George Q. Cannon — Gift of Tongues in Hawaii (1851)

While serving as a young missionary in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) beginning in 1850, George Q. Cannon struggled intensely to learn the Hawaiian language. In 1851 he retreated to the mountains to pray with great fervor for the ability to reach the native people and received a sudden, miraculous manifestation of the gift of tongues. He began to understand native speakers, soon gained the ability to preach fluently, and eventually completed the translation of the Book of Mormon into Hawaiian—an ability he attributed entirely to divine assistance and which established his legendary status in Hawaiian Latter-day Saint history.