a saint; there is an obscure country boy
who becomes a prophet and leader of countless multitudes. There have been many other
people, a few of whom have had their experiences recorded, aimless beings lacking
spiritual values who through a traumatic conversion grew grace by grace to become numbered
among the elect of God.
This was not the case with me. Rather, I would compare my spiritual life with the peaceful
spectacle of sunrise, where at first there is no marked distinction between darkness and
light. But the darkness constantly recedes while gradually the light grows brighter,
making shapes more distinct, colors more vivid, until there shines the full brilliance of
the sun, the perfect day.
Since infancy I have felt the presence of God and have sought to draw near to him. As a
son in a Protestant home, I learned early in life to love the scriptures and to seek in
them the wisdom of the Almighty. The example of my parents, who were dedicated
believers, was of great value, and even today the memory of my father is a constant
fountain of spiritual inspiration for me.
Educated in the traditions of the Methodist Church, I attended Sunday School from my
childhood years, later participating actively in all the various organizations of that
church. At twelve years of age, shortly after the passing of my father, I became an
official member of the Methodist Church by making the profession of faith.
I never entertained doubts concerning the truthfulness of its doctrines. When eventually a
more difficult question would arise, I would reassure myself with the thought that the
pastors would certainly be able to clarify everything. I would attribute any difficulty in
comprehending certain things to my own lack of knowledge of the doctrine rather than to
any real fault in its structure. I thought that when the day came when I could study the
gospel more carefully, everything would be made clear to me and the perfect agreement
between the Methodist doctrine and the word of God would be proved.
I lived in this faith for many years. Within it, I established my family, and by its
principles I tried to regulate my actions. The reading of the Bible, the studying of
theological questions, and the history of Christianity always were my favorite subjects.
These things were of such great interest to me that I never tired of reading and studying
about them; and even though I was constantly involved in the activities of the various
organizations of the church, I always wanted to accomplish more and to know more.
As the years passed, this desire became constantly stronger, to the point that I finally
made a decision to change completely the course of my life. In spite of being settled with
my family and of a life which had been heading in a completely different direction, I
enrolled in the College of Theology with the purpose of preparing myself for the Methodist
ministry.
One year after enrolling in the college, I was assigned to the ministry of a Methodist
church in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at the same time taking classes, as was the custom in
the Methodist Church.
One day, during the discharge of these duties, I was contacted by the head of a family who
attended the meetings even though he was not an official member of the church. Having been
visited by two Mormon missionaries, he invited me to be present at their next visit. I
immediately accepted the invitation; but recognizing my complete ignorance of Mormon
doctrine, I tried to obtain some literature. With this purpose in mind, I went incognito
to the LDS mission home, from which I obtained a copy of the Book of Mormon and one of the
Articles of Faith (by James E. Talmage), which I proceeded to study. Unfortunately the
meeting fell through because for some reason the missionaries did not show up as expected.
I therefore decided that the issue was closed, put away the books I had just started to
read, and continued my life as a student and pastor.
One of the practices of the college students at that time was occasionally to invite
leaders of other religious communities to give lectures. Several representatives of other
churches and creeds had already been invited to speak to the students and professors. At
that time the Mormon missionaries were very active in Sao Paulo (as they are now) and I
thought it would be timely to suggest that they be invited to speak, so that we could
evaluate them, what they were preaching, and what they professed, thus placing ourselves
in a position to deal with them on the basis of a knowledge of their cause.
After the suggestion was accepted, I was assigned to establish contact with the Mormons. I
went back to the LDS mission home, this time carrying an invitation to President Asael
Sorensen. I remember counseling him to come personally, fearing that we would waste our
time if he sent us young missionaries who certainly would not be in a position to confront
such a specialized audience. But the president was unable to come, since he had another
appointment (at a district conference). He assured me that he would send competent
missionaries in his place.
The young men came on the day designated. Still very young, they impressed us first with
their height (six feet four inches). ] They were Elder David E. Richardson, second
counselor in the mission presidency, and Elder Roger W. Call, who had recently arrived
from the United States and at that time knew very little Portuguese.
In the interest of brevity I will just say that the main result of the meeting was the
deep impression caused by the testimony of Elder Richardson. The general comment was more
or less expressed in these terms: "Everything they preach may be wrong, but the
conviction they seem to have is astonishing." Another impressive aspect of the
meeting was the courage and calm with which those young men confronted an audience
consisting of students, professors, and even doctors of theology who had completed many
years of study and held various titles.
In spite of the impression created and the interest these missionaries had provoked, we
soon forgot the matter as we went back to our studies and work. Life in the college
continued without any changes.
Some time after this event, when the incident had already lost importance in our memories,
a new factor arose which, added to the preceding ones, would direct some of us students to
new paths. At that time in college we were studying among many others the principle of
baptism. The subject took hold of the students, and when the studies and discussions were
directed to the subject of infant baptism, which the Methodist Church practices (as do
most of the Protestant churches), the students began to ask questions of the professors
and to do research in the library. A large group was inclined to see in that ceremony an
anti-biblical practice created by the Roman Church in the first centuries of Christianity,
and felt that it should be eliminated from the Protestant churches because of its
incompatibility with the scriptures.
The discussions increased in intensity, and the more I studied the subject the more
convinced I became of the inconsistency of the doctrine. Finally I contacted the
authorities of the church and resigned the ministry of the congregation which had been
entrusted to me, declaring that I felt it impossible to continue in that position while
not convinced on the question of infant baptism. [p.108] Meanwhile I continued my studies
at the College of Theology, trying to obtain more knowledge which would help me to
reestablish faith in that particular principle.
A few days later the dean summoned the four students, three others and myself, who
comprised the group that had left the ministry because of doubts concerning the validity
of infant baptism. One by one we were interrogated by the professors. Following this
interrogation, each one of us received a letter giving us until the end of the quarter to
retract our stated opinions. If we did not retract within that time, we would be expelled
from the college.
I still have that letter in my possession. It is one of the strangest and most peculiar
documents I have ever read—a truly amazing way to cure religious doubts.
Within the designated time period one of the four went back, recanted, and was readmitted.
The other two and I, unable to find justification for infant baptism, withdrew completely
from the institution and from the Methodist Church.
Being naturally inclined to a religious life, I started to study the doctrines and
practices of other churches with redoubled energy and with the intent of finding out which
one I should join. I prayed frequently and fervently, asking God to show me the true way
not only because of my own spiritual needs but also because of my obligation to direct
along the right path the five children God had given me.
I returned to an examination of the LDS books at the same time that I was studying those
of other religious sects. By means of prayer and study I began eliminating the various
denominations one by one, at the same time directing more and more attention to the
doctrines of the Latter-day Saints. Seeking a more direct contact with that Church, I
began to attend the meetings at the Sao Paulo Central Branch, even inviting its president,
Elder Scott Fisher, to my home where we could discuss some points of doctrine. From these
contacts and discussions, as well as from the visits with Elder Richardson and from
reading the various books which were lent to me, the truth was gradually becoming
obvious and the clarity of the LDS doctrines and their perfect matching with the Bible
were becoming apparent.1
But with all this I still lacked a testimony. I began to pray more; and I returned to
reading the Book of Mormon, always expecting a ray of light to flash through the heavens.
One day, however, already tired of so much study and confrontation, I started to make an
objective analysis of my religious position: I meticulously weighed every point; I
examined the consistency of all the LDS doctrines one with another and all of them with
the Bible, and I perceived that there was no need for a violent flash of lightning to
illuminate my path. I had waited anxiously for a swift streak of lightning; but I now
realized that I had already been walking in the fulness of light for a long time. The
knowledge of the truth had not come to me suddenly; it had come gradually in such a gentle
and natural way that I had not perceived that it had already been shining upon me for so
long.2
I kneeled and thanked the Father for revealing his truth to me. I was baptized into the
Church in June of 1956, and shortly afterward my wife (Nair) was also baptized. Today by
the grace of God we are counted among his Latter-day Saints.
