A Temple to Bless the Saints in Okinawa

Early Monday morning, April 8^th, 2019, President William Jensen, his wife, Carmen, listened to the live Sunday afternoon session of General Conference. With the satellite delay, their audio was 5-10 seconds behind those living in the states. “We barely heard the announcement because of the abundance of texts and calls,” Carmen remembers. “As President Nelson said, ‘Okinawa City, Okinawa’, I had visual memories of Saints in Okinawa engaging in genealogy, indexing, and sacrificing much for youth and adult temple trips to Tokyo or Fukuoka. I especially remembered more than ten years ago hearing an apostle and general authority discuss with our District what we, as Saints, needed to do to someday enjoy the blessings of a temple here on Okinawa. That day had finally come!”

“Once the Yigo Guam Temple was announced for a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean at the previous General Conference, I had the distinct feeling Okinawa would get one soon,” President Jensen recalled. “In February 2019, I had a spiritual impression where I could see in my mind’s eye, while looking upon the side parking lot of the District building, a temple standing there. So, when I heard President Nelson announce the temple, I was both surprised at its early timing and assured by the experiences I already had. When the temple’s location was announced in late May 2020, I again was assured in the small glimpse I was provided earlier.”

 William Jensen served as the District President of the Okinawa Military District at the time the temple in Okinawa was announced. Carmen served as a branch missionary with a specific assignment to teach a children's English class to Japanese children.

Carmen voiced her reservation. “Because there is always a lot of transition among the Saints in our military district, I knew that it would be very unlikely that my family would witness the dedication of a temple here on this beautiful island. However, that did not put a damper on my joy and elation for our Okinawan brothers and sisters, who I love and adore, as well as the many Saints that will be assigned to perform their military and civil service duties here in the future.”

“I feel so excited for the faithful Okinawan Saints and their revered ancestors who will be blessed the most by their temple and also for the future rotational members of the Military District to all finally have a sacred House of the Lord right in their backyard,” William expressed. “Just think, as the Lord has promised, He once again has remembered those that dwell on the isles of the sea, particularly this beautiful island of Okinawa, Japan, the keystone of the Pacific sanctified by the events of World War II and purified by the presence of the true restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The Okinawa Temple will stand as a witness of God’s loving dealings with His children in all corners of the earth, who is anxious we make eternal covenants with Him in His holy house.”

Just as Carmen felt, the Jensen family will not witness the dedication of the Okinawa Temple. President Jensen was recently reassigned to Colorado Springs, CO, where he is working on the Peterson Air Force Base. Okinawa holds a special place for the Jensen family, as they have been blessed to live in Okinawa two separate times, from 2005-2010 and 2015-2020.

Mark Francis now serves as the President of the Okinawa Military District. President Francis, his wife, Nettie, and six of their ten children now reside in Okinawa, and are looking forward to the upcoming groundbreaking for the Okinawa Temple.