Liahona High School is a high school in Tonga owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The school is named after the Liahona, a religious artifact described in the Book of Mormon, which gave a family direction in the wilderness. As of 2022 [update] , it is one of six LDS schools on Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga. [1]
Liahona High School was established in 1948, as a successor to the previous LDS school, Makeke College. It was originally called Liahona College, but was given its current name in 1959. [2] It has been central to the growth of the LDS Church in Tonga. [3]
The high school also was central to the LDS Church's expansion to Kiribati. Many graduates of Auriaria Kokoi Ataria School in Kiribati went to Liahona High School in the early 1970s and joined the LDS Church while there. The first LDS missionaries in Kiribiti were Liahona High School graduates sent back to Kiribiti to serve as missionaries there.
After the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami, the school served as a shelter for approximately 1,000 people. [1]
Lowell Tom Perry was an American businessman and religious leader who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1974 until his death.
Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and community service. Missionaries of the LDS Church may be male or female and may serve on a full- or part-time basis, depending on the assignment. Missionaries are organized geographically into missions, which could be any one of the 411 missions organized worldwide. This is one of the practices that the LDS Church is well-known for.
The Church Educational System (CES) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consists of several institutions that provide religious and secular education for both Latter-day Saint and non–Latter-day Saint elementary, secondary, and post-secondary students and adult learners. Approximately 700,000 individuals were enrolled in CES programs in 143 countries in 2011. CES courses of study are separate and distinct from religious instruction provided through wards. Clark G. Gilbert, a general authority seventy, has been the CES commissioner since August 1, 2021.
John Holbrook Groberg has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1976. He is the author of The Eye of the Storm, and was the protagonist in the movie made from the book titled The Other Side of Heaven.
Ronald Anderson Rasband is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been a general authority of the church since 2000. Currently, he is the eleventh most senior apostle in the church.
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Ulisses Soares is a Brazilian religious leader and former businessman who serves as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been a general authority since 2005 and served as a member of the church's Presidency of the Seventy from January 2013 until his calling to the Quorum of the Twelve in March 2018. He is the LDS Church's first apostle from South America. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Soares is accepted by the LDS Church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Currently, he is the junior and fifteenth most senior apostle in the church.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a presence in Tonga since 1891. The Tongan Mission was organized in 1916. However, due to anti-Mormon sentiment and government policies, the LDS Church did not grow steadily in Tonga until 1924. Between 1946 and 1956, church leaders published Tongan translations of the scriptures and built a church-sponsored school known as the Liahona School. In 1968, Tonga's first LDS stake was organized and the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple was dedicated in 1983.
Waitea Abiuta was one of the first converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kiribati and was the first i-Kiribati leader in the LDS Church.
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Marshall Islands refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in the Marshall Islands. As of 2022, there were 6,832 members in 13 congregations, making it the second largest body of LDS Church members in Micronesia, behind Kiribati. The Marshall Islands has the second most LDS Church members per capita in Micronesia, and the fourth most members per capita of any independent country in the world, behind Tonga, Samoa, and Kiribati.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a presence in Mexico since 1874. Mexico has the largest body of LDS Church members outside of the United States. Membership grew nearly 30% between 2011 and 2021. In the 2010 Mexican census, 314,932 individuals self-identified most closely to the LDS Church.
Gerrit Walter Gong is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been a general authority since 2010 and served as a member of the church's Presidency of the Seventy from October 2015 until his calling to the Quorum of the Twelve in March 2018. He is the LDS Church's first apostle of Asian descent. Prior to becoming a general authority, he served as assistant to the president of Brigham Young University (BYU) for planning and assessment. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Gong is accepted by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Currently, he is the fourteenth most senior apostle in the church.
Asipeli Havea "Viliami" Tolutaʻu is a Tongan sculptor and an emeritus professor of sculpture at Brigham Young University–Hawaii (BYU–Hawaii).
Brigham Roland Smoot was a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an executive of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company. He was one of the two first Mormon missionaries to preach in Tonga and served as president of the LDS Church's Tongan mission from July 1891 to October 1892. Smoot was the son of Abraham O. Smoot and the brother of Reed Smoot.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had its first presence in French Polynesia in 1843 when the first missionaries arrived in the country. It was also the location of the first foreign-language mission of the church which was created that same year. It existed until 1852 when it was closed due to restrictions by the French government, and the missionaries left the territory. In 1892, the mission resumed with the return of the missionaries after general religious tolerance was established.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a presence in Italy since 1850.
Relations between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the natives of the Pacific Island groups of Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and surrounding island groups are quite complex.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kiribati refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Kiribati. In 1976 the first branch was organized in Tarawa. As at the 2020 Census, there were 6,720 people declaring as LDS members. According to LDS church, as of year-end 2022, there were 22,210 members in 43 congregations, making it the largest body of LDS Church members in Micronesia. Kiribati also has the most LDS Church members per capita in Micronesia, and the third most members per capita of any country in the world, behind Tonga and Samoa.
Atatā is an island in Tonga, near the capital city Nukuʻalofa. The island was completely evacuated after the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami. Before the eruption, the island's population was 106.