“I Started Gathering People”

In 1975, as Angola became embroiled in a civil war, Maria Louisa de Jesus Lopes da Silva, pregnant with her first child, fled Angola with 20 members of her family to escape the violence. The United Nations provided them with a hotel room in Lisbon, Portugal, alongside other Angolan refugees. Maria soon established a new life in Portugal.

Three years later, Maria’s friend invited her to a party sponsored by a local ward. “Everyone was kind,” Maria recalled. “They were very loving. … They treated me well, and I liked the way they accepted me and welcomed me.” The next day, Maria returned for church services, and she met two sister missionaries. Three months later, Maria and her mother were baptized. “The greatest blessing of my life was baptism,” Maria said.

As Maria became more and more involved in the Church, she began to dream about establishing the Church in Angola. In 1990, despite the ongoing violence of the civil war that was still raging, Maria decided to return to Angola. Knowing that there was no Church presence there, she acquired copies of all the Church lesson materials that she could find and packed them in her luggage.

In Luanda, Maria, the only baptized member of the Church permanently living in Angola, began hosting simple worship services each Sunday and invited friends, family, and neighbors to join her. “I started gathering people,” Maria said. “I was always bringing people to learn about the Church.” Using the manuals she had brought with her, Maria taught all the lessons: priesthood, Relief Society, Sunday School, and Primary. For nearly two years, Maria organized meetings, put together a choir, and taught lessons to the ever-growing group.

One afternoon in 1992, Maria learned that some Church leaders were staying at a hotel in Luanda. Maria arranged to meet Elder Earl C. Tingey of the Seventy, who told her he would be holding a conference that Sunday. To his surprise, Elder Tingey was greeted by a choir singing Latter-day Saint hymns and more than 100 eager, unbaptized converts. After the meeting ended, Elder Tingey asked Maria for help gaining official recognition for the Church in Angola.

The paperwork in hand, Maria set out to hand deliver the application to the appropriate government office, on the way walking past bodies that still lay in the streets, killed as a result of the civil war. In the office, an official told her that many churches had applications ahead of hers and she had little hope. Receiving a strong impression from the Spirit that she should continue, Maria told the official she would trust the Lord and submitted the application. “Lord,” she prayed that evening, “Let’s move forward. … Please help us.” The Church received recognition two weeks later. Many of the converts brought to the Church by Maria were baptized shortly after.

Over the next several years, groups were organized at various times and members baptized, but the ongoing civil war prevented the Church from establishing stable branches until 1996. On June 9, 1996, a branch was organized in Luanda.

Luanda Branch

Members of the Luanda Branch, June 9, 1996, just after the branch was first organized.

Another 12 years passed before full-time missionaries were assigned to Angola, yet the branch in Luanda continued to function. When missionaries finally arrived in 2008, a second branch was quickly organized in Cassequel.