In 1944, a young Hawaiian GI on furlough visited Salt Lake City and had a memorable interview with Elder Harold B. Lee, then a member of the Council of the Twelve.

The counsel given in that interview was likely a factor in Sam K. Shimabukuro being worthy to be called recently as the newest member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy."He counseled me for about an hour," Elder Shimabukuro recalled in a telephone interview with the Church News from his home in Honolulu.

"Before we parted, he gave me this advice: 1. Go on a mission. 2. Go to the temple. 3. Sustain the General Authorities.

"That counsel has always remained with me."

It was a momentous occasion for the young man, a convert to the Church and the only member in his family.

The youngest of five children, he was born in Waipahu, a plantation town about 50 miles northwest of Honolulu, on the island of Oahu. His parents were Japanese immigrants from Okinawa, having arrived in 1908 as contract laborers working for the sugar plantations.

Young Sam attended a Japanese School in the islands until the ninth grade and then enrolled in a public high school. He enjoyed football, baseball and basketball. But he said he was too small to be picked for any school athletic teams.

"I had the desire but not the physique," he explained.

As a youth, he also developed a keen appreciation for music. That figured in his eventual conversion to the Church.

Working at a service station at the age of 16, he was invited by a fellow employee, a Church member, to attend branch MIA activities. Later, he attended Sunday meetings.

"What impressed me from the first day I attended was the friendliness of the small group of members and non-members in the branch," he recalled. "The warmth and the good spirit of love and appreciation really impressed me. Then, since I like music, when I started to sing the hymns, they really struck me as being different from the hymns of other denominations. I attended testimony meetings and heard the testimonies of the young people. It was really encouraging."

He attended for six months, and when missionaries asked him if he wanted to be baptized, he readily said yes.

In January 1944, at the age of 18, he joined the U.S. Army and served until June 1946.

After his discharge, the interview with Elder Lee was still fresh in his mind, and his goal was to serve a mission. But he lacked funds. So for two years, he worked with his cousin in an appliance business.

The business failed in 1948, and he then attended the University of Hawaii on the GI Bill, graduating in 1952 with a degree in public administration.

For two years, he worked overseas for a civilian contractor on a U.S. Government project.

By 1954, he had finally saved enough money to go on a mission. He arranged for the bishop of his home ward in Hawaii to submit the papers even before he returned home, and in September 1954, at the age of 29, he departed for the Northern Far East Mission.

"It took a long time for my goal to be realized, but it was well worth it," he reflected.

The highlight for Elder Shimabukuro was the opportunity to open missionary work on Okinawa, his parents' home. At the time, the only Church unit on the island was a district of LDS servicemen, with a handful of Church members who had been baptized by the servicemen.

"They did an outstanding job," he said of the LDS servicemen. "They had even purchased a small piece of property for the Church in a small town near the military base. They got a Quonset hut and situated it on the Church property."

The servicemen helped convert the hut into missionary quarters and a place to hold meetings.

Today, some 2,500 Church members live on Okinawa, Elder Shimabukuro said, and it now has a stake and a mission.

He spent half his three-year mission on the Japan mainland and half on Okinawa. While in Japan he met his wife-to-be, Amy Michiko Hirose. Born in Gumma Prefecture, she was the daughter of Takeji and Kaneko Hirose, the eldest of five children.

"I was very impressed with this young lady who was very active and very dedicated in the Lord's work," Elder Shimabukuro recalled. "So after my mission was over, I went back to Japan to court her. And then I went to her parents to ask for permission to marry her."

They were hesitant, because it meant their daughter would leave home for Hawaii, but they eventually gave their blessing.

The couple was married in the Hawaii Temple Oct. 30, 1957. She would later be a great help to him, he said, as he became a mission president and subsequently a temple president in Japan.

"I owe everything to her," he said. "She made it possible for me to express myself more fluently so I could be close to the saints there."

After their marriage, he went to work for the Hawaii State Department of Labor, where he had a 24-year career. The Shimabukuros bought a home in 1965, which they still occupy.

The couple experienced some sadness with the passing of their only child, Phyllis in 1974. She died at the age of 15 of lupus.

"Without the gospel, you would kind of get all torn apart with an experience like that," he reflected. "And of course, my wife was close to her in that they were both female. So it hit her harder than me. But with the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, and being sealed in the temple, we have no doubt about the blessings that await us as a family if we are faithful while we are here on this earth."

Sister Shimabukuro said her husband is a man of strong faith, kindness and honesty. She said his encouragement helped her cope with the sadness following the loss of their daughter.

Elder Shimabukuro served as a bishop of the Honolulu Ward and high councilor in what was then the Pearl Harbor Stake.

"I still lack leadership skills," he reflected. "There is so much to know and cover, but I think the most important thing I found out from holding leadership positions is that you have to have the Spirit. If you are on your own, you won't accomplish much. It has to be through the Spirit, by the Spirit and with the Spirit."

He carried that attitude with him as he was called to preside over the Japan Sendai Mission from 1981-84.

"Missionary work is the most important thing that a young man, a young lady, even a senior citizen can be involved in, because it means preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, and baptizing people as the Lord taught us during His final days on the earth," he said.

After his release, he served as a counselor to Elder Adney Y. Komatsu in the Tokyo Temple Presidency. Then, from 1985 to 1988, he was temple president. He had the privilege of performing temple marriages for many young men and women who had served as missionaries under his leadership.

"It's not often we can do that, and I thought it was one of the most glorious blessings that came to me as a member of the Church," he said.

After being released as temple president, Elder Shimabukuro was anticipating returning home, quietly serving in his ward and settling into a life of less visibility than he had been used to as mission and temple president. That was not to happen. He was soon called to be president of the Honolulu Hawaii West Stake.

"That really shook me up, so to speak," he said.

But it was nothing compared to his astonishment at being called as the Church's newest General Authority.

"This calling about bowled me over," he said. "I was tempted to ask President [Gordon B.T Hinckley, `Are you sure you've got the right man?'

"But anyway, I feel very humble and very honored that such a high calling would come to me. And at the same time, I feel very inadequate."

He acknowledged the need for the prayers of the Church membership and for reliance on the Spirit. He said he would do everything possible to adhere to the counsel of the Brethren.

"Elder Lee told me many years ago to sustain the Brethren, and it's something I've never forgotten," he affirmed.

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(ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

Elder Sam K. Shimabukuro

- Family: Born in Waipahu, Hawaii, on June 7, 1925, to Kame and Ushi Nakasone Shimabukuro. Married Amy Michiko Hirose Oct. 30, 1957, in the Hawaii Temple. Parents of a daughter, Phyllis Sakae, now deceased.

- Education: Graduated from University of Hawaii in 1952 with bachelor's degree in public administration.

- Military: Served in U.S. Army, 1944-46.

- Employment: Worked for appliance business, then for a government contractor; after university graduation, worked for Hawaii State Department of Employment for 24 years.

- Church service: Served in the Northern Far East Mission, 1954-57; former bishop and high councilor; presided over Japan Sendai Mission, 1981-84; Tokyo Temple president, 1985-88; president of Honolulu Hawaii West Stake, 1989-91.