Midpoint

On September 1, 1901, Elders Heber J. Grant, Louis A. Kelsh, Horace A. Ensign and Alma O. Taylor walked into a grove of trees on a hillside overlooking Yokohama bay. They had arrived in Japan two months prior, called as the first missionaries for the church in Japan. On that hillside they knelt on the ground and Elder Grant offered a dedicatory prayer, dedicating the nation of Japan for the preaching of the gospel.

Louis A. Kelsh, Alma O. Taylor, Heber J. Grant, and Horace A. Ensign on the hillside overlooking Yokohama bay.

Elder Taylor, who was only 18 years old at the time, recorded the event in his journal:

“Brother Grant offered up the dedicatory prayer. His tongue was loosed and the Spirit rested mightily upon him; so much so that we felt the angels of God were near, for our hearts burned within us as the words fell from his lips. I never experienced such a peaceful influence or heard such a powerful prayer before. Every word penetrated into my very bones, and I could have wept for joy.”

Elder Grant’s prayer included a blessing on the people of Japan, that their hearts would open and recognize the truth when they heard it. He prayed that the Lord’s purposes regarding the gathering of Israel would be accomplished in this land. He also prophesied that young Elder Alma Taylor would become “as Alma of old” in this land and would be a critical instrument in establishing the church here.

Elder Taylor once wrote in his journal that the Japanese language was impossible to learn. His mission companions all agreed. But miraculously, he eventually became brilliant in the language. When the other missionaries returned home to Utah, still frustrated with the Japanese language, Alma Taylor stayed, becoming the mission president in Japan at age 22. He went on to translate the Book of Mormon into Japanese only eight years after that dedicatory prayer, publishing it in 1908.

This month for zone conference, President Node invited the missionaries to meet at the Yamate chapel in Yokohama, which is located just a short stroll away from the very spot where Elder Grant gave that dedicatory prayer 123 years ago. There is a monument at the building that memorializes that great event in church history.

The dedication monument at the Yamate meetinghouse

Zone Conference at the Yamate meetinghouse.

As a zone we walked to the hillside where the Elder Grant’s dedication took place, and we also walked to the dock at Yokohama bay, where those four missionaries stepped off the ship and into Japan.

Elder Grant offered the dedicatory prayer around this spot.

This was such a thrill to us. We loved it. We love the history and heritage we have here. What an amazing thing to think – from those four men and just a few members early on, and from very humble circumstances – the work has grown, and we now have over 130,000 members in Japan, dozens of stakes, and five temples.

And now, here we are, participating in and adding to that amazing heritage. We are so grateful to have been with our missionaries at these sacred sites and to be reminded of the responsibility we have inherited. And the work continues to move forward and grow.

Institute

Yesterday we had a really great lesson in Institute class. We had about 60 students attend and we talked about Abinadai and King Noah. We asked the class if they have ever been in a situation where they had to stand alone for the Savior and His church, facing those who oppose them. (Because if you haven’t yet, you most certainly will.) We talked about Abinadai’s example and how to follow it. It turns out that most of the students were more familiar about standing for the Church than we are. It’s not easy to be a church member in Tokyo Japan. And the fact that 60 choice young people choose to spend their Friday night in Shibuya in an institute class is incredible.

Friends at the Temple

This week at the temple, Sister Low was the initiatory coordinator and Elder Low was the endowment coordinator. We are growing to love the workers we serve with more and more every week. They are now very close friends to us; like family to us. We love how they are always so cheerful, and so funny.

And even though it rained all day, we still had YSA members show up at the temple. We are so thrilled.

Midpoint

We are somewhere around the midpoint of this adventure. But after nine months into our mission, we are still amazed that we get to be here and do what we are doing. We are still in awe every morning when we walk out of our apartment and are reminded of where we are. We are living in an incredible place and are having incredible experiences every day. We still haven’t gotten used to it. We are so lucky and grateful.