Upon initially learning about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Danor felt it was what he had been searching for. But then he started to hear “rumors” that there was a period of time in the Church’s history when people of African descent were unable to receive the priesthood. And as it turned out, the rumors were true.
“That was a shocker,” he says of learning of the priesthood ban that was lifted in 1978. “I felt like there had to be some reason for that. I didn’t think that I had to just throw away the whole thing … what good is that going to do me at this point in time? The other thing I think you have to do is understand more about it. There’s a lot of details that you can learn about once you really get into the history of that.”
When Danor learned about this aspect of the Church’s history, he had already been baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So, instead of throwing away his faith, he chose to put in a great deal of work and say a prayer to better understand.
“Am I not good enough?” he asked as he prayed, and that is when he heard God speaking peace to his heart.
“[God is] so amazing,” Danor says. “I did hear His voice and He said, very simply, ‘Hear me.’ That’s it. And it was the most beautiful, soft, amazing thing. And I thought, ‘OK, was that my imagination or was that really it?’ And I said, ‘Heavenly Father, is that really you?’ And He said, ‘Yes, my son.’”
“I know I’m a son of God, and I know he loves me more than I can stand,” Danor says. “So I don’t need justification for the past. Because again, all I want is a personal relationship, and everything else is build on that.”
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