Church History
Perseverance, Patience, and Faith
“He found and repaired an old computer, connected it to the internet, and, using social media, contacted sister missionaries serving in the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission.”
Throughout the scriptures we learn of prophets and others who persevered through very serious hardships, including the Apostle Paul, Abinadi, Captain Moroni and Samuel the Lamanite. In Helaman 13:2–4 we read about Samuel who went into the Nephite city of Zarahemla to preach repentance, but the people “did cast him out, and he was about to return to his own land.
“But behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, that he should return again, and prophesy unto the people. . . .
“Therefore, he went and got upon the wall . . . and stretched forth his hand and cried with a loud voice.”
No one wants to associate with people who have made it very clear she or he is not welcome, but Samuel obeyed the Lord and returned to Zarahemla. He persevered in doing something that he knew would be very difficult, that could even result in his death.
To persevere is to continue making an effort. It is working consistently toward a goal or achievement. It is continually trying to fulfill an assignment even when one is faced with obstacles or delays.
A recent example of perseverance occurred in Kasungu, Malawi. Having heard about the Church during his theological studies, Weston Kapasule yearned to learn more about the Savior’s gospel, but in 2013, missionaries had not yet been assigned to his rural town. Weston was undeterred, however. He found and repaired an old computer, connected it to the internet, and, using social media, contacted sister missionaries serving in the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission. For the next seven years, Weston was taught online by a variety of missionaries, who were joined by Amram Musungu, a native Kenyan and avid member missionary now living in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. During that time, as mission presidents of the Zambia Lusaka Mission learned about Weston’s desire to have the gospel in his life, they sent senior missionaries to minister to him and to deliver copies of the Book of Mormon, lesson manuals and other materials.
But the time was not right for him to be baptized. Kasungu lies far from Blantyre or Lilongwe, the two areas where the Church was organized in Malawi and starting to build a strong foundation of branches. These population centers, known as centers of strength, are important to develop before the Church can be taken to outlying areas. This pattern of building the Church from centers of strength ensures strong leadership and a foundation of enduring support for members and new converts. Once centers of strength are well established, in the Lord’s timing, additional branches of the Church, such as now formed in Kasungu, may be organized.
As Weston gained a firm testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, persevered in continually learning more, and waited patiently for baptism and the Church organization to reach Kasungu, he shared what he had learned with his family and with others—who brought still others into the Kasungu fold. The first resident missionaries were finally authorized in late 2019 and, after persevering in patience for years, members of the Kasungu group began to be baptized on the first day of February 2020. Weston was one of the first to enter the waters of baptism. He was joined by over one hundred others.
Was persevering difficult for Weston and those in Kasungu seeking the blessings of the Lord’s Church? Absolutely. But the challenges did not stop them from seeking and learning the Savior’s gospel or from developing their own testimonies.
“I think God’s grace was there for us,” said Weston. “We should not refrain from this truth and go back where we came from. This is exactly what made ourselves today to be who we are and what we are. So, I persevered. . . . I know that God wanted [us] to go through that process for us to be what we are today.”
Today, there is a branch of the Church in Kasungu and joy abounds.