LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley on Friday dedicated a statue honoring two early missionaries, George Q. Cannon and Jonathan Napela.
The dedication was one of the major events during the Pioneers in the Pacific conference last week at Brigham Young University-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center. Hundreds of people attended the dedication ceremony, held in the courtyard fronting the Cannon Activities Center.President Hinckley praised both men for their courage and devotion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Cannon came to Hawaii as a young man with a large group of missionaries, most of whom became discouraged and returned home. Cannon remained and later met Napela, a Hawaiian native whom President Hinckley described as "a man who proved to have courage and vision and faith." Working together, Cannon and Napela translated the Book of Mormon into Hawaiian.
The bronze statue was created by Viliami Tolutau, a BYU-Hawaii professor of fine arts. It was completed in just seven weeks and stands more than 7 feet tall.
The five-day conference ended Saturday.