"Are You Obedient?"

Written by Elder Samuel David Wilson

Elder Kekauoha and Elder Wilson (right)

As I think of some miracle/baptism stories from my mission, one stands out in my mind.   It was on my second transfer in the mission.  I was serving in the Kariya area and Elder Kekauoha was my companion.

 

It was September 9^th, 2010, and Elder Kekauoha and I just got done visiting some potential investigators when we got a call from President Baird.  He did the usual, “Are you being obedient?  Is the Church true?”  We answered yes.  He then told us he had a referral for us from the Philippines and that we should contact this person ASAP.  He also instructed us to call a member who knew the area where this referral lived and ask them about that area. He told us to have that member give us a ride there.  He also asked us to give him a call back and report to him either that very day or the next.  We agreed. 

The information we got on this referral was that of a man named Nori who lives in Hekinan (one of the cities in our area.)  The information we got also included that his wife was a member and that he was very interested to learn about the Church.  We were confused because the referral came from the Philippines, but his name was Japanese.  Also according to what we heard, it sounded like his wife lived in the Philippines. 

We already had plans for that day, so we couldn’t contact him that day, but we did call a member and ask them if they could take us the next day.  We told them the address, so they could figure out how to get there.  The next day we went with the member, but apparently the address was too new and hadn’t been updated in the maps or the GPS.  The member dropped us off in the general location and we set out looking.

 

We started asking people where we needed to go to get near the address, and they directed us.  After about twenty minutes of looking, we found a place we thought might be the apartment, but because of the side of the neighborhood we were on, we were cut off from a clear path to the apartment.  We didn’t know how we could get around, so we decided to clear some trenches and squeeze past some narrow parts of an entrance, and finally made it to the apartment.  Luckily, it was the right one. 

We said a prayer, and then went.  First we contacted the neighbor, then went for Higo’s door.  We rang the intercom box, but no response.  We rang it again, but again no response.  We didn’t know what we should do, but as we were talking about it, a voice came on the intercom.  It was him.  We told him who we were and that his friend Daniel from the Philippines said to visit him.  He told us to hang on, and came to the door.

 

We didn’t know if he was Filipino or Japanese, so we asked.  He is Japanese, and his wife is Filipina.  We again told him about Daniel from the Philippines, but he didn’t know what we were talking about.  He called his wife and we talked to her.

 

Contrary to what we thought, she actually does live in Japan.  She said she was a member, but that she didn’t know the name of the Church in Japan, so she never could find it.  But she said that she wanted to come to church and she also wanted us to teach her husband and to baptize him.

 That’s exactly what happened.  From that day on, he became an investigator.  They started coming to church and he was baptized the next transfer. 

I know because we treated the referral that President Baird entrusted to us with care, and followed his directions, we were able to see that miracle.   A family was able to get on the path to eternity.  My testimony of obedience and treating the Lord’s prepared people with care was strengthened greatly.  I know God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ live.  This is their work and there is no greater work than missionary work.  The Church is true.  This is one of my treasured experiences, and I share it and testify of the greatness of the Lord.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen