On March 11, 2011, Elder Koichi Aoyagi held fast to a stair rail in the Tokyo Shinagawa train station as a 9.0 magnitude Tohoku earthquake struck Japan.
"On television there was a stream of terrifying, shocking footage," said Elder Aoyagi, who was granted status as an emeritus Seventy during the Saturday afternoon session of general conference.
A massive tsunami surged through the Sendai Mission area, sweeping away cars, houses, factories and everything else in its path. "I was stunned by the tragic images and I wept," he said. In Japan, "Over 20,000 people perished, communities were destroyed, and many people were forced to leave their homes as a result of the nuclear power plant accident," Elder Aoyagi said.
When such trials happen, many struggle with questions like, "'Why do these things happen to me?' or 'Why do I have to suffer?'" Elder Aoyagi said during the Sunday afternoon session of general conference. These are questions he, too, had been unable to answer for a long time.
Fortunately all of Elder Aoyagi's family, the missionaries and Church members in Japan were found safe following the earthquake and tsunami, he said. But at another time in his life, he experienced a major trial that did not end so happily.
When Elder Aoyagi was 30 years old, he survived a car accident that left him with severe headaches and pain in his neck and shoulders that lingered for 10 years. He pleaded with God for healing. "However, even though the kind of healing I sought was not granted, I strived to be faithful in keeping God's commandments," Elder Aoyagi said.
While talking to a trusted Church leader about his frustrations, Elder Aoyagi was told, "Isn't it [enough] to accept all the trials of this life for what they are, and then leave the rest up to the Lord? Don't you think that this problem will be resolved when we are resurrected?" Hearing this, he felt the Spirit of the Lord strongly and the eyes of his understanding were opened, he said.
Elder Aoyagi said that God, who knows the grand design of the earth, "provides us with many different experiences — that is to say, trials — while we are on the earth," to "see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them" (Abraham 3:25).
"Hold on thy way," as the Lord commanded Joseph Smith, "is a key choice during times of trial," Elder Aoyagi said (Doctrine and Covenants 122:9). "Turn one's heart to God, especially when we face trials."
Elder Aoyagi concluded, "I sincerely testify that … God's promises to those who 'hold on thy way' and love Him will be fulfilled even in the midst of trials."
