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    Samoa Click here for the Pacific Newsroom

    88,726

    Total Church Membership

    1-in-

    20

    Stakes

    1010

    168

    Congregations

    161 Wards
    7 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

    849,568

    Members

    2,721

    Congregations

    Missions

    45Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    423

    Temples

    6Temples

    Asia

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    1,298,181

    Members

    2,113

    Congregations

    Missions

    45Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    402

    Temples

    10Temples

    Europe

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    507,748

    Members

    1,296

    Congregations

    Missions

    35Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    663

    Temples

    14Temples

    North America

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    9,637,503

    Members

    18,423

    Congregations

    Missions

    175Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    3,054

    Temples

    120Temples

    Oceania (Pacific)

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    599,065

    Members

    1,308

    Congregations

    Missions

    17Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    318

    Temples

    11Temples

    South America

    Total Church Membership

    Members
    Congregations

    4,320,129

    Members

    5,629

    Congregations

    Missions

    97Missions

    FamilySearch Centers

    1,355

    Temples

    25Temples