Introduction
It is a great privilege for me to speak to you today. I thank President Tanner, Professor Lee, the Executive Council, and others who have made this opportunity possible. I thank my many friends who have read and critiqued this speech, and I thank the Special Events staff for their invaluable help.
As my son has mentioned, my life has been greatly influenced by people from the islands of the sea and also by people from Pacific Rim countries. My youngest son Kimball lives with his family in Kobe, Japan. I’ve visited many Asian countries. In addition, I have spent many years in missionary service in the Pacific, nearly nine years of which were in Samoa. That service has been a great blessing for me and for my family. So, I am no stranger to the places from whence many of you have come.
As an introduction to my talk, I would like to present a wonderful Samoan proverb. E lele le toloa, ae ma’au lona ua i le vai. When a duck begins to fly out of the water, he crinks his neck looking back to the place from whence he came. The application is that when we leave our homes we always have a longing to return to them. I think this is true of people who have worked and lived in Laie — we are forever longing to return to this beautiful place. Such is the way I feel today. Indeed, this is a very pleasant experience for me, even with my crinked neck. And I’ll have more to say about this proverb toward the end of my talk.
Part One
Where did the present-day people of the islands of the sea come from?
Scholars have developed a number of theories in answer to this question which seem reasonable enough. But the best source of information for Latter-day Saints comes from a letter written on 6 February 1911 by President Joseph F. Smith. The letter was written to honor a Maori chief but includes prophetic insight about all islanders. President Smith declared:
"Brothers and Sisters, let us pause a moment and raise the question in your own minds, why you, in common with others of your race inhabiting the isles of the sea, were to be more blessed and favored of the Lord than the rest of the remnant of the House of Israel inhabiting this, our land of America? Was it because of any desire on the part of our Heavenly Father to bestow blessings upon you, upon your brethren and sisters in Samoa, Hawaii, Tahiti and other places, over and above those of your brothers and sisters, also of the House of Israel, living on the American Continent?
"No, it was simply because of your forefathers, who were first moved upon to occupy the isles of the seas, and who did so under the immediate overruling hand of the God of our Fathers, and were better than the rest of their brethren who occupied this continent, because they were more obedient and more faithful, the Lord in His superior wisdom, directed their course away from this continent to their island homes, that they might be separated from their more wicked disobedient brethren, that they might not be left to be preyed upon and destroyed by the more wicked part of the House of Israel . . .
"This, dear brothers and sisters, is the key to your preservation as a nation, also to the preservation of your brothers and sisters of the other isles of the sea above mentioned, and this is the secret to the overruling hand of Providence which has been over you all, from that time until you received the gospel through the preaching of the elders . . ."
And we repeat, the reason that a few of the islands of the sea have been more highly favored and blessed than those of your brethren of this continent is, because of the worthiness of your forefathers who were led away and separated from their brethren of this continent, and because of the blessing of the Lord which has attended you, their children, from that time to the present.
What we learn from this insightful prophetic letter and from other prophetic utterances like it, are that the ancestors of the people of the islands of the sea are Book of Mormon people who went to the islands more than two thousand years ago. As President Smith said, they went there:
". . . under the immediate overruling hand of [God]; they were better than their brethren who occupied this continent; [God] directed [them] away from this continent to their island homes; that they might be separated from their more wicked and disobedient brethren; that they might not be left to be preyed upon and destroyed."
Since these bold assertions came from the pen of a prophet of God, I believe them to be true.
It is obvious that the people President Smith identified were wonderfully righteous people who wanted to escape the wickedness and evil of their day; they wanted to go to a place where they could be preserved and live in peace and safety and honor their covenants.
Part Two
So, what Book of Mormon people would likely be the ones who traveled to the islands of the sea to escape the wickedness of their day by removing themselves from it?
A careful search of the Book of Mormon indicates that there were many of the children of Lehi who were true and faithful to their covenants. The Nephites did well from time to time, but they didn’t endure faithfully to the end. Their wickedness eventually led to their extinction, much like the Jaredites before them.
