Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently concluded a 10-day ministry to Korea and Japan, ChurchofJesusChrist.org reported. He was accompanied by his wife, Sister Mary Cook.
During that time, they met a South Korea Supreme Court justice who is a Latter-day Saint, visited the site of the future Osaka Japan Temple and ministered to local Latter-day Saints.
South Korea
On Sept. 8, Elder and Sister Cook met South Korea Supreme Court Justice Youngjoon Kwon and his wife, Yeonshin Lee. The Kwons are Latter-day Saints, and Kwon served as an Area Seventy for three years before being confirmed as a Supreme Court justice, a six-year term, in 2023.
Kwon said his Church membership enhances his Supreme Court service.
“I’m learning new things, and I’m trying to serve my country better,” he said. “As I endeavor to do that, the gospel of Jesus Christ has helped me significantly.”
Elder Cook called Kwon “exceptionally competent” and a “remarkable leader.”
The day after meeting the Kwons, Elder Cook sat down with Euinjoong Hwang of the news outlet Asia Today, where he was asked about a variety of religious topics.
During the interview, Elder Cook said the Church believes it’s good for communities and countries to foster faith and religion.
“We believe that those who feel accountable to God not only want to bless their own families, but they feel accountable to God to help their neighbors,” he said.
On Sept. 9, Elder Cook met with Chae Young Kim, a religion professor at Sogang University who has attended Brigham Young University’s annual religious freedom conference. Kim said Elder Cook has a “very open heart” and is “really reading what’s going on in our world, especially from the perspective of spirituality.”
Elder Cook said Kim understands the Church well and strives to help others understand who Latter-day Saints really are.
Elder and Sister Cook also met some of the earliest Church members in South Korea and gave a devotional broadcast to Latter-day Saints throughout the country on Sept. 7.
During that devotional, Elder Cook shared counsel President Harold B. Lee gave in the 1960s, encouraging local Saints to build Zion in their hearts and homes, be examples in their communities and to have their vision on the temple.
“In a world where there is no peace, I bless you that you will have personal peace — the peace that passes understanding because you know the Savior,” Elder Cook said.
Japan
After their time in South Korea, Elder and Sister Cook traveled to Japan, where they visited Tokyo and Osaka.
On Sept. 10, Elder Cook discussed the importance of interfaith cooperation for humanitarian projects with the Rev. Yoshiharu Tomatsu, chair of Religions for Peace Japan.
Christians comprise only 1% of Japan’s population, Elder Cook said, so interfaith collaboration with the “wonderful” Shinto and Buddhist faiths, among others, are especially important.
The Rev. Tomatsu, who has attended Brigham Young University religious freedom gatherings, expressed gratitude for the Church’s humanitarian work in Japan, such as after 2011′s massive tsunami and, more recently, after the Noto Peninsula earthquake earlier this year.
On Sept. 13, Elder Cook met some of Japan’s earliest Church members.
“You have done the thing the Lord would want you to do in becoming members of His Church,” Elder Cook told them. “It’s my prayer that the generations that are following you will follow your path.”
On Sept. 15 in Osaka, Elder Cook met with local Saints at the site of the future Osaka Japan Temple.
“I believe you’ll be held in sacred remembrance by future generations as people who accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ and lived it,” he told those members.
Elder Cook’s visit to Japan came 20 years after a visit the late President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles made to the country. President Packer was accompanied at that time by Elder Cook, then a General Authority Seventy, and others as they introduced the “Preach My Gospel” guide.
Elder Cook spoke to Saints in Osaka in the same place President Packer spoke in 2004, and said President Packer’s example of focusing on the most important things in life is a wise path.
He also urged local Church members to stay close to their families, the Lord and His prophets.
“The Savior overcame everything that is unfair about life,” Elder Cook said. “The reward of righteousness is peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come. We can lay our burdens at the Savior’s feet. Jesus Christ lives.”
