And to think I might have missed it...

Now don't judge...but sometimes Cameron and I are really bad and we don't go to stake conference. Well, we did go today and it just proves why we should always go. lol. our last speaker was Elder Kikuchi, and elderly Japanese fellow. Funny side tangent: he spoke at Cam's first missionary conference, lol. Anyway, I was very touched by his talk and I honestly wish it had been delivered at General Conference. It was a talk all members and non members should hear. So, I thought I would share some of it with you.

One of my favorite moments was when he was talking about chastity. He was specifically speaking to the young women. He told them that their bodies were not the Visitors' Center, they are the temple. Then he said to ask the men if they have a permit to enter their holy house. I swear I'm going to cross stitch that first part and hang it in my house. lol!

The end of his talk was a story about a young boy raised in a Buddhist family, the second of four children. He was a Japanese boy growing up during WWII. His father owned a very successful fishing company and provided very well for his family. Near the end of the war his father was killed in a bombing raid. The mother sold the business to take care of the family but they became extremely poor. This young boy took a job 9 hours away from his home, making tofu. He got up at 4 every morning and made tofu all day, then went to middle school at night. He went to bed around 11 just to get up again at 4. The boy grew up and became very anti-American.

The rigorous schedule exhausted him. He developed pneumonia and was put in the hospital. The doctors did not think he would make it so they sent for his family. His mother and older brother came but had to leave shortly after. That night as the boy lay alone in his hospital bed, he cried out "God, are you there? If you are, please spare me" then he cried out to Enlightened One (I can't remember exactly what he called him, sorry!), "Are you there? If so, spare me." He did recover and went to live with his uncle.

One day there was a knock on his door. Two American missionaries had been passing by on their P-day and felt impressed to knock on this door. Initially the boy told them to go away. He hated these men because they were American and the Americans had killed his father. One of the missionaries pressed a little harder at his resistance and mentioned that they had a message to share and that it included a story about a young man about this boy's age who had spoken to God. This caught the boy's attention and he finally let them in. A few weeks later, with the consent of his mother because he was under-age, he was baptized.

Elder Kikuchi then revealed that this was his story. He had been that young boy. I figured it was his story but it was his next words that started the tears running down my face. He said" I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU." He said it with such meaning and force, and then he added, "I love you because you brought me the gospel."

What more could someone say to a people who represented others who had killed his father and caused his family to become desolate? There was no hesitancy, no question. He loves us. What a beautiful thing to say. I wish I could describe the emotions his words invoked, but I honestly don't know how to put it into words. Then he asked that we change the closing hymn to "Love one another."

So, I just wanted to share his message with you. Love one another. Find forgiveness in your heart for those you harbor anger towards, do not judge or treat others unkindly. Love one another.

As I have loved you

love one another

this new commandment

love one another

by this shall men know

ye are my disciples

if ye have loved

one to another