“The Box I’d Never Seen Before,” Ensign, June 1998, 60–61
The Box I’d Never Seen Before
It was a rainy night in Sakai, Japan. I had been working in the area as a missionary for nearly six months, and now, finally, the long, hot summer of 1971 was nearly over. On this wet night, however, my companion and I were in one of the offices where the branch met, looking over maps of the area. Deep in thought about planned proselyting activities, I happened to look up from the table at the now-familiar room. Then I noticed a shoe box tucked neatly away on top of a filing cabinet.
As many times as I’d been in that room, I’d never noticed it before. Suddenly curious, I arose, took down the box, and opened it. To my surprise the box contained referral cards from the Church pavilion at Japan’s expo held the year before in Osaka. These people had toured the pavilion, bought copies of the Book of Mormon, and indicated a desire to know more about the Church.
I thought we had long since contacted all referrals in the Sakai area. Quickly checking through the addresses, I was astonished to find that most were located in an area where we had just completed tracting and that some were for homes we had visited. I had been ready to cross the entire area off our map in preparation to enter another neighborhood. Instead, I began to organize the cards for a return visit.
The next morning, Sunday, the rain continued. Even after our branch meetings let out, rain continued to pour down. We had intended to begin looking up the last of these expo referrals, but it became increasingly apparent that it might be better to wait. Not only was it raining, but I was also beginning to feel ill. Besides, these people had been waiting more than a year already. What difference would another day or so make?
Unexpectedly I felt a warm witness of the Lord’s Spirit that we should proselyte that very day. The time had come for these people to hear the gospel. Accordingly, my companion and I gathered our materials and left.
We arrived in the area and began going from one address to the next. During that afternoon, no one turned us away, and we made appointments for return visits in every place we went! Several of those we spoke with mentioned that if we had visited at any other time we would not have found them at home. In all of the time I had been a missionary, I had never felt the Spirit so powerfully guiding me as I did that afternoon.
I am grateful to the Lord for that rainy day, for a small shoe box full of referral cards, and for the Spirit that prompted us to search out those names. From those contacts, many were baptized and some have gone on to become leaders in the Church in Japan.
Illustrated by Robert Anderson McKay