facebook-pixel

‘Mormon Land’: The latest on Tongan relief and how the islands resemble Utah in at least one big way

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is sending tons of post-tsunami aid to a place that, like the Beehive State, is about 63% LDS.

On Jan. 15, after an undersea volcano showered the kingdom of Tonga with tsunami waves, flooding, rocks and ash, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sprang into action.

The Utah-based faith provided tons of food, clothes, water and other household goods to the devastated islands. Church-owned Liahona High School became a welcome refuge for some 1,250 people seeking emergency housing. The governing First Presidency sent a letter of support and consolation to Tonga’s king and queen as well as Latter-day Saints throughout the nation.

The church’s imprint on the country is undeniable — Tonga has the highest percentage of Latter-day Saints of any country in the world (nearly 63%; about the same as Utah’s).

On this week’s show, Verna Tukuafu, a Tongan native and international area manager at BYU-Pathway Worldwide, discusses the relief efforts in her homeland and what life is like there for members of the majority faith.

Listen here:

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) The ship, the Maui, chartered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is loaded with donated supplies to be delivered to Ha'apai and other outer islands in Tonga on Jan. 22, 2022.

[Get more content like this in The Salt Lake Tribune’s Mormon Land newsletter, a weekly highlight reel of developments in and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To receive the free newsletter in your inbox, subscribe here. You also can support us with a donation at Patreon.com/mormonland, where you can access gifts and transcripts of our “Mormon Land” podcasts.]