Angolan Ambassador Joaquim Santo at Silicon Slopes Summit, Hosted at Church Headquarters 

Ambassador Joaquim Santo and five of his associates visited Salt Lake City in October 2021 to attend the Silicon Slopes Summit and to learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Mark S. Palmer welcome him warmly to Church Headquarters, later holding meetings and hosting a luncheon. A good discussion regarding Angola and the development of that country ensued. Elder Palmer presented the Church and the great humanitarian work that the faith accomplishes throughout the globe. The Ambassador explained that Angola is a Christian nation and that many different denominations exist peacefully in Angola. Elder Palmer also spoke about how church members are Christians and that we had a book entitled, the Book of Mormon, which is a second witness of Jesus Christ. Elder Palmer presented the Ambassador a copy of the Book of Mormon in Portuguese. This was very well received by Ambassador Santo. 

After lunch the Ambassador was presented with a Christus cube and he immediately held it to his heart and exclaimed how touched he was to receive such a lovely gift. The others in the group also received a smaller Christus cube. After lunch Ambassador Santo went to Brigham Young University where he and his associates had a short tour of campus and met with Jeff Ringer, International Vice President of BYU. Mr. Santo was extremely surprised at the expanse of the University as well as the low cost of education at BYU. Dr. Ringer explained that BYU loves international students and would like to increase its numbers, including students from Angola.