Standing Firm, Steadfast, and Immovable

Kiribati Church Pioneers

In the Book of Mormon, Father Lehi upon leaving Jerusalem to depart into the wilderness was greatly concerned about his oldest two sons.  After traveling for several days,  he viewed a river emptying into the  the fountain of the Red Sea.  He spake onto his oldest son, Laman saying, "O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness". (1 Nephi 2:9)  Then continuing with the symbolism and reference to the geography of the land, he said to Lemuel,  . . . "O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord". (1 Nephi 2:10)




As part of the college courses for the teachers at Moroni High School, we are compiling 'Oral and Written' histories of some of the Kiribati pioneers of the Church.  We have video tapes of eight so far. with DVD burned on four of them and hopefully we will have the others on DVD soon.  In order to provide access to the histories online - at one on-line site - we are in the process of developing a wiki page site at:  http://kiribati-lds-pioneers.wikispaces.com/


One of the assignments in the Instructional Technology class being currently taught, is for each class member to enter their own history or the history of a Church pioneer in Kiribati.  The first missionaries came to the Gilbert Islands in October of 1975, so the Church has only been in what is now Kiribati for just over 36 years.  The wiki site currently has several articles from the Ensign, Church News, BYU, and other sources including first hand accounts from some of the early missionary couples who served here in the 1970's and 80's.  Church pioneers were not only the ones that traveled the plains to Utah; but each country around the world has their own Church pioneers.  This site is a small part of the effort to provide a historical account of the Church in I-Kiribati.  If you have stories or insights of interest please include them in the comment section of the wiki site.  


The wiki site contains accounts of some of the early pioneers who are still working at Moroni High School and for the Church.  Individuals who have remained "Firm, Steadfast, and Immovable" in serving the Lord here in Kiribati and are examples of continued righteousness.  It is a distinct honor and privilege to get to know and work with many of these faithful Latter Day Saints.  They are truly a believing people who exercise their faith regularly.