I wish to leave recorded here, together with my testimony, the prayer which I raise to our
Heavenly Father that these words might be of benefit for the spiritual progress of those
who read them. This I do in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
II. Into the Gospel Stream
Saul Messias de Oliveira
I was born at dawn, January l, in the year 1931 in a small and poor village called Santa
Angelica, Brazil.
My mother was a Methodist—very faithful and zealous. I was educated in a very
rigorous regime of obedience to the laws of the gospel according to the rituals,
traditions and doctrines of the Methodist Church.
My father was a rude man of the backwoods, uneducated and without religion. He brought us
great sorrow. Soon my mother became a widow. The strength of a giant was in her skinny
body. She alone provided for the family and made it possible to send her four children to
school. I remember the nights when my mother sang and read Psalms and taught us to pray.
We survived through great struggles and sufferings. Everything we achieved was through
sacrifice.
One day I left the hills and the primitive life of the country to continue my studies in a
big city. My mother's desire, her great dream, was that I should become a minister of the
gospel. I too felt that I had the talent for that work. I was certain I could do the work
of the Lord as a saver of souls. After finishing secondary school I was recommended by the
Council of the Methodist Church to enter the Theology College. It seemed like a dream. The
poor country boy was now attending college in one of the great cities of the world, Sao
Paulo. A fanatic student, I was devouring the books as a starving person would delicious
meals.
[p.111] After a few years of studying, I was designated by the bishop of the Methodist
Church to be the assistant minister of a large church. The year after that, I was called
to be a minister of a Methodist church in a city next to Sao Paulo. In the second year of
my ministry and my fourth year in the College of Theology, something very strange happened
in my life. I couldn't understand it.
It was close to midnight and I was still at the college library with three other
schoolmates. I was preparing my talk for the Sunday meeting. I glanced through a
scripture, one that was very familiar to me. I had almost memorized it, together with many
others I had learned in my childhood. But something very strange happened at that moment.
The so-familiar scripture was now telling me something different: "Except a man be
born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John
3:5.) I read it many times: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
My mind was completely disturbed. It was surrounded with darkness, with no way out. How
could this be? This scripture was very familiar to me and I had already talked about it so
many times. But now it was somehow different, conveying a deeper meaning. My companions
left and I was left alone. I went through all of the Bible scriptures on baptism but I was
getting more and more confused. Did Christ really say this? Yes, I had no doubt about
this. Is baptism essential to salvation? Yes, clearly. Yet multitudes have died without
baptism. Was there to be no hope for their salvation? Apparently my church had no answer
on this.
I consulted theology experts on this subject, but they were not willing to talk about a
matter of such unimportance. They were more concerned about the great theological
problems.
I was surprised to discover that, without being influenced by each other, other
schoolmates were having similar problems. God was certainly working on many of us. One
church practice lacking scriptural support was infant baptism. I made an intense analysis
of the doctrine of baptism and arrived at a terrifying conclusion: The whole foundation of
a Protestantism of five [p.112] centuries was being demolished before my eyes. If baptism
of children was a farce, where was truth? Surely there could not be a true church on the
face of the earth. My dreams were dying, my ideals were disintegrating, my life was empty.
On Sunday a great congregation was looking at me attentively as I stood before them as
their minister. I knelt down and sought God's blessing, then I rose and conducted the
meeting. I started to talk. I was saying goodbye to the congregation. I could not explain
to anybody, even to myself, where I would go. Some people were crying. I too was crying. I
was renouncing the ministry and the great ideal nourished during all those years of
suffering and struggle. In his own way God was taking me somewhere, I did not know where.
To sing that last hymn was very difficult for me, the last hymn I would sing as a
Methodist minister. I can still remember its first words: "Wherever it be with Jesus,
I will go. He is my blessed Saviour and King."
I left the ministry having no destination, responding to an irresistible force which was
leading my weak and small feet while my eyes strained to see the light of the truth beyond
the darkness and shadow.
About this same time, two other Methodist ministers, schoolmates at the college, were
leaving the ministry for the same reason. The news struck the Methodist camp as a bomb
whose echo was heard throughout the whole church.
