The Price of Discipleship
In 1957, Alma Gloria Chavez was a bright, confident 17-year-old from San Pedro Sula. When she saw the missionaries pass by her home one day, she invited them inside to teach her family about their church. The first messages the missionaries shared with Alma left her unimpressed. But when they taught her about the Book of Mormon, she was intrigued. She stayed up on three consecutive nights reading and pondering over the book. When she next met with the missionaries, she asked many questions. As she continued to study the gospel with them, she came to know it was true.
Being baptized, however, was only the first of her tests. Many friends, family, and respected mentors questioned her newfound faith. A local priest she had known and respected since childhood suggested that she was simply attracted to handsome Americans and their money. Lifelong friends refused to speak to her, and she lost her job. After Alma’s beloved grandmother was also baptized, she and Alma were evicted from the home they shared. They were forced to live in a small home with others, while Alma worked a variety of low-paying jobs to support them. But those trials did not rob them of their faith.
Alma, the young woman who had wanted to show the missionaries they were wrong, lost much of what had mattered to her because of her newfound faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. But she would not—could not—give up that faith, despite the tests. One month after her baptism, she accepted a calling as a Sunday School teacher, and, less than two years later, she embarked on a full-time mission. Members in San Pedro Sula came to know her as a dedicated woman of faith, a beloved teacher, and a strong example of the believers. As one missionary who served in the area later wrote, “I have never seen a girl with such animo, such testimony and a desire to live right.”