The Apostle's Promise: George Albert Smith Prophesies the Kinikinis' Baby Girl (Tonga, 1937)

Tēvita Muli Kinikini, the Tongan Latter-day Saint pioneer, and his wife Le‘o Tukui had child after child — all boys. They hoped for a little girl, but Muli's father Taniela, the village seer of the Free Church of Tonga, had seen in a dream that Muli and Le‘o would never have any girls. In 1937, Elder George Albert Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited Tonga, and the ‘Uiha branch was instructed to prepare performances and food for a conference at Pangai. Muli composed the dances, dried and salted fish, harvested his yams, and boxed up his pigs — with one thing in his mind: he would ask the visiting apostle to bless his wife to have a baby girl. The request was granted in a very specific blessing from Elder Smith: "Your next baby will be a girl. Not only that, you will have other girls." Unwise in his exuberance, Muli announced the promise to Saints and nonmembers alike, and the people of ‘Uiha were caught up in excited speculation — the visionary power of Muli's father versus the blessing of the Church's apostle. When Le‘o became pregnant again, the contest was common discussion in every village circle. On the night the baby was delivered, people gathered everywhere around the house, listening and waiting to see if the apostle's promise was true or false. When the midwife announced, "You are blessed with a little girl," the mockers suddenly disappeared — and the brief but intense persecution of the Kinikini family ended. (Kinikini's further service, including the raising of Vika Fatafehi, is recorded elsewhere in this archive.)