JONATHAN NAPELA

In 1850, Brigham Young sent ten missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands. Without understanding the language and culture, the missionaries found the work extremely difficult. Eventually they became very discouraged. Five of the ten missionaries decided to go home. The youngest of the remaining Elders, George Q. Cannon, was determined to stay. While kneeling in prayer, he felt impressed to go to Lahaina on the island of Maui. As he walked down one of the streets, two women saw him and ran screaming into the nearby home of Jonathan Napela. They knew the night before Jonathan had a dream that a messenger of God would come to their island and that he was to feed him. Jonathan invited Elder Cannon to stay in his home and share his message. A few days later, Jonathan Napela and his wife, Kitty, were baptized. Brother Napela, the first Hawaiian to receive his endowment, assisted Elder Cannon in translating the Book of Mormon into his native tongue and helped the Church acquire land for the building of chapels.

In 1873, Jonathan’s wife, known as one of the most beautiful women on the island, contracted leprosy. At that time, there was no cure for the dreaded disease. To prevent it from spreading, victims were forced by the government to leave family and friends and move to a leper colony on the northern side of the island of Molokai. Guarded by high cliffs and accessible only by boat, victims were isolated from the rest of the world while they faced a slow, agonizing, and lonely death. They had no medical help and no tools with which to fish, garden, or construct shelters. Meager rations, barely enough to keep them alive, were periodically unloaded by boat offshore. The inhabitants had to wade or swim out to recover the food.

Under Hawaiian law, a husband or wife could divorce a spouse stricken with leprosy. Divorcing Kitty or leaving her to suffer and die alone were unacceptable options for Jonathan. He determined he would stay with her no matter what—even though it meant he would likely be infected with the same malady. When they reached the island, Jonathan immediately began working to improve conditions. He was set apart as Branch President and provided spiritual support to many. Tragically, it was not long before Jonathan was afflicted with leprosy. The disease progressed so quickly that within a year he was almost unrecognizable. In spite of terrible pain, he continued to minister relief to his wife and others until he succumbed to the disease on 6 August 1879. Kitty followed him in death less than two weeks later.