Riley M. Moffat - Saints of Tonga: A Century of Island Faith

Contents

Preface

W hy write a history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tonga that focuses on the first hundred years? Why does it matter? Entrance by Latter-day Saints into the Kingdom of Tonga and their relationship with the Tongan people illustrate vital aspects of global evangelization: respecting local authorities and customs, forming friendships with influential leaders, developing literacy through starting schools, and adapting to ongoing challenges in the modern world. And even though Tonga is unique as the only surviving monarchy in the Pacific, it is a diamond with many singular facets that invites closer attention and understanding.

Tongans are a believing people. They have a great respect for God and for their monarchy. The observance of the Sabbath by the Tongan nation is unequaled in all the world. Tongans have embraced the Latter-day Saint message of eternal families, as well as the invitation to deepen their discipleship through daily Christlike living. Tonga has the highest concentration of Latter-day Saints per capita in the entire world. In addition, the Tongans have been very mindful of the Latter-day Saint belief that people in every nation should be subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. These factors have helped the Church find a way to permanently settle in the Kingdom of Tonga and have paid rich dividends to the local country in the development of their education and citizenry as well as influencing Tongan communities worldwide. The Saints of Tonga is a story of melding the best of the Latter-day Saint and Tongan cultures while enhancing faith on both sides. It is a story worth telling that is much needed in our world today.

This history of the Church in Tonga, especially in the early years, is told largely through the journals of the missionaries who served there and through the manuscript history and historical reports of the Tonga Mission. With the creation of stakes in the 1970s, the missions unified history of the Church in Tonga was replaced by individual unit histories. For the past forty years, unit histories have been sporadic or uneven at best, as has the journal keeping of native Tongan Church leaders. Therefore, the authors have attempted to interview those Tongan mission presidents, regional representatives, Area Seventies, and others who may not have kept journals to get their input.

Because history in Tonga was traditionally passed down from generation to generation orally, it is difficult to access the Tongan viewpoint, especially for the early years. The authors regret not being able to adequately share the Tongan voiceinstead, they often share the peoples thoughts and responses to the gospel through stories related by the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Consequently, this volume becomes more of a history of the institutional Church in Tonga. However, in recent years a younger generation of Tongan Church memberssuch as the Wolfgramms,are beginning to record and, in some instances, publish their family histories. Many others are posting their stories on social media and family history websites. All this will be treasured by future generations.

While the history of the Church in Tonga is resplendent with faith-promoting experiencesincluding authentic miraclesthis book is not meant to be a narrative centered solely on the faith of the Saints in Tonga. The incredible amount of faith exhibited by the Saints is certainly prevalent in this narrative, but it is not the focus. Rather, the purpose is to provide a clear and chronological description of the growth and development of the Church in Tonga, interwoven with examples of their great faith.

On a personal note, the authors have a keen interest in Tonga and the Pacific region as a whole. Moffat has been researching and producing books and articles about the Pacific for the past fifty years. He gained an appreciation for Tonga while working as director of library services for LDS Church SchoolsTonga from 1973 to 1976. Woods has also been writing steadily about the Pacific in the twenty-first century and teaches a BYU course on the global Church, which includes a section on Tonga. In addition, his wifes ancestor, Olonzo D. Merrill, was one of the first five Latter-day Saint missionaries in Tonga. Anderson has had close ties to Tonga for the past half century since he served his first mission to Tonga from 1968 to 1970, where he received the matapule title of Haelefeke and has taught at Liahona and Saineha High Schools. He has faithfully kept up his Tongan relationships and language skills.

We have combined our experience and passion to record this story with the hope that it will not only increase knowledge about the Tongan Saints but that it will also help others understand and appreciate this unique island of belief. Finally, each of us has been touched and transformed through our contacts with scores of faithful Tongan Saints. It is our desire that this islands culture of faith will spread far beyond the reef that encloses it and strengthen members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others throughout the world.

Finally, this book is a companion to a documentary film with the same name produced by Martin L. Anderson and Fred E. Woods, which is augmented with over forty interviews in both English and Tongan in addition to the main film. It can be viewed online at https://rsc.byu.edu/Saints_of_Tonga.

Notes

Acknowledgments

T his book could never have been written without the generous support and encouragement of numerous scholars, institutions, and advisers. Foremost, we are deeply grateful to Lorraine Morton Ashton, who shared with us her vast archive of Tongan mission history as she documented the legacy of her father, Ermel J. Morton. We are indebted to Viliami Tolutau for his encyclopedic knowledge of Tongan history and culture and express special appreciation to Eric B. Shumway and John H. Groberg, who understand Tonga better than any other palangi . Others who shared their knowledge, wisdom, and support include Isileli Tupou Kongaika, R. Lanier Britsch, and Pita Hopoate. We gratefully acknowledge those who gave of their time and memories, who are too numerous to mention, which greatly enhanced this effort, and without which this volume would never have been possible.

We wish to thank the following institutions and individuals that assisted us with our research: the College of Religious Education and the Department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University; the L. Tom Perry Special Collections staff, Harold B. Lee Library, BYU; Brooks Haderlie and Gailyn Bopp of the Joseph F. Smith Archives and Special Collections, Brigham Young UniversityHawaii; the Church History Library team, especially Jeff Thompson and Tyson Thorpe; and the Royal Palace Archives, Nukualofa, Tonga. Appreciation is also extended to all those who kindly permitted an interview and to the staff of the BYU Religious Education Faculty Support Center, who transcribed the interviews, as well as to their adviser, Beverly Yellowhorse, who provided careful editorial review of the entire manuscript.