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Religious freedom has been withheld from members of various denominations throughout history, whether through prejudice, discrimination, violence, or government coercion. At times, the struggle for religious freedom has been on a large scale, and on other occasions it has been individualized. However, whether in an entire country or just a small town, as Elder D. Todd Christofferson observes, “religious freedom is the cornerstone of peace in a world with many competing philosophies. It gives us all space to determine for ourselves what we think and believe—to follow the truth that God speaks to our hearts.”[1] While many societies recognize the importance of religious freedom and protect it through government policies, there have been places where religious freedom is not granted—to one degree or another.

One such occurrence of denying religious freedom began in the nineteenth century in the South Pacific, specifically in the Cook Islands, when Christianity was introduced by the London Missionary Society (LMS). In 1899, about eighty years after the LMS first introduced Christianity in the South Pacific region, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began sending missionaries to the islands. Local LMS representatives saw the Latter-day Saints as competition and pressured the government of the Cook Islands to limit the activity of Latter-day Saint missionaries.

There are two ways that religious freedom was denied in the Cook Islands. First, the LMS was the main impetus in the formation of the first government in Rarotonga (the largest of the Cook Islands), with strong linkages to nearby islands. This government created certain limitations, restrictions, and laws curtailing the religious freedom of other churches and denominations. The fact that the LMS in the Cook Islands made such a critical regional impact in Polynesia and Melanesia underlines the battles that other churches, especially the Church of Jesus Christ, had to play. Second, prejudice, bigotry, biases, and discrimination were displayed by individuals belonging to the LMS toward Latter-day Saints who did not conform to their expectations. This organic movement was not instigated by the government or LMS clergy, but it was largely a result of the influence the LMS had on Cook Island government leaders. These legal and social pressures restricted religious freedom “to talk about and act on your core beliefs without interference from government or others.”[2]

The founders of the LMS never intended to curtail the religious freedom of another Christian religion. Originally, the society was organized to function as an impartial entity with the sole purpose of spreading Christianity throughout the world. However, it became an official religious denomination in the Cook Islands in 1852, when the Cook Islands LMS Church was established. This church was affiliated with the LMS until 1965, when it became an autonomous institution called the Cook Islands Christian Church.[3] Although the Cook Islands Christian Church is present in New Zealand and Australia today (2023), it has become a statewide church only in the Cook Islands. From its inception, the Cook Islands Christian Church heavily influenced the government on the islands, leading to the persecution of Latter-day Saints and those of other religions.

The London Missionary Society in the Pacific

The original purpose of the LMS was to spread Christianity and distribute the Bible, without advocating any particular Christian denomination. According to the LMS Constitution published in 1870, “the sole object is to spread the knowledge of Christ among heathen and other unenlightened nations.” Along with this objective, the LMS Constitution declared the following as their fundamental principle:

Its design is not to send Presbyterianism, Independency, Episcopacy, or any other form of Church Order and Government (about which there may be difference of opinion among serious persons), but the Glorious Gospel of the blessed God to the heathen; and that is shall be left (as it ought to be left) to the minds of the persons whom God may call into the fellowship of His Son from among them, to assume for themselves such form of Church Government as to them shall appear most agreeable to the Word of God.[4]

The LMS’s founding was based on this fundamental principle, along with the declaration that people would have agency to choose what to believe. The LMS would only introduce these nations to Jesus Christ, not promote any particular Christian sect.

The LMS arrived at Tahiti in 1797, then to Aitutaki (Cook Islands) in October 1821. Through the diligence and sacrifice of many volunteers, the LMS made significant progress toward its goal of spreading Christianity, especially in the South Pacific. One of the most influential LMS missionaries in the Pacific region was John Williams who, in 1823 was the first LMS missionary to arrive in Rarotonga (Cook Islands).[5] As historian Ian Breward wrote, “It was . . . Williams’s vision and restlessness, and his unwillingness to stay with the routine of nurturing a church on a single island, which led to expansion of the LMS churches” in the Cook Islands. The society translated the Bible into the local Māori language to aid in preaching the word and also sent “promising young men who were soundly converted and possessed a variety of practical skills” to spread Christian teachings to improve the life of the islanders.[6] For example, Aaron Buzzacott utilized his carpentering skills to teach the people to build boats for traveling and dwellings that would endure cyclones.[7] These LMS missionaries were greatly respected among the islanders for their courage as well as for their ability to accept cultural differences. Papehia, a native Cook Islander, was an LMS missionary who was held in such great esteem that his body is buried in grounds reserved for royalty.[8]

It should be noted that it took more than twenty years to convert Tahitians, but it took only two years to convert Rarotongans, though with some pressure. As a result of pain and turmoil associated with this forced short conversion in Aitutaki and Rarotonga (as opposed to one that spread over many years in other islands like Tahiti), there was some resistance manufactured against encroaching newer religious groups. Some of the pain from that initial LMS contact in the 1820s divided families deeply, which has continued into the 2020s.[9]

Another important figure in the growth of the LMS was Ta’unga, a native of Rarotonga who quickly grasped the LMS teachings, became a powerful advocate for the society, and promoted the building of chapels. “The [LMS] churches on the island prospered under his leadership, with many joining the [LMS] church, and the communities energetically making coconut oil to fund the LMS.”[10] In addition, Ta’unga worked together with LMS worker Charles Pitman to translate the Bible into the Cook Islands’ Māori language.[11] In 1839 Buzzacott helped establish Takamoa College, a Bible School in Rarotonga, where many LMS pastors were taught and certified. This school still functioned as of 2022.[12] In addition, LMS allocated significant money—£1,000 annually—to an education fund and hired educational missionaries.[13] Members of the LMS worked hard to effectively introduce Christianity to the Cook Islands and to help improve the lives of those they taught. In 1839 Takamoa began sending many Cook Islands Māori LMS missionaries to other parts of the Pacific, including Samoa, New Hebrides (Vanuatu), Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Gilbert Islands (Kiribati), Ellis Islands (Tuvalu), Tokelau, and Niue.

