When Elder Yutaka Aikawa, now a senior missionary, was a young boy in Japan, he was often intrigued with anything mechanical.
He would come home from school, find electronic devices and carefully disassemble them — not out of mischief but of wonder. He wound coils from salvaged wire, crafted tiny motors and once took apart every clock in his house just to understand how they worked.
Though he was an expert at taking them apart, he couldn’t put them back together. He remembers his mother scolding him for it.
What began as childhood curiosity would grow into a distinguished career in theoretical physics and a life of consecrated discipleship in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reported the Church’s Japan Newsroom.
Today, Elder Aikawa stands as a witness that scientific discovery and spiritual revelation are not competing forces but rather complementary paths to divine truth.
The faith of a physicist
Born in 1952, Elder Aikawa joined the Church at age 18 and quickly found peace in its teachings.
“Knowing the existence of God brought me joy and a sense of security, like finding a home,” he said.
In 1984, he married Chikako Uchiyama in the Tokyo Japan Temple.
While pursuing graduate studies, Elder Aikawa began researching capacitors — tiny but vital components found in most electronic devices. He worked at the Institute for Solid State Physics at the University of Tokyo and later joined an electronics firm, developing theories about the behavior of atoms. Eventually, he went on to receive a doctorate in science for his research.
A revelation in the night
One morning, however, Elder Aikawa’s most profound insight came not from a textbook but from the Spirit.
“A beautiful set of simultaneous equations came to my mind,” he recalled. “The Holy Spirit told me that this beautiful mathematical formula was true.”
Though he couldn’t write it down because it was impossible to remember it all, “after five years of calculations, I was finally able to derive the mathematical formula I had seen at that time.”
The result was a paper so advanced that one judge noted “only a handful of people on Earth could understand this theory. However, the value of this theory is immeasurable.”
That theory earned him the 2011 Excellent Paper Award from the Ceramic Society of Japan and contributes today to the function of capacitors found in smartphones.
In 2016, Elder Aikawa received his second doctorate, in engineering, at age 64, for his research in cement and hydration reactions.
Elder Aikawa’s life experiences mirror one shared by then-Elder Russell M. Nelson in the April 2003 general conference, when he described the Holy Ghost diagramming a never-before-performed heart surgery in his mind.
Elder Aikawa said, “What is needed to make such a breakthrough is new ideas and spiritual thinking.”
Mentoring with Christlike care
In addition to his research, Elder Aikawa has mentored students around the world.
One Thai student, overwhelmed by anxiety and loneliness, felt uplifted by steady encouragement. That student now works for the Thai government and hopes to host Elder Aikawa as a state guest.
“I didn’t do anything special,” Elder Aikawa said. “I’m grateful that I learned naturally how the Lord supports me through my service at the Church and my interactions with people of all ages. I enjoy supporting the younger generation so that they can learn academics and live confident lives.”
Aikawa and his wife’s service in the Church is extensive. From 2019 to 2020, they served as senior missionaries in Koriyama, Japan.
From 2021 to 2023, the Aikawas served as missionaries in the Asia North Area as family history specialists.
On July 17, they were called to yet another mission, this time in the Tokyo South Mission, where they’ll serve in the mission office and assist members and leaders.
Reflecting on their years of service, Elder Aikawa said: “I saw the countless ancestors who had been involved in encouraging me. It felt like so many people were supporting me on both sides of the veil.”
A unified search for truth
Elder Aikawa’s life shows how science and faith can magnify each other. In every capacitor, cement block and soul he’s helped strengthen, there echoes a single, unified message: that truth, wherever it is found, ultimately leads someone to God.
“I feel the presence of God in phenomena that are invisible to the naked eye,” he said.
For Elder Aikawa, formulas and faith are not separate paths. They are the same road — one paved with questions, reverence and the quiet assurance that the Lord guides those who seek Him, whether through the lens of a microscope or the light of personal revelation.
