Tatea Munoz Woffinden knows what it's like to be persecuted for her beliefs.
At the age of 15, she was kicked out of her school in Bogota, Colombia, in 1967 when administrators found out she was a new member of the LDS Church.
"I had to change schools because … they found out that we were members, and my brother and I were kicked out of the school," Woffinden said.
But she has always known that the Lord was working through her family to help the church grow in Colombia.
"It was a miracle the way that we got baptized," she said, adding that there were only three member families in Bogota at the time, just months after the government had given the church legal status.
Her father worked in the customs office, and Woffinden used to go to his office and see box after box of books.
"He used to tell us, 'Look at these boxes. These boxes are from the United States for another religion.'"
The copies of the Book of Mormon inside the boxes were meant for LDS missionaries to share, but they were hung up in customs because nobody would clear them to be sent on.
Those books would change their lives — and the lives of many in Colombia — after a church investigator sent the missionaries to Woffinden's family.
"When we had the first discussion, (my father) saw the Book of Mormon and he said, 'Those are the ones we have at the customs office.'"
The family was soon baptized by Elders Gary Johnson and William Danner.
Her father signed the customs papers, and from that time on, there was no problem getting church materials into the hands of investigators in Colombia and later in Venezuela.
Woffinden's story of conversion and testimony is one of those highlighted in the exhibit "Mi Vida, Mi Historia" at the Museum of Church History and Art.
Having her story featured is humbling, she said. "It is kind of like going back 40 years. It's a blessing and really nice for others, because these stories make people think there's a purpose for everything."
She came to the United States in 1986 and in 1991 married Dan Woffinden, a lifelong member. They now live in the Bingham Creek (Spanish) Ward, Bingham Creek Stake in West Jordan,.
Tatea Woffinden has not forgotten her conversion to the church.
"When you have the opportunity to see both sides, it's different. A convert to the church makes his life a little bit better and knows 100 percent by the heart and by knowledge and by study that this is the true church."
She believes the exhibit is a good thing.
"It's to let the Americans know that (Latinos) also have the church and we really know about the blessings and about the meaning of this gospel," she said.
"I came to realize about my dad. I didn't realize the importance of what he was doing until now, and why the Lord chose to come to my family.
"To be a Latina … I'm just really proud of it. The U.S. has given me as much as I need and I love it."
e-mail: rwalsh@desnews.com