LMS missionaries also established a firm hold on the government within the Cook Islands by converting, and sometimes marrying into, the strongest arikis—persons born into nobility and power.[14] One conversion that propelled the LMS forward into a greater position of influence was that of King Makea Pori, who, after becoming converted to Christianity by John Williams, agreed to destroy his tribe’s temple and idols and to be baptized.[15] On November 20, 1839, Williams and another missionary, James Harris, were martyred by cannibals on Erromango, an island in the country of Vanuatu.[16] But Williams’s religious legacy lived on in the islands. From the time Williams introduced the LMS to the islands “until the 1890s when the Roman Catholics (October 1894) and Seventh Day Adventists (September 1894), and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (May 1899) entered the area, the LMS . . . operated without any religious rivalry.”[17] By the time of the arrival of these other church denominations into the Cook Islands, the LMS had more and more influence, largely controlling spiritual, social, and political life of most islanders.

The Arrival of Latter-day Saints

When The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Society Islands Mission expanded to include the Cook Islands in 1898, President Daniel Thomas Miller turned his attention to the eight thousand people living on the Cook Islands and assigned Osborne J. P. Widtsoe and Mervin W. Davis as the area’s first Latter-day Saint missionaries. They arrived in the capital city, Avarua, Rarotonga, on May 23, 1899. Widtsoe and Davis found the Cook Islands’ Māori language to be much like the Tahitian language they had already learned, and within a few weeks they were able to converse with the indigenous people. However, they “still had to study the language for several months before they were able to teach effectively.”[18] Traveling to various villages, they were received with openness and kindness. They noticed immediately that the natives had been taught a few passages of scripture and a few Protestant doctrines, though the islanders still knew very little about the gospel of Jesus Christ.[19]

These first Latter-day Saint missionaries found that the LMS-created church had grown quickly in the Cook Islands in part because the kings and queens converted to the religion and required the same of their subjects. King Makea Nui Ariki, arguably the weakest paramount chief in Rarotonga when LMS first arrived, recognized the power of the LMS and was quick to support their work. However, he never accepted Christ. His son Makea Pori who took over joined the LMS Church. Many successors of Makea Nui chiefs were women and were more deeply influenced by the LMS missionaries. For instance, King Makea’s granddaughter, Queen Makea Nui Ariki Takau, gave the land for and was the host of Takamoa, the London Mission Society’s training center for LMS missionaries, which expanded work throughout the Pacific. The successful spread of Christianity throughout the Pacific from this centralized center under the overlordship of Makea Nui was difficult to diminish or challenge. The most common resistance to Latter-day Saint missionary efforts often referenced the theme, “We are already Christians. Where were you when our ancestors were heathens?”

In 1899 Queen Makea prohibited her people from observing the Sabbath on any day other than Sunday. Some members of her tribe opposed this rule, particularly the Seventh-day Adventists. When many continued to attend their church and preach on Saturday regardless of the queen’s command, native preachers were fined for noncompliance. Then the queen forbade anyone to attend any church besides the LMS. Slowly, but surely, all Cook Islanders began to attend LMS meetings.[20] Regarding Queen Makea, Widtsoe and Davis commented,

The will of the queen is law. She may punish many real or imagined offenses of the natives without even a trial, and they are permitted to offer no defense. . . . All the land belongs to Queen Makea, or to one of the three or four minor arikis [high chiefs]. The land is apportioned to the people by the queen; but, for the least untoward conduct, they may forfeit all their rights and be severely punished. The people are, therefore, free in neither speech nor action. Though they believe a doctrine, they dare not declare it lest they should offend the queen.[21]

These harsh penalties clearly limited religious freedom and made missionary work very difficult. Perhaps this influence from royalty is why the LMS became an official religion in the Cook Islands but not in the other Pacific islands. Another reason the LMS had such a strong hold in the Cook Islands is that many other islands in the Pacific were colonized by the French and had already been reached by Catholic missionaries; however, the Cook Islands were colonized by the British, and the LMS was the first to do missionary work there.[22] The LMS was entrenched in the traditional system when the islands became a British protectorate in 1888 and a New Zealand territory in 1901. Indeed, LMS missionaries encouraged the raising of the Union Jack to declare Rarotonga British, along with English residents who feared becoming French. It is likely that this reaction was also driven by LMS intolerance toward Catholic incursions.[23]

Two additional Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived by mid-1901. Together, the missionaries earnestly sought opportunities to preach, but they achieved no convert baptisms. The LMS was so well established in the area that the Latter-day Saint missionaries could not get a foothold. Around this time, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints directed the Society Islands’ mission president, Edward S. Hall, to close all areas “where the elders had been for a year or more without making any converts.” So in November 1903, after just three years of Latter-day Saints presence in the Cook Islands, the missionaries left for Tahiti.[24] It would be nearly forty years before the Church returned to the Cook Islands.

Of the major Polynesian island groups, the Cook Islands were the last to receive sustained attention from the Church of Jesus Christ. Robert L. Simpson, a former New Zealand mission president, called the Cook Islands “the orphans of the Pacific.”[25] This neglect of the Cook Islands was because of the “great demand for church representatives in other areas of Polynesia. Major portions of Hawaii, Samoa, Tahiti, and Tonga joined” the Church, and missionaries were charged with not only teaching doctrine but also training converts to take over leadership positions in these other areas.[26] Transportation and communication difficulties between islands additionally hindered missionary work in the Cook Islands. Although Church leaders and missionaries visited the Cook Islands in the early 1900s, it would not be until after World War II that a permanent mission was established to labor in the Cook Islands.[27]

London Missionary Society in the Twentieth Century

Even though the LMS in the Cook Islands disavowed the LMS Constitution and formed the Cook Islands LMS Church, it still maintained a positive relationship with the LMS in London and continued to recognize authority from headquarters. London sent representatives to attend the Cook Islands LMS Church’s general assembly meetings (where church business was discussed), and local leaders still claimed that the LMS Constitution would be the final authority in disputes. In 1958 the following was added to the LMS Constitution:

During the years since the gospel was first preached in the Cook Islands a tradition in that the missionary of the LMS has authority over churches and Pastors. The purpose of this constitution is to enable the church to take responsibility for its own life and work. This transfer is bound to be a gradual process and depends upon the growth and will of the assembly. The missionary of the LMS shall, therefore, continue to exercise authority over the appointment and discipline of pastors until the Assembly, with the agreement of the LMS Board, decides that the church should assume this responsibility.[28]

This insertion clarified that the Cook Islands Christian Church would be independent but that the LMS missionaries that came from headquarters would have the power to appoint and discipline pastors on the Cook Islands. Furthermore, the Cook Islands Christian Church leaders generally appreciated the LMS for originally bringing Christianity to the islands. Toward the beginning of a general assembly meeting in 1952, an LMS leader conveyed “the undying gratitude of the Cook Islands Christian Church to the Society which brought to these islands the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and brought into being in these islands the church it has continued to serve for over a hundred years.”[29]

The initial work of the LMS in bringing the Bible to the Cook Islands and improving the people’s standard of living enabled the Cook Islands Christian Church to flourish. In addition, it paved the way for the introduction of other Christian denominations, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, even as the LMS initially facilitated the introduction of Latter-day Saints, it later hindered the Church’s progress in Samoa, the Cook Islands, and elsewhere.

