GABORONE, Botswana — In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, a memorial service was held at the U.S. Embassy in Gaborone, Botswana. Dignitaries and diplomats attended the special service during which an embassy employee from Botswana was invited to speak on behalf of religions in that southern African nation.

Courtesy Doyl Kathryn Ipson

Leonard Thebe with his wife, Nanny, after being sealed in the Johannesburg South Africa Temple in 1999. At age 34, he was called as a bishop in the Gaborone West Ward.

That employee was Leonard Thebe who, at the time, was bishop of the Gaborone West Ward.

Bishop Thebe quoted Doctrine and Covenants 45:27: "And the love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound."

The 34-year-old bishop then added: "As a religious people, we are to proclaim peace."

Since his baptism 14 years ago, Leonard Thebe often speaks to family, friends and colleagues of the peace he has received from the gospel of Jesus Christ. "I talk to lots of people, many, many, many, many," he said. "There are lots of people who have joined the Church." Their conversion, he added, is "through the Holy Ghost."

"Today, people respect the Church in Botswana," said Brother Thebe, now a high councilor in the Roodepoort South Africa Stake, which encompasses the Church in neighboring Botswana. An embassy procurement agent, he spoke with the Church News while he was in Washington, D.C., in October for a training conference.

During his years at the embassy, he has seen the Church grow in his native land. He helped establish the institute and seminary program and was part of the team that translated the Book of Mormon into Tswana, Botswana's national language. He and his wife, Nanny Khanoe Thebe, were married in the Johannesburg South Africa Temple in 1999. They have a 6-year-old daughter, Miranda.

And it all began for Brother Thebe when two sister missionaries went to the embassy to update their passports.

The young Botswanan was working security at the embassy while putting himself through school at Gaborone Commercial College. Like many other young people in Botswana, the resident of the village of Senete had come to the city to find work. "If you want to earn money, you have to go to town," he recalled.

Then one day in 1992, while he was on the job, he noticed two women wearing black name tags with their names, Sister Stevenson and Sister Marshall, along with another name — "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

"We started chatting about the name tags," he recalled, emphasizing that a Church named for Jesus Christ piqued his interest. "They said they were missionaries. They were in Botswana for a short while."

They gave him a pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation and invited him to receive the discussions. He accepted and soon gained a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. After he received several discussions, the two sister missionaries were transferred, and elders took their place.

"They didn't come," Brother Thebe said. "One day I was walking in the street in the evening. I heard people singing. I went in and they were holding the same book I had. I used to think I was the only person (in Botswana) who held the Book of Mormon."

Brother Thebe had walked into a meetinghouse. Once again, he met the missionaries, this time Elders Anderson and Holly, and he was baptized.

Along with serving as a bishop, he has served as a branch mission leader and in the branch presidency. It was while serving in the branch presidency that he noticed "we had so many youth." Concerned about them, he volunteered to teach the youth in a weekly class using the scriptures and Gospel Principles. In about 1996, Church Educational System missionaries arrived from South Africa to organize the seminary and institute program in Botswana. Brother Thebe continued as CES coordinator.

In fact, it was through the seminary program that he met his wife. While visiting a friend in Johannesburg, South Africa, just across the border, he was asked to drive a bus of seminary graduates. Among those graduates was Nanny. They were married in the Krugersdorp Ward, according to civil law, and then sealed in the temple on March 20, 1999. Today, they have a 6-year-old daughter, Miranda.

Over the years, he has witnessed a growing Church influence in his homeland. Until recently, a young man who had the opportunity to attend a university in Botswana could not leave school to serve a mission and then return to school. Having worked his way up the ladder at the U.S. Embassy, becoming the procurement agent this year, Brother Thebe has helped local Church leaders meet with government leaders to help them understand the young men who serve missions and then return to school.

"Now they are aware of the Church, and as time goes on, there won't be a problem with our returned missionaries going to university," Brother Thebe said.

"The little I can do can help members in the future so the Church can grow in Botswana — that's the most important thing." — Julie Dockstader Heaps