'Because my father read'
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
Speaking Saturday morning in his first address since being called to the Quorum of the Seventy last April, Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis said a very important day in his family's history was June 2, 1940, when his father was baptized in icy water in Brazil.
"Everything was perfect," he said, reading from the writings of Elder Jack McDonald, the missionary who baptized his father. "The sky so blue, the countryside so still, so green, so lovely, that none of us could help feeling the presence of some great influence."
Elder Aidukaitis expressed his admiration for a father who was baptized in spite of challenging circumstances. "It was not easy for him," he said. "His wife did not get baptized with him. The vices of drinking alcohol and smoking were strong temptations for him. He was poor. His mother was against his joining the Church, and told him that if he were baptized, she would no longer consider him her son.
"With fewer than 300 members in Brazil, the Church did not have a single chapel there. I am truly astonished by my father's determination and courage," he said.
"How could he make such a decision in the face of so many unfavorable circumstances?" he asked. "The answer is simple: It was because my father read the Book of Mormon. When he read it, he came to know of the truthfulness of the message of the Restoration. The Book of Mormon is a proof that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true."
To those who argue that these things cannot be known, he said, "I testify that we can (know), when we are humble enough to do as God has instructed us through His prophets on this earth."
