One summer day, my companion and I found ourselves lost in the middle of a small city in Japan. No matter how we turned the map, neither the map nor the Japanese characters on it seemed to make any more sense. Lost, hot and discouraged we decided to knock on a few doors before leaving that neighborhood to find our way to our next appointment.

Straddling our bikes on the side of the road, we prayed to know where to knock. We both felt strongly that we should try a small apartment complex straight ahead of us. After knocking on the first ten doors and getting zero responses, we started to wonder if anyone even lived there.

With our appointment time closing in, we decided to knock on one final door before heading out. We knocked and were caught off-guard when someone actually opened the door! The woman peeked out from behind the door, no doubt surprised to see two Americans standing there. We briefly introduced the Book of Mormon, testified of its truth as another testament of Jesus Christ and asked to meet again.

Over the next month and a half, we met with her or talked with her on the phone almost every day and she would always start the conversation with, “Did you know this happened in the Book of Mormon??” Not long after that, she was baptized.

I will never forget how strongly I felt the Spirit after her baptism, when I saw her beaming, full of joy, saying “I am clean!” I know that the Lord had prepared her to receive the gospel long before we got lost enough to find our way to her apartment door.

It is always so humbling to be reminded that this truly is the Lord’s work, and that when we labor alongside Him, He truly “will be on [our] right hand and on [our] left, and [His] Spirit shall be in [our] hearts, and [His] angels round about [us], to bear [us] up.”

Elder Johnson served in the Japan Kobe Mission