メリディアン
日本語
帰還宣教師から
From Returned Missionaries
Dwayne N. Andersen-Excerpts from Autobiography
Tokyo Temple President
Part 29
President Kimball was frail in health, but he stood and gave a marvelous dedicatory message and prayer, standing the entire time. Peggy was sitting next to Elder Haycock, President Kimball’s secretary, who exclaimed: “It’s a miracle!” He was referring to the fact that President Kimball was able to stand that long giving a talk. The atmosphere during the dedicatory service was electrifying. The choir sang with such beauty and power that Elder Kikuchi commented after the dedication: “I am sure that angels were there singing with our choir.” The music just sent chills up and down my spine, and many tears were shed. We felt the presence of Heber J. Grant and other leaders during that inspiring event. After that first dedication, the following dedicatory sessions were held in the stake center at Kichijoji. After completing all dedicatory sessions, President Kimball and other authorities conducted a missionwide conference for all missionaries in Japan. We were unable to attend this conference because we had to prepare the temple for its official opening.
MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES AT THE TEMPLE
Before the opening day, we were instructed to complete the endowments for about 150 local Japanese elders and sisters who were serving as full-time missionaries in Japan. We accomplished this with two sessions. The first session took us five and a half hours to complete the endowment. It took us until 10:30 at night to finish the session for the 2nd group. What an exciting day it was for us as we watched these young local missionaries expand their spiritual knowledge and make covenants with their Father in Heaven. I spent 28 months with unforgettable experiences as temple president in Japan. It was soul-satisfying watching the Japanese saints come to the temple, feeling their joy and excitement as they participated in the sacred saving ordinances for themselves and for their kindred dead. We shared in their feelings of love which they held for their Father in Heaven and for their ancestors. Shortly after the temple was opened, the large beautiful chandelier in the celestial room was lowered for cleaning. After it was cleaned, the custodian turned on the switch, which started the large motors on the roof to begin raising the chandelier back up. When the chandelier was several feet from the floor, a bolt clamp caught and stopped the cable. This wonderful chandelier crashed to the floor. Sparkling crystals broke off and covered the celestial room’s floor Fortunately no one was in the celestial room except for the custodian. What a tragedy! The Kajima Construction specialist came to inspect the disaster. They determined that it was the company’s fault, so they offered to replace it. They dismantled the structure and took it away. They had to send back to Norway to get all new crystals. For several months, those patrons entering the celestial room felt the lack of the beautiful chandelier. Upon receiving the crystals, the Kajima Co. installed a new chandelier and corrected the cable problem at their own expense.
After about a year and a half at the temple, I became ill and returned to the United States for medication and treatment, which took two months. I left temple operation in the good hands of my first counselor, Yukus Inouye. Upon our arrival at Provo, I had a complete physical with Dr. Peterson, a doctor of internal medicine. He could find nothing physically wrong. I then talked to two psychologists whom I knew; but they felt they could not help me. On a Saturday evening, I called a Dr. Crist, whom I knew when we were both in the BYU First Stake. I described my symptoms of anxiety; and he said: “I understand what your problem is.” He called in a prescription to the drug store and asked me to pick it up, and then take the medication on Saturday and Sunday and meet him on Monday. The medicine was called “norpramin.” Peggy and I went to see him Monday. I expected to go through a series of counseling sessions. But to my surprise, he did not want to know of my past. He described my condition as having a space between the nerve cells dried up. This did not allow the electrical current to pass through the nerve cells properly. He told me it was rather a common condition that happens to some men in mid-life or later and that in an extended time it would probably clear itself up. He also said that if I took the medication he prescribed, he could have me back to the temple in about six weeks. After this, he wrote a letter to the First Presidency explaining my condition and telling them that I would be able to return to the temple in six weeks. I was then granted the privilege of returning to the Tokyo Temple.
Before returning to the temple, I had an interview with Gordon B. Hinckley, who was then a counselor in the First Presidency, and Elder Grant Bangerter of the temple department. President Hinckley asked me about my retirement situation with Brigham Young University. He was not aware that I was so close to retirement and that the longer I stayed in Japan, the weaker my retirement program would be. Since this experience occurred in the middle of a school year, he agreed to let us return to Japan for another six months and then release us in time to start the fall semester. The medication I took made my mouth dry and caused constipation. I had to chew gum and take wheat bran and orange juice every day. Gradually the anxiety attacks diminished until Dr. Crist released me to return to the temple.