As for the Lamanites, they were warlike people for many, many years, yet there is evidence that groups of them became obedient and peace loving people. One group, the plausible choice from whence Islanders came, would be the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi or the people of Ammon1 named after that great missionary who was instrumental in converting them. While we don’t know a great deal about these people, we do know enough to consider them as the people who fit nicely into President Smith’s prophetic statement.
The people of Ammon were Lamanites who were converted to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the preaching of Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Himni all sons of King Mosiah. These Nephite brethren and their companions went deep into Lamanite territory, at great personal risk, to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They did this after their own remarkable conversion because they desired:
". . . that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble."
This fervent desire led to missionary work which brought thousands upon thousands of Lamanites into the early Church of Christ which had been established by Alma, in the covenant and promised land of America. We must remember that these people had been a ferocious lot, murderers who had committed all manner of evil. Yet, in one of the most astonishing and remarkable miracles recorded in scripture, they had a mighty change of heart. They recognized, through Ammon’s teachings particularly, that they had to repent with full purpose of heart, turn away from their hostile ways, and show a sign to God that they had truly repented; they had to make and keep covenants with almighty God. They did this, fearing for their eternal lives because without showing a serious sign of full repentance before God and without making covenants, they knew that they could never gain eternal life and return to His presence.
The king of the people of Ammon said as much in one of the greatest, faith promoting, speeches ever delivered in the Book of Mormon or I think anywhere. He concluded the speech with these words:
"Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us clean thereby.
And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall go to our God and shall be saved."
The sign they chose to make was a covenant unto the Lord to bury their weapons of war and never again stain them with the blood of an enemy, even at the peril and risk of their own mortal lives. And as you know, on one occasion, other hostile Lamanites came upon them5 and, without resistance, slew more than a thousand of them before some of the attacking Lamanites were themselves converted. In truth, these wonderful covenant people of Ammon would rather die than break the covenant they made with God. That kind of faithfulness to covenants is rarely found anywhere, but these faithful Lamanites possessed it.
We remember, too, as another sign of their faithfulness and deep desire to please God, they raised up two thousand young Ammonite warriors who loved the Lord and who were true and faithful to their baptismal covenants. They were so faithful that they were willing to die to protect their families and loved ones so that they, in turn, could keep the covenant of not staining their weapons of war. These two thousand young men, later to be led into battle by Helaman, were taught by their mothers to have great faith in Jesus Christ; they also had to be trained to fight and to look after each other in battle. They went to war and because of their full and complete faith in the Lord, not one was killed, even though they fought against one of the most seasoned and hardened Lamanite armies.7
Imagine, you islanders are descendants of the most righteous people in the entire Book of Mormon. What a heritage you have! Oh, that we all could be as true and faithful as these wonderful Lamanite people, even the people of Ammon. Oh, to be such covenant people of the Lord!
Some people in the islands don’t like being associated with Lamanites. If they carefully studied the Book of Mormon however, they would discover the people of Ammon and surely would want to be their descendants. Or said in another way, who would not want to be a descendant of such marvelously favored and faithful people as the people of Ammon?
I believe that the people President Smith is referring to are the people of Ammon who escaped the wickedness of their day. As righteous people, they were led out from among the wicked.8 How they got to the islands is a question to be discussed another day, but they did and it is from these faithful, covenant people of Ammon, I believe, that most Polynesian islanders have descended.
Interestingly, there is no evidence in the Book of Mormon that the people of Ammon ever broke the covenant which they made with God. However, over time, while living in those beautiful islands, their descendants lost their testimonies and forgot their covenants and for centuries those testimonies seemed to lie dormant until the latter-days, or in the time in which we live.
As President Smith seems to suggest, the seeds of the Gospel were planted in their very beings; there was a spark of divinity or a spark of belief which needed only to be aroused. It is as though when they were introduced to the Gospel, they heard the voice of the Good Shepherd, and when missionaries arrived, they recognized His voice. Not only that, they resonated with the idea of covenants made with the Lord. There are many Islanders--Samoans and others I know who, like their ancestors, would rather die than break those covenants.
