The Church in American Samoa
Congregations of Samoan Latter-day Saints have worshipped together since the 1860s. In the early 20th century, the Church organized schools and built up Mapusaga as a gathering place for Saints in American Samoa. The first temple was dedicated in 1983, and in 2019 a second temple was announced in Pago Pago.
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History of the Church in American Samoa
In 1863 Kimo Pelio and Samuela Manoa—two missionaries sent from Hawai‘i—brought the restored gospel to the Samoan Islands. Due to disruptions in the Church in Hawai‘i, the additional missionaries they expected never arrived, but both chose to remain on the islands. In 1888 Joseph and Florence Dean arrived to formally open a mission. By 1900, when Samoa was divided into a western, German-governed territory and an eastern, American-governed territory, there were over 1,000 Latter-day Saints on the islands.
In the early 1900s, in addition to teaching the gospel, the Church organized schools and helped build up Mapusaga as a gathering center. As the Church became more established in the mid-twentieth century, many American Samoans learned career and Church leadership skills while serving as labor missionaries. In 1969 the first stake in American Samoa was organized.
In 1977 President Spencer W. Kimball announced plans to build a temple in Pago Pago, American Samoa, but the location of the temple was later changed to Apia, Samoa. American Samoan Saints gave to help build the Apia temple, which was dedicated in 1983. The Church in American Samoa has continued to grow. By 2012 there were five stakes in American Samoa, and in 2019 President Russell M. Nelson announced new plans for a temple in Pago Pago.
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Notes
- Britsch, R. Lanier. Unto the Islands of the Sea: A History of the Latter-day Saints in the Pacific. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1986.
- Dean, J. H. “Sketches from the Samoan Islands.” Juvenile Instructor, vol. 24, no. 2 (Jan. 15, 1889): 30–31.
- Higgins, Donna. “Samoa.” Improvement Era, vol. 69, no. 5 (May 1966), 395–401.
- Reid, Eugene E. F. Interview by Brian W. Sokolowsky. Mapusaga, American Samoa, October 21, 2003 (oral history). Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
- “Samoa.” Global Histories, ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
- Tuimaualuga, Ammon. “The Miracles of Manu‘a Island,” pacific.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.