Kotaro Uechi
In March of 2020, we made a plan to travel to Anchorage, Alaska, for a short-term mission trip. However, with the declaration of COVID-19 as a world pandemic in the month, many aggressive measures were taken to limit the spread of the virus. It seemed like overnight there were many changes in our day-to-day activities and everyday there were new restrictions and guidelines we had to adapt to. Due to the pandemic, we decided to postpone our mission trip to summer of 2020. Summer came and went and the wave of the virus still hadn’t gone away, so we decided we would go after the autumn feasts. But even after the autumn feasts, things didn’t go as planned.
Meanwhile, the year of 2021 arrived; we heard news that there were many souls who were waiting to receive the blessing of a new life in Alaska, because we couldn’t visit there as planned. We thought we should not postpone our visit anymore, so we summoned only a few members for the visit. Before leaving for Alaska, all three of us were tested and received negative COVID-19 results, so we were able to safely leave for Alaska.
When we arrived at the house church in Anchorage, the members who had been waiting for baptism began to come to Zion one by one. Most of them were those who realized the truth by steadily studying God’s words for a long time. I was very happy that such members received the blessing of a new life to be reborn as God’s children, and I gave thanks to Father and Mother.
Among them, some were already preaching the gospel to the people around them, thinking it was selfish to enjoy such great blessing of receiving the truth without sharing it with others. One sister, who lives in Bethel which is about 400 miles [644 km] away from Anchorage, heard the gospel when she was in Anchorage; she was eagerly waiting to get baptized in her hometown. As soon as she heard that we arrived near her place, she immediately flew to us by plane, and she also requested that we visit Bethel to baptize her family. We found out she had been teaching what she learned to her family as well.
It was not on our itinerary to visit her place, but we were reminded of Heavenly Father who would go to any place as long as there were souls waiting for God’s salvation. Taking every preventive measure against COVID-19, we headed toward Bethel, and four of her family members received baptism with a thankful heart. It was the first household that received God’s salvation in Bethel which means “house of God.” We really hope that she will become a good gospel worker and that the eternal Kingdom of God will be established in Bethel, too.
In total, Father and Mother allowed sixteen souls to be baptized during our five-day trip. The brothers and sisters in Anchorage, who spent about a year with eagerness for the gospel along with God-found souls, gave thanks to God for allowing them to reap precious gospel results, and they made a determination to diligently preach the gospel to the people around them.
Alaska is known as the “Last Frontier.” One of the reasons is that the land is massive and still largely unexplored. Also it is called the “Land of the Midnight Sun,” because the sun stays out for almost a full day in the summer. There are still many places in Alaska where the gospel hasn’t been spread out yet. Therefore, spiritually, Alaska is an uncultivated gospel field. I firmly believe that Heavenly Mother will allow the gospel sun to stay still until all the land of Alaska is conquered just like God made the sun stay still for the armies of Joshua, who were fighting against the Amorites in the past.
While we were there, we were hoping to see the Northern Lights which are beautiful lights in the sky in Alaska. Even though we could not see them while we were there, we were able to see our brothers and sisters who are more beautiful than the Northern Lights. And we could also fathom the sacrifice of Heavenly Father and Mother while walking on the snow to preach the gospel to our members’ friends and acquaintances. I truly give thanks to Heavenly Father and Mother for allowing us to healthily return on both a physical and spiritual level and gain much realization so that we might prepare for the oil of faith. I eagerly pray that more gospel workers will be found in Alaska in order that the gospel can be spread even to remote places.
