HAMILTON, New Zealand — Our temples throughout the Church have seen many loving and dedicated workers who have served as temple missionaries and as regular ordinance workers. They have "given their all" as they have come early to the temple and served late each day.

Among those dedicated servants are Tarariana Mou Tham and his wife, Tihi Mou Tham, who have completed their third mission in the Papeete Tahiti Temple. They have served with great dignity and love.

Their home is on the beautiful island of Raiatea 150 miles west of Tahiti. All of their 10 children were born and reared there under very humble circumstances. Brother Mou Tham was a farmer and worked hard to sustain the needs of his family on their small plantation. They grew most of their food and sold enough produce to barely meet the additional day-to-day needs of their large family.

When the missionaries presented the gospel to the Mou Tham family in the early 1960s Sister Mou Tham and most of the children accepted the teachings readily. Brother Mou Tham gave permission for the others to be baptized but refused to have anything seriously to do with this strange religion himself. He also had Word of Wisdom problems which held him back.

However, when he finally investigated it more seriously and received the witness of the Spirit that the Church was true he directed all of his energy to assist the growth of the kingdom. He was one of the key figures in helping to establish the Church there on Raiatea.

Just as the early Latter-day Saints who sacrificed to gather to Zion, once Brother and Sister Mou Tham had firm testimonies they desired with all their hearts to receive the fullness of the blessings of the priesthood. They wanted to become an eternal family made possible only by being sealed in the temple.

At that time, the closest temple to them was in New Zealand 3,500 miles away to the southwest. But the possibility of saving enough money for 12 of them to purchase costly airplane tickets to New Zealand, plus the money for new clothes and food during their stay there, was almost unthinkable. They were poor, and reasonable paying jobs in Raiatea were just not available.

The only possibility appeared to be for Brother Mou Tham and their next oldest son, Gerard, to seek employment on the distant island of New Caledonia 3,000 miles to the west, then simply save their money until the necessary amount had been attained.

New Caledonia was also a French territory where the local nickel mine provided jobs for many Tahitian people who had moved there for employment purposes. Brother Mou Tham and Gerard traveled to New Caledonia in 1969. His eldest son, Emile, had already been there working for a year and was an influence in this decision. He, too, would assist in this joint family temple project.

Brother Mou Tham and his sons remained on New Caledonia for a period of four years, working and saving for the planned trip to the temple in far away New Zealand. Once a year he returned home to be with his family in Raiatea for a short time, then returned back to work, leaving the boys to remain in New Caledonia. Sister Mou Tham did the best she could to take care of the eight younger children at home by herself. She and the children grew the food required for their sustenance. They used a very small amount of Brother Mou Tham's wages for any additional items required.

After four years of working and saving, Sister Mou Tham and all the children at home, except their oldest daughter, joined a temple excursion group from Tahiti and traveled to New Zealand. There they were joined by Brother Mou Tham and the two elder boys who had made the three-day trip from New Caledonia by traveling via Australia.

Once in New Zealand they entered the sacred temple together where they were sealed for time and eternity, an indescribable and joyful experience. They remained at the temple for two weeks where they continued to serve every available minute of their time, along with the other Tahitian members, to perform sacred ordinances for those who had passed on.

After this supernal and unforgettable experience they were not yet satisfied; they were not a complete family. During the previous four years their oldest daughter, Rona, had married and, at the time of the temple trip, was close to the delivery date of their first child, which made traveling impossible for her. Additional money would be required for her and her husband and baby to go to the temple.

Now, while many tried to persuade Brother Mou Tham to return to Raiatea and remain with his family he simply replied that his family was not yet complete. They could not be an eternal family until all members were sealed together. Thus motivated, he again returned to New Caledonia directly from New Zealand and worked for another two years to make this possible. One more interim vacation trip to Raiatea was made to be with his family during those two years.

But now, after a total of six years of separation while living and working far away from each other, their final goal of being sealed together as a complete family would soon be achieved. With adequate funds now available the married daughter, son-in-law and grandchild, along with Brother and Sister Mou Tham, made the trip to New Zealand where the new family was sealed together, and Rona was sealed to her parents — to be eternally united as a complete family.

After these unforgettable experiences the Mou Tham family members know that it will be up to them to continue faithful in the Church to assure that these sacred sealing ordinances will be effective eternally.

The Mou Tham children are now grown up, all have been married in the temple and all are busy serving in their respective wards, branches and stakes. Brother and Sister Mou Tham greatly attribute the success with their children to the sacrifices they have made to attend the temple, both in New Zealand and in Tahiti.

Since those first two temple trips, Brother and Sister Mou Tham sacrificed the means to take two additional trips to the New Zealand temple prior to the dedication of the Papeete Tahiti Temple in 1981. Since the dedication they have made regular trips with their branch and ward excursions to their own temple, ultimately serving three temple missions. — C. Jay Larson of the Taylorsville 30th Ward, Taylorsville Utah Central Stake, is a sealer in the Jordan River Utah Temple and former mission president and temple president in Tahiti.