Pavani Kotala Ratnam has learned a lot about friendship by living the principles of the gospel. "When we joined the Church, I was made fun of in my class at school because I would never cheat. I never told lies. If I was asked to do anything good, I would do it for sure. And I always talked to everyone politely. I had good friends at church, but my school 'friends' didn't like my standards. They told me I was crazy and laughed about me in front of others.
"I talked with my dad and my mom about what kind of friends I should have," she continues. "Talking to them was one of the best decisions I ever made. They helped me to feel good about myself, to choose friends who built me up, and to try to be friendly with everyone.
"Soon I was talking with everyone—the big guy, the better student—I talked to everybody. I tried to set a good example. In the beginning I didn't find any friends who encouraged me, and I had a hard time. But my teachers encouraged me. There were times when they asked, 'What makes you different?'
"Other students kept saying, 'Why do you behave like that?' and 'Why do you talk to that guy when he is not of your social class?'"
But eventually those waves of opposition stopped pounding. "I knew I was different in a good way and that I should be myself and do what is right. I had that determination," she says.
Today Pavani is known by the other students as a friendly young woman who is a positive influence in her school.
Church and family provide safe harbors for the Ratnam family (previous page) and for (clockwise from top left) Sujith, Sandeep, and Hepsiba Batha; Pavani and Naga Ratnam; the Butty family; and other youth from Visakhapatnam, which has three branches.
Photographs by Richard M. Romney
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