Henry Mwesigwa was born into a family of six children in Jinja, Uganda, East Africa. He is one of the pioneers of the LDS church in his native country after his conversion in 1993. Like most of the converts of his time, Henry was introduced to the Church by his close friend, the late Igumba David who passed away several years later after serving a full-time mission in Tanzania.
Recalling his time after meeting two young missionaries, Elder Russell from Sierra Leone and Elder Mathews from U.S.A., Henry says it was a challenge to abandon the faith he was raised up in but at the same time he was convinced the decision was the right one because of the strength of his feelings after the meeting with them. He began to attend Church, which was difficult as it involved walking ten miles every Sunday morning following a train track that went from his home village Bugembe, to a nearby rented LDS chapel in Walukuba.
As the Church was very new in the country, missionary work took time to gain momentum leading to a handful of baptised members, but later the number increased. Henry saw his elder brother, a cousin and friends converted and then his younger brother. As the missionary effort increased, there were soon sufficient numbers for a branch of the Church to be opened in his village. The Branch continued to grow from strength to strength and has seen the highest number of missionaries sent out to serve. His village has now recently acquired its own permanent church-built chapel.
After becoming a member of the Church, Henry promised himself that one day he would serve a full-time mission and the call came in 1996 at which time his home Mission President, President Boucher, informed him that his call was 'rare'. Most of the Ugandan missionaries were being called to serve within the African area but Henry was called to serve in the England, London South Mission in the UK.
His mission experience gave him the opportunity of tasting the British weather and culture and as he spent two years proselyting on the streets of London and the areas south of the River Thames he states that his mission was the most rewarding time that changed and inspired his life and his future.
On returning home to Uganda on completion of his mission, Henry found, taught and converted a young man, Daniel Arap Moi who not only became one of his best friends in the Church but who also was called to serve his mission in the same area Henry had served in.
Henry graduated from college as a journalist and soon found himself employed by Record Network Television, a Brazilian International Media company with local branches in Africa. He started as a news field reporter and worked his way up the ladder to become a news manager, a News anchorman then he became a television presenter with his own live TV programme called ‘Public Platform’ which aimed to address issues of the many voiceless local Ugandans.
It is through his media hard work that Henry was selected by the US Department of State, with 19 other journalists selected from across the African continent, to represent their respective countries, to appear on the Broadcast and News Media programme in the US under the International Visitor Leadership Program (I.V.L.P.) which aimed at connecting current and emerging foreign leaders with their American counterparts.
In Uganda in 2012, Henry married Clare Fry, who had also served a full-time mission in London. It was difficult to sacrifice his dream career but the decision was made that they should move to England to be nearer her family. They have now been blessed by a beautiful boy named Kale and have been welcomed as serving members of the Warrington congregation in the Liverpool area.