Dear Brethren, here is a little paragraph of my blessing left with missionaries in Nagoya. I have tried to cast this in a way that it would apply to the whole area. Use it in any way you wish. It is provided for you only because you requested it. Don’t feel obligated to force its use if it doesn’t help.
“Elders and Sisters, we are coming to the end
of two wonderful weeks in the Asia North Area. The missionary meeting in Nagoya
will be sadly for us, the last of many on this trip. Between Elder Cook, Elder
Rasband, the Area Presidency and myself, we have been almost (but not quite) in
every mission of the area. Perhaps on another trip we can get to those few missions
we missed this time.”
“Because this has been such a wonderful
experience for us and because we feel the missionaries are working so
diligently, I feel to leave a blessing not only upon you elders and sisters
here in Nagoya but also upon every mission in the area. In response to that
prompting and by the priesthood I hold and the apostolic office that has
brought us to Asia, I do bless every one of you that you will feel the urgency
of the work and the love our Father in Heaven has for you in laboring in his
vineyard. I bless you with the Spirit of the Lord to be with you in your
duties, guiding you in your study, leading you in your proselyting efforts,
comforting you regarding any concerns you have here in the mission or with your
families at home. God will bless you and all for whom you pray. He loves you,
this is His work, and He pours out his blessings on those who diligently serve
Him. Let your hearts be peaceful. Angels are dispatched to attend you and those
about whom you care so much.”
“I bless the nations of Japan and Korea,
and the other island locations of our missionaries in this area. Father, bless
the people that they will be responsive to the Spirit, that they will feel a hunger
in their heart to find the truth, and that they will recognize these
missionaries as being agents from Thee when they present Thy truth to them. To
aid in that I bless political leaders, the economy of the nations, and any
other forces that sometimes disrupt the work. May stability and tranquility
come in those social and cultural forces. I bless members, priesthood leaders,
and investigators—including the less active—that a major thrust will go forward
from this apostolic visit to this land. I turn the key again, as keys have been
turned in before, to bring a new chapter, a higher achievement, greater success
in this most important work in the world. Such success can only come from
heaven. We can work hard to prepare the way and deserve success, but the
blessings come only from our Father in Heaven. In that, we honor Him, give
praise to Him, vow to be clean and worthy, and diligently labor before Him to
see a new era of the gospel rise in this Land of the Rising Sun and neighboring
nations. May it be so now, with power and great glory, I pray in the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.”
