In 1961, Adhemar Damiani was a young man with a sincere interest in religion, serving as a pastor's assistant.
When times became difficult for the pastor's Sao Paulo, Brazil, congregation, the minister moved his flock from its rented chapel into a large brick home in the Caxingui district. The home belonged to one of the families in his congregation, Rui and Odette Simoes Bronze.However, not long after the congregation began meeting in the Bronze home, Odette Bronze began receiving lessons from missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That contact was the beginning of a tremendous boost to the eight small branches then existing in Sao Paulo. It also dramatically changed the life of the pastor's young assistant, who was courting Walkyria Bronze, a daughter of Odette and Marcos.
Over time, Odette Bronze gained a testimony of the gospel. She soon shared her new convictions with her family. Soon all the family but Walkyria was baptized. She held back. She was afraid of what her boyfriend would think. To complicate matters, after the pastor learned of the Bronzes' interest in the Church, he began circulating anti-Mormon literature to the members of his congregation.
Despite these obstacles, Walkyria made the courageous decision and was baptized. Then she told the good tidings to her boyfriend.
Instead of berating her, he too, accepted missionary lessons.
Some 38 years later, on April 3, after serving as mission president and a member of the Fourth Quorum of the Seventy, he became the fifth Brazilian sustained as a General Authority. For the past year, the soft-spoken, slender, economics consultant, 59, has served as second counselor in the Brazil South Area presidency.
One of his mentors is an emeritus General Authority, Wm. Grant Bangerter, formerly of the Presidency of the Seventy, who was president of the Brazil South Mission when the young man was baptized. His baptism took place in the swimming pool-turned baptismal font at the mission home. Two years later, Pres. Bangerter performed the marriage of Adhemar and Walkyria.
The baptism of Walkyria's mother in 1961 influenced many others. She felt the anti-Mormon literature that was passed out by the pastor was untrue and unfair. So she "took it upon herself to go to all the members of the congregation explaining the gospel," Sister Damiani said of her mother. "Within 10 months, 35 had joined the Church. Within a year and a half, 90 had joined the Church."
These converts have since served many important leadership callings, said Elder Damiani.
"It was difficult for me to accept the prophet and new scriptures," recalled Elder Damiani. But reading and studying the Book of Mormon was the key to his conversion. Within two months he had gained a solid testimony of the Restoration and was baptized May 11, 1961.
One of the first things that impressed the young converts was that the Church involved its members in callings, and they were responsible for cleaning and caring for their building.
"The members even gave talks," he said. "In the previous congregation, only the minister gave talks.
"We belonged to the small Pinheiros Branch," he explained. "About 40 members were attending." His first calling was secretary to the Sunday School, and he was soon called as Sunday School president.
"At first there was a lot of opposition from other religions," said Elder Diamani. "It was also very difficult to train new converts to serve in callings."
Some of the members lived up to 90 kilometers (56 miles) from a meetinghouse. "It was very difficult for the leaders to visit them," he noted.
Adhemar Damiani's family, strongly traditional Protestants, tried to talk him out of his new faith and to guide him from what they said was the wrong path. After a few years, though, they stopped trying to change him. One of his brothers joined the Church.
During those years, he completed studies at Sao Paulo University and received a master's degree at the university Fundacao de Getulio Vargas.
He pursued a career in banking and consulting and eventually was a partner in a company that created billing and distribution software. Sister Damiani studied art of the French Impressionist school privately and has won dozens of medals with her works in oil. Two of her paintings have won Church commendations and were displayed in the Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City.
Sister Damiani served as Primary president, twice as stake Relief Society president, and served with her husband when he presided as mission president of the Brazil Curitiba Mission.
Nine years after their marriage, they traveled to Los Angeles, Calif., where they were sealed in the Los Angeles Temple. However, because of the expense, they were unable to take their children with them. The family was sealed in the Sao Paulo Temple after it was dedicated in 1978.
"It was very difficult for families to travel to Los Angeles to be sealed," he said. "Since the temple was built in Sao Paulo, many members have had their children sealed to them."
When the eight branches were made into a stake, he was among the original high councilors. The Sao Paulo Stake, created May 1, 1966, was the first in South America.
"Brazil now has 186 stakes," remarked Elder Damiani. "In the beginning we had two missions in Brazil. Now we have four missions just in Sao Paulo. We have 26 missions in Brazil. When we were baptized, there were no temples, but today we have one temple in operation and three in construction. The growth in Brazil has been explosive.
"The most difficult thing we face is that we have so many new members that it is hard to train them in their new callings and to retain them in activity," he said. However, emphasis on retention of converts is making a large difference in the strength of the wards that are continually growing.
"People stop the missionaries on the street and ask to be taught," he said.
Sister Damiani said that the Church has also strengthened families.
"Mothers learn to take care of not only their children, but their husbands also, and themselves. I have seen miracles as the children come to Primary. I see in the children the leaders of tomorrow."
"In the mission field, we had many experiences of the gospel changing lives and miracles performed through conversion," said Elder Damiani. He said that one night missionaries in Curitiba found a man on the street.
"He was well dressed, but he was very drunk. They took him home and scheduled a meeting with him the next day. The next day, he was waiting for the missionaries and began taking the lessons. By the third lesson his wife and children joined him in the lessons.
"The wife and children had been afraid of him," explained Elder Damiani. "He had been abusive. Later the entire family joined the Church. After his baptism, he told the missionaries about that night when they found him. He had drunk a lot to work up the courage to commit suicide. The missionaries saved him two ways: physically and spiritually, he said.
"Two months after their baptism, the family was singing with the stake choir. "They were preparing to attend the temple. This is one of the very valuable experiences we had in seeing how the gospel changes lives," said Elder Damiani.
"I am also very grateful for the gospel and what it has done for me and my family. It was through the gospel that my wife and I were married. We raised our children in the gospel. Our son served in the Porto Alegre mission, and both our children have been married in the temple. Now our grandchildren are seeing how the gospel helps families be united."