Opapo Fonoimoana — The Manu'a Hurricane After Dusting His Feet

During a missionary journey to the island of Manu'a in Samoa, Opapo Fonoimoana, his long-time friend Elisala, and one or two American missionaries found that the local king, Tuimanu'a, had forbidden anyone to receive or assist the Latter-day Saints in any way upon pain of immediate stoning. The missionaries stayed two months, eating fallen coconuts from the beaches and sleeping in holes with leaves over their heads to ward off mosquitoes. After weeks of this ordeal, Opapo was awakened by the smell of freshly baked food in a nearby basket; the missionaries did not know whether to attribute it to human or divine agency, but after weeks of coconuts they were profoundly grateful. Near the end of their stay the provision was repeated when an elderly woman brought them food, saying that if she had to die for her kindness she would, for she did not fear Tuimanu'a. Having exhausted every avenue, the missionaries prepared to depart. Opapo and Elisala warned Tuimanu'a and his people that they would feel the wrath and power of God if they did not repent, and as his last act before boarding the longboat, Opapo ceremonially dusted off his feet at the edge of the village as a witness against the island. A couple of weeks later a devastating hurricane struck Manu'a, killing many, destroying all crops above ground, and leveling every house except one — the fale of the elderly woman who had helped the missionaries. The account comes through Carl Fonoimoana, Opapo's grandson, from the oral-history recollections of family and fellow Saints; it was published in an edited version in the Ensign, July 1981.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in Carl Fonoimoana, "Opapo -- Man of Miracles," Mormon Pacific Historical Society, Vol. 1 (1980), Article 10.):

Opapo and his companion, Elisala, were sent to the island of Manu'a. The king of the island, Tuimanu'a, had forbidden anyone to receive or assist the missionaries in any way, on pain of immediate stoning. For two months the missionaries lived on the beach, eating fallen coconuts and sleeping in holes in the sand with leaves over their heads to ward off the mosquitoes. One night, Opapo was awakened by the smell of freshly baked food in a basket nearby. They did not know whether to attribute it to human or divine agency, but they were profoundly grateful. Near the end of their stay, the provision was repeated when an elderly woman brought them food, saying that if she had to die for her kindness she would, for she did not fear Tuimanu'a. Having exhausted every avenue, the missionaries prepared to depart. Opapo and Elisala warned Tuimanu'a and his people that they would feel the wrath and power of God if they did not repent. As his last act before boarding the longboat, Opapo ceremonially dusted off his feet at the edge of the village as a witness against the island. A couple of weeks later, a devastating hurricane struck Manu'a, killing many, destroying all crops above ground, and leveling every house except one—the fale of the elderly woman who had helped the missionaries.