“My Savior Is Everything to Me,” Liahona, Dec. 2023.
Portraits of Faith
My Savior Is Everything to Me
Jesus Christ gives us His gospel in a simple way. He helps us along the path. If we follow Him, everything will be all right.
Photographs by Leslie Nilsson
I used to see the full-time missionaries back home in Sierra Leone, but I didn’t come close to them because my beliefs were different. Later, when I met them at a bus stop in Washington, D.C., they started telling me about the Savior and how He loves me. They invited me to church, so I went.
The first thing that made me know this is the place I’m supposed to be was the welcome from the members of the Church. A lady hugged me so tight that in my mind I heard, “You are welcome here. You can come back.” I said, “OK.”
The Spirit comes with the missionaries when they enter your house, and they leave it with you. The Spirit works with you and changes you. My change came from the truth of what the missionaries were telling me and the love I felt.
The missionaries taught that Heavenly Father loves me, that I’m His daughter, and that He wants all families together forever. I used to believe that when you die, you go different ways and everybody is separate. But in the Church, we believe you get to see your family again. That touched my heart. I wanted that for me, and I wanted that for my family.
I had to call my three kids back home and tell them. I wanted to share the love that Christ showed me.
“I met some missionaries here,” I told them. “They taught me this. They taught me that.” I told them to go investigate the Church.
My kids are all in the Church now, baptized in Sierra Leone. One even wants to go on a mission. That’s the goodness of Christ. Other family members are also coming into the Church, but some are hesitant. I still present Christ to them.
Your New Family
I’m lonely for my children, and they are lonely for me. But I told them, “I’m not in Sierra Leone, but the Church is there. The Church is your new family.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is growing there. When I heard we were getting a temple in Sierra Leone, I stood up and jumped. The temple is so peaceful. It will be the most beautiful building in the whole country.
Since I joined the Church, I have been blessed a lot. I can do things now I never knew I could do. I can conduct music. I can teach children in Primary. I love them, and they love me too. I can sing in the choir. I even sang in the choir during the Sunday morning session of the dedication of the Washington D.C. Temple in August 2022. I never thought I would be in the temple with President Russell M. Nelson, singing for him. But it happened. It was a wonderful blessing to be in the presence of the prophet.
One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 28:30: “I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.” That’s how God brought me in—little by little.
I don’t understand everything, but I’m learning every day. Every day the Church’s Gospel Library app gives me a scripture. I read it and meditate on it before going out. Then I pray to Heavenly Father. That’s how I live my life, learning a little bit more all the time. It’s a blessing to know how we are supposed to live, no matter our status, no matter if we’re rich or poor.
Jesus Can Change You
Being human, sometimes we want to go astray, but if we let Him, Jesus brings us back to our Heavenly Father. He gives us His gospel in a simple way. He helps us along the path. If we follow Him, everything will be all right.
Jesus is wonderful. He is everything to me. I love Him. He makes me feel loved and valued, like a child of Heavenly Father. Jesus can change you when you come close to Him—the way you talk, the way you do things, even your culture.
The missionaries found me, and I accepted Jesus in my life. I’m happy I found Him. He has made me a new creature. Old things have passed away. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17.)
I don’t know what the future holds for me. Heavenly Father knows that. My plan is to get more education and set goals in the Lord—be like Him, walk like Him, talk like Him, and grow closer to Him. That’s how He wants us to be.
I look forward to meeting Him again.