Young Single Adult Highlights

Making Easter a Season to Remember Our Savior, Jesus Christ

The young single adults in the Benin City Nigeria Ikpokpan Stake decided to take President Dallin H. Oaks’s challenge to heart and make the Easter season more memorable and representative of our Savior’s love.

The YSA stake leaders, Felicia Samuel and Ejodamen Macaulay Jr., kicked off the week with an act of service on Good Friday. The young single adults came together and created bags of rice with spices and other ingredients to provide a delicious meal. They tied these bags with an Easter message of hope in Jesus Christ and an invitation to learn more from the missionaries. Then they prayed to ask our Heavenly Father to guide them to those who most needed His message of love. Many wore The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vests, identifying themselves as they walked to the market and began to share their message of Jesus Christ with those they met. Everyone was uplifted by the small act of charity that day.

The young single adults demonstrated that as we come together to become one in Christ, we can magnify His gospel in simple ways that strengthen God’s children wherever they are.

See their highlight video created by the talented videographer Emmanuel Otumbari, from the Ugbor First Ward, at youtube.com/shorts/q43c9BayCTg.

Thinking Celestial in Dating and Marriage Is the Key

The union of Brother Destiny Uyinmwen (stake YSA leader from the Benin City Nigeria New Benin Stake) and Sister Blessing Aigbokhan (YSA from the Benin City Nigeria Oregbeni Stake) was a long-awaited match made possible because both individuals chose to stay on the covenant path and to be in places where they could feel the Spirit of the Lord in their lives.

Their fairy tale romance was built upon the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. They met at a training meeting for stake YSA members serving on seminary committees from around the area. This training meeting occurred three weeks before their multi-stake YSA Summit in 2024.

Sister Blessing was undecided about attending the Summit, but Destiny invited her to be his date at one of the Summit events, and after some discussion, she agreed. During the Summit, they got to know each other and learned that they had both served missions and were committed to building a righteous family in the gospel.

Destiny said, “I wanted to marry someone humble, teachable, and with a desire to keep learning together.” Blessing noted that she followed Elder David A. Bednar’s counsel to not look for perfection in a spouse but to seek potential and develop oneself to embody the qualities one desires. Her favorite quote from Elder Bednar is, “You don’t find love for marriage; you create it.”

Destiny proposed at the YSA end-of-year party on December 27, 2024, and the two were married three months later, with the support and well-wishes of their family and friends.

They immediately set their goal to live as a team. Destiny learned a skill before his mission, working with diesel and gas generators. They built upon his skill set to establish a business. Blessing takes the lead in selling electrical and other machine parts, while Destiny repairs, sells, and installs new generators. Together, they support the needs of every customer. They’re not wasting any time in becoming self-reliant, both temporally and spiritually.

Their advice to other young single adults is to always “think celestial.” Brother Destiny says, “Now is the time to rely on your Savior, Jesus Christ, and include Him in everything you want in life. When you rely on Him, He will be there in your decision-making, and you’ll know when the time is right.” In the end, he said, “Fear not; I know He will direct your path as He has directed mine.”

Rachael’s Can-Do Attitude

Meet Rachael Tawiah from the Madina First Ward in the Accra Ghana Madina Stake. She is the voice heard in the YSA website tutorial video linked below. Her opportunity to be the voice in the video came from her desire to help others around her. After finishing her university degree in Publishing Studies, she completed her National Service in the Communications Department at the Area Offices. In her role, she assisted multiple departments with their photography and videography needs. Rachael’s optimistic personality and “can-do” attitude got her noticed.

Knowing Rachael’s willingness to try, the YSA department asked her to help with an experiment in voice-over recordings, and she rocked it! This was simply one more success in her long list of achievements, from teaching self-reliance classes to being a BYU Pathway graduate; however, her claim to fame is truly her courage to try new things and accept challenges.

Rachael’s long-term goal is to become a chartered accountant. To reach her goal, she is doubling up by taking accounting classes at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration while working to complete her degree in Applied Business Management from Ensign College.

In the few minutes she has for personal leisure, Rachael enjoys reading and has recently discovered that she loves sewing. Rachael is an impressive example of becoming a lifelong learner.

Listen to Rachael’s clear and soothing voice in the tutorial video below to learn more about what the YSA website has to offer! Scan the code to watch the video: