Moses Mahlangu

Who is Moses Mahlangu?

Moses Mahlangu was a long-time supporter of the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Africa. Mahlangu first found a discarded copy of the Book of Mormon in 1964. At the time. he was a Christian preacher in South African townships.

The first copy of the Book of Mormon he found in 1964 had a torn title page, so it was a few years before he learned who had published it. He was fascinated as he read it, but it was not until the early'70s that he saw an LDS Church sign on a building in Johannesburg, South Africa, as he was walking down a street. Mahlangu was intrigued and entered the building to learn more about the church. When he did contact the mission president in South Africa, he was given church literature. However, since apartheid laws prohibited blacks and whites from meeting together for religious purposes and because of the LDS Church's restriction on ordaining black men to the priesthood, Mahlangu was told he would have to wait to be baptized.

Moses Mahlangu accepted that decision with meekness, humility, and without resentment, but he continued to have a strong desire to learn more about the Church.