Sometimes people are surprised when they meet black members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So we’d like to introduce you to a few.

Elizabeth is an black Mormon who’s lived a full, loving life. She is currently a single mother to five children she’s adopted, in addition to being a mother to her grown biological children. Her roles also includes being a grandmother and a great-grandmother, and a foster mother. She says: “I have always loved the idea of being a mother. My first passion was to be a mother, especially to little babies. I love spending time with my children and taking them places. I feel like I’m staying younger by living my life through my children. When I need time away, I love going to garage sales and finding things to recycle and make new again. I love to fix up things and make them beautiful, and I love finding things at good prices.”

Meet Sheryl, a black Mormon woman who says this about herself: “I’m an urban school teacher. Building strong friendships is important to me. I love my family. I’m a Mormon.” Sheryl joined the Mormon Church at the age of 10 when missionaries came to her home. She served a mission in South Africa.

You can meet other Black / African American Mormons at Mormon.org. Meet others of various ethnicities, or by prior religious affiliation, or by no variable at all. But you can probably find someone who is a lot like you, as well as finding a diversity of people who will be different from you in some ways. What connects us all is our faith in the Savior and in God’s plan of happiness.