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On May 7, 1850, sisters Louisa Barnes Pratt and Caroline Barnes Crosby embarked on a journey neither woman anticipated nor was fully prepared to take. These sisters are some of the earliest women to accompany their husbands on missions, though women would not be officially called to serve until 1898. They were physically challenged, culturally stretched, and emotionally pulled. Louisa fittingly described the experience as a contrast between joys and sorrows.[1] Amid moments of frustration, sadness, and homesickness, there were moments of peace, wonder, and happiness. During the highs and lows, their faith was consistent. Both women left a record of their journey so we may learn from their experiences as we embark on our own unexpected journeys.

Political, Economic, and Religious Expansion in the Nineteenth Century

In the mid-nineteenth century, European industrialization drove the expansion of Western imperialism, with England and France considered the most prominent players. The United States would later join the quest to expand its global influence. Explorers first arrived in what is now known as French Polynesia in the 1770s. Foreign missionaries followed—first the Spanish, followed by the British and French.[2]

The London Missionary Society was the first to send missionaries to the area, which includes Tuamotu, Gambier, Austral, Marquesas, and Society (Tahiti) island groups. French Catholics followed soon afterward. The first Latter-day Saint missionaries were men who arrived in the Pacific Islands in April 1844. Christianity was well established on the main islands, primarily the Society Islands. The British and the French had been actively proselytizing and vying for dominance for many years. The social and political structure of the islands had already been transformed due to colonization. Due to the political dynamic, the American Latter-day Saint missionaries were not well received and under high scrutiny, which limited their work. These men would also find themselves in jail periodically as the French government exerted its dominance, which had begun in 1842—two years before the missionaries’ arrival.

Addison Pratt, Benjamin Grouard, and Noah Rogers were the first Latter-day Saint missionaries to serve on the islands. Addison remained for five years, and Benjamin stayed for eight. These missionaries would spend most of their time proselytizing in the outer islands, primarily the Austral and Tuamotu Islands, where the French and British had a lesser presence. In Addison’s first year, he baptized sixty people on the island of Tubuai, the central island in the Austral Islands. Benjamin spent most of his time on the Anaa Atoll in the Tuamotu Islands where, by the fall of 1846, 620 people had been baptized.[3]

Sisters in Zion

Louisa Barnes Pratt, 1802–80. Wikimedia Commons.

During Addison’s five-year absence, his wife, Louisa Barnes Pratt, functioned as a single mother—referring to herself as a mission widow. She navigated the complexities and turmoil of Nauvoo, moved her children over a thousand miles, and started a new life in Salt Lake City, where she reunited with her husband after his return. When Addison was away, she battled disease, loneliness, and frustration all while parenting four young daughters. Her sister, Caroline, was her greatest support. Louisa wrote of those years of separation, “It was sad to realize what a change the lapse of years brings! Changing forms and features in the domestic circle, even causing estrangement in long separation, should as much as possible be avoided. Nothing short of the interest and advancement of the Kingdom of God could justify so long a separation.”[4]

Caroline, the younger of the two sisters, had married Jonathan Crosby. He introduced Caroline, Louisa, and Louisa’s husband, Addison, to the Latter-day Saint faith. Caroline and Jonathan had one son, Alma. Caroline and her husband often cared for Louisa’s oldest child, Ellen.[5] Later, Ellen would even live with the Crosbys on Tubuai and on occasion traveled with Jonathan as he visited different islands during their time in Tubuai.

Sent to the Islands of the Sea

In September 1848 Addison was reunited with Louisa and his children in Salt Lake City. In October, not even one month later, Caroline wrote in her diary that Addison was making plans to return to Tubuai with his family, including herself, Jonathan, and their son, Alma.[6] Louisa didn’t mention the possibility of another mission in her diary until the spring of 1849.[7] The thought of leaving the Salt Lake Valley and the community of Saints frightened Louisa. When Church leadership was consulted about Addison’s return to the Pacific and his desire to have his family accompany him, however, it was decided that he would go alone. So, after a five-year separation and only one year reunited with his family, Addison left on his second mission in October 1849. It was an enormous struggle for Louisa.

Addison Pratt, 1802–72. Wikimedia Commons.

Sometime in March 1850, Marian Young, wife of Brigham Young, paid a visit to Louisa. During their visit Marian asked Louisa if she had any requests for her husband, the President of the Church. Louisa told Marian she had been offered help to get to California if she wanted to join her husband. Marian seemed to favor the prospect of Louisa being reunited with her husband. Louisa immediately regretted telling her, writing in her diary, “I trembled alternately, sometimes fearing I might be sent, and again that I might not.”[8] She went on to lament her husband’s lack of communication and support. She had received very few letters during his first mission. There was a sense of silence and perceived abandonment from Addison while they were apart.[9] She said she was caught between two fires. If she stayed, she would be both father and mother to her children, struggling to provide for them on the frontier. However, if she went, she would be leaving her community. Her oldest daughters were also approaching marriage age. She did not want to take them from their Latter-day Saint community to a strange land. She chose not to make the decision herself but placed it in the hands of God and Church leadership. She wrote of the struggle, “I found my spirit growing rebellious; imagined my trials greater than any other woman’s ever was. I imagined my companion was glad to go from home because I could not always manage to please him. From the indulgence of that unhappy spirit, I suffered more than from all the privation and poverty I had passed through. I laid my cause before the Lord, and plead with Him to let the day dawn, and the day star arise in my heart.”[10]

She anticipated she would discover her future in the following general conference when mission calls were announced, which she did. On April 6, 1850, several men were called to the Pacific. Their calls included the task of accompanying Louisa and her children on the journey to be with Addison. The newly called men would be accompanied by their families as well. The women themselves were not officially called. Shortly after the determination was made, Louisa had a follow-up conversation with Marian Young. Louisa told her she would be more inclined to go if her sister Caroline could accompany her. Shortly after, a call was extended to Jonathan to join the missionaries. Much to Louisa’s relief, Caroline would accompany him.[11]

When Caroline heard the news, she reacted with faithful resignation. She and Jonathan had built a nice home and were comfortably situated. This call meant they would have to sell everything and leave Salt Lake Valley, wondering when or if they would return. She wrote,

It is determined that we accompany Br Pratt and family to the Islands of the Pacific. We therefore feel ourselves still in an unsettled state. After labouring and toiling so long to get to a place where we could feel ourselves at home, we have now got to take another and even more tedious journey and take up our abode among the wild sons of nature perhaps for several years, but it is all for the gospels sake, therefore we do not wish to murmur, but keep our eyes upon the recompence of reward, that rest which remains for this people of God.[12]

Before departing, Louisa dined at Brigham Young’s home, where he gave her a departing blessing, “He said I was called, set apart, and ordained, to go to the Islands of the sea, to aid my husband in teaching the people. That I should be honored by those with whom I traveled, that all my wants should be supplied. That no evil should befall me on the journey, that I should lack nothing. I should have power to rebuke the destroyer from my house, that he should not have power to remove any of my family, that I should do a good work, and return in peace.”[13]

Experiencing the Contrast Between Joy and Sorrow

Caroline, Louisa, and their families left the Salt Lake Valley one month after receiving their call on May 5, 1850. They crossed overland to California, by boat to San Francisco Bay, then traveled by ship to the Austral Islands, arriving in Tubuai on October 21, 1850, where Louisa and Caroline would live and serve for the entirety of their mission. The journey was long and arduous. Exploding camp stoves, mosquitos, interpersonal conflicts with fellow travelers, and seasickness were part of the adventure.[14] The monthlong ocean crossing was particularly troublesome. Louisa and Caroline complained of being unable to keep food down and enjoy the voyage: “Oh, Sea sickness how horrible! It is continually dying, and yet you live!”[15]

When they finally arrived on land, the sisters were given a very warm and loving welcome. Recalling that day, Louisa wrote,

We were conducted over the coral reef with great care; the island at a little distance presented a pleasing appearance, the beach being skirted with ito [aito], and boorou [purau] trees, together with bananna and cocoanuts, and a variety of shrubbery of the most living green; it being then the 21st of Oct. a season in which we expect to see the leaves turn yellow and fall off; not to see the least symptom of such decay, conveyed a pleasing sensation to the mind. The buildings tho far from being elegant, had an appearance of romance; little white cottages in the woods, shining through the green trees away from the hustle of the busy world, far, far away over the mighty ocean! to find the remnants of Israel enjoying tho’ in a rude state an incessant Spring; this idea was exhilirating to one tired of the sea as I was.[16]

Both women commented on the warm reception they received from the people. Caroline wrote, “Our hearts were all revived and comforted by a welcome reception from the natives who met us at the water’s edge to shake hands and say your honour, meaning peace be with you, until our hands and arms were actually tired.”[17]

View of Tubuai looking across the lagoon from one of its motus. © by Jérémie Silvestre / Wikimedia Commons / CC B4-SA 4.0.

