Thomas Kwamena Appiah: A Father's Name Given to Missionaries in America, Found Again Three Years Later in Ghana (1980s)

Thomas Kwamena Appiah's family was prepared for the gospel long before he ever met a missionary. His father met the missionaries in America and gave his name to a senior couple who were called to serve a mission in Ghana. Remarkably, it took the Church three years to locate the family again — but when representatives finally found them, Thomas listened to the missionaries' message with rapt attention. After praying about what he was being taught, he received his own quiet but certain witness: "I had a sweet confirmation of the truths. I didn't have any sort of dramatic visitation of God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. No, nothing like that, but I knew for myself that what I was reading was very true." As soon as he felt the Spirit confirming the truth of the missionaries' message, he wanted to share it. After his baptism he started a Latter-day Saint group at the university he was attending, and he soon felt the desire to serve a full-time mission. Receiving his mission call, he expressed his willingness plainly: "Yes, I have been called of God to go and serve. So I will leave, I will go and serve."