Lost Luggage, Redeemed Souls

Have you ever stood at an empty airport luggage return carousel, as it circles endlessly, wondering if your bag somehow was diverted to Kathmandu? Have you ever been told the last known location of your checked bag was somewhere between “It is sure to turn up somewhere” and “You should consider buying everything new”? Have you ever been ghosted by a suitcase that contained essential materials? If so, this message might interest you.

Today I will talk about lost luggage.

An estimated 33 million bags were mishandled at airports in 2024. Although this happens to only a small percentage of travelers, no matter how infrequent, the thought of losing important belongings is a universal worry.

Recently, while traveling for a weekend assignment, I realized my carry-on bag wouldn’t fit in the overhead space. I needed that bag. It contained important, essential material. Almost before I had a chance to react, an attendant took my bag, wrapped a tag around its handle, handed me a luggage claim ticket, and whisked my precious possession away.

Throughout that flight, I had an anxious feeling. I hoped someone was taking care of the bag and its contents. I hoped it would not be forgotten, neglected, or lost. I clutched my claim ticket, hoping for a successful reunion.

My story had a happy ending; my bag and I were reunited. But the experience got me thinking.

You may have heard a report from Osaka, Japan, about the Kansai International Airport’s world record—something almost unbelievable. After 30 years of operation and processing hundreds of millions of pieces of cargo, carry-ons, and cases, this airport has not lost one item of luggage.

Not one single piece!

How is such a thing possible?

Tsuyoshi Habuta, the airport chief of baggage operations, believes losing luggage should never happen “because luggage is precious to passengers.” That attitude permeates through his entire staff. The airport’s success, he says, is all part of a commitment to “thoroughness and an attention to detail.”

The Japanese people have developed a reputation for such attention to detail. They have a principle, kaizen, that encapsulates a mindset of constantly searching for and implementing minor improvements. This practice requires a quiet discipline of always looking for small ways to make processes better. They take pride in the fact that these improvements almost always come from those doing the everyday work.

Over the years, the staff at Kansai Airport has developed a process that makes the goal of not losing passengers’ bags a reality. They train employees rigorously and constantly ensure that every bag is counted, tracked, and cared for. They make meticulous and multiple manual checks that complement a sophisticated automated system.

Fragile items such as musical instruments are often hand-delivered to passengers. Staff members do small things such as placing bags on conveyor belts with handles facing outward for easier retrieval by passengers.

When you hand off your luggage at Kansai Airport, you get a sense that they are saying to you, “We have your precious belongings. We are responsible for them now. We will return them to you.”

As I reflect on these experiences, I find myself contemplating a moment of trust far more sacred than checking a bag.

In a reverent way, I wonder what it is like for a loving Heavenly Father to send His most precious belongings, His children, away from their heavenly home, knowing they must pass through the challenges of mortality. I suppose His great comfort is knowing that they do not travel alone. Parents, family, leaders, friends, ministering brothers and sisters, you and I serve as stewards of His most precious possessions.

How beloved and precious His children are to Him.

And how beloved and blessed are those who care for and nurture others.

And yet, the feeling is recognizable: entrusting what is precious into the care of others—and longing for its safe return. This evokes memories of familiar scenes: a mother—father—at a curb or platform, bidding farewell to their student, soldier, or missionary. Years of teaching, preparation, and prayer culminate in a moment of placing their cherished possession into the care of others—trusting conscientious stewards to care for their son or daughter through the duration of their journey until they are reunited.

In a much holier way, our Heavenly Father also places a claim upon us, not as a label on a handle but as a divine truth written on the heart: “You are mine. I know you. You are not alone. I have not forgotten you. I intend to bring you home.”

This is more than logistics.

This is redemption.

May I offer two cases where I feel the Lord would be deeply pleased with those who magnify their role as thoughtful and intentional handlers of His precious cargo, His children?

The first is in our role as assigned ministering brothers and sisters—adults and youth.

Please know you represent the Lord, scripturally aligned, serving those who are “numbered among the people of the church of Christ,” whose “names [are] taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way.” We “are to ‘watch over’ Church members and ‘be with and strengthen them’ (Doctrine and Covenants 20:53).” The greatest success in missionary work comes as we act in normal and natural ways; the same is true in ministering.

I invite you to contemplate how you can:

• Provide Christlike love, caring, and service.

• Offer help and comfort in times of spiritual or temporal need.

• Prayerfully seek the guidance of the Spirit.

• Help prepare families to make and keep sacred covenants with God as they receive ordinances.

  

Consider your ministering assignment as “Christlike caring” of the Lord’s most treasured possessions, who at the end of their mortal journey can be claimed and redeemed by Him. I invite you to implement small acts of kindness and care into your ministering, becoming better ministers of Jesus Christ.

The second is the universal charge to strengthen and nurture the rising generation, to bring up children “in light and truth.”

In the perilous times in which we live, the rising generation needs a defense and refuge from the storm. We can contribute to this effort by investing time and teaching. There is no greater need and no greater return on this investment than when it is made with Primary children, young men, young women, and young adults.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf has promised that as we do our part in teaching, nurturing, and then trusting in God to work His miracles, “the result will be more beautiful and more stunning and more joyful than anything you could accomplish just by yourself.”

How do we do this?

By motivating, teaching, and encouraging our young people to receive the holy name of Jesus Christ in their hearts and minds, to joyfully take up the cross of Christ, and to walk in holiness as His disciples and emissaries.

We teach this, “that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins,” even Jesus Christ.

Inspire them to “sincerely and persistently do the spiritual work needed to develop the crucial, spiritual skill of learning how to hear the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, [giving them] all the direction [they] will ever need in [their lives].”

These precious souls are beings of potential beyond measure whose destiny it is to walk through eternity in halls of celestial glory.

Teach the rising generation to know, love, and emulate their Savior, Jesus Christ. “He is the strength of youth.”

They will respond.

Unlike pieces of luggage, each of us is ultimately responsible for our decisions, beliefs, and actions, assisted by heavenly and earthly ministering angels. Therefore, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we rise with renewed determination to succor and care for those with whom we come in contact.

In the end, we are all one family.

We all need help along the way.

We each possess a tag that marks us as a child of a loving Heavenly Father. Printed upon that tag is a spiritual promise and sacred proclamation that testifies, “This precious soul has great worth to one day be redeemed by its holder,” never to be forgotten, neglected, or lost.

I rejoice in that redemption and celebrate the great privilege we have to participate in that work until that day when we safely return to the one who created and loves us with a perfect love.

That we may fulfill that mission for ourselves and diligently care for others as they seek to return to His heavenly embrace is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.