Louisa had hoped to be reunited with her husband; unfortunately, he was being detained by the French officials on the island of Tahiti. Their children were surprised and disappointed. However, she wrote, “I was prepared for the disappointment for I had pondered it in my heart and said to myself that such a thing would be like the rest of my luck or fortune.”[18] She would look for him whenever a boat would arrive, but she would not see him for three months. After his first five-year mission and a full year had passed since his second departure, the three-month wait was frustrating. Despite Louisa’s disappointment, the sisters enjoyed their first few days on the island. The food, people, music, and environment were all so new and fascinating. Louisa poetically articulated their wonder beautifully on one of their first nights:

I looked upon the humble people seated on the ground singing the praises of God. I gazed upon the scenery which surrounded the dwelling, the pale rays of the moon shining through the trees in a thousand shapes, the tall cocoanuts were growing in front of the house, their branches high up in the air, the great it goes above all, which seen by the queen of night throwing her rays so gently over them, while the imagination made warm with the reality of the distance we had come and the suffering it had cost us to gain an admittance here, the object of our coming, all conspired to fill the mind with ideas great with meaning and I felt that God was in it all.[19]

Louisa recorded the high and low moments in her writings. These first few days were the highest point for her. As her time on the islands progressed, sorrow would become more frequent in her records, though joy was still part of the experience. As time passed, the newness and magic of the islands faded, and she longed to return home. Things she found pleasure in initially, such as the quiet nature of island life, would later try her patience. Toward the end of her mission, she would reflect on the emotional contrast of her mission, “Transports of joy I seldom feel. Sometimes [I feel] peace and a heavenly calm, at others deep sorrow and unaccountable gloom!”[20] Through her diary, one thing remains consistent, her faith in God and devotion to the church.

Caroline’s diary focused on the narrative of day-to-day life. However, one can sense her joy and wonder upon arrival on the islands: “We were much delighted to hear their musical voices singing the praises of God. Such perfect tune keepers harmony I never heard before; especially from those who never learned rules of music.”[21]

Adapting to Foreign Missionary Service

Language study began almost immediately upon arrival. Louisa wrote, “The people seemed very anxious to teach us their language nearly all our evenings were spent in reading and translating the Scriptures it was a source of great amusement to us to be learning a new language or at least new to us. There were so many mistakes made to excite merriment and a little ridicule, it answered well for diversion.”[22] For most of the mission, she depended on her husband and daughters to translate for her. She made many attempts to learn, but it was difficult for her. One year into her mission, she recorded, “Today I called the native sisters together to instruct them in their religious duties. Ellen acted as interpreter and succeeded remarkably well. This she has been able to do for several months. They spoke in turn, each expressing a desire that I might soon have a knowledge of their language and speak from my own lips directly to them. I shall soon make an attempt to [do] so and having their prayers and faith shall be certain of success.”[23] The corresponding diary entry for Caroline reads, “We have sought for an understanding of their language both by study and by faith, and have been enabled thereby to obtain a partial knowledge of it, and we trust that ere long we shall be able to make known unto them the wonderful works of God among the children of men.”[24]

One month later, Louisa records with great pride that she was able to deliver a short commentary on baptisms for the dead to a group of women in their language. She proudly proclaimed, “Past the meridian of life, I have learned a new language.”[25] She never felt she had achieved fluency. After another Bible study, she lamented that she longed to “commune with the saints in our own tongue.”[26] Toward the end of her mission, Louisa actively participated in Bible sessions and read it in Tahitian. She was still depending on an interpreter most of the time. However, she could manage when there was no interpreter around. Caroline also made significant progress with the language during the last months of the mission. One month before they left, Caroline was finally comfortable enough to “speak to the sisters” in their language.[27]

