Emmanuel Dei Anin's Dream of Danger That Sent Him Searching for the True Church (Kumasi, Ghana, 1980s)

Emmanuel Dei Anin, who would later serve as a district president in Kumasi, Ghana, traced his conversion to a dream received when he was nineteen or twenty years old. In the dream he felt himself to be in serious danger and called out to Jesus for rescue. The dream left him with the conviction that there was more to life than he was taking advantage of, and he began actively searching to find the true Church. When he found The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he did not hesitate to do everything that was asked of him: he was baptized within a few weeks of first attending Church and progressed remarkably quickly in the gospel. One month after baptism he was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting and did well; about four months later he was ordained an elder and called to be an instructor in the elders quorum; within three more months he was released and called as a district mission president; and after serving as a counselor in the district presidency, he was called in May 1987 as district president. His experience was typical of many Ghanaian converts — because the Church in West Africa was just taking root, new members needed to step up and assume responsibility shortly after their baptisms. The Lord prepared him years in advance through a dream, and the path he had searched for opened before him.