Her Mom Said No to Baptism. She Did It Anyway

Her mother said no. So this 15-year-old wrote her own permission slip for baptism. In 1997, Ellie Sanangela was a student living on the island of Sao Vicente in Cabo Ver off the west coast of Africa. One day her teacher didn't show up to class, so she sat in a nearby square to wait for her next class. That's when she noticed two young women entering a building. She had no idea who they were, but she was curious, so she followed them inside.

The women were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a church Ellie had never heard of. The missionaries began talking with her and invited her to church. And so she came back. They taught her about Joseph Smith's First Vision and the Book of Mormon and invited her to ask God if what they were teaching was true. So Ellisa prayed. The answer wasn't a voice or anything extraordinary, but it was a deep feeling of peace as though the Lord were saying to her heart, "Yes, this is true." She wanted to be baptized.

But she was only 15 and her mother refused permission. Her family was Catholic and she did not want Ellisa joining another church. And so, Ellisela waited about 7 months, hoping she could change her mind, but she didn't. So, Ellie Sanangela wrote the permission letter herself and told the missionaries it came from her mother. On May 31st, 1997, she was baptized in the sea at Lazetto.

When she came out of the water, she felt a peace she could hardly describe. Her mother discovered the baptism about a year later and tried to stop her from attending church. But over time, she saw the changes faith was producing in her life and learned to respect it. The gospel had brought so much light into Ellie Angela's life that she wanted others to find that same light and know that God heard their prayers.

So at 21, she decided to serve a mission. Ellie says she became one of the first sister missionaries called to serve in the newly created Cabo Verj Pria mission. She later married and was sealed to her husband in the Hifi Brazil temple and raised three children with the gospel in their lives. And the faith she chose at 15 would eventually reach another generation. In 2024, her oldest son Kevin became a missionary too, serving in Liberia.

Ellie Sanangela says her spiritual journey didn't end with baptism. There were times when she was afraid, cried, waited, and wondered why certain things were happening. But through all those experiences, she learned that God knows each one of us wherever we are in the world and he hears our prayers. And through it all, she became absolutely certain of one thing in her words. Christ lives.

He is our savior and redeemer.