Pahoa a Tahiaroa was born on April 23, 1873, on the island of Ravahere in the Tuamotu Archipelago (French Polynesia), son of Tahiaroa Te Mahuki and Rotiura Tane. The archipelago’s tiny, widely scattered specks of land in the South Pacific were governed by French colonial officials; in Mormon geography, they were part of the mission headquartered at Papeete, Tahiti. Marokau, the Tuamotu island where Pahoa settled as a young man, was rarely visited by either government official or Mormon missionary.

Thomas L. Woodbury of Salt Lake City, a newlywed when he was called to serve in Tahiti, was assigned to visit Marokau in 1899. Pahoa met him then, and Thomas baptized him on April 3, 1899. Continue reading Pahoa a Tahiaroa: Returning and Reporting →