President Joseph F. Smith, the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, served three missions to the Sandwich Islands, as Hawaii was called. He was called to serve there for the first time (1854-1857) at the unusually young age of 15.
When the call came, “he cheerfully responded to the call. He later gratefully reflected, 'My four years mission to the Sandwich Islands restored my equilibrium, and fixed the laws and metes and bounds which have governed my subsequent life’” (see "Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith").
Having been orphaned for several years, his resources, both financial and family support, were severely limited. It was during a particularly difficult period when a special soul came into his life to bless his efforts as a young missionary. He had contracted a severe fever and was seriously ill for about three months while living on Molokai.
A dear sister called Ma Mahuhi’i attended to his needs “as lovingly as though he were her own son. She never forgot him, nor he her, and they greeted one another with deep affection whenever they met in later years” (See "Sacred and Historical Places: Hawai’i," edited by Mary Jane Woodger, Riley M. Moffat and Fred E. Woods).
Immediately behind the Laie Hawaii Temple and its parking lot sits the Laie Pioneer Memorial Cemetery. Inside the gardens adjacent to the cemetery is a statue by sculptor Jan Fisher. It is known as Joseph F. Smith’s “Hawaiian Mother,” Ma Naoheakamalu Manuhi’i, and commemorates the life and service of this caring woman who took care of a teenaged future prophet when he was sick on Molokai.