Part Three
So, what can we expect from the descendants of the people of Ammon?
Because of their own and inherited faith, present day islanders have come into the Church in vast numbers and have embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let me first speak of Tonga. Tonga has a total population of 104,941 with a Church membership of 60,680 or 57%. There are nineteen stakes in Tonga. Think about that! Here is a country, the only one in the world, where more than half of the people are members of the Church. Admittedly, Tonga is a small country, but even though small, it leads the world in percent of the people who are members of the Church.
I know most about Samoa. At present, there are twenty-five stakes of the Church within the Apia Samoa Mission boundaries. Twenty stakes are in Samoa and five in American Samoa. According to latest Church statistics, of the total population of 188,889 in Samoa, 73,827 or approximately 39% of the population are members of the Church. Of the total population of 55,288 in American Samoa, there are 15,629 members or approximately 28% who are members of the Church.
And the growth is not just in Tonga and Samoa—other Pacific island groups indicate a similar strength:
Kiribati—total population is 100,786; Church membership is 16,279 or 16%. There are two stakes in Kiribati.
Cook Islands—total population is 14,974; Church membership is 1,862 or 12%.
French Polynesia—total population is 273,814; Church membership is 22,659 or 8%. There are nine stakes in Tahiti.
It is interesting that the first five countries in the world which claim the highest per capita LDS Church membership, live in Pacific Island nations.
Part Four
What are the blessings present day Islanders should expect by remaining in or returning to their own countries?
I now want to focus attention on a stake conference held in American Samoa in 1970. At the time, I was the mission president, and President Boyd K. Packer was the visiting authority. I had traveled with him over an eight-day period throughout Samoa. He presided at a number of stake conferences and created a new one on the Island of Upolu. The conference in American Samoa was his last main assignment on his tour of Samoa.
At the conclusion of the conference and of his speech he raised his arm to the square and pronounced an apostolic blessing upon the people. Among other things he said, he blessed the people and encouraged them to remain in Samoa. He said that if they did, they would be protected and most of the wickedness of the world would pass them by. I remember that apostolic blessing most vividly.
So, what does that blessing have to do with you? Well, you are here at BYU-Hawaii to get as much education as you can. When your education here is completed, you then have the privilege of returning to your homelands to live under the security and safety of that and other apostolic blessings? I can’t imagine anyone not wanting that kind of protection especially when one considers the dangers of the world in which we live, even here in beautiful Hawaii.
Now whether you have descended from ancient pioneer ancestors or whether you have descended from people who joined the Church more recently, or whether you are the first members of the Church in your family, they and you all can be considered covenant keepers. As for Islanders, it’s possible that among your ancestors were the people of Ammon, those faithful people who refused to break the covenants they made with the Lord Jesus Christ. As for the rest of you in this student body who come from other places in the Pacific, your ancestors didn’t travel there as Book of Mormon people, but they are pioneers nonetheless and, as members of the Church, they made covenants as well. Either way, your heritage is wonderful and your presence here is not by random chance. Indeed, you have left your homelands for a time to learn lessons taught by a faithful faculty here at BYU-Hawaii; now you return clothed in the armor of righteousness with a sound education, and with a renewed faith and testimony to honor those covenant keepers. This is your heritage!
To be sure there is a moral collapse all over the world and it is impossible to escape its influence wherever we might live including the islands of the sea, but with such apostolic blessings as having been pronounced on Islanders and the rest of you in your homelands, you have a better chance to escape most of the evils of our time.
I believe all people are at their best in their own lands, in their own cultures, and speaking their own languages. This is not to say that anyone living in another country cannot make a great contribution there. Many make remarkable contributions, and they render great service as many of our missionaries do for short periods of time in foreign lands. But generally speaking, we do best in our own lands and cultures. There are many exceptions to this, but I’m speaking generally.
Part Five
What can we learn from faithful covenant people?