The mission families were required to be self-sufficient by the French colonial leaders. They could not rely on the local people to feed them, though locals continued sharing produce with them. The men hunted birds and goats and sometimes fished. The women gardened. On occasion, Louisa complained about the lack of meat, but she enjoyed the fresh food on the island. Finding food was relatively easy on Tubuai. Regarding this, Louisa wrote, “When hungry he could go down to the foot of the mountains where grows a plenty of good food and fruits, which is free for all; where thought I could another such place be found where man could live alone without labor and suffer so little?”[28] She felt healthier than ever while on her mission, in contrast to the near starvation and disease she experienced crossing the plains. One of the first things she mentioned missing after her mission was the food. Caroline also enjoyed the mission diet. She was willing to try new things, except for dog and raw fish.[29]

Religious Conversion and Cultural Transformation

Like most Christian European missionaries of the nineteenth century, Caroline and Louisa saw saving souls as purely religious. Though articulated as spiritual, much of their work focused on cultural transformation. They did not distinguish between religious conversion and cultural transformation. In their minds they were synonymous.

Before European contact, Tubuai’s population was estimated to be around three thousand. By the time the Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived on the island, the numbers had dropped to around three hundred with the spread of European-borne diseases.[30] Louisa wrote, “There is a disease prevalent among all the islands not known before the whites came among them.” Louisa, however, placed the blame for the illness on behavior. Like many of her time, she saw the disease as often “the fruits of sin.”[31] Louisa performed many healing anointings and blessings, a recognized practice among Latter-day Saint women in the nineteenth century.[32] The members had great faith in her consecrated oil and healing ability. Nevertheless, much to her dismay, she could not heal everyone: “Many children are born diseased. Today is the burial of Tutailana, the sick woman of whom I have written. Her sufferings are at last ended. Her disease was of long standing. No skill of ours could reach it.”[33]

In another entry, she wrote,

The natives generally have a great share of reverence. They have great faith in the ordinances of the Gospel such as baptism and the laying on hands for recovering the sick to health. I brought with me a bottle of consecreated oil which was blessed by brother Brigham Young and other of the authorities, previous to my leaving Salt Lake. The females had great faith in the oil, when I told them from whence I had brought it, and by whom it had been blessed. They would frequently bring their young children to me when they were sick to have me annoint them, give them oil inwardly, and lay my hands upon them in the name of the Lord; if I told them they would soon be better, they seemed to have no doubt about it, and so it was to them according to their faith.[34]

Also central to their mission was educating children. The sisters held school for the local children almost daily. They cared deeply for their students, but they often expressed frustration in their task. They saw the local children as wild and undisciplined, and felt it was their mission to tame them. Sometimes local children would live with the Pratts and Crosbys while they were being schooled. An example from Louisa’s journal reads:

Our friends Haamatua and family all came; they brought their children and presented them to us. Said here are your children; we commit them to your care; do with them as you think propper, they are really good children, and I look upon them as my own, and already I feel an affection for them. O what a work is there to be done here! how much these children need benefactors to raise them; like the wild animals in the woods they run at large; and if they were tamed and cultivated they would be gentle and amiable like our own children. I can say I love them for the sake of pity, and compassion, and because I see they are human beings like ourselves; they have the same kind of sympathies the same affections; those who know the truth love it and devote their hearts to it.[35]

Caroline housed Luna, a local child for a time. She described Luna as “perfectly wild, having never been accustomed to wearing clothes or being confined to stay at home only as fancy inclined her.” After five weeks, Caroline described her as “considerably domesticated.”[36] Louisa recorded much in her diary about teaching the children. In one entry, she wrote,

There I teach the children at an early hour in the morning: a long class of boys, a few little girls. It is amusing to hear them try to pronounce English words: to repeat the names of the days in a week, the months in a year, to count in English all which they are greatly delighted with, awkward as they are in the exercise. And above all do I endeavor to learn them to hold themselves erect on their seats, a habit they are almost as unacquainted with as our domestic animals. They seem inclined to writhe and twist themselves in all manner of positions. Their hands must be clasped over their heads or on the back of their seats, their feet drawn up under them, any way but the right way. And yet they seem intelligent and shrewd, as other children, having a desire to learn. Oh, could they be taken to America, and placed in a good school.[37]

In another entry, she wrote in exasperation, “The government of children what a task!” and “Growing up with no more cultivation than the pigs have, . . . they are so wild and restless it is very unpleasant to keep them long in.”

