Saints of Tonga: A Century of Island Faith

Tonga has by far the highest percentage of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of any country in the world. How did this come to be? At first, missionary work in Tonga appeared to be a failure. Then, after closing the mission for a decade, the Church returned and began harvesting the fruits from the seeds that had been planted earlier amid tremendous opposition. The truths of the gospel resonated with the Tongan people, who exhibited incredible faith and sacrifice. The Church grew to be a strong influence in the Kingdom of Tonga and with the people of the country.

Riley M. Moffat retired in 2014 as a senior librarian at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. He has degrees from the Church College of Hawaii, the University of Hawaii, and Brigham Young University. He has authored a number of books and articles on the maps and history of Hawaii’I and the Pacific, among other things.

Fred E. Woods earned his PhD from the University of Utah in 1991. He has worked at Brigham Young University as a professor of Religious Education since 1998. Dr. Woods has been a visiting teaching and research professor at several universities and was awarded the Richard L. Anderson Distinguished Research Award from BYU Religious Education in 2002.

Brent R. Anderson earned a degree from Brigham Young University in English, with a postgraduate emphasis in English as a second language. He also has an MBA from Pepperdine University. He served as a board member and officer of the Liahona Alumni Association and was assigned to be the interpreter for President Kimball during the first Area Conference to be held in Tonga in 1976.