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    Tuvalu Click here for the Pacific Mormon Newsroom

    344

    Total Church Membership

    1-in-

    1

    Congregations

    0 Wards
    1 Branches

    History

    When Joseph B. Keeler became president of the Micronesia-Guam Mission in July 1983 he found that Tuvalu was part of the mission but there was no record of any members there. While visiting Tarawa in 1983 he became acquainted with two of his missionaries, Teuai Lekasa and Tekafa Tinai, and learned that they were originally from Tuvalu. They had become acquainted with the Church and were baptized while students at Liahona High School in Tonga. They told President Keeler that there were about 25 members of the Church in Funafuti, Tuvalu’s main village, all converts from either Liahona or Moroni High School in Fiji.

    Keeler was not able to visit Tuvalu until September 1984. He and his wife arrived unannounced, but Tavita Tapu, another Church member who had joined the Church while attending a Church school, worked at the airport and immediately recognized the man dressed in a white shirt and tie and wearing a missionary tag as probably someone from the Church. He helped the Keelers get a room at the only hotel in Funafuti, then he got on his bike and notified all the members he could find. They met with the Keelers at the hotel that same day and held a testimony meeting. President Keeler assigned Glen and Shirley Cornwall from Murray, Utah, to begin the work of organizing a branch (a small congregation) in Tuvalu and registering the Church with the local government. They arrived in March 1985 and held the very first sacrament meeting in their hotel room with seven present. Two sister missionaries, Nolaise Maumau (a native of Tuvalu) and Kalou Tetapo, arrived in April and were joined by Elders Tevasa and Popeieta Raponi in May 1985.

    The Cornwalls began the process of registering the Church (which required completion of a petition with 50 signatures). Ward and Madge Little replaced the Cornwalls in August 1985 and continued with the registration process. The first baptism in Tuvalu was Tepenga Luka, who was baptized in the lagoon on 14 December 1985. Official Church recognition was received on 16 December 1985. Sixty-two members and friends of the Church had signed the petition.

    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