Editor’s note: This article was translated into English from pages 119-124 of the book, Preparing for Exaltation, by Masao Watabe, one of most fearless member missionaries in the history of the Church in Japan. Brother Watabe was born in 1914 and raised in Manchuria. The picture shows him at 18 when he was working at a bank in Manchuria. Surrounded by his family, he died in Orem, Utah in 2005. A patriarch, he gave well over 1,500 blessings which he could do in Japanese, Chinese as well as in English.

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so” (Genesis 1:11). “And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” (D&C 18:16)

As I listened, enchanted, to the beautiful melody of “We Are Sowing”, the voice of the Lord whispered to me, “Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.” (Matthew 13:18), and further,

“…The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field” (Matthew 13:24).

Early on the morning of March 26, 1950, this scripture was etched deeply in my heart. As I repeated it several times in my heart, the words of the prophet Ezekiel struck my ears like thunder:

“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.” (Ezekiel 3:17-19).

“Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor. Therefore, they are left without excuse, and their sins are upon their own heads” (D&C 88:81-82).

I stood up as Jonah, who had been regurgitated by the whale. Who was my neighbor? Was it the person who sat next to me on the train, or on the bus? “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:39). From that time onward, the person sitting next to me was no longer a stranger. In just one day, more and more people began to sit on both sides of me on buses and trains. At first, my skills were poor—I would either give them a missionary flyer or just become withdrawn and weak.

“Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” The Lord’s warning to his disciples resounded strongly. I could not know when, where, or what kind of person might be searching for the Word of God but be unable to find it. “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17) The voice of the Lord emphasized three times to Peter, “Come, follow me.” I made sure to give the person who sat next to me each day a flyer. When they took it happily, I would be relieved. When they would read it I would be delighted. When they asked questions I would be overjoyed and breathlessly explain about the Church. The joy I felt when someone would come to Church is impossible to express in words. When the day came that someone received the missionary lessons and baptism, my heart leapt with the joy predicted in the scripture I shared at the beginning of this writing.

“Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17) The voice of the Lord is still clearly audible to me now, saying “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:20), and I am still filled with the joy of working with the Lord.

However, seeds have fallen on this sort of good ground only once or twice in hundreds, thousands of times. “There are many called, but few are chosen” (D&C 121:34) There were people who refused the flyer and looked outside; those who refused, saying “I have my own faith, so I don’t want it;” those who left, saying “I don’t need your help;” those who crumpled the flyer and stepped on it; and others who challenged me, saying “Can you save the world with Christianity?” or “You are hypocrites.” The words of Paul always comforted me at those times: “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:24-25).

When people used my handing them a flyer as an opportunity to instead try and fervently convert me to their beliefs, I heard the words of Paul whispered in my ear: “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you” (1 John 2:27). But I tried to become a good listener. I often recalled the words of Professor Schweitzer: “It is not a question of doctrine, but of love.” Before arguing with your neighbor, love your neighbor, and instead of trying to claim you are correct, do something to help them. By doing this for one year, three years, 10 years, 20 years, and up to today, I have had many experiences speaking with a variety of people, and have been joined in friendship with a number of brothers and sisters in the Lord. There were also people who, hearing my conversation with the person next to me, came to talk to me from their faraway seats, as well as those who saw me speaking about Christ and sat next to me of their own accord.

When the 12 disciples climbed the Mount of Olives to hear the Lord, He told them to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Because I am lucky enough to live in one of the greatest international cities, Tokyo, people from all over the world have sat next to me as my neighbors. I have been able to have friendly conversations with Catholic and Protestant American, British, German, and French people. One Greek Orthodox Russian cordially invited me to visit his home, and told me his address. Another then Soviet woman looked at my flyer and, the next Sunday, brought her husband to the Tokyo Chuo Branch (now the Shibuya Ward) to visit me.

When I once gave a flyer to someone I thought was Japanese, he shook his head; when I spoke to him in Chinese he was very happy, saying “I just arrived from Taipei.” I told him that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a church in Taipei and explained a little about our beliefs. Very pleased, he said “When I go back, I’ll be sure to go there,” and then got off.

One time I rode on the Toyoko Line with some cute Muslim children from Pakistan,who were going to the mosque in Yoyogi. They knew about Mormonism and asked many questions; I was very impressed with the thoroughness of their religious education.