Persecution in Samoa

In Samoa in 1958, local LMS missionaries argued for the Samoan government to limit the activity of Latter-day Saints. For example, LMS missionaries R. W. Allardice and John Bradshaw complained to Samoan government officials that Latter-day Saint missionaries were deliberately proselytizing among LMS converts and were entering people’s houses regardless of their religious affiliations. Allardice and Bradshaw accused the Latter-day Saint missionaries of undermining the good foundation the LMS had laid, causing disturbances and divisions among the people in the villages, brainwashing the people, teaching that Black people are inferior, and threatening the islands’ independence. In a letter to the high commissioner of the government of Samoa, Allardice and Bradshaw wrote, “We are taking what legitimate action we can to minimize the effect of teachings and informing our people of the errors in [their] doctrine; but we believe that unless the Government also acts soon, the . . . difficulties . . . will be intensified.” These difficulties, they argued, could not be offset by any positive contributions Latter-day Saints would make, including the increase in foreign capital or the improvement in education by establishing Latter-day Saint schools.[30]

Each of these accusations from the LMS was answered in a letter to the high commissioner by Latter-day Saint missionaries Charles Sampson, James Hardman, and David Randall, who asserted that they taught high standards of moral conduct and “obedience to law and order.” They also alleged that the divisions among people of different beliefs in the villages were not a result of the Latter-day Saint missionaries, but rather a result of “dissatisfactions stemming from various problems within their own ranks.” They also noted that the Latter-day Saint schools[31] “are open to inspection and [we] welcome visitors of community, church, and Government.” Furthermore, they countered the accusation of brainwashing people by explaining that converts “have gone through a period of instruction from two to four months, after which baptism has been granted based on their acceptance of Church laws and principles.” Finally, they claimed that accusations of racial prejudice are guided by misinformation, as Latter-day Saints extend membership to all, regardless of color.[32]

In addition to responding to these accusations, Sampson, Hardman, and Randall asserted the ideals of religious freedom that were not being met. They referred to the definition of religious freedom, as outlined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (established by the United Nations in 1948), which states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” The government restrictions that LMS missionaries were pushing were clear violations of this declaration. For instance, in some villages in Samoa, people were directly prohibited from being baptized and joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Even when baptism was not outright prohibited by law, “some of [the] people [met] our missionaries [Latter-day Saints] in secret and request[ed] information about [the Church] because they fear[ed] the criticism and church discipline of their own ministers.” Ironically, John Bradshaw, an LMS missionary who wrote to the Samoan government, had also accused Latter-day Saints of depriving people of religious freedom in his letter, to which accusation these three Latter-day Saint missionaries responded, “If we are too domineering or persistent in our proselyting efforts, for this we apologize and will do what we can to correct it, but we can’t believe that in our conduct we are depriving other people of religious freedom.”[33] The Latter-day Saints asserted in their letter to the government that they were not depriving others of their religious freedom but were being deprived of their own.

Despite the Latter-day Saint missionaries’ explanations, the Samoan government responded to the letters by restricting the number of Latter-day Saint missionaries to one missionary per two hundreds adherents in Samoa. This regulation did not apply to Latter-day Saint schoolteachers, who could still be admitted on an individual basis by the ministry of education.[34] After this decision, Bradshaw continued to push the government to impose further restrictions by including in this ratio all Latter-day Saint personnel such as schoolteachers because any of the Latter-day Saint workers could potentially do missionary work. Bradshaw further claimed that these restrictions did not violate religious freedom because they were not taking away freedom to use the Bible.[35]

Bradshaw’s extreme efforts to limit Latter-day Saints’ activity in the islands are not necessarily representative of all interactions between the LMS and Latter-day Saints; for example, “some degree of mutual respect occurred when the missionaries from each party discussed their personal beliefs while meeting in private.”[36] Still, many LMS members shared Bradshaw’s view, and other Pacific Islanders had conflicts similar to those in Samoa.

Attitudes in the Cook Islands

Similar instances of persecution took place in the Cook Islands. When Latter-day Saints began to have some conversion success in the Cook Islands, some islanders reacted adversely. For instance, Fritz Kruger, an influential Latter-day Saint missionary, faced heavy persecution. Kruger moved to Avarua, Rarotonga, to open a bakery in 1939.[37] After a near-death experience in 1941, he returned to New Zealand and left his bakery in the hands of Mrs. Paget-Brown.[38] While in New Zealand, Kruger met Latter-day Saint mission president Matthew Cowley, who called Kruger to do missionary work in the Cook Islands.[39] In 1942, when Kruger returned to Rarotonga, he actively sought opportunities to share the gospel, bringing many into the fold.

