2022
Where Dreams Come True
July 2022


“Where Dreams Come True,” Liahona, July 2022.

Digital Only: Portraits of Faith

Where Dreams Come True

My father threatened to kick me out of the house if I joined the Church, but after I got baptized, all I saw were great blessings in my life.

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Shyam, his wife, Radhika, and their son

Photograph of Shyam, his wife, Radhika, and their son by Richard M. Romney

For some reason, a nice girl in my 10th-grade high school class decided to give me a copy of the Book of Mormon in English. I didn’t know what it was. My dad had given me a book of abridged Bible stories in Hindi when I was young. So, when I tried to read a couple of pages in the Book of Mormon and saw the name Jesus Christ, I thought, “This looks like the Bible.”

I kept the book, but I left it alone. I did not speak English, though I was studying it in high school. About that same time, I started preparing for exams with my friend who gave me the Book of Mormon. I was good at all my academic subjects but one.

“I am really worried about my English exams,” I told my friend. “I am afraid I am going to fail.”

She replied, “I have some friends who can help you learn English.”

Those friends were missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Soon they started coming to my home and giving me English grammar lessons. After a few weeks, they started teaching me the gospel.

As I investigated the Church, the missionaries taught me about the fruits of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22–23) and helped me understand how the Spirit speaks to us. They also told me to ask Heavenly Father if their message was true. As I prayed, I didn’t expect an answer like the one Joseph Smith received, but I wanted an answer to come in a way that I knew I was making the right choice.

That answer came late one night in a way I cannot deny. It was an answer filled with light and peace. I felt uplifted and born again. I felt like I wanted to be the nicest person in the world. God knew how to answer me, and I knew what to do after that. In fact, I was scared what would happen to me if I didn’t get baptized.

When I told my parents, my dad was against it—not because he is not a nice man but because of the cultural pressure. He wasn’t sure how our community would accept my baptism.

“If you get baptized, you will be kicked out of our home,” he told me.

In tears, I told my mother, “I really want to get baptized, but this is what Dad is saying.”

She replied, “Go ahead. We’ll see what happens.”

I went ahead and got baptized. After that, I never turned back. All I saw were great blessings in my life.

My dad did not kick me out, but for a year or two, life was difficult at home. When anything difficult happened in our family, some of our relatives and family members thought it was because I had betrayed the gods by choosing to accept the gospel. But as my parents saw positive changes in me, things changed at home. Two years after I joined the Church, I baptized my two younger sisters. Later, my other sister got baptized.

A Promise Fulfilled

When the missionaries taught me the gospel, the friend who gave me the Book of Mormon promised me that if I read it cover to cover in English, I would learn to speak English. I took that promise seriously, so I started reading, even though I didn’t understand much at first. I read and studied the Book of Mormon every day and every night. I even kept it under my pillow so that if I woke up at night, I could start reading again.

Within a year, I spoke English well enough to work in an English-speaking call center. After saving money, I was called to the India Bangalore Mission.

During my mission, I was really concerned about not having all of my family together in the Church. One day I read this verse: “Behold, you have had many afflictions because of your family; nevertheless, I will bless you and your family, yea, … and the day cometh that they will believe and know the truth and be one with you in my church” (Doctrine and Covenants 31:2).

I felt the Spirit so strong that I knew this verse was speaking to me. It took 14 years for that promise to come true in my family. But three years ago, I baptized both of my parents. Now we are all members of the Church except for one of my brothers.

I say this often: “The Church is a place where dreams come true.” Because of the Church, I have the things I desired most. I learned to speak English. I served a mission that was full of miracles. After my mission, I met Radhika, who is now my beautiful wife, and we were sealed in the Bern Switzerland Temple. We have a four-year-old son. My family is with me in the Church. All of my good dreams have come true.