Peter M. Johnson, from rapper to general authority

The most exciting development with new general authorities is the first African-American general authority, Peter Matthew Johnson. Elder Johnson is not the first black general authority. That was Elder Helvicio Martins from Brazil. Elder Martins however is dead.

Elder Johnson is not even the only current black general authority. Elder Joseph W. Sitati from Kenya and Elder Edward Dube from Zimbabwe are both black.

Elder Johnson grew up in the borough of Queens in New York City. I believe he is the first gneral authority to have grown up there since Elder Hales. That is where similarities end. Elder Johnson and his brother were in a rap group. They would perform at weddings, high school dances and block parties. When he was 14 a violent event happened at a rap gathering he was at. In this talk https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/peter-m-johnson_faith-family-friendship/ he does not go into it. Shortly after that he moved to live with his mother in Hawaii.

In Hawaii Elder Johnson excelled in basketball. He had never been on a basketball team in New York but because he was tall he was recruited for basketball. From that he got a scholarship to BYU-Hawaii. Elder Johnson had become a Muslim while in New York City, but it is not clear that he ever practiced in Hawaii.

While at BYU-Hawaii Johnson took a New Testament class, had the discussions with the missionaries, and took a Book of Mormon class. His Book of Mormon class teacher, Gary Smith, told him to act n the faith he had and get baptized them quoting Ether. Johnson ignored Smith's advice at that time.

Then he got an offer to play basketball at Dixie State College in St. George which he took. In St. George he enrolled in the LDS Dating and Courtship Institute Class. In meeting with Sister missionaries in St. George he was challenged to pray in a way that caused him to act. Then he received a witness on his own. Then he decided to be baptized, but wanted to do it in Hawaii so his family could see it. Despite his plans to get baptized on returning to Hawaii he was lead away by his frineds, but then felt empty, read the scriptures, and decided to be baptized. He saw missionaries as he was driving, and nearly ran them over on their biskes, and asked them to come teach him. He was baptized a week later. That was in 1986.

After his second year at Dixie State Johnson turned down several offers to play NCAA division I basketball to serve a mission. He was a missionary in Alabama.

In this devotional Elder Johnson tells of the Tuskegee Branch going from 10 to 60 members in a few months because of the faith of Eva Oryang, who had just moved from Uganda where she had held high positions in gtovernment. She asked the Lord to send her representatives of the right Church first. The missionaries came the same day and just before a minister and people from another Church. Sister Oryang trusted in the leadership of the Lord. Not long after her son was made the branch president.

After his mission Elder Johnson went to SUU. He later got a PhD from Arizona State. He was on the faculty of BYU-Hawaii and then BYU. Shortly after the above talk he joined the faculty at the University of Alabama. There he became stake president and then Area Seventy I believe a year ago. I am trying to unpack more on him.


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