Although Kruger found some success, opposition from the LMS soon followed. After hearing that there was a Latter-day Saint among them, the LMS began giving out hundreds of pamphlets about Kruger being a “devil teacher.” These pamphlets urged islanders to cease buying his bread. Sales dropped for a time and so did the number of people willing to talk to Kruger about the Church. However, after reading one of these pamphlets, a Seventh-day Adventist named Harry Torea Strickland came to the bakery with a desire to know more about the Church. After a long discussion about Christ’s teachings, Strickland was converted and returned home to tell his wife what he learned. About a month later, Strickland and his family were baptized in the fall of 1942.[40]

Another early convert, Manu Cummings, was introduced to the Church while he was a member of the LMS. In fact, he and his siblings were strong supporters of the society. At one point, Cummings desired to become an LMS pastor and planned to travel to Takamoa to receive training, but he gave the opportunity to another man. He married Josephine Teakapeka, a Catholic, and the couple had five children. The family was introduced to the Church on September 17, 1944, and was baptized on May 12, 1945, by Kruger at the Avana River, along with fourteen other converts. Cummings’s brother and sister mocked him, calling him names for joining the Church rather than remaining with the LMS tradition. Although ridiculed for his decision, Cummings remained firm and became a pillar in the growing Church.[41] By June 1946 there were thirty-seven members of record in Rarotonga, including Harry Torea Strickland’s family, Manu Aereau Cummings’s family, Pai Goodwin’s family, Uu Tipoki, and Ngapoko Dean. On September 12, 1946, the first married couple to serve in the Cook Islands, Trevor Clarke Hamon and Mildred Patricia Anne Hamon, arrived in Rarotonga with sixteen British pounds and a charge to build a chapel with living quarters and offices. Within days, an approximate quarter of an acre was rented. Men chopped down timbers from the jungle to become the framework for the fifty-foot-by-twenty-foot chapel, and women plaited kikau (coconut palm thatching) for the roof: “Thus, the Rarotonga District of the New Zealand Mission began.”[42]

While the Church was gaining interest from the Rarotonga locals, chiefs disapproved of the missionaries proselyting among their people. Cook Islanders loyal to their LMS traditions threatened Hamon’s life several times. One day, Hamon was asked to come to Governor William Tailby’s office to discuss a matter with both him and the chief of police. When Hamon arrived, Governor Tailby and Officer Best showed Hamon a handwritten note from the chief of the nearby Arorangi village: “Please advise the Mormon missionary not to come to our village. . . . If he does he will be stoned and run into the ocean and drowned.” Officer Best informed Hamon that they did not have police available to protect Hamon and tried to get him to promise that he would stay away from Arorangi. But Hamon responded, “I have not intended going around to that village as I have more than enough work to do on this side of the island, but if the Lord tells me to go, then I will go.”[43]

Hamon left the office and looked out at the ocean, reflecting on the chief’s letter. In that moment, he heard a plain, clear voice that told him to go to Arorangi at three o’clock in the afternoon to hold a meeting. When Hamon and Cummings arrived in Arorangi, the same chief who had threatened Hamon was meeting with more than a hundred villagers in the fruit packing shed—it was the same shed in which Hamon had been prompted to hold his meeting. Cummings entered the shed to inform the chief of their meeting at 3 p.m., explaining that he and everyone present were welcome to attend. But at 3 p.m. the chief and all hundred villagers walked past Hamon and Cummings, leaving the building empty. Some villagers returned and continued to warn and threaten Hamon.[44] Although he and other missionaries and members faced threats on their life, they continued to proselytize and receive converts. The village of Arorangi, although at first resistant, would eventually become one of the Cook Islands’ largest branches.

In June 1948 Governor Tailby once again contacted Hamon about a threatening message he had received from the island of Palmerston stating that a “certain religious organization” was not wanted there. The governor was being pressured by the LMS. Yet he still granted permission for two more missionaries to come to the islands, and on August 12, 1948, Elders Chadwick and Anderson arrived by ship on Sir Maui Pomare. By the end of 1949, missionaries were allowed to preach in Aitutaki.

Another hindrance to the Church of Jesus Christ and its members having religious freedom continued to come from the strong influence that the LMS had on the government. In 1950 at an LMS general assembly meeting in Tauhunu, Manihiki, leaders petitioned the government to enforce LMS religious guidelines; they reminded attendees to “restrict at all costs any attempt to set aside the existing laws in the islands as governing such matters as introducing liquor, gambling or betting, [and] cohabitation among unmarried people.”[45] They feared that because some of the LMS boarding schools in the Cook Islands had closed, such as those in Tereora and Avarua, the people would lack proper spiritual and moral guidance. Furthermore, the leaders appealed “to include in the curriculum for Cook Islands government schools Bible instruction.”[46]

Not only did the LMS church petition the Cook Islands government to uphold its own religious values and practices, but it also warned the LMS members of the threat of other religions, including the Latter-day Saints. LMS leaders cautioned, “Some parents are thoughtlessly allowing their children to receive instruction from those who preach doctrines different from and opposed to the gospel first delivered to and accepted by their ancestral chiefs and [we] would urge all parents, deacons, [and] church leaders to guard their children by insuring that by attendance at Sunday School and Church they become well and truly established in the faith of our fathers.”[47] Trying to uphold the religious traditions of their ancestors, the Cook Islands LMS Church leaders portrayed other religions as a threat. When discussing the importance of the LMS schools, members urged the leaders to focus on the schools “if only to prevent the future leadership of the Cook Islands from falling with the hands of the Roman Catholics and Seventh Day Adventists, who have already established such schools and the Mormons [Latter-day Saints] who have declared their intention of establishing such institutions.”[48] Similarly, by attending LMS Sunday School, children might be “kept out of the hands of the false teachers who have come among us.”[49]

In 1958 the Cook Islands government imposed restrictions on the number of Latter-day Saint missionaries in the Cook Islands. With twenty-two Latter-day Saint missionaries in the Cook Islands, an LMS representative wrote, “This [entry of Latter-day Saints] besides having its direct bearing on the Church is felt by Church leaders to be a disruptive element in the life of the villages.” This LMS representative suggested limiting the number of Latter-day Saint missionaries in the Cook Islands by instituting a maximum ratio of missionaries to adherents, as was done in Samoa.[50]

Oppositions to Overcome

During the next decade, other missionaries in the Cook Islands continued to face opposition from the LMS. While the majority of LMS members and ministers were friendly, LMS deacons would often initiate heated arguments with the missionaries, which in turn caused Cook Islanders to be wary of the missionaries’ message. Latter-day Saint missionary Lane O. Steingal visited an LMS church and felt that the building was symbolic of some of its people. When the church was built, the builders could not agree on the interior design, so each builder had done something different with sections of the ceiling. Steingal observed, “On one side was a cross work of open rafters, and on the other there was a multi-level plastered ceiling. The two styles began at the ends and clashed abruptly in the center, disrupting the harmony and corrupting the design of the otherwise functional edifice. And I wondered. What did the people see at church when they lifted their eyes and hearts heavenward to worship? A memorial to discord and dissent?”[51]

Some LMS members would throw rocks at Latter-day Saint homes, and ministers confronted the missionaries about trying to steal away the LMS flock.[52] Mission president Stone encouraged the missionaries to be friendly with LMS members and ministers, to keep their actions above reproach, and to have courage to bear their testimony and preach.[53]

Yet the LMS united their efforts against the Church in a way that seemed impossible to overcome, forbidding any of their members to listen to the missionaries.[54] Sometimes when the missionaries approached the people, the islanders would cut the missionaries off, saying, “‘Aere ki Papua! Apii I te etene!’ (Go to Papua [New Guinea]! Teach the heathens!)”[55] For the Cook Islanders, religion was strongly tied to their culture and their family tradition. Anyone who listened to the missionaries risked being identified by their neighbors, monitored, and ridiculed in hopes of preserving those traditions.

