A Mighty Labor

In 1943 Pisa Toleafoa Tautogia married Tusitala Tufuga. At the time of their marriage Tusitala attended the Lotu Taiti, the church founded by the London Missionary Society, out of obedience to his father, but as a teenager Tusitala had become a Latter-day Saint. In 1945 Tusitala begged his father for permission to return to his true faith and began attending The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints again. Pisa’s mother objected to Tusitala’s religion and urged Pisa to marry someone else if Tusitala was going to remain active in his own faith. Despite the pressure, Pisa stayed married to Tusitala and even joined the Church in 1948.

In 1953 Pisa and Tusitala were living in Sale‘imoa on Upolu and expecting their fifth child when Tusitala was called on a two-year labor mission. The family chose that Tusitala should accept the call. As Tusitala dedicated his time to the Lord, Pisa assumed responsibility for raising their children, providing for the family, and even sending financial support to Tusitala on his mission. Pisa kept up the family’s cocoa, banana, taro, and cash crops in order to keep the older children in school. When the small plantation required especially intense physical labor, she would invite men from their extended family to help and compensate them with breakfast and lunch.

In February 1954 Pisa gave birth to a baby girl she named Misionasamoa, after Tusitala’s mission. When Misionasamoa was about 10 months old, their cocoa harvest did not yield enough to make ends meet. Pisa looked for other ways to provide and took a job pulling weeds at a commercial plantation. She would wake up before dawn to cook for the children and then leave Misionasamoa with her seven-year-old twin daughters while the older children attended school.

Pisa and Tusitala’s daughter Tu‘ifao later reflected on the pattern her mother’s actions in those years set for the family. “She bore all this in faith putting the worth of souls first and foremost in support of missionary work,” Tu‘ifao said. Her example laid a foundation for a lifetime of service: Pisa and Tusitala later brought 90 people into the Church while serving in their branch. In 1970 they were able to travel to the Laie Hawaii Temple to be sealed together, united in and by their shared faith for eternity.