Holbrook C. MacArthur Helps a Stranger and Finds the Restored Gospel (Ghana, 1970s)

Holbrook C. MacArthur, who would later become one of the first bishops in Ghana, was led to the restored gospel by a simple act of kindness. Walking down the street one day, he saw two women struggling to get a very ill man into a car and offered to help take the man to his destination. The women were going to see Joseph William Billy Johnson — a Latter-day Saint — to ask him to pray for the afflicted man. This was before missionaries arrived in Ghana, but Brother Johnson already had a reputation among the people for being able to help those who were afflicted. When they arrived, Johnson asked MacArthur whether he was a friend of the women, and MacArthur explained that he was not. Pleased with the kindness MacArthur had shown to complete strangers, Johnson gave him pamphlets about the Church and told him that his church was the only true church on earth. MacArthur, who was then a Catholic, was not pleased with that statement — but when he went home and read through the pamphlets, he felt the need to learn more. He was convinced of the truthfulness of the gospel and began worshipping with Brother Johnson's group, embracing the opportunity to be baptized when missionaries arrived in Ghana in late 1978. Asked later which doctrine of the Church had the most impact on his life, he replied, "All of them, all of them touch my heart." One chance encounter — a kindness shown to strangers — placed him on the path that changed his life.