Stories: Yoshie Noda's Conversion By Murray Nichols
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| A few years ago, I attended in Draper, Utah, a summer reunion of missionaries from the Japanese Mission. A Japanese lady seeing my name tag asked me if I was the Elder Nichols who brought them the gospel. Though it had been nearly 50 years since I had last seen her, it took only a sentence or two to recognize who she was. In 1950, Joshie Noda had come with her sisters to our Sunday School in Kanazawa, Japan. Joshie, only 14 years old at the time, was very much the leader in her family of four girls and a widowed mother. The mother was staunch Buddhist and adamantly opposed her daughters attending a Christian church. The opposition caused contention within the home. After much agonizing and tears, she finally persuaded her mother to give permission for her baptism. We reminisced even to the point of tears as we sat on a bench in the park pavilion. As she told me of her conversion it made me realize the amazing struggle she had in coming into the Church and bringing her family in. I could have never guessed the ensuing struggle, nor could I have ever imagined the fruit that would come from the baptism of that 14-year-old girl. Joshie's mother and three sisters, Kazue, Yuri and Atsuko were also baptized in the 1950s. After serving a mission in Sapporo, Japan, Joshie attended BYU-Hawaii and later BYU in Provo. In 1961, she married Lamar Walbeck in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple. Joshie had once longed to study music but was unable, having no money for lessons. This ambition was partially fulfilled as she sang in the Tabernacle Choir for 20 years, between 1976-1995. Missionary and temple service have been among the family's greatest contributions to the Church. Between the families of Joshie and her sisters, they had 15 children, nine of whom filled missions. Grandchildren are now serving missions. One of the sisters, Kazue, has been serving in the Dallas Texas Temple for years. Quoting from a letter, Joshie wrote "We all fulfilled full-time missions except Atsuko (she had poor health and died years earlier). It was the highlight of my mother's life to serve as a temple missionary when the Tokyo temple opened; the temples have become very dear to her. When I took her to have her first baby, a son who lived only one day, sealed to her and her husband in the Salt Lake Temple she said with deep emotion, 'I feel like I have come home whenever I am in the temple.' " Missionaries may wonder what good they have done in a relatively short time of service. It is a joy to find that some of their efforts have had positive results. — Murray Nichols, Kaysville 12th Ward, Kaysville Utah Crestwood Stake |
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