The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tonga

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) (Tongan: Siasi ʻo Sīsū Kalaisi ʻo e Kau Māʻoniʻoni ʻi he Ngaahi ʻAho Kimui Ní or Siasi Māmonga) has had a presence in Tonga since 1891. The Tongan Mission was organized in 1916. However, due to anti-Mormon rumors 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.

According to the LDS Church, there over 60,000 LDS members (which is about 57% of the population of Tonga) in Tonga, which means that Tonga has the highest percentage of Latter-day Saints in the world. However, according to the 2011 census, 18.01% of Tongans belong to the LDS Church, making it the second largest Christian denomination in the country after Methodism. This discrepancy in reported membership numbers is caused by the LDS Church's tradition of keeping a member's name on their records despite the individual's dissociation with the church in comparison to the census' self-reported numbers.

The LDS Church sent the first Mormon missionaries to Tonga, Brigham Smoot and Alva J. Butler, in July 1891. Upon arriving, they met with the Tongan king, George Tupou I, to obtain his permission to preach. Smoot and Butler bought property and built a mission home, a school, and also purchased a boat to facilitate travel between the islands. The missionaries baptized their first convert, Alipate, in July of the following year. Between 1891 and 1897, missionaries preached and opened schools in various groups of islands including Tongatapu, Ha'apai, and Vava'u. Little progress was made during the first few years as only 16 Tongans joined the LDS Church. Despite apparent interest in the LDS Church among Tongans, European ministers of other Christian churches caused hesitation after initiating exaggerated rumors regarding polygamy and early church leaders Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. In 1897, the First Presidency of the LDS Church recommended the closing of the Tongan Conference due to its slow progress. Consequently, the First Presidency removed LDS missionaries from Tonga and transferred them to the Samoan Mission.

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