That same week, directors and professors of the College of Theology called a meeting. The
three of us were going to be questioned concerning our beliefs. The answers could be only
yes or no. There was no other alternative, no explanation, no justification. After the
meeting I was informed through a letter from the college board of directors that my
enrollment was being canceled.
The ministry was my vocation and I could not betray my calling. I was certain that God had
taken me from those poor and distant hills in order to practice the ministry. I continued
speaking in several churches, trying to find here and there the answers to my prayers. I
was confused, but not lost. I was certain [p.113] that God would give me an answer, or
that I was already receiving his answer in this painful way.
One day the thought came to me: "Organize a church…yes…a church with the
whole doctrine of the Son of God would probably be the answer." The idea of
organizing a church without being restrained by any religious philosophy, basing it on
inspiration from God and the knowledge in his sacred scripture, was heartening to my soul.
Perhaps this was the great answer from God.
During that period I spoke a few times with a small group of dissidents from the
Presbyterian Church who had organized themselves into a free church. Here was my great
opportunity—a church I could imbue with the pure doctrine of the gospel. In a short
period of time I became the first pastor of that group. They gave me a house and a
reasonable salary. I wrote the constitution of the church. Twelve men were chosen to
govern it. I felt happy. It seemed that God had indicated the right path to me.
Nevertheless deep in my soul there was still some perturbation.
That church had an eclectic ecclesiology, a little bit of everything. After the first
stage, we went to a more important phase of our work: writing a systematic doctrine for
the church. It was going to be hard work. Once a week we held doctrinal meetings, and I
was left to compose the doctrine. In my task I wasn't tied down to the doctrines of any
church, though I would have to satisfy the members of the church, many of whom were old
Calvinists of deep-rooted religious convictions. I was free to look for the truth wherever
I could find it. I continued my reading and extensive studies. I had at my disposal
doctrinal principles of all religions, and I was looking for the truth as a prospector
looks for precious stones on the riverbeds among rough and worthless stones.
Among the religious books available, I found several from The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great
Price, the Articles of Faith, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, pamphlets of all kinds, and
many other books such as manuals used by [p.114] the auxiliary organizations. Among all of
these, I remember, there was even a handbook of missionary discussions. As pastor, every
week I would teach a doctrine to the congregation, and as I prepared this weekly talk I
found there was much more clarity and much greater conformity with the scriptures in the
books of the LDS Church than anywhere else. I didn't notice this at first, but as time
went on I began to realize that the whole doctrine I was preaching in my church was taken
from the Mormon Church.
This worried me. I realized that perhaps I didn't have to write a systematic doctrine;
there was one already in existence. From that moment on I devoured all the literature I
could find in Portuguese concerning The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My
interest became still greater when I noticed that I was finding the answers on baptism for
the living and for the dead, answers to all the doubts that were still attacking my mind.
When I learned about the doctrine on priesthood authority I began to see God's answer, his
help in my quest for truth. I had been worried about not being able to teach certain
doctrines in my church—the doctrine about God, the doctrine of priesthood authority
and a few more. I knew that these doctrines as I obtained them from the LDS literature
were true, but I couldn't teach them in my church. Therefore that church was not the right
way. God was showing me another one.
On the night of December 31, a few minutes before midnight, eleven adults (I didn't
baptize children) were before the pulpit ready to receive instructions for baptism. I
began to baptize them, one by one. I knew I was wrong. When the last one, a young nurse,
came to me to be baptized, my words were pronounced with much difficulty. I could hardly
perform that baptism. My hands were trembling, my whole body shook, and the words would
almost refuse to come out of my throat.
At that moment I had no doubt. I knew the path I must follow. I could clearly see the
answer from God. I called the Church Council to a meeting and told them I must resign. A
young Japanese girl, a deaconess, listening to my words, became pale and perplexed at my
resolve to leave the church. She said: "I feel as if I am falling into an
abyss."
I left that church. (A leader of the Free Presbyterian Church wanted to know more about
the reason for my decision. I explained to him in detail the doctrine of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Later he was baptized into the Church and became a
leader in the true Church.) Not long after praying earnestly to seek the confirmation of
my faith and my decision, I called the mission home and asked for the address of the local
LDS meetinghouse.
