A new book detailing the voices and history of Latter-day Saint Women in the Pacific and Asia was recently published by BYU’s Religious Studies Center.
The book covers the history of women’s contributions to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in more than a dozen countries, and looks at the lives of those who had a profound impact on those areas today.
Po Nien (Felipe) Chou, lead editor of the book and a professor of religious education at BYU-Hawaii, explained that they saw a need to collect the histories of this group of disciples.
“We found that much of the record focuses on priesthood leaders, while the stories of sisters are not mentioned as much. We felt there was a need to represent the voices of Latter-day Saint women in the Pacific and Asia,” he said. “Half of the Church is men, half is women. We want to tell the other half of the Restoration’s history, which is the women’s side.”
Petra Chou, another editor of the book, explained an experience she had with her son that encapsulated the purpose of the book.
“Just yesterday, my son told me, ‘Mom, you’re awesome,’ I want people to know that about these women too, and that their contributions to the Church should be recognized and valued,” she said.
'Alisi K. Langi, editor of the book and assistant professor of religious education at BYU-Hawaii, explained it was important to them to have authors with a “broad spectrum of backgrounds” to write each chapter.
“We have academics specializing in Church history scholarship, but we also have people recording personal or family histories. I’m particularly proud that several of our students contributed as authors,” she said.
Langi excitedly explained that one of their students was even a primary author of a chapter about a woman named Srilaksana Suntarahut in Thailand.
“This woman was born into royalty but left that life to join the Church. She was also tasked with translating the first Thai-language Book of Mormon," she said. "It’s an incredible story among many in the global Church that people may not be aware of."
Chaniporn Tangsitpan, primary author of this chapter and recent graduate of BYU-Hawaii, explained that collecting the history of Suntarahut was “really quite smooth,” and that it had a profound impact on her testimony.
“It gave me the power of knowledge that Jesus Christ was trying to help His children who didn’t get the opportunity to learn His gospel at that time or in their language,” she said.
Tangsitpan explained that given Suntarahut’s knowledge of English, she really was in the “right place at the right time” to help translate the Book of Mormon. She left her “royal life” to fulfill “her mission from God.”
“She was in a royal family,” Tangsitpan said. “But she decided to leave and go to the path that is harder and more challenging. She understands and knows how God works.”
Felipe Chou explained that one of the themes in the book that has struck a chord with him is the sacrifice of women.
“Often, women’s experiences, faith and sacrifices are not highlighted as much as the men’s. They’re sometimes seen as anonymous or in the background. We wanted to bring their stories to the forefront,” he said. “We want to give them the recognition they deserve because their contributions are integral to the history of the Church.”
Petra Chou pointed to the joy of connecting the histories of each of these women and countries to the Church as a global organization. “We helped our authors connect these personal stories to the larger context of the Church’s history,” she said.
Felipe Chou hopes the book will inspire members of the Church, students, professors and others to share more of the histories of Latter-day Saint women. He explained the book couldn’t have been done without diligent efforts by its many chapter authors.
“We appreciate the many chapter authors we‘ve worked with — especially those who are first time authors. It’s been a collaborative effort with many different authors to bring these stories to light,” he said.
Langi hopes the book will start a movement of Latter-day Saints recording their families' stories. “My invitation for people is to participate in the process. Don’t be afraid to record your own story or your family’s stories,” she said. “The legacy of faith in the Church is incredible and it’s captured in the lives of the members.”
Langi explained that it’s essential for Latter-day Saints to join in on this movement. She said the Church is doing a lot to preserve these histories, “but it’s a movement everyone should participate in.”
“The Church can’t document the stories of 17 million members on its own, but if everyone shares, we can capture the incredible stories of faith across the globe," Langi said. "You don’t need a particular degree to do it; you just need to know your history and record it."