George Q. Cannon’s Missionary Guidance in the Sandwich Islands
Published October 13, 2026 at 3:22 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While serving as a young missionary, George Q. Cannon felt an impression to travel in a specific direction where he would meet people ready to receive the truth. Despite his companions' remonstrances, he followed the guidance. He was approached by a young woman who shouted in the native language, attracting three local men who were leading figures (including a circuit judge). They invited him to stay, subsequently joined the Church, and became strong advocates of the Gospel.
In early March 1851, while traveling north from Lahaina, Maui, Cannon passed through the town of Wailuku. He felt a spiritual impression to return, and as he did, two women at a house noticed him and called out to the men inside, 'Oh, here’s a white man.' Three men—Jonathan Napela, William Uaua, and H. K. Kaleohano—emerged to meet him, marking the beginning of their association. All three became significant converts and leaders in the Church in Hawaii.
In Their Own Words
“I had been traveling for some time, and had been very much exercised in my mind respecting my field of labor. I had felt that there were people on these islands who were prepared to receive the Gospel, and I had been praying earnestly to the Lord to lead me to them. I had been led by the Spirit to go to the district of Wailuku, on the island of Maui. I had traveled along the road, and had passed through the village of Wailuku, and had gone some distance beyond it, when I felt a strong impression to return. I did not know why, but the impression was so powerful that I could not resist it. I turned back, and as I was walking along the road, I passed a house, and a young woman who was standing in the doorway called out to some men who were inside, 'Here is a white man!' Three men came out to the gate, and as I reached it, they met me. The man who appeared to be the leader asked me who I was and where I was going. I told him. It was Saturday, and he invited me to stop with them until Monday. I accepted the invitation and went into the house. There I found the very men that I had been told by the manifestations of the Spirit of God I would find, and an opening was made for me to preach the Gospel. These men were Jonathan Napela, William Uaua, and H. K. Kaleohano. They were men of intelligence and standing, and they became my first friends and helpers in the work of the ministry on the islands.”
— George Q. Cannon, My First Mission
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 16 August 1900 (Vol. 62, No. 33). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1900-08-16_62_33 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Additional sources (periodical research): Chad M. Orton, 'George Q. Cannon and the Hawaiian mission beginnings', Church News, 21 June 2014. https://www.thechurchnews.com/2014/6/21/23223304/george-q-cannon-and-the-hawaiian-mission-beginnings/ Full first-person account: George Q. Cannon, My First Mission (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1879), 27–28. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45049/45049-h/45049-h.htm
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