Fiji: Church Chronology

1924 • Suva, Viti Levu, FijiMele Vea Inoke Tidboald Ashley, who had been baptized in 1915 at age 13 in Tonga, moved to Fiji. She was the first known member of the Church to live permanently in Fiji.

1936 • SuvaMele Vea Inoke Tidboald Ashley was visited by the president of the Tongan Mission, Emile C. Dunn, who blessed her baby.

Pre-1947 • Viti LevuFijians Cecil G. Smith and Amely Hicks Smith joined the Church. Cecil was ordained an elder.

Late 1940s–1954 • Suva and Lami, Viti Levu, FijiThe Mele Vea (Mary) Ashley and Cecil G. Smith families hosted Sunday meetings in their homes.

May 21, 1954 • FijiFollowing Church President David O. McKay’s ruling that Fijians were not subject to the existing priesthood and temple restrictions, Fiji was assigned to the Samoan Mission.

September 5, 1954 • SuvaNewly arrived missionaries, Elders Boyd Harris and Sheldon Abbot, met with the members in Suva at the Smith family home. The missionaries began preaching and seeking converts, organizing regular meetings, and looking for a place for the branch to meet.

January 9, 1955 • SuvaDuring a brief stop in Fiji while touring the South Pacific, Church President David O. McKay spoke to a group of Saints.

February 23, 1955 • SuvaGustav Adolf Smith left to serve a mission in Samoa, becoming the first full-time missionary from Fiji. While in the mission field, he was ordained an elder on August 9, 1955.

October 9, 1955 • SuvaThe first Relief Society was organized. Emma Broederlow Lobendahn, the first Relief Society president, would serve in that position for the next 20 years.

October 15, 1957 • FijiThe Fiji islands were transferred from the Samoan Mission to the Tongan Mission.

May 4, 1958 • Suva

Fijian Latter-day Saints gathered as Church President David O. McKay dedicated the first meetinghouse in Fiji, the fruits of the labor of 10 volunteer construction missionaries from Samoa.

February 18, 1959 • Lomaloma, Lau, FijiGideon Dolo, the first full-time missionary of Fijian descent, and Kami Pasoni, his Tongan companion, were assigned to work in Lomaloma.

1967 • Taveuni, FijiMissionary work began on Taveuni, Fiji’s third-largest island.

February 3, 1969 • SuvaThe Latter-day Saint Primary School was officially opened.

July 23, 1971 • SuvaJosefa N. T. Sokia was sustained as president of the Fiji District.

November 7, 1971 • TaveuniA branch was organized on Taveuni.

1972 • FijiThe first group of Latter-day Saints from Fiji traveled to the Hamilton New Zealand Temple.

1973 • SuvaThe home study seminary program began. The following year, 18 classes, with both adults and youth, were being taught.

March 1973 • SuvaA translation committee was officially organized to begin translating Church materials into Fiji’s seven languages, beginning with translating the family home evening manuals into Fijian and Hindustani.

February 23, 1976 • SuvaChurch President Spencer W. Kimball presided over the first Fiji Area General Conference.

July 11, 1976 • SuvaThe Fiji LDS Technical College was dedicated.

November 5, 1976 • FijiPercy John Rivers, the patriarch of the Samoan Stake, began giving patriarchal blessings to Saints in Fiji.

October 29, 1980 • SuvaThe first 50 copies of the Book of Mormon in Fijian arrived.

July 4, 1982 • SuvaRatu Sir Kamisese Mara, the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Fiji, spoke at a fireside in Suva, welcomed by branch president Harish Singh, with special musical numbers by the Suva Second Branch Choir.

March 20, 1983 • Labasa, Vanua Levu, FijiThe Labasa Branch was organized on Vanua Levu with Jone Ratudale Sovasova as president.

June 12, 1983 • SuvaThe first stake in Fiji was created, with Inosi Naga as president.

1984 • Nadi, FijiIfereimi Sowane Maiwiriwiri and Jessie Edwina Maiwiriwiri were called as the first senior missionary couple in Fiji.

1985 • Samabula, FujiMembers held a ceremony, attended by the prime minister, to open a new Primary Latter-day Saint school in Samabula.

1987 • FijiA coup d’etat led to curfews, roadblocks, and disruptions to public transportation that caused Saints to have to walk long distances and alter normal meeting schedules to continue gathering.

January 1991 • Funafuti, TuvaluSiava and Tekafa Niko of the Funafuti Tuvalu Branch traveled to the Laie Hawaii Temple and received their temple endowment and sealing ordinances. They were the first members in Tuvalu to enter the temple.

August 9, 1992 • Labasa, Vanua LevuThe Labasa Branch Relief Society held its first ever Visiting Teaching Convention. The meeting was held on Sunday during Relief Society time to facilitate transportation and travel.

June 18, 1993 • SuvaThe Suva Fiji Stake held a music festival at the Fiji LDS Technical College, featuring choirs from each ward in the stake.

October 15, 1997 • SuvaChurch President Gordon B. Hinckley met with 5,000 Saints at an area conference.

June 17, 1998 • SuvaElder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered a prayer dedicating Fiji for the preaching of the gospel.

April 1999 • FijiThe Fiji Distance Learning Program began offering courses in marketing management, accounting, organizational behavior, Microsoft Excel, reading and writing, and the Doctrine and Covenants.

2000 • SuvaSitiveni Bale and Vasiti Bale were called to preside over the Suva Fiji Temple.

June 2000 • Suva

Despite the turmoil of a political coup, over 16,000 people attended the Suva Fiji Temple open house. In a small session with local members on June 18, Church President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the temple.

December 10, 2004 • SuvaMembers in Fiji along with Ratu Josefa Iloilo, His Excellency the President of Fiji, celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Church’s establishment. Fijian Saints in the United States fundraised and contributed $10,000 FJ to the games, music, and feasting.

January–February 21, 2016 • SuvaLocal Saints and visiting dignitaries, including Major General Jioji Konousi Konrote and Rosy Sofia Akbar, the Honourable Minister of Women, Children, and Poverty Alleviation, attended the renovated Suva Fiji Temple open house and rededication festivities. On February 21, 2016, despite the disruption of a category 5 cyclone, Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency rededicated the temple.

April 1, 2017 • Salt Lake CityTaniela B. Wakolo, the first Fijian called as a General Authority, was sustained in general conference.