Louisa felt her mission would not be a success if she could not make lasting and permanent changes among the children. She feared that without the guidance of the missionaries, they would return to their prior habits and behaviors which she considered inappropriate. Before her return to the United States, Louisa approached some of the parents and offered to bring their children with her so she could continue their education. The parents understandably declined her offer. Louisa unexpectedly warned them the children would grow in wickedness if they remained on the island, and the sin would be on the parents’ heads. She then lamented, “If I can save one poor child from moral degradation, I shall feel repaid for all my labor in coming here.”[38]

In addition to religious and educational teaching, both women devoted a portion of their time to teaching the island women American standards of hygiene, housekeeping, and etiquette. According to Louisa, “The Lord is better pleased when we keep ourselves neat and clean. What if we do not, we must not expect angels will visit us, for they take no delight in those who are filthy.”[39] Louisa found great joy in sharing her way of life, but the lack of change and what she considered religious transformation through cultural change brought her sorrow.

Both women found the cultural differences to be simultaneously fascinating and frustrating. This was particularly true for Louisa. The island culture was much less structured than American cultural norms and the women strived to be tolerant of the differences. Louisa enjoyed sharing stories and experiences from home, and the people were keen to listen. Louisa wrote, “It was diverting to us to exhibit our little curiosities, to witness their admiration and pleasure in examining them, they think no country can be like America to contain so many wonderful things; they seem to have an idea of their inferiority.”[40] Through an interpreter, Louisa would share stories from her experiences crossing the plains in the evenings. While the stories of snow, buffalo, and seemingly endless stretches of prairie were intriguing, the people were also fascinated with the strange customs the missionary women brought with them. Home decoration, eating utensils, cooking techniques, and furniture were novelties. Unlike the first mission of Addison, where the men lived with and integrated into the culture, the missionary families during this second mission tried to maintain their way of life living separately from the local population. While the islanders were curious about the missionaries and keen to visit their homes, the women were less interested in visiting local homes: “It is not desirable to go into their dwellings to remain long, their notions of order are diverse from ours.”[41]

One cultural difference that caused some friction was expectations of privacy in the home. The sisters were used to a house being one’s personal space. People would often visit, but visits were expected to be by invitation or request. The people of the islands did not hold to these Western privacy standards. The local culture was much more communal, with a stronger sense of shared space. People often dropped by for unannounced visits and would gaze through windows and doors to catch a glimpse of the world of the American missionaries and share it. Caroline acknowledged the custom, and although she did not like it, she tolerated it. Louisa was more open in her frustration: “The outside of the house was surrounded with the poor uncouth beings. It is a trial to bear with their extreme ignorance.” During a Christmas celebration, a local woman who had heard that Louisa was holding a Christmas party dressed in her best clothes and showed up at the Pratts’ home without an invitation. Louisa was upset but allowed the uninvited guest to stay. Throughout the evening, others gathered outside the house, wanting to watch or join the party. Louisa asked the local leader in attendance to send them away. He tried to persuade her to tolerate the visitors and let them observe the feast, but Louisa insisted they leave.[42]

The missionary men did not remain on the island of Tubuai as the women did. They often traveled to other islands for long periods. Usually, one of the men stayed behind to look out for the women, but there were times when they were left alone. When this happened, the women would feel nervous about the lack of privacy and worry for their safety. Caroline recorded an incident during one of these times:

Last night on going to bed I reflected for a moment whether I should feel safer with a pistol or knife under my head, I went into Ellens room, found her knife and pistol both under her pillow I first thought I would take one of them but while stopping to consider which I should prefer, concluded I should feel safer with neither, and consequently left them and went to bed trusting in the Lord for protection. The moon shone very pleasantly all night, everything in nature seemed to wear an air of cheerfulness, I arose in the morning with a grateful heart, and could say with the Psalmist, I laid me down in peace and slept, and rose up again, for the Lord sustained me.[43]

A couple of weeks later, when Caroline was again alone the pistol was under her pillow, and she made sure her windows were secure.[44] She notes similar incidents later in her diary. There is no evidence that the fears were justified. There is no evidence of any violence or threats of violence against the women.

