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    Samoa Click here for the Pacific Newsroom

    87,695

    Total Church Membership

    1-in-

    20

    Stakes

    1010

    165

    Congregations

    156 Wards
    9 Branches

    20

    FamilySearch Centers

    20

    1

    Temples

    1

    Missions

    History

    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 in the islands.

    In the early 1900s, in addition to teaching the gospel, the Church organized schools—at different times in English, German, and Samoan—and established the community of Sauniatu. Latter-day Saints ministered to each other during the devastating influenza pandemic of 1918 and showed their willingness to “mourn with those that mourn” (Mosiah 18:9) when one-fifth of the country’s population died.
     

    In the years after World War II, the Church put greater focus on developing local leaders, and many Samoans learned Church leadership and career skills while serving as labor missionaries. In 1962 Samoa became one of the first countries outside the United States to have a stake; in 1974 it became the first country organized entirely into stakes, with no small districts. The Apia Samoa Temple was dedicated in 1983. After a 2003 fire the temple was rebuilt and rededicated.

    For Journalist Use Only

    Richard Hunter
    New Zealand
    Phone:  64(9)488-5572
    Mobile: 64-21-240-7804

    E-mail

    Africa

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    791,837

    Members

    2,559

    Congregations

    Missions

    40Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    421

    Temples

    6Temples

    Asia

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    1,281,560

    Members

    2,103

    Congregations

    Missions

    45Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    368

    Temples

    8Temples

    Europe

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    503,692

    Members

    1,318

    Congregations

    Missions

    36Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    660

    Temples

    14Temples

    North America

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    9,551,107

    Members

    18,426

    Congregations

    Missions

    175Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    2,819

    Temples

    113Temples

    Oceania (Pacific)

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    591,950

    Members

    1,308

    Congregations

    Missions

    18Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    317

    Temples

    11Temples

    South America

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    4,269,273

    Members

    5,616

    Congregations

    Missions

    97Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    1,119

    Temples

    24Temples