メリディアン
日本語
帰還宣教師から
From Returned Missionaries
Church Beginnings in Okinawa
Part One-B
By Paul C. Andrus
Northern Far East Mission President December 9, 1955 to July 19, 1962
Saturday, September 1, 1956. I arrived in Tokyo as president of the Northern Far East Mission on December 9, 1955. President Joseph Fielding Smith had dedicated Okinawa for the preaching of the gospel during his visit there in the summer of 1955 and on that occasion President Smith had suggested to the Okinawa LDS Servicemen 's District President (US Army Major) Henry Griffith that they try to obtain a piece property for a meetinghouse site in the vicinity of the village of Futenma. Brother Griffith and the LDS servicemen went right to work and located and purchased a small piece of land in the Futenma area before my arrival in the mission field. During my first visit to Okinawa in February of this year I authorized Brother Griffith and his LDS Servicemen to proceed to have some preliminary drawings drawn up for a meetinghouse on this Futenma site. They had Brother Alv Youngberg make some preliminary drawings and they also arranged for an architect by the name of Kataoka to make some final drawings.
This morning I met with Brother Griffith and a group of LDS Servicemen to review the preliminary plans which had been drawn up by Brother Youngberg and the final plans which are being drawn up by Mr. Kataoka. The preliminary drawings drawn up by Brother Youngberg showed a meetinghouse with a seating capacity of 124. The plans being drawn up by Mr. Kataoka show a seating capacity of 80. Mr Kataoka feels that 80 would be the maximum seating capacity for a meetinghouse on this site. In my view the church should build meeting houses on Okinawa with a much greater seating capacity. Accordingly, I suggested we try to acquire the land adjoining our present land with the view of constructing a much larger meetinghouse. This meeting ended at this point and Brother Griffith and the LDS Servicemen departed.
It was still early in the day so Elder Anderson, Elder Shimabukuro and I set out to locate the owner of the adjoining land. We learned that there were three owners of the spacious and level potato field which adjoined our property. Two of the owners were not available but we were able to meet with one of the owners, Mr. Tamaki an elderly Okinawan man, at his home that same day. As Elder Leroy Anderson, Elder Sam Shimabukuro, and I entered the humble home of this man, and as we sat down with him on the tatami mat floor, I was keenly aware that we were going to ask him to do something that seemed to me might be impossible for him to even consider. This man had suffered through the battle of Okinawa in 1945 and had witnessed the American military forces bombard and invade his beloved homeland and then kill and wound over one hundred thousand Okinawan civilians and Japanese soldiers probably including members of his own family and relatives and friends. Now we three Americans were going to ask him to sell his precious land to an American church which he had probably never even heard of. However, knowing we were on the Lord 's errand gave us confidence to proceed relying on the Lord 's help to soften the hearts of the owners of this land.
Our conversation was entirely in Japanese. After the customary preliminary pleasantries, we proceeded to explain that we were missionaries for the Mormon Church and that the Mormon church would like to buy his land and build a Mormon Church meetinghouse on it. To our great astonishment Mr. Tamaki replied that he had lived in Utah in the Salt Lake Valley for several years about forty years ago! He went on to say that he holds the Mormon church in high regard and that he personally would be willing so sell his land to the Mormon Church and that he would also try to persuade the two other owners of the land to sell to the church! Mr Tamaki agreed to get in touch with the other two owners and set up a meeting on Monday the day after tomorrow at 2PM for all of us to meet together to discuss the purchase of this land! The Lord was way ahead of us and had prepared Mr Tamaki forty years ago to agree to sell his land and to persuade his neighbors to sell their land to the church! The Lord had also inspired President Joseph Fielding Smith, Brother Henry Griffith and the Okinawa LDS Servicemen to find and purchase the small piece of land which adjoined this piece of land. We were humbled and thrilled at this marvelous manifestation of the long range workings of the Lord to arrange for the church to obtain this land for the benefit of His people on Okinawa!
Today Sister Nobu Nakamura invited me and the missionaries to a delicious Okinawan lunch at her home. On this occasion I asked Sister Nakamura to relate to us again the marvelous and miraculous manner in which she was led to the church. She did so and while telling this story her eyes again filled with tears of deep emotion.. Sister Nakamura and her daughter Ayako and Sister Kuniko Tamanaha were the first Okinawans to be baptized into the church on Okinawa. That historic event took place on Christmas Day of 1955. Her young son, Yoshiyasu, was baptized in May so that there are now three members of the Nakamura family in the church.
This evening I enjoyed dinner with the LDS Servicemen 's District Leaders at the Castle Terrace Club. Following dinner I attended the Priesthood and Relief Society sessions of the Okinawa LDS Servicemen 's District Conference at the military chapel at the Ryukyu Command Plaza.
Sunday, September 2, 1956. This morning Sister Mulckahern and some single LDS servicemen took me to breakfast at the Ryukyu Command Plaza Officer 's Club and then dropped me off at the Junior High School in Futenma where the missionaries hold church meetings with the Okinawans.
There were over fifty Okinawan children in attendance at Junior Sunday School! I was grateful for the opportunity to speak to them. After the children 's meeting, Sister Irene Taua cleaned and applied medicine to the fifteen or twenty children who had sores or boils.
