Joseph Johnson and the Midnight BBC Broadcast (Cape Coast, Ghana, June 9, 1978)

Joseph Johnson was a faithful Ghanaian who for fourteen years had preached the restored gospel, organized a dozen congregations, built chapels, and brought hundreds into the faith—all without being baptized, for the Lord's time had not yet come. He had written letters pleading for missionaries; he was persecuted, lost his job, and was left by his wife. On the evening of June 9, 1978, overcome with exhaustion and discouragement, he collapsed into his chair and felt impressed to turn on his short-wave radio to the BBC—something he had not done for several years. After more than an hour of trying, he finally tuned in at the top of the midnight news broadcast, and one of the first things he heard was a special report of President Spencer W. Kimball's revelation that all worthy male members could receive the priesthood. 'I burst into tears of joy,' he said, 'because I knew the priesthood and the Church would now come to Africa.' This remarkable impression to turn on a radio he had not used in years, at the very moment of the broadcast, is a faith-promoting witness that the Lord, by the Holy Ghost, remembers and comforts those who have waited long in faithfulness.