After unknowingly being married to a Mormon (the name some use to refer to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) for many years and consistently telling others, including her husband, that she “hated” Mormons, Siainiu Ta’alolo was finally baptized and has never been happier.
Siainiu says that since joining the Church, she, her husband, Siailaoa, and their children have “all changed for better.” “Before we all did our own thing.” It was like they weren’t even a family but “now we all work, read our scriptures and pray together. We have a happy family now. We are really happy.”
Asked why she “hated” Mormons, Siainiu said she didn’t believe the Book of Mormon or that Joseph Smith was a prophet and, therefore, didn’t like people who did.
While working at the Starkist tuna processing plant in Pago Pago, American Samoa, during a conversation with a fellow worker, Fa’apito Auapa’au, on a Friday in June, 2014, she discovered that he was Mormon. She told him she didn’t like Mormons and why. He suggested that perhaps someday she would allow him to come into her house and tell her about his church. She said she was too busy and didn’t have time.
The following Sunday Fa’apito called and told Siainiu he was nearly to her house and asked which house it was. A few minutes later he was at her door. He had come to talk to her about the very things that caused her to “hate” Mormons, Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.
During their discussion, Siainiu’s husband, Siailaoa, told Fa’apito that he had been baptized 40 years ago and that if they could locate his records he would start coming to church. This was the first time that Siainiu learned that her husband was a Mormon.
The following week the missionaries came to the Ta’alolo house and told Siailaoa they had located his records. The missionaries taught the family and Siainiu went to church to see what it was like. She felt very peaceful at church and thought that it must be true. So she and her family finished the missionary lessons and in August, 2014, she and five of her children were baptized. Three more children were later baptized and two of her children have not yet come of age to be baptized.
“The biggest change has been our children. They now have greater respect and love for us.”
Siainiu had been to several churches before joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When asked what caused her to think this Church was true, she said “the doctrine and the Church’s emphasis on families.”
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that families can be together forever and a sacred sealing ordinance performed in their temples makes that possible. Siailaoa, Siainiu, and her children have all gone to the temple and been bound together, not just until death, but for eternity.