I was not looking for gospel or church at all.
I was 16 years old and a friend of my older brother came to my home to invite
our younger sisters to a church activity
because he thought that my brother and myself were not church material.
And when we got there, they were playing a really simple activity
and they were so engaged in that play and laughing,
That I was, “Why they’re so happy?”
So two days later, I was receiving the discussions in the chapel
because my family was not really interested to have that.
I was happy with with the gospel.
I knew it was true, enough to be willing to be baptized even without my
parents. It was hard to fit in.
I was without friends, and so I was there for a while in the back of
the chapel, watching, listening
and going home.
You can do this for a while, but if you don't have friends,
even if you know it’s true, it’s hard,
especially if you have friends outside calling you back.
I went to the church one Sunday, kind of one more time,
and they were doing applications. And I asked, What is this?
It’s a youth conference. You should go. I said, okay, I want to try it.
And so we were there, all those youth playing, singing, and dancing,
and suddenly a voice in the speaker saying, “Let’s offer the first prayer.”
All those noisy people, but suddenly they were reverent.
And for me it was, “What is happening here?”
How this group of noisy youth can be so noisy, and in the next second
so reverent because of a prayer? So wow, they are different.
I want to be like them. For me, it was the Lord again sending a message:
“Carlos, don’t give up. This is your place.”
And one day I was walking around
and one girl was playing flute there by herself.
And when I saw that girl, I said, Wow, you know, it’s my heart start to beat.
And I thought, I want to talk to her. And she was so natural and friendly.
And she start to talk with me like I was a normal person.
And she became my friend, my only one.
And through her, I was able to meet other friends.
After this youth conference, I decided I'm going to keep going.
My family moved to the other part of the city.
I went to the chapel near to my home and guess who was there.
Monica! That was her ward.
And at the end of the meeting, a sister came to me and said,
“Are you a member of the Church?” I was used to that question.
I said, “Yes, I think I am, of course I am.”
“Oh, you should attend the seminary.”
And I thought, you know, from where I came from,
seminary was to become a priest, a father.
So I said, “No, no, you know, I want to get married and I have kids.”
And she said, “No, seminary is for the youth, you know,
to learn about the gospel. We don’t have many youth in our ward.
It’s just three actually: Adriano River, Carlos Mancini, and Monica Brando.
And I thought, wow, well, I don't know what it is, but I want to be there.
And every morning I was receiving that good word of God.
And that gave me the understanding who I was,
the strength to keep fighting and keep my conversion process keep going.
And then I was assigned as a home teacher companion to
the Young Men’s president.
And even though I didn't know much about the gospel,
he was always giving me assignments to teach.
He trusted me, I think, more than I trusted myself
those days. There’s something else also interesting,
he was the father of Monica.
And by the way, angel girl Monica that
I mentioned that was there to help me. She became my wife
later, after we both served missions,
we got married in the temple and now she's a mother of four kids,
a mother of seven grandkids, and an angel still in my life.
If you look around, I have no doubt that you're going to be able to find
those in need of angels’ help. The Lord needs you.
So when you see yourself in the mirror, don’t forget, inside of you
There is a beautiful spirit that is a son and daughter of
a Heavenly Father with all those attributes and potential inside of you.