“I Saw the Truth”
In 1989, Ricardo “Policarpo” Maria Andrade Gomes and his wife, Ofelia, had lived in their new home in Praia, Cape Verde, for only a short time when two missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints showed up at their door and asked if they could become tenants. Because he had received a good deal on tile, Policarpo had made the house bigger than he originally anticipated, with a large living room. He told the missionaries that they could stay and “take advantage of the living room to do the meetings.”
António “Dida” Vaz dos Santos was lent a copy of the Book of Mormon by a friend who also invited him to attend the weekly services. When Dida read of the angel Moroni’s visit to Joseph Smith, “the hair on his arms stood on end, and he felt a surety that this book was indeed delivered to man from heaven, and that he must follow it.” After returning the book to his friend, Dida put a picture of Christ on the cross on his doorway, on which he had written “Mormon” so he would not forget the book. He was baptized in March 1989.
Toward the end of 1989, local members kept the branch going after the missionaries left the country because of expired visas. Early convert Silvestre “Silva” de Pina Rosa said that “1990 was a year of change in Cape Verde.” The country shifted to a democratic government. Around the same time, the missionaries returned. Silva was called to serve as a full-time missionary in Portugal in October 1991.
Beatriz Marcelina Lopes Lima met the missionaries in 1990 when they stopped at her door to play with her pet monkey. The first few times the missionaries returned, Beatriz pretended she was away. “I am not doing what is right,” she thought afterward. “I will let the young men in.” Learning Joseph Smith’s history for the first time moved Beatriz. “I cried,” she said. “I do not know if it was out of joy or sadness because he suffered a lot, relatable to what Jesus suffered in his life on earth.”
Beatriz and her husband, Jorge, were baptized in 1990, and she began attending the branch in Policarpo and Ofelia’s home. Beatriz was called first as branch president and then as district Relief Society president. She has long served the women of the Church in Cape Verde, assisting those in need and teaching young women important life skills. “We are here to help one another,” she said.
Policarpo and Ofelia with Elder Lane Jacobs in 1992
Policarpo and Ofelia joined the Church in 1990, not long after offering to host the branch meetings. “I liked the way they did things so much that I started to become committed to the Church,” Policarpo said. He eventually served as president of the Praia Branch. After getting to know the Church, Policarpo felt closer to his family. “I only came to know love after having known the Church,” he said. “I saw the truth.”