It’s the third smallest country in the world. Only Vatican City and Monaco are smaller. But in terms of isolation, Nauru is tough to beat. The 21-square-kilometre island is a microstate – a tiny dot of land in the Central Pacific that formally recognised The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 2 July 2025.
It’s also the place Takai Itaaka called home and where he served as a leader of a small Latter-day Saint group for the past 12 years.
“I joined the Church in Kiribati (pronounced Ki-ri-bas) after my graduation from Moroni High School. After that, I filled out the form to be a missionary and I served a mission in Kiribati.”
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A branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was re-organised in Nauru on Sunday, 3 August 2025.© 2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Sadly, Takai recently passed away. He and his wife, Aroo faithfully served the people of Nauru for many years with their love, faith and kindness. With his passing, Hiroshi Tea was asked and agreed to serve as the leader of the small Nauru congregation known as a branch.
Heroshi was born and raised in Samoa and came to Nauru when his wife, Siovia, had a job change. They, along with their four children, see this move as a great opportunity to share the gospel
“This was part of our blessing. We were called to work in this part of the vineyard. The core foundation for our testimonies really started when we came here to Nauru and we felt like this is our place.”
Another Church member, Mari, has called Nauru home for the past seven years. Speaking about the day she joined the Church, she said, “I can’t forget that day. It was like Christmas time.”
Later, when she was called to serve in the California Long Beach Mission, one of her Church leaders encouraged her to read the Book of Mormon before leaving on her mission. She read it twice.
When asked about the friendliness of her Nauru Church members, Mari said, “Yes! Of course, yes, yes! They knew me very well when they called me to be the Relief Society president. ‘Me?’ I said, I would love that.”
A native of Nauru, Kaatau Teibwa was introduced to the Church by her schoolteacher when she was fifteen years old and attending school in Kiribati. At first, she wasn’t interested in meeting with the missionaries, but her cousin kept going. “When I finally went, I didn’t want to stop until they finished. I felt something different. On January 7, 2007, I was baptised. I just wanted to join, and I didn’t want to turn back.”
On Sunday 3 August 2025, the Nauru Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was formally organised. The congregation’s volunteer leaders include Heroshi Tea, Katerita Tairati, and Tabwaria Tairati.