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 31
CELESTIAL LIGHT FILLS HIS DARKNESS
Several months after the temple had opened, a Sister Matsukawa from Sendai called to speak with me. She said her husband was blind, deaf, and mute; but he could read Japanese Braille. She told us of his long-awaited dream of being able to attend the temple and receive his endowment and to be sealed to her, his wife. She asked if it were possible to be done. Her pleading encouraged me to write to The First Presidency and ask if we could use a templeworthy member to translate and print the temple ordinances into Japanese Braille. After receiving their approval, we set up a Japanese Braille typing machine in one of the auxiliary rooms. A Japanese woman, Sister Maeno, working in the Presiding Bishopric Office in Tokyo, who was also proficient in Braille, agreed to come to the temple each night after her regular work, and do the job. She received no pay; and it was an inspiration to see her working week after week to serve her fellow man in such a project. After months of diligent work, she completed the process of punching out the Braille markings on this ancient-looking machine. As soon as it was finished, I notified Sr. Matsukawa that we were ready for her and her husband to come to the temple.
Sr. Maeno’s only “pay” was to have the privilege of sitting next to Bro. Matsukawa during his endowment session, to make sure that his fingers were following in the correct place. Upon their arrival, I took Bro. Matsukawa from his wife and escorted him to the locker rooms and initiatory area. (His wife later told me that she was very surprised that he went so willingly with me. She said that he had never let anyone, except her, touch him; because he had received so much mistreatment in his condition when he was a youngster.) His current condition came from a sickness when he was about ten years old, so he could read and write before his tragic illness. Before she met him, at a conference, he was living in the mountains to stay away from people.
What devotion we all witnessed this day, as we watched this caring wife give him every attention he needed. He was a fine, good-looking man; and anyone just glancing at him would not suspect that he was blind, deaf, and mute. His wife was a normal Japanese woman, who had received her endowment in the Hawaii Temple a few years previous to this time, and then had filled a mission. She and her companion discovered him and taught him the gospel, and then later she married him. It was fascinating to watch them communicate by writing the signs of the kanji into each other’s hands.
I used the nicest sealing room, which had beautiful light streaming through the stained glass window, in wondrous colors of the rainbow. In this way we wouldn’t interfere with the regular endowment sessions going on in other rooms. A couple from Sendai, the Shios, who were temple missionaries, already knew this couple. They acted as the witnesses. Hideo Kanetsuna, a temple worker from Hawaii and now in the Tokyo Temple, knew the Japanese endowment ceremony. He was the officiator and conducted the ceremony vocally, while the wife and Sr. Maeno, the Braille translator, were at Brother Matsukawa’s side to make sure he was at the right place during the vocal presentation. Brother Kanetsuna was well versed in the words of the ceremony, so he could watch carefully as the two women guided his hands. Another of our temple missionaries, Sr. Yanagida, acted as the female ordinance worker until the group took a break to rest. Then my wife, Sr. Andersen, came in and completed the remainder of the endowment. I was able to come in and out several times, quietly, to see that things were going well. What a profound and sacred experience. The total temple process, including the sealing of husband and wife, took eight hours, with a short break. It was very touching to watch the various expressions of his face as they proceeded. His face was one of reverence and excitement. On some occasions, when he was particularly inspired, he would take his hands from the Braille and reverently clap them. Several times his nose watered and the tears ran down his face. When every thing was done, including the sealing, Brother Matsukawa gave me a hug. It was a moment of sheer joy and gratitude. (Again his wife said that he had never given a hug to anyone before this.) It was such a spiritual event to watch the celestial light fill the darkness of his mind.
At the veil, he had tried to say the words. My wife heard several words quite distinctly! How patient and kind and loving everyone was who worked with him, for we sensed a glorious spirit about him and with him. His wife was flushed in her face most of the day because of her extreme excitement. When they walked together into the celestial room, so many people were hushed and awed. Many seemed to know him and felt thrilled for them both. They came over and held his hand, writing kanji in his palms. His wife will deserve the highest of crowns in heaven. How exciting to think of their later life, when he will have all his faculties, be a perfect man, and she his eternal wife. How very blessed those of us should feel, who have full capacities and the ability to enjoy each fresh, new day, the sunlight, reading, hearing people speak, being able to respond in such a beautiful world and to our families. They both wanted to partake of an endowment session just one more time; but I had been instructed by The First Presidency not to allow it because of the time and people involved.