Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Sometimes, as the new Pago Pago American Samoa Temple was taking shape, Irva Auapaau and her husband would drive past at night just to look at it.

“Especially when the lights were on,” she remembered. “It just brightens up that area.”

For Auapaau, having a temple so close to home is especially meaningful. For more than 20 years, she and her family have traveled to Apia, Samoa, to worship in a temple. At times, that meant making difficult choices about who could afford to go and when.

That is about to change. The new temple is about 15 minutes from the Auapaau family home.

Temples are different from the meetinghouses where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gather for Sunday worship. In temples, they worship God and Jesus Christ by participating in sacred ordinances, including marriages that can unite their families for eternity.

Until now, attending a temple for Latter-day Saints in American Samoa has always required traveling off-island.

The Pago Pago American Samoa Temple, the first in the territory, will open for public tours in November before it is dedicated in December.

The arrival of a temple in American Samoa, she said, “has brought so much excitement.”

A FOUNDATION OF FAITH 

Auapaau grew up in Samoa, the ninth of 13 children. She credits much of her own faith to her mother.

Her mother, Sinive Suega Pepe, was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her father, Toafa Taofiga Iuli, joined the Church but, at first, rarely attended.

“If it wasn’t for her faith, if she wasn’t diligent and committed, my dad wouldn’t have become active in the Church,” Auapaau said.

Over time, that changed. Her father became deeply involved in the Church. Years later, Irva’s parents served together in the temple presidency in Apia.

“I look back and am so grateful for my mother,” she said. “We were brought up by her faith.”

Service in the Church has also become an important part of Auapaau’s own life.

Today, she serves as an Area Organization Advisor for the Church, working with women leaders across 11 stakes, or groups of local congregations, in American Samoa and Samoa.

In that role, she helps support women who lead the Church’s Relief Society, Young Women and Primary organizations, which serve women, teenagers and children.

“This calling has helped me better understand my worth as a daughter of Heavenly Father,” she said.

BUILDING THEIR FAMILY AROUND THE TEMPLE

After serving as a missionary in the Philippines from 1996 to 1998, Auapaau returned home to Samoa.

Not long after, a friend asked her to play the piano for a young adult devotional about marriage and temples. During practices for the devotional, she met her future husband, Faapito Auapaau.

Several people were expected to sing, but on the night of the program, Faapito was the only singer and Irva accompanied him on the piano.

“I played, and he sang,” she said. “I think that’s where we connected.”

The temple soon became an important part of their relationship.

“Our dates were always at the temple,” Auapaau said. “We felt the temple really helped us with our relationship. So we made sure that the temple became part of us.”

They married in the Apia Samoa Temple in September 1999 and moved to American Samoa at the end of 2000 with their young son, the first of their four children.

The move put an ocean between the family and the temple that had become such an important part of their lives. Attending the temple now meant flying back to Samoa.

But they kept going.

MAKING THE TEMPLE A PRIORITY

When the Auapaaus moved to American Samoa, Faapito was the only one working and money was tight. But attending the temple remained a priority.

When their local congregation organized trips to the temple in Apia, Irva and Faapito took turns going while the other stayed home with their children.

“We made sure that we didn’t miss those temple trips,” Auapaau said.

As their circumstances improved, they were eventually able to travel together as a family. By then, Irva and Faapito had three young children.

On their first temple trip together as a family, Irva and Faapito gathered their three children for a photo outside the temple in Apia.

“We need to take a picture while these kids are little,” she remembers them saying, “so that when they grow up, they will know this is where they need to be.”

The family continued making temple trips as their children grew. When Irva or Faapito traveled to Samoa for a wedding, funeral or other family event, they tried to attend the temple before returning home.

The trips have also become much more expensive. Auapaau remembers paying about US$90 for airfare when the family first moved to American Samoa. Today, she said, round-trip airfare can cost close to US$400 per person.

“We believe that the temple brings us a lot of blessings,” she said. “It can fill us with the Spirit and the guidance that we need.”

WHAT CHANGES FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

When the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple was announced, Auapaau thought about what it would mean for families who would no longer need to make the trip her family had made for so many years.

For her own children, Irva and Faapito have already made being close to a temple a priority.

Two of their daughters are now students at Brigham Young University–Hawaii, where the Laie Hawaii Temple is within walking distance. Auapaau said having a temple so close was one of the reasons they wanted their children to attend the university.

“We tell them, ‘Make time for the temple. You have no excuse. You don’t need a ride. You don’t need to fly anywhere,’” Auapaau said.

Their son is also preparing to be married in the Apia Samoa Temple in December.

“It’s every parent’s dream to see their children get married in the temple,” she said. “That’s our dream for our children.”

For years, the Auapaaus traveled to Samoa, where extended family helped make their temple visits possible. With a temple now opening in American Samoa, some of that travel may soon go in the other direction.

The Apia Samoa Temple will close December 23 for an extensive renovation, just 10 days after the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple is dedicated. Irva looks forward to families in American Samoa having the opportunity to welcome relatives who may come from Samoa to worship at the new temple.

For Auapaau, the excitement surrounding the new temple extends beyond her own family.

“The people of American Samoa are thrilled and overwhelmed by this blessing,” she said. “We are all so excited for the open house and dedication, but even more overjoyed for the temple to be fully operating.”

All those years of traveling for temple worship have sometimes prompted questions from extended family members who are not Latter-day Saints. They have asked why her family would spend so much money travelling to a temple.

Her answer begins with family.

“The very first thing I would talk to them about is families,” she said. “This is the place where your family can be together forever.”

Latter-day Saints believe that marriages performed in temples can unite families for eternity. They also perform sacred ordinances on behalf of family members who have died.

For Auapaau, the temple is also a reminder of God’s love for His children.

“The temple is also a symbol of how much He loves His children,” she said.

TEMPLE EVENT SCHEDULE

Public open house: November 4– 21, 2026 (excluding Sundays)
Location: Ottoville Road, Tafuna, Western District 96799, American Samoa
Tour hours: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Tours are free, and no reservations are needed.