Relations between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the natives of the Pacific Island groups of Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and surrounding island groups are quite complex.
History
The Pacific islands were one of the first areas to be evangelized after Europe and North America, notably Hawaii, which fell under American influence and was annexed by the United States quite early on.
On November 27, 1919, the Laie Hawaii Temple was the first temple outside the continental United States and also the first in Polynesia.
In 1955, the church began ordaining Melanesians to the priesthood, and on September 26, the Brigham Young University–Hawaii was established.
The church allowed Pacific Islanders to hold the priesthood, and church president David O. McKay clarified that native Fijians and Australian Aboriginals could also be ordained to the priesthood.
Hagoth
In addition to the LDS Church's stories about people sailing to the New World, there is also the story of Hagoth, who it is said to have sailed from the Americas to Polynesia. But while the stories of Lehi and Jared are generally accepted, that of Hagoth is more ambiguous and not universally supported by practising church members, and not at all by non-members of the church. Differentiating between scriptural and apocryphal accounts of Hagoth and his ships, one Latter-day Saint writer makes the following observations:
The Book of Mormon does not equate the "west sea" with the Pacific Ocean. The Book of Mormon does not tell us that Hagoth was on board any of the ships that were lost. Scripture does not say that he captained a vessel or that he was an explorer or an adventurer, or that he led people. For all we can tell, the skilled Hagoth's main objective was to profit from the shipping industry. It is possible for peoples in various places to be related to Hagoth's people (the Nephites) without Hagoth personally making an ocean voyage. Coastal and Island hopping colonies, once associated with Nephite shipping, could have built more vessels and traveled very far. It is also important to realize that the peoples of the Pacific islands may have come from more than one direction.
Non-scriptural sources suggest that Hagoth led an expedition, sailing into the Pacific Ocean from the Americas. Leaders of the LDS Church and LDS scholars have stated that the peoples of the Pacific Islands, including Hawaii, Polynesia, and New Zealand, are descendants of the Nephite Hagoth and his supposed followers. According to the Book of Mormon, the Nephites were descendants of Israel. Many members of the LDS Church in Polynesia have come to believe that Hagoth is their ancestor.
Folklore
Some of the folklore that exists in the relationship of the LDS Church and Pacific Islanders include: that Tāwhiao accurately predicted the site of the 1958 Hamilton New Zealand Temple before his death in 1894; that Māori prophets or chieftains, including Paora Te Potangaroa and Tāwhiao, predicted the coming of Latter-day Saint missionaries to New Zealand; that on December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft pilots attempted to bomb or strafe the church's Laie Hawaii Temple just prior to or just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, but were prevented from doing so by mechanical failures or an unseen protective force, and that the Japanese pilot who attempted to bomb or strafe the Laie Hawaii Temple was converted to the LDS Church after he saw a picture of the temple in the possession of Latter-day Saint missionaries in Japan;
Temples
Although there is a sparse population, and great distances to travel, the Oceania region has a number of church temples due to the significant numbers of members in many countries.
There are also temples in the Philippines and Australia.
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Demographics
Book of Mormon translations
1855, Hawaiian language translation of the Book of Mormon, which was the first translation of the Book of Mormon to be published in a non-European language. 1889: Māori edition. 1903: Samoan edition. 1904: Tahitian edition. 1946: Tongan edition. 1965: Rarotongan edition. 1980: Fijian edition. 1981: Niuean edition (selections) 1987: Pohnpeian, Micronesian languages (selections). 1988: Palauan edition. 1989: Chamorro edition. 2001: Gilbertese (Kiribati) edition. 2002: Tok Pisin edition. 2003: Marshallese edition. 2004: Bislama edition. 2004: Yapese edition. 2015: Kosraean edition, Micronesian languages. 2015: Chuukese/Trukese edition, Micronesian languages.
Portrayals in media
Johnny Lingo
The Other Side of Heaven
The Legend of Johnny Lingo, a remake of the 1968 film.