My Perpetual Education Fund loan was the springboard that helped me gain professional success. With the loan, I was able to go to school for two years to study marketing administration. I not only learned marketing but also how to act as a professional and as a better citizen. I grew as a human being.

Before PEF, I had no job, nor any professional experience to help me get a good job.

I had just moved from my birthplace, Sao Paulo, Brazil, to be near my mother and sisters in Manaus on the Amazon. My father had passed away a few months before and I was left with absolutely no possibility to study or grow. At that time, the director of the institute of religion in my city, who is also my stake president, counseled me to sign up for the PEF. I accepted.

After I received my loan and had been studying for only two months at the university, I got my first job working at the only 5-star hotel in the region. I earned pretty good money for an entry-level employee and also had a chance to practice my English and other languages. I made important contacts and had a great reference for my resume. After working for a few months, I was even promoted to the marketing department — my area of study! And even though it was a hotel, I never had to work on Sundays, which was usually required for every job in every department. The blessings I received while working at the hotel unquestionably came from Father in Heaven. I had unbelievable experiences.

After working at the hotel for only nine months, I was offered a better job working for the largest bank in Brazil. Not only did I earn a higher salary, I received many benefits unavailable at the hotel. After working at the bank for only 17 months, I was promoted and am earning almost double what I did before, and I can help my family and support myself. I even have a car and other things that I could never have imagined before. I am still working for the bank today.

I am immensely grateful to my Father in Heaven for the PEF program and for the many blessings it has brought me. I know when we follow the counsel of our leaders and work hard, the Lord is ready to help and bless us more than we can even imagine. With my new knowledge, I hope to be able to help others at Church have the wonderful opportunity I have had. The PEF is an inspired program, I have no doubt about that. I am a living testimony of it. I also know that repaying the money I have borrowed is essential for this program to bless other members of the Church. — Francine Presenca, Nova Esperanca Ward, Manaus Brazil Ponta Negra Stake