Sister Tracy Y. Browning was about 15 years old when her mother saw a Latter-day Saint advertisement offering a free copy of the Book of Mormon on a late-night television infomercial. She requested one.
Within a short time, missionaries knocked on her door, presented a Book of Mormon, and began teaching her the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Although Tracy lived in New Jersey with her father, she visited her mother in New York often and observed with curiosity as her mother progressed toward baptism.
Sister Browning had attended a Presbyterian church with her grandmother and learned foundational Christian beliefs. Now her mother was adding to that knowledge. Soon Tracy began attending Latter-day Saint Sunday worship services with her mother.
The culminating experience came when mother and daughter attended the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Standing in the Sacred Grove, attending church, and listening to messages of the gospel in new ways moved her. Tracy told her mother she was ready to learn more.
“She put me in front of the missionaries very quickly after that,” Sister Browning said.
Within a year, she was baptized and knew in her heart it was the right decision.
“I was happy,” she said. “I felt a confirmation that what I did was the right thing and what God wanted me to do.”
Sister Browning was sustained as Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency during general conference on April 2, 2022. She is the first Black woman to serve in one of the Church’s general presidencies. She views her new calling as an opportunity to bless and minister to all of God’s children.
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“I am a daughter of God, one of his Black daughters, and because I’m Black, I’ve had very specific cultural experiences that influence my perspective, my leadership, and my faith,” Sister Browning said. “I know that is complementary in His kingdom. I’ve learned that as I join the notes and chords of my particular life experiences with the other members of the Church, who bring their own unique compositions, we create harmony. We harmonize because we’re focused in the same direction. There will always be a richness to our harmony because we aren’t all singing the same note. But we are all singing songs of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He needs all His children to join His choir and lift our voices in unity.”
Read more about Sister Tracy Y. Browning on Church News.