I received lessons from a young missionary, Elder Stevenson. He couldn't speak my language
very well, but I was a good investigator. I had already read many times everything
available in Portuguese about the Church of Jesus Christ. I had in my hands the missionary
discussions, which I studied, so I had no reason to discuss very much with the missionary.
The only thing I wanted was to be baptized. He never knew I was studying the lessons in
order to answer his questions correctly. I wasn't doing this to please him, but because I
had a conviction of the truth.
I was accepted into the Church of Jesus Christ through the waters of baptism on January
24, 1958. God worked slowly in my life, and like a stream that runs through the hills, now
peaceful, now turbulent, in my journey I had been constantly seeking the ocean, the ocean
of truth, the great ocean of God's kingdom.
Today I have my whole family together in the Church: my faithful and dedicated wife
Elvira; my children, Israel, Junia, Eliana, Eduardo and Dalto. As I look back on my search
I see that in the darkness of the past there was an immensity of light from God that
illuminated me; and, little by little, my eyes began to see.
Our Heavenly Father has graciously given me many callings within his kingdom: presiding
over a branch, serving as a bishop, serving in the district presidency, and lately serving
as a stake president and coordinator of the seminary program in Brazil.
God has blessed me and confirmed upon me the talent I had from an early age of preaching
the gospel, ministering the word. I know that in his infinite mercy he has called me from
the darkness to the Kingdom of Light and has led me with his vigorous and powerful hand so
that I could be a member of his true Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
III. His Constant Influence
I was a student of theology in the Methodist Church and assistant pastor of a
congregation in Sao Paulo, Brazil. As in all the other Protestant churches, some of the
important things concerning the kingdom of God were not convincingly explained. While
studying the scriptures, I felt the need of apostles and prophets in the church, in order
for it to be the Church of Christ; I also felt the need for the coming of the prophet
Elijah once more to the world, so that God would not smite the earth with a curse as
indicated by the prophet Malachi; and even more I felt the lack of applicability to
infants of the principle of baptism ("for of such is the kingdom of heaven").
Not being able to continue in the church any longer, I sought some of my teachers to
explain my feelings to them. I was shocked at their answers, beliefs and reactions on the
matter. Not being able to get satisfactory answers to these doctrinal questions which I
thought were important, I sought my immediate superior and told him everything that had
been happening, explaining that I could not continue in the church as a member or a
student, or especially as a minister.
After this decision I tried to find out from the group of churches I was already
acquainted with—Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Seventh Day Adventists,
etc.—a church which had prophets. I believed that if I could find it, this church
would have the answers to the doubts I had as a preacher.
In a short period of time I found three churches which claimed to have prophets, all from
the Pentecostal group. I made an appointment with the pastors of each of those churches so
that we could exchange some ideas on the doctrines, in the hope of dissipating my
doubts. But after these interviews I told each one of them, politely but sincerely, that I
knew they were not prophets of God, and that they were mistaken in that claim.
I participated in a meeting of dissident pastors from one of the Congregational churches
in the state of Sao Paulo, where I was invited to be one of their ministers. They gave me
a book to read and an invitation to attend another meeting with them. We met again a week
later, when I presented to them some observations I had made while reading the book.
In the book there was a paragraph which cited a passage from the apostle Paul which reads:
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists…."(Ephesians 4:11.) I asked, "Where are the apostles?"
They answered, "We are." I asked, "Where are the evangelists?" They
answered me, "We are." I then asked, "Where are the prophets?" Their
leader answered me that prophets were no longer necessary. I then asked them who had said
that, to whom it was said, and where it was written; and I added that I would not believe
it unless the Lord Jesus Christ had said it. The leader then arose, shook my hand, and
said that I did not belong there. I apologized and left, shaking my head, looking for the
church that contained prophets.