President Russell M. Nelson said recently that as saints of God, we make serious covenants unto the Lord. He said:
". . . Our covenants bind us to Him [the Savior]and give us godly power . . . Covenant-keeping men and women seek for ways to keep themselves unspotted from the world so there will be nothing blocking their access to the Savior’s power."
As I have noted previously, the wonder of the faithful people of Ammon is that they were willing to die for their covenants; as were their warrior sons. They were given great power as they honored those covenants.
So, as President Nelson has admonished, we must keep ourselves unspotted from the world in order to have the power to battle against a hardened and cunning enemy who is constantly fighting against us. As covenant people, we have the power to become disciples of Jesus Christ and to have faith and love for Him even at the peril of our lives if necessary and to withstand any kind of enticement that Satan may throw at us?
You know what those enticements are! In a way, living in our time may be harder for us to keep our covenants than it was for the people of Ammon. Today facing the temptations of Satan may be much harder for us to keep our covenants in the same spirit and determination as the people of Ammon. You have bumped into these temptations: the temptation of not praying faithfully each day in a spirit of gratitude and love for Heavenly Father and His Son; the temptation of not being faithful in regularly reading scriptures, of not dressing modestly, of not always faithfully attending Church meetings, of not always strictly obeying the Honor Code of this school, of not always showing a sign as our prophet leaders have asked to show our commitment to honor the Sabbath Day. And probably the strongest temptation of them all is related to money—the powerful lure of money which seems to entice us to not return to our homelands. And there are many other temptations to get us to break our covenants which we have made with the Lord.
To withstand these temptations, we need strong testimonies. Elder Neal A. Maxwell formed his testimony on three pillars of conversion: a witness of the Spirit pillar; an intellectual pillar; and an experiential pillar.
Wherever you have come from, each of you should seek to do the same: have a witness of the spirit which positively brings into your heart the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Each of you should also build into your testimonies knowledge—even an intellectual dimension which enables you to explain with confidence your beliefs and allows you to measure all that you learn in the secular world against that sure knowledge of the Gospel; and of course, you should gain strength in your testimonies through experience in serving others.
Part Six
So, what does all this add up to?
You’ve come here from many lands to get a good education. You are now able to fashion a career; you know much about the Gospel of Jesus Christ including its covenants, and you know much about responsible living; and you know much about the importance of hard work. When you reach the point of graduation, having learned all these wonderful things, you then return to your land and share what you have learned with your people. But there’s more.
As covenant people, you are entitled, through inspiration and revelation to receive direction in your lives that will bring great hope and happiness to you and your loved ones. Visions will open to you as to how you can make a great contribution in your homelands. You will be able to walk through your lives with confidence knowing that you are fulfilling the dreams of those who love you, and even those who first settled the islands of the sea.
You will go back to a place of safety where apostles and prophets have pronounced marvelous blessings upon your lands and claim those blessings. And who wouldn’t want the blessings spoken from the mouths of apostles and prophets? Or the blessings prayed for by faithful people from the Book of Mormon
When I began this speech, I told you of a Samoan proverb: E lele le toloa, ae ma’au lona ua i le vai. At one time you flew away from your homes and I suspect that you have kept alive a longing to return; I hope you have a chronic crink in your necks in that longing. Return and take with you a good education; prepare to serve your people and live to be honorable to your covenants made with the Lord and then be assured that you live under the protection of those covenants.
I bear solemn testimony and my witness that apostles and prophets represent the Lord; their apostolic blessings are sure and meaningful. I also testify that it is possible to keep all of our covenants. It takes great effort but we can be like the people of Ammon. I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. And most importantly, I testify that our Savior Jesus Christ is closely involved in this great work in which we are engaged today; in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
[1] see Alma 23 to Alma 27
[2] Mosiah 28:3
[3] see Alma 23
[4] see Alma 24:15-16
[5] Alma 24:25-27
[6] Alma 56:5
[7] Alma 56:44-54
[8] Jacob 3:1-4
[9] John 10:4; John 10:27
[10] General Conference, April 1-2, 2017