I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go

By Scott Hales

Church History Department

She left her home, traversed an ocean to preach the restored gospel, and died at 26, true to her covenants.

photograph of Emma Purcell and other missionaries — Emma Purcell (first row) and other missionaries in the Samoan Mission, October 1902

On May 5, 1901, 17-year-old Emma Purcell accepted a mission call to Samoa. “I assure you, my every effort will be to further the work of the Lord,” she wrote in a letter to President Lorenzo Snow. She further pledged, “I shall always take pleasure in defending the principles of the Gospel, when, and wherever an opportunity presents itself.”

As she prepared to serve, Emma could hardly know what to expect. She was unique among her fellow missionaries. The Church had only begun calling single women as full-time missionaries three years earlier. And so far, she was the youngest one called.

She would also be the first Samoan woman to serve a full-time mission. Although she lived in Salt Lake City, she had been born in Malaela, a village on the eastern tip of the Samoan island of Upolu. At age 12, she had left her home and family to attend school in Utah, 5,000 miles (8,047 km) away.

The thought of returning to Samoa after five years must have been both exciting and unnerving for Emma. To prepare herself spiritually, she received her endowment in the Salt Lake Temple. Like missionaries today, she made sacred covenants with God and was promised blessings through her faithfulness.

And, as her story shows, she did her best to keep those covenants as she served the Lord.

From Upolu to Utah—and Back

Emma was born on June 26, 1883, the seventh child of Viliamu and Matafua Purcell. Her family was one of several Euronesian (part European, part Polynesian) families in and around Malaela. Her mother was from the island of Savai‘i, just north and west of Upolu. Her father was the son of an Englishman who had come to Samoa around 1834, married a Samoan woman, and settled in Malaela.

Emma probably first learned about the restored gospel while living with John and Nanave Rosenquist, a Latter-day Saint couple who treated her like an adopted daughter. She was baptized at the age of 12 on November 3, 1895. A missionary who attended the service testified of the powerful spirit felt at the baptism.

A few months later, John W. Beck, the president of the Samoan Mission, received approval from the First Presidency to send Emma and other Samoan children to Utah for schooling. She departed from Apia, Upolu’s main port, with President Beck and other missionaries on April 23, 1896. Although her biological parents consented to her leaving, they were in tears as they said goodbye.

It took Emma nearly three weeks to travel by steamship and railroad to Salt Lake City. The city was far bigger than her village on Upolu, and she must have felt overwhelmed by its busy streets and unfamiliar sounds. At the time, Utah had relatively few Polynesian residents. Most days, she would have seen no one who looked like her.

In Utah, Emma lived in the Salt Lake City Thirteenth Ward, received a good education at Church-owned schools, and kept in contact with returned missionaries from the Samoan Mission. Early on, her bishop recognized her potential and counseled her to prepare to serve a mission to her homeland.

Emma took his words to heart, and when the call came in early 1901, she was ready.

Serving in Malaela

Emma returned to Upolu on July 25, 1901, happy to find her father waiting for her at the harbor. During her absence, Emma had lost some ability to speak Samoan. But when she was invited to say a closing prayer at a meeting, the Spirit inspired her, and she offered it in her native tongue.

Emma was assigned to serve in Malaela, her hometown, where the Church had operated a school since 1896. She took charge of teaching the female students. She also led the Malaela Branch’s Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association. On Sundays and throughout the week, she would preach and teach alongside the other missionaries.

At first, some of Emma’s family on the island opposed her work and urged her to leave the Church. According to mission president William G. Sears, though, “she defended her course” and resolved to keep her covenants, despite opposition.

She also held her own with the other missionaries. Once, as a joke, two elders replaced her coconut’s natural water with regular water at breakfast. The joke “disappointed” Emma, but she paid the elders back by serving them coconut covered with salt instead of sugar.

Such joking aside, the missionaries had an immense respect for “Sister Purcell.” One missionary observed that she was “full of the spirit of her office and calling.” Another elder wrote with appreciation about her kindness. Once, Emma left some bananas along a trail so that he and his companion had something to eat while traveling.

Records show that she preached on priesthood authority, the Book of Mormon, and other gospel topics. After hearing Emma preach on the life and mission of Joseph Smith, one missionary wrote, “I enjoyed her remarks very much; and was sorry when she stopped speaking.”

Sadly, Emma contracted elephantiasis late in her mission and received an early release. When the women and girls at the school learned that she was returning to Utah, they wept. The Malaela branch held a farewell meeting for her, giving her one last chance to preach. She “spoke quite forcibly,” the minutes of the meeting indicate, “and exhorted all to be true to the gospel.”

A Legacy of Devotion

Emma herself remained true to the gospel—and her covenants—for the rest of her life. In Utah, she continued her education, participated in the state’s Polynesian community, and consulted on the first Latter-day Saint hymnal in Samoan. At some point, she also met a Hawaiian Saint named Henry Kahalemanu. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on January 31, 1907.

Three years later, Emma passed away at age 26 and was buried at Iosepa, a settlement of Polynesian Saints 60 miles (97 km) west of Salt Lake City. Although her life was brief, her devotion to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ remains a powerful example for Saints around the world, especially young women who answer the call to serve today.