Very sorrowful, excited and confused, but praying still more to the Lord and studying the
Bible more, I continued my search. I always tried to attend a church on Sundays, whichever
one I came across, so as not to lose the habit. Meanwhile I talked to several Fathers,
Protestant ministers, presidents of spiritual groups, three bishops of the Methodist
Church—even voodoo chiefs. I was also dismissed by the secretary of a cardinal of the
Catholic Church on the grounds that he did not have time to discuss such matters. During
this time, while I received no satisfactory answers, I heard echoes of my doubts from
hundreds of other people I questioned on buses, on the streets, and some of the squares in
the city of Sao Paulo.
I was called to Rio de Janeiro for an interview with the pastor of a certain Baptist
Church I had attended before because of a girl I was dating. This pastor, who knew my
situation in [p.118] relation to the Methodist Church, offered me free studies, besides
clothing, shoes, and a church where I could be a clergyman—these things would be mine
if I would accept baptism into his church. I replied that my problem was not a question of
just joining a church to be a member or a minister but to find the true Church and nothing
else, and when I found it I would dedicate myself to it with all my heart, whichever one
it might be.
During this period when I was interviewing ordinary people and religious leaders in order
to resolve my doubts and find the truth, I went through an unusual religious experience.
While most of the leaders were not very worried about the question of baptism of
children—whether it should be administered, whether it had any value, taking the view
that it made no difference—the members of the several churches still had their own
convictions on it without knowing how to manifest them. On one occasion, after I had spent
a few hours making a survey in one of the squares in Sao Paulo, I took a trolley to go
home. Suddenly, after the vehicle was already in motion, I saw a man in a drunken stupor
on the sidewalk. I immediately jumped off the trolley, went over to where he was, woke him
up and asked: "Do you think that a child should be baptized?" To my surprise,
his answer was different from all of those who preached baptism: "Baptism is to be
given to those who know what they are doing." Then he leaned his face again on the
ground and continued his drunken sleep. What a great lesson!
By now I had become somewhat incredulous and disillusioned and possessed with increasing
doubts and fears. Nevertheless I continued praying earnestly to the Lord. One day I was
informed by Helio da Rocha Camargo, who was in the same situation that I was concerning
the baptism of children, that there was a church in the world that indeed had officials
who were called and designated by God, a church with apostles and prophets, and that their
first prophet in this last dispensation had accomplished a work similar to that of Moses
when he led the exodus to the Promised Land by order of God. Skeptical that such truth
could be found in any church, I laughed sarcastically, all the while sincerely wishing
that it could be true. My heart beat [ rapidly. Helio Camargo was a great friend of mine;
surely he wouldn't be joking with me on such an important matter!
I went over to talk to the missionaries who were preaching that their church had apostles
and prophets. They were missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As agreed upon, without any interruption from me I heard the seven lessons presented by
Elder David Richardson, who at the end gave me the opportunity to ask questions. My
response was that at that moment I had nothing to ask about what he had said; I would like
to know however, what he had to say about the coming of the prophet Elijah. He answered me
immediately. I then asked what he had to say about the baptism of children, when baptism
should be administered and in what form, by immersion, sprinkling or ablution. I wanted to
know who had established for his Church the way baptism should be administered, to whom it
had been taught and where it was written. Having listened to the seven lessons, I
understood that it was Joseph Smith who had received the revelations. I already knew he
was a true prophet. Now the elders had opened their book and were showing me the answer to
every question as I was asking it, so I had the opportunity to read it with my own eyes.
I asked for literature. Besides several pamphlets, which I read during that afternoon and
from that evening to the next dawn. I also received a Book of Mormon which I read in two
weeks. On the days following the visit with the missionaries, I read all I could about
Joseph Smith.
Two days after the first meeting with the missionaries we met with them again, this time
with Elder Ronald Davey. I asked him to explain the seven lessons again, to summarize them
for me, which he did. I asked him to explain them again and again, up to six times, which
he did. After that meeting I had no doubt about the Prophet Joseph Smith. I truly knew
that he was a prophet of God, and that he had been called of God just as the other
prophets had whose histories and deeds we find in the Holy Bible.
We had wonderful meetings at the home of Helio Camargo, where I was then living, and many
times we asked difficult questions, trying to argue opposing points of view in order to
confuse the elders. After they left, however, we would talk among ourselves and
comment that there was really nothing we could say against their answers; we felt that
they had completely defeated us.