This pressure from LMS ministers, friends, and family made it more difficult for interested Cook Islanders to learn about the Church. Mimau Tom, for example, wanted to meet with the missionaries but was staying with her uncle, an LMS pastor. When she saw the missionaries arrive outside of the house, she feared her uncle would be angry.[56] Grandson of an LMS minister, Mata Tumutoa pushed through the persecution and joined the Church at age fifteen in 1963, but he explained the hardship that came along with his choice: “The LMS is the thing you don’t change, because if you do, people will talk.”[57] Missionary George Olsen thought that there were many good families on the Island of Penrhyn that would have been baptized “if it weren’t for the talk of the people.”[58]

Even for some Church members, social pressures and cultural traditions seemed to prevail over religion, especially in marriages and partnerships. After young female members of the Church entered a relationship with someone of the LMS faith, they would often attend the partners’ worship services, quickly becoming inactive in Latter-day Saint services.[59] Although the missionaries could not tackle all of the issues posed by the LMS, there was a shift in missionary work during the 1950s to focus on young members who were living together without benefit of wedlock. The Samoan Mission presidency requested that supervising elders of each district report the members of the Church involved. They requested that this information was received directly from the individuals rather than from outside sources. The mission presidency hoped this direct contact would allow missionaries to start gospel conversations with cohabitating couples and encourage marriage.[60]

The Cook Islanders’ culture, which was heavily embedded in the LMS, may have at times inhibited missionary efforts; however, some cultural aspects and deeply rooted LMS influences greatly assisted the missionaries as they preached. For instance, due to LMS influence, many Cook Islanders already had a firm belief in keeping the Ten Commandments, with the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy holding great importance. One Cook Islander said that members of the Church would be accepted in Penrhyn, but that “they’d have to keep the Sabbath Day holy.”[61] In addition, LMS influence also helped missionaries address the unmarried cohabitation issues the mission president was concerned about. This preestablished obedience to commandments allowed missionaries to start on common ground with many islanders that they taught.

In the 1960s, panicked by the baptisms of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the area, LMS ministers quickly translated thousands of anti-Mormon pamphlets into Māori and shipped them to the islands to stunt missionary efforts. When Ti Hau Napura drew the elders into his home, he gathered his family around and retrieved a box full of these anti-Mormon pamphlets, wanting to know if the content of the pamphlets was true. He told the missionaries, “It’s a bad spirit that comes from these. I don’t believe they’re real. I want to know the truth.” The missionaries taught him, and Napura and his family were baptized in 1964. Napura’s children, parents, his wife’s parents, and aunts, and uncles on both sides were baptized, and these baptisms led to a branch of the Church being established on the island of Manihiki. Napura eventually became the branch president. Over all the islands, these same kinds of experiences were happening with the anti-Mormon literature printed with the intent to deter the Church’s growth. In 1963 about twenty-eight people were baptized in the Rarotonga Mission, despite the opposition from the London Mission Society.[62]

The Cook Islands Religious Advisory Council

Many members of the LMS Church had some real issues with its activities and doctrines, but because of its power over government and politics, many people were forced to accept the status quo. This LMS influence in politics continued until the Cook Islands achieved self-governance on June 28, 1965, although the entry of other church denominations also gradually reduced the LMS monopoly.

Recognizing that having a state church delimited religious freedom, the Cook Islands Government made great strides to provide religious freedom for its citizens. Providing a possible solution for other countries to use as a pattern, the government established the Cook Islands Religious Advisory Council in 1968, which ensured the representation of different religious affiliations in the Cook Islands government. Now, in the Cook Islands there are six religions with governmental recognition: the Cook Islands Christian Church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Assemblies of God, and the Apostolic Church. This council aims to unite the interests of each denomination with government initiatives. With its organization, much has been done to diminish governmental limits on religious freedom.

Organic Prejudice, Bias, and Discrimination from Individuals

Despite the presence of this religious council, some members of the Church of Jesus, in the Cook Islands still face societal pressure and prejudice because of their beliefs and do not enjoy religious freedom in its entirety. Today, the denial of religious freedom is not coming from government entities but rather from individuals who discriminate against converts to the Church, who they feel are are denying their cultural identity.

Because the Cook Islands Christian Church (CICC) is still the dominant religion in the Cook Islands today, comprising 49.1 percent of the population,[63] it is often a challenge for members of the Church of Jesus Christ, comprising only 4.4 percent[64] of the population, to diverge from what is so widely practiced. Most Latter-day Saint converts were formerly members of the CICC. For example, Latter-day Saint Nga Manapori said that before she converted, she was a member of the CICC because “that was the only church they had.”[65]

The close relationship that exists between the Cook Islands and membership in the CICC has established a strong cultural identity for many islanders; it is hard for them to distinguish a difference between cultural identity and religious affiliation. Therefore, it is often seen that if a person leaves the CICC, he or she is also abandoning the Cook Islands nationality. Many equate becoming a Latter-day Saint to leaving the Cook Islands culture, identity, and family. For this reason, many islanders are ostracized and rejected when they become Latter-day Saints.

Despite this expectation to remain members of the CICC, Cook Islanders have joined the Church of Jesus Christ for a variety of reasons. One Latter-day Saint, Mere Pepe, shared the story of her mother’s conversion. Pepe’s grandfather was a minister in the CICC, so her mother was accustomed to attending that church. One time, when her mother walked into the CICC with her children, she heard some members of the congregation whisper that her children were wearing old clothes. She tried to ignore their gossip, but the incident was repeated three more times. So the last time she went to the CICC, she decided “she would look for another church that will never whisper about her children’s clothes.” She then found and converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although her whole family faced prejudice and poor treatment from family and friends because of changing religions, Pepe’s mother did not care what anyone thought of her for this decision. Pepe added that other people break away from the CICC because they are tired of donating money and food without knowing what it is being used for.[66]

Another Latter-day Saint, Ta Rere, said that the main reason he left the CICC was because of their manner of baptism. He was preparing to be a minister in the CICC when he asked a CICC Sunday School teacher, “How come we don’t baptize?” The teacher responded that they do baptize—by sprinkling water. However, Rere read in the Bible that John baptized Jesus by immersing him in the water. That was the main point of doctrine that turned Rere from the CICC to the Church of Jesus Christ.[67]

Anitonia Roapaku experienced a long journey in finding and accepting the Church of Jesus Christ. His father came from a strong Catholic background, while his mother was a devout member of the CICC. Roapaku had been baptized into the CICC when he was little, but when he was ten years old, he felt that there was something missing in the CICC and began investigating other churches. He attended the Catholic Church, then the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and then the Assemblies of God. For a while, he was satisfied with the Assemblies of God, but then he began running into missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Roapaku recalled, “The things they said to me . . . hit me straightaway. I felt something from them . . . I’d never experienced that in all my days [with] other churches.” However, his pastor, an extended uncle, had warned the congregation not to get in contact with Latter-day Saint missionaries. Roapaku continued to meet with the missionaries, and the strong feelings from their messages persisted, but because of his fear of his family members’ reactions, he tried to resist what he felt. His parents even told him that if he was baptized, they would disown him. Finally, he decided to accept the missionaries’ invitation to pray to know if their message was true, “and that was the starting point of changing.” In November 1980, when he was twenty years old, Roapaku was baptized.[68]

Another convert, Rongo Ezekiela, requested to be baptized based on his own observations. When he was fifteen, his parents died, and he was invited to stay with his aunt and uncle who were Latter-day Saint members. Before he went, one of his brothers warned him not to go, saying, “Your uncle will make you a Mormon.” Ezekiela did not worry about this comment and went to stay with them anyway. He had been a member of the CICC until that point, but commented, “I never learned anything from there.” While staying with his aunt and uncle, Ezkiela noticed that the way the family lived seemed unusual to him—in a positive way. His aunt and uncle never talked to him about the Church, but he made his own observations and, after a few months, requested to be baptized.[69]

It was never easy for Cook Islanders to leave the CICC because they faced social repercussions for their decision. Latter-day Saint convert Moari Ngatuakana was baptized with Tui Cummings in 1948. Ngatuakana later commented that when she would have sacrament meetings in her home, members of the CICC would throw rocks at her house. She did not let this persecution affect her decision to become a Latter-day Saint. She said, “It doesn’t worry me what they talk about. . . . As long you know the truth, that is [what] matters.”[70]

Apart from these occasional blatant attacks on Latter-day Saints, Mata Tumutoa explained that the prejudice against Latter-day Saints was often evident in subtle societal pressure rather than being expressed openly. From what he noticed, prejudice was shown in the expressions of surprise and the questioning that Latter-day Saint converts frequently received from family members and friends.[71]

It took great courage to go against this societal pressure, especially when it came from family members. Kura Moyle was just eight years old when she was baptized. Her family members, who were members of the CICC at the time, strongly opposed her decision.[72] Similarly, Mata Tumutoa joined the Church of Jesus Christ when he was fifteen. When his mother found out, she became upset because Mata’s grandfather was an LMS minister. Mata commented, “That’s a big no-no in our culture.”[73] Despite the challenge of diverging from family traditions, societal expectations, and local culture, these converts exercised their faith and courage to follow what they believed.

Although there is still some societal pressure on a personal level, religious persecution on a societal level has gradually diminished and now, for the most part, there is mutual public respect between the various religions in the islands. Nigel Ngatuakana, Latter-day Saint bishop on Akitua (2018), explained that if there is a problem, it is usually in small groups, but there are no large-scale issues between denominations. He shared, “I have a great relationship with the three ministers of the CICC Church on this island. . . . What I mean is we would shake hands, we’ll have a little conversation, have a chat, have a laugh, you know? . . . There’s no issue. And I think there’s a certain level of respect that we have for each other. It was rife back in the day, I think, if any new religion was to come in for them to stamp their authority and say, ‘This is our territory.’ But now, it’s not quite like that as far as I know.”[74]

Angaroa Williams had a similar experience in her interactions with the Cook Islands Religious Advisory Council: “We’d go to the activities, they’d come to the house. . . . But there was no friction between the different denominations.” The council serves to unite the interests of the different denominations with the government. One of the ways in which the council achieves this is by conducting national religious events. For instance, each year the council organizes a large church service at the beginning of cyclone season to invite Cook Islanders to enjoy a spiritual program and pray together for the nation. Then, at the end of cyclone season, the council hosts another session of thanksgiving. While this council has functioned, the various denominations have become more united, and the government has become more supportive of Latter-day Saints.[75]

With the Cook Islands Religious Advisory Council, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints has become more accepted in the Cook Islands. However, not all members of other religions are in support of Latter-day Saints. Mautara Cummings stated, “There are some that [are] against it and some that are with it.”[76] But the prejudice that remains is what prevents religious freedom from being experienced by Latter-day Saints in its entirety within the Cook Islands.

These stories supplement and highlight the major LMS/CICC hindrances to the growth of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Cook Islands—obstacles that have mellowed in 2022 to a large extent but unfortunately remain beneath the surface among some CICC followers.

Latter-day Saint Perspectives on Religious Freedom

As in most countries, religious freedom is not complete in the Cook Islands, yet such freedom is a high priority for Latter-day Saints. The eleventh article of faith of the Church states, “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.”[77] In recent years, worldwide leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have shared their views on the subject of religious freedom. Latter-day Saint leaders recognize that “limits on religious activities are appropriate where necessary to protect compelling interests, such as the life, property, health, or safety of others.” However, they also explain that “such limitations should be truly necessary, rather than an excuse for abridging religious freedom.”[78] Government restrictions imposed on Latter-day Saints in the Cook Islands did not protect these interests of health and safety; rather, the restrictions were based on fear, lack of understanding, and false information—the restrictions were infringements on religious freedom.

In addition, Latter-day Saint leaders assert that religious freedom includes more than just the freedom of what to believe; it also includes other aspects of how to worship. The Church website explains that “freedom of religion protects not only individuals, but also the religious organizations that make faith communities possible. It encompasses the right to form churches and other religious institutions, such as religious schools and charities. It affords such institutions the freedom to establish their doctrines and modes of worship.”[79] Activities such as establishing schools—just as the missionaries did on the Cook Islands when they built and maintained elementary and secondary schools—should all be included in the right of religious freedom.

Finally, religious freedom includes the freedom to do missionary work. Apostle Robert D. Hales of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints explained, “[A] cornerstone of religious liberty is the freedom to share our faith and our beliefs with others. . . . As parents, full-time missionaries, and member missionaries, we rely on religious freedom in order to teach the Lord’s doctrine in our families and throughout the world.”[80] For Latter-day Saints to fully act on their beliefs, they must have the freedom to preach the gospel—do missionary work—throughout the world. When the government restricted the number of Latter-day Saint missionaries in the South Pacific, this was a violation of religious freedom.

While Latter-day Saint missionaries value this freedom to preach, they also value the freedom of others to accept or reject their message. President Dallin H. Oaks counseled, “Followers of Christ should be examples of civility. We should love all people, be good listeners, and show concern for their sincere beliefs. Though we may disagree, we should not be disagreeable. . . . We encourage all of us to practice the Savior’s Golden Rule: ‘Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.’”[81] These are the principles that Latter-day Saint members and missionaries strive to abide by when interacting with people of different beliefs and backgrounds, and they expect the same privileges in return.

Conclusion

When Latter-day Saints first arrived in the Cook Islands, they were deprived of religious freedom. They were persecuted by members of the LMS, their activities were restricted by the Cook Islands government, and they faced an overall negative pressure from society that continues in some degree today. We cannot conclude that members of the LMS or CICC had malicious intentions in their attitudes and actions toward Latter-day Saints. It is more likely that LMS members treated Latter-day Saints this way out of support for their own causes and beliefs and because they truly thought it was for the good of the islands. There is nothing wrong with advocating one’s own religion, but even if the LMS or CICC did not mean any harm, resorting to the persecution, legally imposed restrictions, and coercive societal pressures were violations of religious freedom—Latter-day Saints and those of other denominations were not free to share their beliefs how they chose or to build institutions the way they wanted, and they were not treated with the respect and love that fellow Christians are taught to extend to others.

The restrictions on the religious freedom of Latter-day Saints in the Cook Islands have diminished gradually over the years. In particular, the emergence of Dr. Thomas Davis as prime minister in 1979 and Pa Ariki, his Bahai wife, challenged the LMS monopoly. Pa Ariki was an influential queen for Takitumu and was also the president of the House of Ariki, a body representing all the paramount chiefs of the Cook Islands.

Other recent changes in the religious affiliation of the traditional Cook Islands leadership have led to more open tolerance of Seventh-day Adventist, Roman Catholic, and Latter-day Saint religious practices. Indeed, by 2022 at least two (Vaeruarangi Ariki, Manarangi Ariki) of four paramount chiefs on Aitutaki island belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the most recent general election in August 2022, a Latter-day Saint (MP for Ruaau Constituency, in Puaikura, Rarotonga) was also elected to national parliament for the first time since self-governance in 1965.

Some Latter-day Saint doctrines, especially baptism by immersion, eventually have also influenced the loss of CICC membership in the Cook Islands as the disillusioned have broken away. However, there are still improvements to be made to eliminate the societal and cultural pressure that Latter-day Saints feel because of their beliefs. Ideally, members of all religions should feel accepted, despite their differences in beliefs.

What took place in the Cook Islands is just one example of limits on religious freedom and attempts to ensure religious freedom. Similar infringements on religious freedom also occurred in other Pacific islands and to other religions. On a global level, many more well-known instances of religious persecution have taken place. While there have been recent improvements in the Cook Islands, it is important to be aware that religious freedom can be deprived at all levels and in both subtle and blatant ways.

Notes

[1] D. Todd Christofferson, “Celebration of Religious Freedom,” address given at an interfaith conference in São Paulo, Brazil, April 29, 2015, https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/a-celebration-of-religious-freedom.

[2] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Religious Freedom,” in Religious Freedom, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/religious-freedom/religious-freedom.

[3] “Cook Islands Christian Church,” World Council of Churches, https://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/cook-islands-christian-church.

[4] The London Missionary Society, The Chronicle of the London Missionary Society (London: London Missionary Society, 1870), 101–2.

[5] “1890–1900: A Testing of Missionaries’ Faith,” as cited in A Brief History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Cook Islands, NZ-01-00016, 6, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.

[6] Ian Breward, History of the Churches in Australia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 29.

[7] Breward, History of the Churches in Australia, 51–52.

[8] “1890–1900: A Testing of Missionaries’ Faith,” as cited in Brief History, 7.

[9] Information in this paragraph comes from an anonymous reviewer, which we gratefully acknowledge.

[10] Breward, History of the Churches in Australia, 105–8.

[11] Breward, History of the Churches in Australia, 51–52.

[12] Breward, History of the Churches in Australia, 51–52.

[13] Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, General Assembly Church Meeting Minute Book (city: Independent Press, 1950–72), 38.

[14] “1890–1900: A Testing of Missionaries’ Faith,” 7.

[15] R. G. Crocombe, Land Tenure in the Cook Islands (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1964), 36.

[16] Breward, History of the Churches in Australia, 36–38.

[17] “1890–1900: A Testing of Missionaries’ Faith,” 6.

[18] “1890–1900: A Testing of Missionaries’ Faith,” 6.

[19] Osborne J. P. Widstoe, Mervin W. Davis, and Benj. A. Johnson, “From the Cook Islands,” article in unknown newspaper, February 27, 1900.

[20] Widstoe, Davis, and Johnson, “From the Cook Islands.”

[21] Widstoe, Davis, and Johnson, “From the Cook Islands.”

[22] Peter Witehira, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[23] Again, we acknowledge our anonymous reviewer for information in this paragraph.

[24] “1890–1900: A Testing of Missionaries’ Faith,” 7.

[25] Lane O. Steingal, Kia Toa! Unto the Isles of the Sea (Lindon, UT: Alexander’s Digital Printing, 2006), 112.

[26] Steingal, Kia Toa!, 112.

[27] “A Question of Religion,” Cook Islands News, March 13, 1973, 11.

[28] Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, General Assembly Church Meeting Minute Book, 133.

[29] Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, General Assembly Church Meeting Minute Book, 89.

[30] R.W. Allardice and John Bradshaw to High Commissioner of the Government of Western Samoa, typescript, SOAS Library, London Missionary Society Collection, box 42, folder 2.

[31] The schools spoken of were elementary and secondary schools that Latter-day Saint missionaries began establishing in the late 1800s in order to provide formal education opportunities to the Pacific Islanders. At first, these schools were created and run by missionaries, but eventually, in 1957, the Pacific Board of Education was organized to oversee them. Leon Roundy Hartshorn, Mormon Education in the Bold Years (EdD diss., Standford University, 1965), 186–87.

[32] Charles I. Sampson, James H. Hardman, and David L. Randall to High Commissioner Powles, typescript, SOAS Library, London Missionary Society Collection, box 42, folder 2.

[33] Sampson, Hardman, and Randall to Powles.

[34] High Commissioner G. R. Powles to President Sampson, March 19, 1958, typescript, SOAS Library, London Missionary Society Collection, box 42, folder 2.

[35] J. Bradshaw to High Commissioner Powles, April 17, 1958, typescript, SOAS Library, London Missionary Society Collection, box 42, folder 2.

[36] Fred E. Woods, “Latter-day Saint Missionaries Encounter the London Missionary Society in the South Pacific, 1844–1852,” BYU Studies Quarterly 52, no. 3, article 7, https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol52/iss3/7.

[37] John L. Hart, “He Kept His Promise to Repay the Lord,” Church News, August 29, 1992, https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/1992-08-29/he-kept-his-promise-to-repay-the-lord-144194.

[38] “Memories of Fritz Krueger Relating to Rarotonga and Missionary Work in the Cook Islands,” as cited in “Rarotonga History: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Cook Islands,” manuscript for the 50^th anniversary of the Cook Islands Mission (1996), 9–13, transcription in author’s possession.

[39] Hart, “He Kept His Promise.”

[40] Fritz Kruger for “50th Birthday of Church, Short Version,” 1–3, as cited in “Rarotonga History,” transcript in author’s possession.

[41] “Manu Cumming’s Early Convert in Takitumu,” in Brief History, 10.

[42] “A Brief Summary of Missionary Work in the Cook Islands,” as cited in “Rarotonga History.”

[43] “Establishing the Gospel in Rarotonga from 1940–Today,” as cited in Brief History, 13.

[44] “Establishing the Gospel in Rarotonga from 1940–Today,” 13.

[45] Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, General Assembly Church Meeting Minute Book, 43.

[46] Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, General Assembly Church Meeting Minute Book, 92.

[47] Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, General Assembly Church Meeting Minute Book, 45.

[48] Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, General Assembly Church Meeting Minute Book, 93.

[49] Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, General Assembly Church Meeting Minute Book, 97.

[50] “The Cook Islands,” typescript, SOAS Library, London Missionary Society Collection, box 42, folder 2.

[51] Steingal, Kia Toa!, 510.

[52] “Aitutaki Cook Islands mission home journal,” transcript in author’s possession.

[53] Howard B. Stone to Elder Ted Smith, Rarotonga Missionary Record, 1954–1956, Church History Library Archives, LR 7852 29, February 2, 1956.

[54] Rarotonga District notes, December 1, 1956, 65, transcript in author’s possession.

[55] Steingal, Kia Toa!, 168–69.

[56] Taraota and Mimau Tom, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, in author’s possession.

[57] Mata Tumutoa, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, in author’s possession.

[58] George Olsen, New Zealand Mission Report of Elder George Leonard Olsen, Church History Library, LR 6048 42 New Zealand Mission, August 2, 1966.

[59] “Aitutaki Cook Islands mission home journal,” transcript in author’s possession.

[60] The Samoan Mission Presidency to all supervising elders, May 2, 1956, Samoan Mission, Rarotonga Missionary Record, 1954–1956, Church History Library, LR 7852 29.

[61] Steingal, Kia Toa!, 310.

[62] Gary Walker to Emily Smurthwaite, “Never Fear Opposition: Anti-Mormon Literature Often Helps Missionary Efforts,” November 10, 1998, as cited in “Rarotonga History.”

[63] “Cook Islands,” The World Factbook, October 21, 2020, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cw.html.

[64] “Cook Islands.” This figure from a government census means that 4.4 percent publicly claim to be Latter-day Saint, whereas membership records indicate 1,900, according the Pacific Area Office, or about 11 percent of Cook Islanders. This pattern occurs all over the Pacific. The Tongan government census shows less than 20 percent identifying as Latter-day Saint, whereas the Church records indicate over 60 percent. Former or less-active members and those worried about publicly identifying to the government account for the lesser figure.

[65] Nga Manapori, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[66] Mere Pepe, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[67] Ta Rere, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[68] Antonia Roapaku, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[69] Rongo Ezekiela, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[70] Moari Ngatuakana, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[71] Mata Tumutoa, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[72] Kura Moyle, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[73] Mata Tumutoa, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[74] Nigel Ngatuakana, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[75] Angaroa Williams, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, June 2017, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[76] Mautara Cummings, interview by Mary Jane Woodger, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

[77] “Articles of Faith 1:11” in the Pearl of Great Price.

[78] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Religious Freedom: The Basics,” in Religious Freedom, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/religious-freedom?lang=eng.

[79] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Religious Freedom: The Basics,” in Religious Freedom, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/religious-freedom/religious-freedom-the-basics.

[80] Robert D. Hales, “Preserving Agency, Protecting Religious Freedom,” Ensign, May 2015, 111–13.

[81] Dallin H. Oaks, “Loving Others and Living with Differences,” Ensign, November 2014, 25–27.