As we ride trains or buses, we tend to think of the people who get on and off and sit next to us as strangers. However, when I spoke to these people, I would find out that we had unexpected connections. There would be relatives, friends of friends, and people from the same hometown. We would suddenly feel closer at those times, but in reality no one is a complete stranger, since we were all one family with Heavenly Father in the preexistence. As relatives, though not yet married, if we count one generation as 30 years and count back 100 years, we have one billion ancestors. If we have that many ancestors, with a population of 100 million in Japan, it stands to reason that we are all related somehow.

When I once shared the gospel with a man on the train, he surprised me by replying “That brings back memories; someone like you used to kindly come and talk about that when I was in prison. Actually, I just got out yesterday.” One time on another train, a person who had listened intently to my teaching expressed his gratitude, saying “Thank you, truly. Thanks to you I once again feel the desire to live. I had decided to commit suicide, but now I feel I can recover. I will never forget my debt to you.”

There are things to be careful of when doing missionary work in trains or buses. It is okay to get caught up in what you are saying and miss your stop, but not okay to make the other person miss theirs. Also, when walking through a vehicle handing out flyers, you need to get the permission of the conductor in advance. I was cautioned time and again, and warned “Next time I’ll have to ask you to get off, according to the Transportation Law,” and when I went to ask the conductor for permission, he said “If it’s just giving a flyer to the person next to you, you don’t have to get my permission each time,” so I did just that from then on.

When the World Expo was held in Osaka in 1970, 7 million Japanese people visited the Mormon Pavilion. Their Majesties the Crown Prince and Mikasanomiya also visited. As I did missionary work on trains, I was amazed at how many people had learned about the Church through the Mormon Pavilion. It makes sense, though, since one out of 15 people in Japan had therefore visited the pavilion.

In closing, I would like to bear my testimony that as long as I have obeyed the Lord’s commandments and faithfully done His work, the Lord, who has promised “I shall be with you,” has indeed been with me and protected me.

When I was president of the Sendai Branch about 20 years ago, we received the cooperation of the Tamanyu Ballet group in having the daughter of Mission President Martha, Peggy, and Elder Tuller, sing with them to raise money for the Church building fund at the Sendai Public Hall. I was going door-to-door selling tickets for the event at the American military base Camp Sendai. When I knocked on the door of a military police commander who was home for lunch, he demanded “Who gave you permission to sell door-to-door? Stop it right now and present yourself at the military police tomorrow at 10:00.”

The next morning at ten, I nervously stood in court. The commander first made me promise to tell the truth. Next, he again asked “Who gave you permission to do this?” As I stood silently, the words with which the Lord comforted Paul were whispered into my ears: “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee” (Acts 18:9-10). From my mouth came the strong words “By the command of my Lord Jesus.”

Silence continued for a few minutes. The stern face of the commander gradually softened, and, turning to the other people seated in the courtroom, said “On the date of so-and-so, there will be a ballet and singing event at the Public Hall. Anyone who wishes to attend, raise your hand.” About 10 people raised their hands, and, turning back to me, the commander said “Give me 10 first-class tickets. And I give you permission to sell tickets in the Camp.” The Lord truly lives, and was with me. I could not hold back the tears of gratitude that streamed down my face.

Another time, I was selling tickets on the road inside Camp Wakatake when I was apprehended by an officer of Japanese descent, who took me to his office and harshly interrogated me. Through tears of anger at this brother of mine, I thoughtlessly cried out “Are you not Japanese?! Do you not understand how we—your brothers—who are trying our best to help bring the light of the Lord to this war-ravaged land and build His house, and who live day-to-day without knowing if we will eat or not, feel?!” Despite this outburst, he tried to stop me from speaking, when suddenly, a young girl’s voice came from the side, saying “Mr. Watabe, give me one ticket.” A student at the night school where I was teaching was the officer’s secretary. Watching his secretary delightedly take a ticket from me, the officer, looking embarrassed, freed me without a word.

I once testified in court for a brother who was a branch member. He had a firm faith and worked actively in the branch, but had succumbed to temptation and committed a crime, then been found guilty. As I stood before the stern-looking presiding judge, judges, prosecutors, and lawyers, I recalled the Lord standing in the courts of Caiaphas and Pilate. My affection for the brother flowed out of me as I testified in praise of the brother’s faith. For 10, then 20 minutes, not a peep came from anyone in the court as I spoke. When my testimony was finished, the presiding judge said “Thank you. I understand very well,” as he bowed to me. The Lord truly lives, and He was with me. (“Preparing for Exaltation,” Masao Watabe, Freeman, Inc. pp. 119-124)