There were twenty six Okinawans in attendance at the adult session of the Okinawa District Conference. I spoke for about forty five minutes but still felt I had more to say. Elder LeRoy Anderson and Elder Sam Shimabukuro are accomplishing much in getting the church started among the Okinawans. Elder Anderson is improving rapidly with the Japanese language. Elder Shimabukuro is Okinawan himself and is doing a marvelous work with his knowledge of the Japanese and Okinawan languages. Prospects for the church on Okinawa are bright indeed.
After the Okinawan meetings, Brother Cramer took the missionaries to lunch and then to the session of the Okinawa LDS Servicemen's District conference beginning at 2 pm at the Camp Hauge military chapel. There was a typhoon in the area and the military people were under a Condition 2 Alert so many of them had to leave just after the meeting began but we enjoyed a very good and inspirational meeting. The typhoon cut the attendance at the evening session of the Okinawa LDS Servicemen 's District Conference way down but we went ahead as scheduled and enjoyed an inspiring meeting at the military chapel on the US Army Naha Post.
Monday, September 3, 1956. Brother Binns picked me up at my quarters this morning and drove me to the home of Brother and Sister Fred Gunn for breakfast. A good time was had by all and right after breakfast the typhoon alert was lifted.
This morning I met with the Okinawa LDS Servicemen 's District Presidency, a representative of each of the Servicemen's Branch and Group Leaders, the missionaries, Brother Daniel Ringle and Mr. Kataoka, the architect. We reviewed the present status of our plans for a meetinghouse at Futenma and everyone agreed that the present plans call for facilities that are entirely inadequate. Everyone also agreed that the present building site is too small and that we should attempt to buy the adjoining land. We decided to pay Mr. Kataoka $350, half of his promised fee, and then negotiate with him for the balance after deciding what changes will be necessary to provide an adequate building.
I set Brother Daniel Ringle apart as Chairman of the Okinawa Building Committee. I also set Brother Bedenbaugh apart as President of the Kadena LDS Servicemen 's Branch and Brother Ringle as Second Counselor in the Kadena LDS Servicemen 's Branch Presidency.
Brother George Lowe and his wife, Sister Kathryn Lowe, invited us all to their home for lunch which turned out to be a sumptuous feast of an overabundance of delicious foods served with beautiful Hawaiian music provided by a group of talented Hawaiian musicians! Unfortunately, we had to leave just as this party was just getting started in order to keep our appointment with the Okinawan land owners. From now on I will know that a lunch at the Lowe's means a full scale three hour affair and will plan accordingly. Brother and Sister Lowe went all out to be hospitable.
Everyone was late for our 2 pm appointment with the Okinawan land owners but all three owners did eventually show up. I presented our proposition in Japanese and a Mr. Asato, a young Okinawan man, interpreted into Okinawan for the two Okinawan ladies. At the present time there is much excitement among the Okinawans because they are uncertain what the USA might decide concerning the land in Okinawa. For this reason the Okinawan ladies and Mr. Tamaki wanted to know what the church intended to use this land for. I explained that we plan to build a church to be used mostly by the Okinawan people although our members in the US Armed Forces would also use the building. After a brief consultation among themselves, the three Okinawan land owners agreed to sell their land to the church. We then discussed the price and I suggested we pay them the same price we paid the sellers of our present property. One of the Okinawan ladies asked if the church wouldn't offer a higher price. I explained that it was not our money but it was church money and that we want to pay them a fair price, but we must be careful with the church money.
At this point, they all agreed to sell at the same price the church paid for our present land. The fact that they agreed to sell to the church at all is a miracle wrought by the Lord Himself!
After this meeting with the land owners, we went back to the home of Brother and Sister Lowe and then went out to the LDS Servicemen 's picnic being held at Imbu Beach.
This evening we went over to the hospital and administered to Sister Hardy. Sister Hardy is expecting another child soon and has been experiencing fainting spells. Her husband is away on Taiwan. Sister Hardy seemed to feel better after we talked with her, administered to her and gave her a blessing.
Tuesday, September 4,1956. Brother Jorgenson picked me up early this morning and I checked out of the RYCOM PLAZA VIP Transient Quarters. It only cost a dollar a day to stay there and Brother Jorgenson paid the bill! Together with the missionaries I enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the home of Brother and Sister Jorgenson.
We then drove to Naha, picked Mr. Ohama the lawyer and drove to USCAR Legal Division to try to complete the registration of the land the church now owns in Futenma. Mr. Bernfield of the USCAR Legal Division took one look at my power of attorney and then kindly explained that my power of attorney was not general enough. He further suggested that I write to Salt Lake and obtain a certificate of incorporation certifying that The Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a legal corporation. Mr Bernfield also requested a notarized extract of the minutes of said corporation appointing me resident manager. Mr Bernfield is Jewish and informed us that he had lived in Wyoming, he had read The Book of Mormon, and that he has a high regard for our church. In fact he said he hoped that we would surpass all the other churches on Okinawa and asked if we intended to build a temple on Okinawa. I thanked him for his kindness and assured him that I believe the church will build a temple on Okinawa probably within twenty years.
After dropping Mr. Ohama off, we drove to the home of Brother and Sister Johnson in Naha and enjoyed a delicious chicken dinner with pie and ice cream We just made it to the airport in time for me to clear exit procedures, say goodbye, and climb aboard the airplane. It was a very pleasant flight and when I arrived at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Sister Andrus, Vaun, Chuck, and Elder Lundberg were at the airport to meet me. I was worn and weary but it was a great trip!