Luis Pinagos expected to feel the Spirit during the priesthood session of the Church's 171st Annual General Conference. He didn't expect the tears.

Brother Pinagos wept when President Gordon B. Hinckley announced in the priesthood session Saturday evening, March 31, that the Church is establishing a Perpetual Education Fund to provide low-interest school and job-training loans to faithful young men and women in developing nations. A native of Chile, Brother Pinagos remembers the desperation he felt years ago when he returned from a full-time mission rich in spirit — yet bereft of educational opportunities.

"It takes a lot of faith to leave on a mission knowing when you return you will be living a life without choices," Brother Pinagos said.

Egide Nzojibwami, a former branch president from the African country of Burundi, knows Brother Pinagos' frustration. He remembers watching faithful young people serve honorable full-time missions then return home to almost nothing.

"Now this program is the best thing that can happen in our developing countries," said Brother Nzojibwami.

His wife, Beatrice, said President Hinckley's conference announcement was the first step needed for many devout LDS Africans to realize an industrious life.

Elder Julio Otay, an Area Authority Seventy from Chile, served as a stake president for a decade and watched many full-time missionaries return to lives without educational prospects.

"We tried hard to provide opportunities for them, but a lot of the time we could not," Elder Otay said. "They became frustrated, many were disappointed."

Elder Otay said he was humbled by President Hinckley's prophetic vision.

"Now the [returning missionaries] are going to have the tools to become useful people — not only to their families but also to the Church," he said.

"This program will have an effect that we cannot even see right now," said Elder Jorge A. Pedrero, an Area Authority Seventy in Chile who has also worked with countless returned missionaries.

Jesus Vasquez, a 24-year-old from Sonora, Mexico, has witnessed the fruits of such assistance programs.

"I have a friend in Mexico who was enrolled in a Church-sponsored welding program," said Brother Vasquez. "Now this friend has his own small business and has been given the opportunity to support his family, which is what the Church teaches us."

— Jason Swensen

Another in a series of "Conference Moments."

Illustration by John Clark.