As time passed, Caroline was less fearful, but the cultural difference regarding privacy still bothered her. On one occasion, a man unknown to Caroline came into her home and fell asleep on her floor. She wrote, “I did not feel exactly pleased with him, although I was not in reality afraid of him. I however felt a desire to plague him a little.” She tried to find Addison so that he could talk to the man and send him away, but Addison was nowhere to be found. When she returned, the man was still sleeping on the floor. While she was deciding what to do, the children returned home. The noise of their arrival woke the uninvited guest. Caroline’s narrative continued, “He arose very deliberately scratched his head and walked off without speaking a word to anyone, thinking he had paid me quite a compliment. But that is strictly in accordance with their habits, almost as much at home in one house, as another.”[45]

Building Zion While Navigating Racial Ideologies of the Nineteenth Century

The sisters were also not immune from the racial ideologies of the nineteenth century. Caroline classified the non-European residence of the islands as half-breeds, quadroons, or pure-blood natives in her diary. Equating dark skin with lower status and filthiness is found throughout Louisa’s diary. Like many nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints, Louisa believed that the islanders were Israelites. She identified them as descendants of Nephi from the Book of Mormon who had apostatized; however, she believed they could be redeemed through religious and cultural change.[46] Louisa saw the possibility of progression, but it was far off: “What a paradise might be made of this island had the people one spark of enterprise. But that is smothered beneath the rain of ages, and swept away with the knowledge their forefathers once possessed. Now they grope in darkness at noonday.”[47]

A companion to nineteenth-century racial views was a distaste toward interracial marriage. Louisa was particularly bothered by white men marrying island women. Several foreign missionaries, including a few from the Church, chose to marry local women. From extant records, this may have bothered Addison as it did Louisa.[48] In his diary, Addison recorded when he heard of Gouard’s intent to marry, he advised him to do as Judas had done, “what thou doest, do quickly.”[49] Grouard’s marriage may have been one of Addison’s motivators for bringing his family to Tubuai. Other European Christian faiths had similar thoughts. Early Christian missionaries initially traveled without their families. However, after several incidents of missionaries partnering with local women, churches began to send wives with the missionaries.[50] There were two reasons: first, to keep the men from sleeping with and marrying local women, and second, to model European standards of marriage relationships and gender roles to the island cultures.[51] The Europeans and Americans considered the traditional dress, dancing, courtship, and marriage practices of the islands immoral. Native women were seen as promiscuous. These cultural views are evident in Louisa and Caroline’s diaries. They disapproved of traditional dress and dancing. Louisa made many references to the dangers the island women presented to men. In one entry, she stated, “My mind is continually occupied in reflecting on the conduct of those men who having had a Christian training come to these islands and corrupt themselves with the heathen women.”[52]

Allowing families to accompany Latter-day Saint men on missions was practiced on a greater scale in the Pacific Islands than in European missions, and missionaries who married local woman while serving European missions tended to integrate them more smoothly into society. For Elder Grouard, although he would later return to the states with his native wife, she eventually returned to her home in the islands, leaving behind her husband—and her son, whom Louisa and Addison adopted.

Louisa’s attempts to navigate mission duties while being influenced by culturally embedded racial ideologies are captured in comments recorded in her journal. Referring to Elder Grouard and his wife, she writes, “He appears satisfied with his coloured wife, says she is very useful to him, how unequally paired are many in this world.”[53] Regarding Elder Alexander’s interracial marriage, “He has a native wife who knows nothing about housekeeping; so he must be father and mother both, to his children.”[54] Later, when discussing Elder Alexander’s marriage she wrote, “What a pity, that sensible men should involve themselves with these poor ignorant women. They cannot bring them to their level; it is unwise to attempt it. To be comfortable with them they must descend to their level.”[55]

Louisa expressed love for the people, but there seemed to remain a distance between the missionaries and the islanders. Louisa had hoped that education would elevate the race. She attributed part of what she saw as their childlike nature to the islands’ ecology. Comparing island life with the harsh life she experienced on the prairie, the easy temperate life on the islands created a people who were “like children playing in the streets, unconcerned about wants.” On the other hand, “The human mind is better developed under trying circumstances. In the hard struggles of life, in the stern realities, the mind is more active, it thinks deeper.”[56] In another entry, she writes, “I now call to mind the poor red men in our own country, suffering in cold weather; here they are exempt from that, they do not realize suffering here, but by growing up in ignorance they bring curses on themselves, which are entailed to their posterity.”[57]

Balancing Faith and Frustration

Mission life, at times, could feel routine and monotonous, especially for Louisa. Many entries in her diary were expressions of frustration. As the mission continued, the monotony wore on Louisa. Lines like “All days are alike here, dull, dull,” “Monotony reigns supreme,”[58] and “How long must we endure this imprisonment”[59] appear more frequently. Caroline’s diary notes the passage of time quite differently: “Time has glided away almost imperceptibly,”[60] and “Time seems very short having had a plenty of business with which to occupy ourselves, both mental and physical.”[61] She also wrote, “One would certainly imagine that persons so much accostomed to com [calm]—as we are having for a number of years lived in large towns or villages, would be very lonely in so retired a corner of the earth, but this island is so pleasantly situated, such a calmness and serenity pervaiding it, together with the great variety of fruit with which . . . it is loaded, that a calm contemplative mind could not in my opinon be unhappy.”[62] One can only speculate why the sisters recorded such different experiences. Louisa’s struggles could be echoes of her past loneliness and hardships during Addison’s five-year absence before this mission. It also could be their differences in personality. Diaries only capture a glimpse into a life, but from this glimpse we see two different women sharing many events while experiencing these events in very different ways.

To break the monotony and manage her frustrations, Louisa would go on walks. She especially enjoyed going out in the evening in the dark for some alone time. She was particularly fond of walking on the beach on cloudless nights. Addison expressed frustration and worry when she would disappear at night, but he could not deter her. “The delightful sea air invigorates my nerves.”[63] On rare occasions, Louisa and Caroline would go sailing. Short trips were enjoyable, but they both continued to struggle with seasickness.

A particularly memorable adventure noted by both sisters was when they hiked to the island’s highest peak. Caroline enjoyed the hike but was exhausted by it: “We returned home much fatigued almost thinking we had paid dear for the whistle, and I believe Sister Pratt came to that conclusion altogether as her weak limb which has troubled her for many years, well nigh failed her before she got home.”[64] Louisa also enjoyed it but struggled physically on the way home, as noted by her sister. The plants and geology intrigued and delighted her: “The beautiful little grotto’s and arbors seemed alluring, almost sufficient to tempt one to seclude himself and live alone in nature.”[65] Regarding the return trip, she wrote, “I sometimes thought I should be obliged to sit down and send for help. But little faithful Ann Louise [her daughter] encouraged me by suffering me to use her for a staff; and at last I reached the foot of the mountain in safety. . . . So lame was I for a whole week I could scarcely walk; but now I could say I had seen and walked on top of the highest mountains in Tubuai and I thought it was worth the pains.”[66]

Amid the struggles and cultural differences, faith was constant, the faith of the missionaries and the faith of the people they sought to serve. It was faith that motivated Louisa and Caroline to leave the community where they had made a home after being driven from their homes in Nauvoo and crossing the plains. Faith was their motivator when they struggled with cultural differences, homesickness, and language struggles.

Faith inspired the people of Tubuai to accept missionaries who often treated them as inferior or childlike. The people entrusted their children to the sisters’ care. They trusted in Louisa’s ability to minister and heal. They were gracious and loving hosts to these strangers from a strange land. As noted by Louisa, “There is faith among this people.”[67]

Regarding her faith, Louisa wrote, “Strong confidence in God has ennabled me to triumph in a great measure over every calamity, and this day I thank Him that I have lived to see a glorious work commenced on the earth, although it has introduced me into a thorny path where my feet have been goaded to blood. Christ walked therein before.”[68] Before sailing from the islands, Caroline wrote a reflective diary entry. She looked back on her mission and preceding years. Caroline also looked ahead to an unknown future. She and her family were returning to the United States with no possessions and no clear plan. She wrote,

Were it not that we have long since learned to trust in the Lord, we should be of all creatures the most miserable. But I consider that it would be ingratitude in the highest degree for us now to distrust His guardian care, after His having led us thus far by His hand of mercy. And as He is the only source from whence we can derive any permanent hope, it would be foolishness in the extreme, not to “lay hold upon that which is both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the vale.”[69]

The Journey Ends

Tension with the French colonial government was constant throughout the Latter-day Saints’ time on the island. Primarily responsible were geopolitical tensions which often translated to religious tensions. In March 1852, all churches were placed under French control. The governors also limited proselytizing to locals.[70] This brought Louisa and Caroline’s mission to an end. Caroline’s diary references the political conflicts as their cause for departure. Louisa, however, focused on her pressing desire to leave with no mention of external factors. She wrote of escaping the monotony and homesickness. She also wanted her daughters to grow up and marry in the mountain west with the main body of the Latter-day Saints.

Returning home from the mission did not end the sisters’ wanderings. They would live in San Bernardino, California, with their families for five and a half years. When word came from Church leaders that the members in California should join the main body of Saints in Utah Territory, Caroline’s family and Louisa and three of her daughters moved to Beaver, where they would spend the rest of their lives. Addison and their daughter, Francis, remained in California. Addison and Louisa visited each other and maintained an amiable relationship but lived separately for the rest of their lives.

Caroline’s diary ended when she left California. She and her husband lived in Beaver, close to Louisa, and Caroline and Louisa continued their lifelong companionship. They were together through their many wanderings, trials, and triumphs. Their journeys covering over twelve thousand miles traveled are an example of faith-filled lives amid contrasting joys and sorrows.

After the missionaries departed, the Church in French Polynesia remained disconnected from the Utah church for forty years. The Saints in the islands faced persecution, poverty, and isolation, however, amid struggles, the faith Louisa wrote of in her diary continued. Today, a vibrant Church culture including multiple stakes and a temple, are evidence of the faith of the people of these islands, past and present. Through contrasts of joy and sorrow, the work of God continues to move forward as it has for over a century of sacrifice, patience, and faith.

Notes

[1] George Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1998), 160.

[2] See C. W. Newbury, The History of the Tahitian Mission, 1799–1830, Written by John Davies, Missionary to the South Sea Islands (London: Hakluyt Society, 1961).

[3] “French Polynesia Church Cronology,” https://site.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/global-histories/french-polynesia/pf-chronology.

[4] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 99.

[5] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 99.

[6] Edward L. Lyman, Susan W. Payne, and S. George Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home: The 1807–1857 Life Writings of Caroline Barnes Crosby, Chronicler of Outlying Communities (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2005), 87.

[7] Both Caroline and Louisa did not start their diaries until on their missions making entries dates before their departure later recollections. Dates and memories may be less precise than those written contemporaneously.

[8] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 106.

[9] The reason for the lack of communication is unknown. Addison made similar complaints regarding the lack of mail from Louisa.

[10] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 107.

[11] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 107.

[12] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 87.

[13] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 109.

[14] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 110–24.

[15] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 125.

[16] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 125.

[17] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 121.

[18] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 125.

[19] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 127.

[20] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 171.

[21] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 121.

[22] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 128.

[23] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 148.

[24] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 135.

[25] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 147–50.

[26] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 147–54.

[27] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 147–60.

[28] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 147.

[29] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 123.

[30] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 161.

[31] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 154.

[32] See Jonathan A. Stapley and Wright, Kristine, “Female Ritual Healing in Mormonism,” Journal of Mormon History 37, no. 1 (2022): 1–85.

[33] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 154.

[34] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 128.

[35] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 140.

[36] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 125.

[37] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 151.

[38] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 176.

[39] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 155.

[40] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 128.

[41] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 166.

[42] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 156.

[43] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 141.

[44] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 142.

[45] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 144–45.

[46] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 149.

[47] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 167.

[48] For more information on Grouard’s marriage and its implications, see Amanda Hendrix-Komoto, “‘Playing the Whore’: The Domestic and Sexual Politics of Mormon Missionary Work on Tahiti Nui and in the Tuamotus,” Journal of Mormon History 41, no. 3 (2015): 58–96.

[49] Addison Pratt, The Journals of Addison Pratt (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1990), 276–77.

[50] Amanda Hendrix-Komoto, Imperial Zions: Religion, Race, and Family in the American West and the Pacific (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2022), 85.

[51] Hendrix-Komoto, Imperial Zions, 85.

[52] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 167.

[53] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 130.

[54] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 141.

[55] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 157.

[56] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 172.

[57] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 143.

[58] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 148.

[59] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 147.

[60] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 128.

[61] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 135.

[62] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 127.

[63] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 147–60.

[64] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 128.

[65] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 135.

[66] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 147.

[67] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 147–54.

[68] Ellsworth, History of Louisa Barnes Pratt, 147–50.

[69] Lyman, Payne, and Ellsworth, No Place to Call Home, 159.

[70] Arnold K. Garr, “Latter-day Saints in Tubuai, French Polynesia, Yesterday and Today,” in Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History: The Pacific Isles, ed. Reid L. Neilson, Steven C. Harper, Craig K. Manscill, and Mary Jane Woodger (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2008), 1–21.