8 minute read
Now is the time to serve
COURTESY INTELLECTUAL RESERVE
Members of the Crestwood Kentucky Stake help remove debris from the area surrounding a home in Whitesburg, Ky., on Aug. 27.
BY GENELLE PUGMIRE
Daily Herald
Floods, earthquakes, war and pestilence cover the globe — and people are in need. at is why members of e Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have chosen to follow the clarion call of Jesus Christ.
“A new commandment I give unto you, at ye love one another; as I have loved you. …“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another,” reads John 13:34–35. e love the Savior described is an active love. It is not manifested through large and heroic deeds, but rather through simple acts of kindness and service, according to M. Russell Ballard, acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
In his April 2022 General Conference address “Now is the Time,” President Russell M. Nelson emphasized to members of the church that "Now is the time we can bless others and ‘li up the hands which hang down.’”
And so it should not be surprising that all people, members or not, that have su ered from natural and unnatural disasters have been met by the church’s Helping Hands volunteers.
A er July’s ooding in eastern Kentucky, Helping Hands volunteers spent two weeks clearing debris, shoveling mud, mucking out homes, moving furniture, preparing meals and lling other tasks.
More than 1,000 people from 30 stakes showed up to help. According to church information, they came from western Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Columbus Ohio North Stake President Gary C. Mangelson noted that they brought their own tools and camped in tents in the area.
At last report, about 2,800 volunteers had completed more than 27,000 hours of work.
Barry Spurlock, a Latter-day Saint from Lexington, Kentucky, saw all the preparation and organization that went into the heavy labor.
“I saw people coming back in covered from head to toe in ood mud from mucking out from under a house and seeking another assignment to go back out and work some more,” Spurlock said. “I saw women covered in dirt from cutting up trees and visibly tired yet smiling and laughing and ready to go back out and do more. roughout the world, organizations attached to the church, or working in conjunction with the church, have raised the hands of the down trodden. e Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Foundation (formerly known as LDS Charities), in collaboration with other nonpro ts, provided prosthetic limbs for approximately 500 people with disabilities in Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Church foundations are active in Indonesia providing prosthetic limbs, increasing the availability of clean water, building and upgrading schools and much more.
PHOTOS COURTESY INTELLECTUAL RESERVE
A drone captures an image of tents at a command center in eastern Kentucky on Aug. 20.
Tatan Sutam Dur, in three photos, showing and being tted for his new prosthetic leg.
COURTESY INTELLECTUAL RESERVE Elder Ulisses Soares presents a donation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Manutea Gay, president of Emauta, a Catholic entity that manages six shelters for victims of abuse in French Polynesia. The funds will be used to care for children and young women. Elder Soares met with President Manutea and volunteers during his ministering tour in Papeete, Tahiti on Aug. 16.
From Page 9
Elder Ulisses Soares of e Quorum of the Twelve Apostles o ered words of gratitude and encouragement recently to President Manutea Gay and volunteers of Emauta, a nonpro t organization a liated with the Catholic Church in French Polynesia. Emauta manages a network of shelters for victims of abuse.
“We are so appreciative for what you do for the people,” Elder Soares said. “It tells me a lot about your heart and how close you are to Jesus Christ, because the life of Jesus Christ was to help and bless the lives of others, especially the ones who are in despair.”
For those who can’t clear away mud, cook a meal for someone, or even give a donation, there are still ways to serve.
One bedridden woman, su ering from cancer, made a point to call ve members of her LDS ward every day before she died just to talk and let them know that someone loves them and is praying for them. She called members of all ages as her way to serve.
In a talk given by Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, former presiding bishop of the church, he spoke of the welfare system of the church.
“Welfare is more than just furnishing the temporal needs of the church members. Welfare is for every single member of the church. It involves the 96% who do not need to be assisted by the commodities and by those things furnished by the bishop’s storehouse. Welfare is for those who have, to give, as well as those who have not, to receive,” he said. “In the true humility of an inspired leader, King Benjamin (in the Book of Mormon) recounted his desire to serve his people and lead them in paths of righteousness. He then declared to them, ‘Because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God. And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.'” (Mosiah 2:16–17).
It has been said that hymns are sermons set to music. Many of those sermons are based on the teachings of the New Testament and the words of Christ’s apostles.
Verse 1:27 in the book of St. James, in the New Testament, reads, “Pure religion and unde led before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their a iction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
Christ was the great example. Many of his parables were about serving and helping those in need. e Good Samaritan is a well-known and much recited story of caring for even those you may not know.
A song in the general hymnbook of the church asks the question, “Have I Done Any Good?”
Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed.
Has anyone’s burden been lighter today
Because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?
When they needed my help was I there?
For those who want to volunteer to serve but don’t know what they want to do or where, the website http://justserve. “Welfare is more than just furnishing the temporal needs of the church members. Welfare is for every single member of the church. It involves the 96% who do not need to be assisted by the commodities and by those things furnished by the bishop’s storehouse. Welfare is for those who have, to give, as well as those who have not, to receive.”
— Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone,
former presiding bishop of the church
org provides the needs of organizations in your community, providing opportunities to help those in need and enhance the quality of life.
Jesus taught, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:35).
Jesus used a parable to teach the importance of service in the book of Matthew 25:34–40. In the parable, Jesus speaks of his return to the Earth and of separating the righteous from the wicked. To the righteous, Jesus said: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” e righteous, who are puzzled by this declaration, ask “Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?” en the Lord answers, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Opportunities for service to others are limitless. Kind words and deeds can li burdens and gladden hearts. Sharing the gospel is a great service with eternal consequences. One true key to happiness is to labor for the happiness of others, according to a church statement on service.
In April’s concluding message, President Nelson said, “ e future is always uncertain. Weather changes. Economic cycles are unpredictable. Disasters, accidents, and illness can change life quickly. ese actions are largely beyond our control. But there are some things we can control, including how we spend our time each day.”
Now is the time to serve.
MEMORIAL ART MONUMENTS
Serving Our Community Since 1886
