MORMON SISTER KNIGHT

Gladys Knight Tells Floridians, "This is the Light"
By Geoffrey Biddulph

Gladys Knight and her 60-person choir of Latter-day Saints gave four
performances for more than 5,000 people in southern Florida last week.

"This is the way, this is the light," she said in teary testimony
regarding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Gladys Knight is famous worldwide for such songs as "I Heard it Through
the Grapevine" and "Midnight Train to Georgia." Over the weekend, she,
along with her choir and a three-person band gave four shows to
thousands of members and non-member investigators, who crowded into the
Fort Lauderdale Florida stake center building. They heard Knight's
renditions of "Because I have been Given Much" and "I am a Child of
God," as well as several Gospel songs that are not in the Church hymn book.

Knight sang several solos, but she also directed several choir members
who also took the stage alone. They sang songs such as "Uphold Me with
Thy Sweet Spirit" and "Oh, How I Love Jesus" with a swelling choir
behind them.

The highlight of the evening was certainly when the famed singer and her
husband both gave their testimonies of the restored gospel.

"It is indeed a miracle that I belong to this church," Sister Knight
said. "The image of the Church in the past has not been conducive to my
being here. It shows His hand in motion. An African-American woman: Who
knew I would have a calling such as this?"

Knight has indeed been given a special calling by the Brethren to travel
throughout the world giving her testimony both in speech and through
song. Given her fame and her reputation, she may be a vessel for
bringing thousands of tens of thousands to investigate the Church.

Several years ago, Gladys Knight's son was the first member of her
family to look at the Church. After he got baptized, her daughter came next.

Sister Knight described her search for God's true church, which came
after the baptism of her children:

"I was raised in a Baptist home. We spent all day on Sunday at church. I
was kind of all over the place religiously. I was a Baptist and then a
Catholic and then I went to several other churches. I was seeking. There
was something good in every one of those churches, but I thought there's
got to be more. My daughter Kenya said, 'talk to the missionaries. ' I
fell in love right away. They were respectful, and the first thing they
said was,
'Can we pray?' I believe in the power of prayer. They told me, 'You
check it out.' I got on my knees and asked the Lord, and I got my
answer. I couldn't wait for my next lessons. I said I wanted to get
baptized tomorrow."

Very soon after that, she was baptized.

Her husband, William McDowell, gave an eloquent and humor-laced
testimony about his courtship and marriage to one of the most famous
singers around.

They met because he was the manager of a spa in San Diego. "As Gladys
kept traveling around the world, and I kept on traveling around San
Diego, it was common knowledge Gladys has lost her mind and had joined
those Mormons," Brother McDowell said.

He would go to visit her in Las Vegas and, "There were a lot of young
men on bicycles who kept on visiting — hungry young men on bicycles."

McDowell added, "They kept on saying they belonged to the true church of
Jesus Christ. I was raised very Baptist by god-fearing people, my
grandparents. How could they not be members of the true church?"

But McDowell said he went to seminary and read The Book of Mormon and
then got on his knees and asked, and "I received the answers. My
grandparents had prepared me to recognize the Truth when I saw it."

He acknowledged his brother, who was in the audience, and said, "This is
the first time he has heard my testimony. Hopefully I can bring my
family to a truth. The Church of Jesus Christ has been restored. It was
restored by a young boy, Joseph Smith, who in a field saw God the Father
and Jesus Christ."

McDowell continued, "Take the time to research and find out for
yourself. Take the time to pick up The Book of Mormon. Ask whether it is
true. If you want to see a miracle, just think that Gladys Knight is
running a choir in the Mormon Church."

He then introduced his wife as "Gladys Knight McDowell," and she sang a
song to which Brother McDowell wrote the lyrics — "He Lives." It was a
very moving song about the Savior that Knight sang to a misty-eyed crowd.

"I have to give this testimony of mine," Knight said. "I have no other
choice. Sometimes the truth is right before you and you don't see it."

Knight said that it has sometimes been difficult for her to tell people
she is a Mormon. "But this is the true church. It has the 12 apostles,
just like Jesus' church. Just like the people in Jesus' day, we need to
look farther for the truth. The people in those days got the same
ridicule we get today. I was willing to risk that for the honor of
serving him."

She asked non-members in the audience, "At least see for yourselves. At
least be obedient to that end." She then went into the audience to shake
hands and give hugs to the many people who adore her.

Mission President Noel Reynolds said his missionaries received 425 solid
referrals from the event.

"The missionaries from the Haitian branch brought 17 people, and one
young lady asked to be baptized right away after hearing Gladys Knight's
testimony," President Reynolds said. Another ward mission leader had
been asking his father, a Baptist, to hear the discussions for year. His
father finally agreed with enthusiasm after attending the Gladys Knight
event.