A few months went by during which we held two or three more meetings with the
missionaries, besides making a short visit on Sundays to the Central Branch, Sao Paulo,
where we went anxiously to receive teachings.
Even though I knew that the Church was true, that it was the only one with authority to
administer the sacraments and at the same time recognizing that the baptisms I had
received first as a little child in the Catholic Church and then as an adult in the
Methodist Church were valueless and not recognized by God, I was still reluctant to he
baptized. I did not want to refuse, and I know that many times I hurt the missionaries
with my hard and brusque no. I did not want to be opposed to being baptized. I even wanted
to be baptized, but I was instinctively refusing it. The arguments of the elders were
irrefutable, they were clear and even divine; the order of the Master was firm and
immutable; but despite all this, I was not ready to decide.
I suggested to Elder Davey that we should pray for a specific period of time and that I
had no doubt that God would help me with this problem. We decided to pray for twenty days.
I made up a schedule to pray four times a day, that is, every six hours, simply to ask the
Lord the same thing. When I went to bed before midnight I set the alarm clock for that
time in order to pray and ask God to give me strength to make a decision.
We had only two of the twenty days left, and I was getting impatient; I had been fasting
on those last few days. On that night, March 25, 1957, I knelt to pray at 10:40 P.M. and
prayed until ten minutes after eleven. I then went to bed. While lying there, I read the
Lord's words: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it
shall be opened unto you." Still lying there, I asked the Lord that these words
should be fulfilled with me.
I then fell asleep, waking again at five minutes after midnight. In that short period of
time I dreamed that I had died right there in the home of Helio Camargo. I was put
inside a coffin, and even though I was dead I had the sensation of hearing the buzzing of
conversation of those around the table where my body was lying. Soon I felt that my spirit
was rising; and I could look down, through the roof, and see my body inside the coffin and
the people walking about, some going down the stairs, others going up. I felt that I was
rising through layers of clouds, some of them clear and limpid, until I reached a great
door which seemed to be made of bronze, very thick and heavy. I reached for the latch and
knocked, certain that that was the place I should enter, for that was the door of heaven.
Waiting for someone to answer, I knocked again, when the door started to open and I saw
someone dressed in clothes of exceeding whiteness whose whole being was so brilliant that
it illuminated a large area around me. I went to this personage, told him my name, and
said that I had died and that I wanted to know if I needed to be baptized. The personage
replied, "Yes." He talked to me with such authority, with such gentleness, with
such love; his words were so penetrating that they seemed to touch my spine and I felt ice
cold. The door started to close slowly. I felt myself starting to go down again, and
wishing to talk more with the personage. I clung desperately to the frame of the door,
using all my strength to attempt to enter and not fall back, not wanting to go down and
reenter my mortal body. But my efforts were useless. Down I went, faster and faster,
through the many layers of clouds until, through the roof of the house, I was terrified to
see my body inside the coffin on the table. Then I felt that I made a great push.
When I awoke I was seated on the bed, tired but in complete peace. A great happiness
pervaded my being. I smiled to myself. It seemed as if I was still enveloped in the
brightness reflected by the personage who had talked to me. Still seated, I lifted my
heart in a prayer of thanks to God for the answer to my prayers.
By morning—free of all doubts and fears, sure of myself, in peace, comforted,
enlightened, and justified—I informed Brother Camargo that I was going to be
baptized. He asked me how I had made the decision. I replied that the Lord Jesus Christ
[p.122] had told me through a dream that I should be baptized. I called Elder Davey
immediately, relating to him what had happened and telling him to set a date for the
baptism as soon as he wished. I was baptized that same week on March 30, 1957; and on the
same day I was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and
received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. At that moment, Elder Davey
and I received unmistakable signs of the presence of the Holy Ghost.
Today I am very grateful to my Father in heaven and to the missionaries for having
conducted me and guided me to the Way, the Truth and the Life, where I have constantly
felt the Lord's divine influence.
I know that Jesus Christ lives, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that today we have
a living true prophet leading the Church and that we have the true priesthood of God. I
bear this witness in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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