| A few weeks ago in Laie, Hawaii, I had the privilege of joining a banquet honoring the labor missionaries who built BYU-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center. Matt Ieti Te'o was one of them.
Seeing his name brought back many memories of serving with Matt's father, mother and brother -- Ieti, Lolini and Iuleti Te'o, respectively -- in Fitiuta, Manu'a, where Ieti had been sent as the branch president at the same time Elder Randy "Lama" Bott and I were sent there.
I always marvel at the great faith and patience of all the "faifeau nofo nu'u" and their families I met in those days; but even more so in Manu'a because of its relative isolation and privation at that time, and also because President Ieti Te'o was not a "matai" in a place with an extremely strong tradition of Fa'aSamoa where old "taule'ale'a" had no standing. Indeed, our small branch was barely tolerated, and I suspect Lolini got more respect from the village because of the music lessons she taught some of the youth on her small foot-pump organ.
President Te'o and I started off on the same foot to Manu'a: We both got extremely seasick on the rough boat ride over. After arriving, the Te'o family lived in a very small traditional "fale Samoa" in Fitiuta. I believe President Te'o was in his 60s at the time, and it must have been hard for them; but their faith and dedication has been an inspiration to me all these years. |
