By Elder Carlos A. Godoy

Of the Seventy

Carlos A. Godoy, "The Gospel Is for Everyone", Liahona, Feb. 2011, 54–56


Carlos A. Godoy
I had often wondered where true happiness came from. Then I found it in "the big box."
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When I was 16 years old and living in Porto Alegre, Brazil, my older brother had a friend who often visited our home. One day this friend told us that he had found a church and that he liked its members' way of living.

He told us a little bit about his experience with joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but he wasn't sure that my brother and I were "church material." He knew that our lifestyle included smoking and drinking and worldly pursuits, and he thought that the standards of the Church would be too much for my brother and me to embrace, that the change would be too drastic for us to handle.

Our sister, however, didn't smoke or drink. She lived a clean life and was a good, kind girl. Because of these traits, our friend thought that she might be interested in what Latter-day Saints stood for, so he asked our mother if she could attend a Church activity with him.

Our mother agreed but only on the condition that my brother or I go too. My brother was faster than I was and quickly said, "Not me!" So I was designated to go to the activity with my sister.

I didn't really mind. I had been curious about the Church since I had first seen the large, square chapel across from my school. I had seen people coming and going from the church often, and I had noticed that the men wore white shirts and ties. I wondered what could be going on inside "the big box," as I then thought of the building.