“Mormons! Mormons! Mormons!”: Naped Elias Chases Down Missionaries to Pay a Fifty-Cent Book of Mormon Debt — and Never Drinks Again

In 1975 Naped Elias, an educator from Pingalap, Pohnpei, was given a blue copy of the Book of Mormon by missionaries while studying in a training program at BYU–Hawaii. After several lessons he asked the missionaries to stop visiting him so he could focus on his studies. When he returned home, he discovered he still had the book — and felt guilty that he had never paid the fifty cents the missionaries had asked for it. As they had instructed him, he began reading and praying. He soon received a spiritual witness and determined to join the Church as soon as he could.

A few months later, Naped spotted two young men in white shirts and ties riding their bikes down the street — missionaries on Pohnpei, newly arrived. “Mormons! Mormons! Mormons!” he cried as he chased them down. He showed them the Book of Mormon and paid his fifty-cent debt. When the missionaries came to teach his family, Naped was drunk — he begged their forgiveness and asked them to pray for him. In the words of missionary Chris Harrison, whose journal records the visit: “That was the last time in his life he drank alcohol!”

Naped, his wife Srue, and their children were baptized on March 12, 1977 — one week after the first baptisms in Micronesia. He received the Melchizedek Priesthood that August and became president of the Kolonia Pohnpei Branch, and in June 1978 he and Srue became the first Pohnpeians sealed in a temple. “Before I joined the Church,” Naped said, “the children were not always happy to see me come home. Now they are happy, too, because I'm not drinking anymore.”

Fuller account of this event (as retold in On the Altar, Stories of Faith, Global Histories: Micronesia, Church History Department):

Naped Elias, an educator from Pingalap, was attending a training program at BYU–Hawaii in 1975 when he was given a blue copy of the Book of Mormon by missionaries. After several lessons, he asked the missionaries to stop visiting so he could focus on his studies. When he returned home, he discovered he still had the book and felt guilty that he had never paid the fifty cents the missionaries had asked for it. As they had instructed him, he began reading and praying. He soon received a spiritual witness and determined to join the Church as soon as he could. A few months later, Naped spotted two young men in white shirts and ties riding their bikes down the street—missionaries on Pohnpei, newly arrived. “Mormons! Mormons! Mormons!” he cried as he chased them down. He showed them the Book of Mormon and paid his fifty-cent debt. When the missionaries came to teach his family, Naped was drunk—he begged their forgiveness and asked them to pray for him. In the words of missionary Chris Harrison, whose journal records the visit: “That was the last time in his life he drank alcohol!” Naped, his wife Srue, and their children were baptized on March 12, 1977—one week after the first baptisms in Micronesia. He received the Melchizedek Priesthood that August and became president of the Kolonia Pohnpei Branch, and in June 1978 he and Srue became the first Pohnpeians sealed in a temple. “Before I joined the Church,” Naped said, “the children were not always happy to see me come home. Now they are happy, too, because I'm not drinking anymore.”