Kentucky Mormons Clean Up after Louisville Flood

Members of the Louisville Kentucky Stake joined in relief efforts during two Saturdays in October to clean up homes damaged by floodwaters during the summer.

Torrential rains ravaged the greater Louisville, Ky. area on August 4. Widespread flooding damaged more than 200 homes in the western and southern portions of the city, rendering many uninhabitable and others susceptible to dry rot, dangerous black mold and structural dangers.

Efforts by civic and volunteer organizations began addressing immediate needs, but the work required was substantial. Over a month after the flood, more than 200 homes were still on a waiting list for assistance.

Mormon Youth Surprise Family with Home Makeover

On one occasion, a group of North Ogden Youth, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) decided to replace their annual weekend conference with a week long service project. Foregoing the dances, spiritual talks, sporting activities, and other normally-planned activities of a conference, forty youth decided to renovate a home in their Ogden neighborhood. Read more

Mormon Helping Hands Clean Parks

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is calling upon its members to volunteer in a day of service on May 8, 2010. Known as “Mormon Helping Hands Day-Renewing California Parks,” the Church will join hands with the Rancho Simi Parks and Recreation to clean and restore two parks in need of repair.

Tasks range from the small, such as pruning shrubs and repainting wall that had been sprayed by graffiti, to the large, such as rebuilding fences and creating and widening trails. The park overhaul requires a real labor force—more than 400 people. Volunteers will lend a hand beginning at 8 a.m. and going until the cleanup is done.

California is not the only area where members of the LDS Church are aiding in cleanup efforts. Mormons in both California and Hawaii have decided to focus on cleaning parks. Recently, in the Church’s North America Southeast Area, hundreds participated in a park cleanup during the second annual day of service for that area.

Challenger Park is a well known equestrian park with two miles of hiking trail, oak groves and a stream in the southern foothills of Simi Valley.  The other park, Corriganville, has passed through some famous hands and has been the site of multiple films and television shows.   It was the backdrop for movies and television programs such as Fort Apache, The Lone Ranger, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Sky King and Star Trek and featured such actors as Hopalong Cassidy, John Wayne and Ronald Reagan. At one time, Corriganville was listed as one of the “Top Ten” places to see in the United States.  However, the park was swept by several fires, with one in 1979 destroying all the structures. Since that time, the regional park has been subject to taggers, overgrowth and trash.

Volunteers in both locations will be recognizable by their yellow Mormon Helping Hands volunteer vests, the official vests used by Church members when participating in humanitarian service projects and disaster relief efforts throughout the world.

Update:

70,000 members of the Mormon Church showed up for the clean up projects.  Read about the results here.

LDS Church Donates to Expand Primary Children’s Hospital

Primary Children’s Medical Center is located in Salt Lake City adjacent to the University of Utah.  Officials announced plans for the new George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Outpatient Services Building at a news conference Thursday.  The Eccles Foundation has donated $3 million and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave $1 million toward construction of the new $120 million, 200,000-square-foot addition to the hospital campus.

From 2003 to 2007, admissions grew by more than 19 percent.  The current facility as it stands has become incapable of handling the load; it’s often filled past capacity. Many of hospital’s existing clinics will be moved to the new building, allowing an expansion of inpatient services and bed space.

The University of Utah has agreed to a long-term lease for space west of the hospital, across Mario Capecchi Drive, and a skybridge will likely connect the two buildings. Occupancy is scheduled for 2013.

The hospital was founded by the LDS Church in 1922 and funded in part for decades with the pennies, nickels and dimes collected from children in the church’s Primary organization. The hospital was donated to the community in 1975.

See full article in Deseret News.

LDS Church Provides Water for African Orphans

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has helped fill an essential need for 960 children at the Vulamasango Primary School in Kanyemazane, South Africa.

Elder F. Michael Watson, a Church leader who oversees Southeast Africa, was on a visit to the school to thank administrators for allowing the Church to use the school for church services when he learned the city routinely interrupts the school’s water supply without notice. This action has prevented the students from having a cooked meal and using the restrooms.  Many of the children are orphans, and the only meal they receive each day is school lunch. The Church donated a 5,000 liter emergency water tank to fill in the gaps when the water is turned off.  The Church also gave all 960 students bags containing basic school supplies and special toys for the preschool children.

The children can speak English today because of the efforts of the missionaries from the Church.  A certificate of appreciation was presented to the Church from the Mpumalanga Department of Education in recognition of the outstanding partnership and support in school development and for bringing hope and relief. A chorus of the school children sang to their headmaster, Rafael Phiri, and other students dressed in costumes and performed their local native dances.

The Church has two small congregations in the Nelspruit region. Two of the six full-time missionaries serving in the area are invited by the school to teach English classes two days a week and hold a devotional at the school every Wednesday.  Elder Watson and his wife, Jolene, were accompanied at the event by public affairs and humanitarian missionary couples based in Johannesburg and other missionaries serving locally in the area.

Humanitarian aid in the form of disaster relief, medical supplies, clean water, wheelchairs and school supplies has been a great help to the residents of the area. The Church donated a substantial amount in humanitarian aid in 2009 to 19 countries in Southeast Africa.

