"I Was Wrong. The Prophet Was Right." (with Brad Wilcox)

Picture this: a nine-year-old boy comes home to Provo after spending his earliest childhood years in Ethiopia. At school and at church, the other kids play basketball, volleyball, and football. He was never picked because nobody wanted to lose, and he did not want anyone else to lose because of him. He just stood on the side. At church, the entire young men program was a ball thrown onto a gym floor with the words "let's play." He felt like he did not belong.

That boy was Brad Wilcox. Decades later, he would become one of the most known voices in the Church. His BYU devotional "His Grace Is Sufficient" became the most watched BYU Speech in history. He wrote The Continuous Atonement, served as a mission president in Chile, and sat in the Young Men General Presidency. Ask him how all of that happened, and he will tell you it started in a small branch in Addis Ababa where the church meant service, and it grew on a mission where he finally read Jesus the Christ for the first time.

In a recent episode of Why We Believe with host Nathan Gwilliam, Brad shares how his life has been shaped by Jesus Christ from his earliest years to this very day. His story is a reminder that Christ does not wait for us to have our lives together. He walks with us while we figure it out.

Ethiopia Shaped His View of the Gospel

Brad was born on Christmas Day. His father worked on education programs in Ethiopia, which meant his earliest memories of church, service, and the gospel all happened in Africa. The only Latter-day Saints in the country were a handful of American families. They were under the Swiss mission because the Church was not yet established there. His parents were told not to proselyte because once they left, there would be no priesthood to carry on the work.

So instead of preaching, they served. Fast offerings were not envelopes. They were animals purchased by branch members and taken to orphanages to feed hungry children. They were donations to a doctor from England who helped unwed mothers deliver their babies safely. Brad grew up watching his parents love people without asking for anything back. That quiet witness became his first understanding of what the gospel actually looks like.

When the 1978 priesthood revelation came, his parents wept with gratitude because they knew what it would mean for Africa. Today, Ethiopia has a mission, missionaries teaching in Amharic, and two chapels. Brad later returned and stood in an Addis Ababa chapel weeping. He said he wished his parents could have seen it.

The Book That Rebuilt His Testimony

When Brad entered the MTC on his way to Chile, he thought he was ready. He had gone to seminary. He had read enough of the Book of Mormon to earn the ice cream party. He could say enough in Sunday school to sound faithful. Then he opened Jesus the Christ by James Talmage for the first time and realized he did not know nearly as much as he thought.

That book started him on a lifelong journey of gospel scholarship. He dove into the Book of Mormon. He read scripture with new eyes. The Jesus he thought he knew grew larger, and his testimony deepened. Brad says his mission is where his real testimony was forged, not because he converted hundreds of people, but because he finally let the scriptures teach him.

Years later, as a mission president, he would go back to Chile and see the converts whose lives had gone in every possible direction. Some were stake clerks. Some were raising faithful missionaries of their own. Some had quietly drifted away. The people he had baptized as a 20-year-old were now middle-aged, and their choices had shaped generations.

Returning to Chile as Mission President

Elder Holland sent Brad back to the very areas where he had served as a young missionary. He asked him to go find members who had gone inactive. He asked him to try to strengthen the work in places Brad had once walked as a 20-year-old. Brad went back and saw the good, the hard, and the heartbreaking.

One young man walked up to him and said, "You baptized my mom." Brad did not recognize him. Then the man explained he was the crying baby Brad used to hold so his companion could teach the mother. The mother had passed away. But the baby had grown up, served a mission, and now served as a stake clerk. Brad left that experience with tears in his eyes, finally understanding what the ripple of a mission really looks like.

He also saw pain. One man he had baptized, whom Brad had been certain would become a future general authority, was long gone. His children did not even know their father had once been a member. Brad realized that after everything was said and done, the missionary who had changed most on his mission was him.

Grace Meets You Where You Are

As a bishop in a young single adult ward, Brad watched young people confess, feel better, then slip, confess again, feel better, and slip again. After three rounds, many of them quit. Either they stopped coming or they kept going through the motions to keep their BYU endorsement while everything inside them gave up. That pattern broke his heart.

Brad realized the Church was teaching repentance beautifully but not teaching grace. Young people understood that the atonement brings forgiveness. They did not understand that the atonement also brings transformation. Grace is not a reward you earn after you do your part. Grace is the power Christ extends to walk with you through the entire change process, exactly as you are, right now.

That insight became the foundation of his book The Continuous Atonement and the BYU devotional that would become the most viewed in the school's history. Brad followed the Spirit in that devotional when it would have been easier to give a lighter talk. That choice has reached millions.

Why Brad Chooses Faith

Near the end of the episode, Brad quoted Elder Neal A. Maxwell: faith is letting what we already know about God teach us to trust Him for what we do not yet know. Faith is not pretending to believe. It is choosing to welcome God into your life more fully. It is saying yes to Christ through covenants, ordinances, and daily obedience, and then watching grace pour in because of that choice.

Brad said even if he somehow turned out to be wrong about everything, he would not trade the life he has lived. He has seen himself and others as children of God with potential to become like Him. That belief has changed every interaction, every relationship, and every decision. And he is certain he is not wrong. He knows Jesus Christ lives, that the Book of Mormon is scripture, and that living prophets guide the Lord's Church today.

Key Takeaways

Feeling out of place in our youth can become the very thing that teaches us Christ sees every person as His. Serving a mission is not the end of gaining a testimony. It is often where a deep testimony truly begins. The atonement is not only about repentance. It is the power that allows Christ to transform us over time. Grace is not a contract we earn through effort. It is a covenant relationship offered heart to heart. Faith is not pretending to believe. It is choosing to welcome God more fully into our lives.

Thank you for reading this week's blog post inspired by the Why We Believe show. If you are interested in more stories like this, you can check out our other blog posts and episodes at WhyWeBelieve.com.

Follow the Why We Believe Show: Website: WhyWeBelieve.com | YouTube: @WhyWeBelieveShow | LinkedIn: @Why-We-Believe-Show | Instagram: @WhyWeBelievePodcast

Follow Nathan Gwilliam: LinkedIn: @NathanGwilliam

Follow Brad Wilcox: Church Profile: Bradley R. Wilcox | Instagram: @BradRWilcox | Facebook: @YM1stCounselor | Twitter/X: @BradleyRWil