Joseph Johnson: Fourteen Years of Unbaptized Preaching That Prepared 1,200 (Ghana, 1964–1978)

In 1964, Joseph Johnson of Cape Coast, Ghana, prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, and it immediately changed his life. So strongly did he feel the truth of what he had read that he felt compelled to preach it in towns and villages within a seventy-mile radius of his home. He organized several congregations and, though he was not a baptized member, he named them 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,' placed signs in front of the meeting places, and printed stationery with that name on the letterhead. He built chapels and established Sunday Schools and Primaries, and brought hundreds into the faith. It was estimated that when the missionaries finally arrived in 1978, there were more than 1,200 people prepared for baptism as a result of his valiant missionary efforts and leadership. His fourteen-year ministry, undertaken without baptism or priesthood, is a faith-promoting witness that the Lord can raise up, even among those not yet of the fold, preachers who prepare a people for the coming of His servants.

Fuller account of this event (from E. Dale LeBaron, "How Saints in Africa Prepared for the Priesthood Revelation Years Before It Happened," LDS Living, June 8, 2018):

Joseph Johnson, spoken of at the beginning of this article, was one of the most faithful and dedicated early pioneers in Africa. In 1964, he prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, which immediately changed his life. He felt so strongly about what he had read that he felt compelled to preach about it in towns and villages within a 70-mile radius of his home in Ghana. He organized several congregations and called them "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." He placed signs in front of the meeting places and printed stationery with the same name on the letterhead. It was estimated that when the missionaries finally arrived, there were more than 1,200 people prepared for baptism as a result of Johnson's valiant missionary efforts and leadership.