As natives of a country where the vast majority of people do not embrace Christian beliefs, it's tempting to assume that Elder Koichi Aoyagi and his wife, Sister Shiroko Aoyagi, endured much opposition in Japan because of their Church membership. But that wasn't the case. In fact, Elder Aoyagi will tell you his devotion to his faith has been the source of many opportunities.
The recently called member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy remembered once sitting down for a job interview shortly after he completed his full-time mission. The prospective employer asked young Koichi to explain what he did on a mission. Teach others about the restored Church of Christ, he answered. His inquisitor persisted, wanting to know what exactly was "restored."
"I gave him a 40-minute discussion during the job interview," remembered Elder Aoyagi, a convert with a generous smile. "By the time I got home, there was a telegram waiting for me with the message: 'You have been hired.' "
The Aoyagis long ago accepted the principles that blessings await those who live and share the gospel. The humble couple battled back joyful emotions as they told the Church News their respective conversion stories and precious memories of service in their beloved homeland.
Elder Aoyagi first learned of the Church at age 17 when he enrolled in a conversational English class in his hometown of Matsumoto, Japan. Although his mother was a faithful Buddhist, the young man did not think of himself as particularly religious or spiritual. Still, he was immediately impressed by the young American missionaries teaching the English class.
"The missionaries were so friendly and pure and they were filled with a deep love," he said. "I had never witnessed such things from anyone else in my life. I really wanted to be like the missionaries."
After receiving permission from his parents, Koichi agreed to listen to the missionaries' gospel discussions. He later accepted a baptismal invitation and joined the Church in 1962. But it wasn't until a year later that he truly had a personal spiritual experience brought about by a heartfelt prayer. "I asked the Lord, 'Is this Church really true? Does God live?' I received spiritual guidance from the Holy Spirit and I understood that this was the Church of God. My prayer was answered."
While attending a branch in Matsumoto, he became acquainted with a pretty young lady named Shiroko Momose who had joined the Church years earlier with her mother and sister. Shiroko had known tough times. Her father had been killed during World War II. When the Momose family met an American missionary companionship not long after the war, they were initially resistant to their message of Christianity. But soon the Spirit took hold and the desperate family found comfort in the words and examples of the young elders. The small family would be baptized and become faithful members in the area's tiny branch.
"We met in a rented apartment for Church services on a matted floor," said Sister Aoyagi. "We sat together to receive lessons and partake of the sacrament. We did not have an organ or a podium. A missionary was the branch president and he also conducted the music. But they were wonderful worship services."
Not long after his baptism, Elder Aoyagi answered a call to serve as a Church building/construction missionary for two years. That service offered him the opportunity to study and prepare for traditional full-time missionary service in the Northern Far East Mission.
"My mission was marvelous," he said. "I had so many great experiences. I learned that all things can be accomplished with the Lord. I returned home with the strong belief that if I had the companionship of the Lord, there was nothing I could not do."
The eternal message of family was central to missionary work and Elder Aoyagi felt it important to marry soon after his return home. He became reacquainted with his old friend, Shiroko Momose. He proposed on their first date. The future Sister Aoyagi had long been impressed with the earnest returned missionary. He was true and sincere and devoted. Accepting his invitation to marry, she said, was an easy decision.
A week after the Aoyagis were married in 1970, the newlyweds traveled to Utah to be sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. Their temple excursion included more than 300 fellow Japanese members, many of whom were able to make the trip through affordable loans arranged by the Church and a local bank.
"After my mission I was so poor — I had nothing," Elder Aoyagi said. "But we borrowed some money to get to Salt Lake City."
The Aoyagis' sacrifice to travel to the Beehive State marked the first of many for the parents of four children. The temple also continues to serve as a reminder to the Aoyagis of the centrality of the family in the gospel. Sister Aoyagi cherishes the example her own mother set for her, taking a leap of faith to embrace the gospel. She is an advocate of the essential role of mothers.
"Do all that you can for your mother," she counseled.
The Aoyagis have watched the Church grow and mature in Japan. Elder Aoyagi has played his own role in that development, sharing his direction and testimony with countless others while serving as a branch president, bishop, stake president, Regional Representative and Area Seventy. His love for missionary work was only strengthened as he presided over the Tokyo Japan Missionary Training Center.
Now as a general authority, Elder Aoyagi is humbled with his charge to build the Church across the globe. His message is simple:
"It is critical that we understand, appreciate and truly accept the atonement of Christ and the plan of salvation," he said. "Understanding these two great principles and doctrines are the key to strong membership."
