Original Musical Celebrates Church History and Faith in American Samoa

It is hard to comprehend the magnitude of time and effort that it takes to study the documented history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, how it started and grew in a country; rewriting that history into song and dance; and then teaching it to a church congregation of all ages.

And yet, that is exactly what Asaua Sagote did in American Samoa.

The members of the Malaeimi First Ward congregation presented a musical celebration of Church history at an event held on Aunu'u Island, earlier this month, marking 160 years since the arrival of the first Latter-day Saint missionaries.

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The work for the musical began when Bishop Kitiona Masoe of the Malaeimi First Ward organised his congregation into three groups to participate in a Thanksgiving programme.

Bishop Masoe invited Sagote to lead a group and find a way to share the history of the Church in American Samoa. 

Sagote, who describes himself as a “music man,” turned to what he loves the most—telling stories through song.

“I knew nothing about the history, so I had to learn,” Sagote recalled.

“I did a lot of research. My learning came from the archives of Brigham Young University and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ history website. I put the story together piece by piece.”

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The challenge of condensing years of history into 45 minutes of song and dance was incredibly difficult for Sagote.

“I didn’t know where to begin to construct the songs. I kept reading and checking the research," Sagote said.

"It was when I fell on my knees to plead for help that my mind opened," said Sagote.

He continued, "I thank God for the musical gift that He gave me. I’m so grateful for the talent that He has given me.”

The series of songs that Sagote wrote describes the first missionaries arriving on Aunu’u Island in American Samoa. The songs then move forward through history, relating stories of faith, sacrifice, and miracles as Samoans were gathered into The Church of Jesus Christ.

Sagote's group successfully performed in the Thanksgiving celebration, but that wasn't the end. The Lord had more in mind for this original musical history. 

When the commitee peparing for the placement of a Church historical marker on Aunu'u heard about Sagote's musical, they knew it was precisely what was needed for their event.

Amazingly, the music perfectly shares the details of the events that the marker commemorates.

The entire Malaeimi First Ward congregation was invited to sing and perform at the Church historical marker ceremony held on Friday, 10 June 2023.

Guests included government leaders, community leaders and Aunu'u Chiefs.

Preparing a congregation to sing about Church history for 45 minutes, required an amazing degree of enthusiasm and commitment from young and old.

Beginning in February, the ward members met regularly, up to five days a week, for one to two hours. At times, they fasted together and prayed that all would go well with the presentation and the marker celebration.

Although it might sound like an all-consuming sacrifice, it became a beautiful blessing as the Church community devoted themselves to this project.

Participants shared how the experience increased the love they felt for one another, strengthened family relationships, increased their faith, helped them remember important history lessons, and developed the children's musical talents.

Young adult, Angeline Sufia, said that "every time [she] came to song practice, [she] learned something new about the history of the Church.

Sufia said, “Whenever we sang, I felt closer to these early missionaries and members of the Church. There is something about this history that made me love the gospel of our Saviour more and it made me realise that He lives and will always provide for His people.”

Faleu Pasi, leader of the women’s organisation in the Malaeimi congregation, expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to sing and dance. She shared how it blessed her family.

“Most of the time our family is at home on their phones or doing something on their own. But being involved in the practices all week long gave us something special to do together," Pasi said.

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She continued, “We laughed and had fun together, it helped my kids to develop musical talent, and we all learned the history as a family. It was exciting and I’m grateful.”

“I felt the Spirit of Jesus Christ every time we practiced,” Charlie Foster said. “Sometimes the songs made us cry together.”

The Malaeimi congregation traveled to Aunu’u a day before the celebration to prepare for their performance. They rode on buses to the Au’asi wharf where they boarded small boats to cross the channel to Aunu’u Island. The group was generously hosted and cared for by the Aunu’u congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The members who gathered for the historical event were moved by the memorable performance.

Many descendants of the pioneer members and missionaries were in the audience, including Joseph Livingston who is now serving with his wife, Suzanna, as a missionary in Samoa.

Suzanna noted, “We were amazed at the preparation and details that went into such a beautifully presented celebration and we felt the spirit of the early missionary work in Samoa.”

Humbled by the experience, Elder Livingston stated, “I felt that I was attending a great family reunion, as though all of us at this wonderful event were being reunited across time with our pioneer missionaries and Samoan brothers and sisters.”