LDS Helping Hands in Guatemala

In conjunction with Children’s Day in Guatemala (October 10, 2009), 7,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) performed acts of service.  Children, teenagers and adults of all ages participated in hundreds of projects — including many that focused on serving children, particularly those battling illnesses or other challenges.  Members sported familiar “Mormon Helping Hands” vests as they interacted with the children.

The various children’s service projects included staging puppet shows, games and pinata parties. Mormons dressed up as clowns, painted the children’s faces and taught them songs. The fun-filled activities brought joy to the children and the many members who participated.

In other areas, members participated in various service activities designed to assist disadvantaged youth. Some spent several hours at various youth facilities painting dormitories, cleaning outside the buildings and repairing stoves, refrigerators and play areas. Volunteers also cut grass and scrubbed hallways. Others collected diapers, gifts and hygiene kits that were presented to those who care for the children.

Church volunteers donated a total of 28,000 hours of service. Participants were following the recent general conference counsel of President Thomas S. Monson, who said: “Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and, figuratively, lose their life, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish — and, in effect, save their life.”

*LDS Church News, November 21, 2009.

LDS Church Receives Community Service Award

Kentucky’s Leaf Chronical newspaper announced the award bestowed by Mayor Dan Kemp and Pennyrile RC&D for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ volunteer service.  In April 2009, for their Annual Day of Service project, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints partnered with Pennyrile RC&D, the city of Hopkinsville and thirty additional organizations and businesses in efforts to clear debris from the Attucks High School to prepare it for future renovation and preservation of the historic building.

Over 300 Latter-day Saints from the surrounding area, including Clarksville, TN, removed over 240 cubic yards of debris using over 1500 man hours during the Church’s annual Day of Service event.  A variety of such Day of Service events were performed by over 550 Latter-day Saint congregations throughout the Southeastern United States. (The local LDS Congregations are currently accepting proposals for service from the Clarksville community for the April 24, 2010 Day of Service.)

Mormons Help Locally – All Over the World

Latter-day Saints believe that giving service to others is a lifestyle based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, who “went about doing good.”  The desire to serve others crosses cultural boundaries and has been manifested in recent months with stories featured on International Church Web sites.  From Brazil and El Salvador to Samoa and Guatemala, members of the Church are reaching out around the world to help those in need.  Below are some examples.

The Mormon Helping Hands program has reached its 10-year anniversary in Brazil.  Mormon Helping Hands has served the needs of thousands while providing many more thousands the opportunity to serve. On 12 October, National Volunteer Day in Brazil, tens of thousands of Mormon Helping Hands volunteers completed service projects throughout the South American country.

“The need to supply blood banks is compelling, as there is a deficit of more than 30,000 units of blood each year,” said Ana Vilma Aguilar, national coordinator. “Aid from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is invaluable and it enables us to significantly reduce the gap in our inventory.”

In Samoa volunteers helped restore both a grandmother’s home and her hope at a time of significant human loss following the recent deadly tsunami in the South Pacific.

By Uniting against Hunger, Mormons in Guatemala have responded to drought conditions that have destroyed crops.

“I brought two pounds of rice for my little friends who are without food,” said an eight-year-old girl who worked side by side with her father for two hours preparing rations.

The Church joined hands with numerous charitable and municipal organizations in collecting more than 300 tons of food.

Following September’s tropical storm, members in the Philippines continue an ongoing effort to provide food, water, clothes and other relief supplies.

In the Dominican Republic, members say they were following the admonition of their Savior when they donated 500 much-needed wheelchairs.

And on a smaller scale, women in England donated a portable machine that helps hospice patients breathe easier by clearing airways.

From LDS Newsroom.

Mormon Ward Hosts Moslem Worshippers

When a California mosque was severely damaged in an electrical fire, Mormons opened their nearby meeting house for Friday Moslem prayers for over a year.  The Moslem congregation is comprised of Ahmadi Muslims, a branch of Islam founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in 1889.  There are millions of Ahmadi Muslims in the world, but they are often persecuted by other Moslem sects.  The congregation in Chino, California, has some members who have fled persecution in other countries and enjoy freedom of worship in the United States.

Although much of the mosque was destroyed in the 2003 fire, the prayer rooms were left intact. For the first 3½ years, as the mosque raised the $3 million for the first phase of rebuilding and expansion, worshippers were able to pray most weeks in those rooms.

In October 2007, construction forced them to move elsewhere, to a nearby ward — congregation — of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The ward hosted the mosque’s Friday prayers for 1 ½ years.  The Mormon ward’s invitation to the Ahmadis came after years of friendship and members visiting each others’ congregations, said Ken Rasmussen, director of public affairs for the Latter-day Saints region that includes Chino.  Rasmussen said he didn’t know about the striking similarities between the two faiths’ histories of persecution and misunderstanding until a few months after members of the two congregations began holding joint dinners.

Just as some Muslims consider Ahmadis heretics, some Christians call Mormons heretics. Ahmadis believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the messiah; Mormons believe Joseph Smith was a prophet. Smith was murdered in 1844 during an era of severe anti-Mormon attacks and persecution in the United States.

Rasmussen said that after attending dozens of Ahmadi prayer services, he’s realized there are other similarities as well: Teachings to love others, honor your family and serve God.

“It’s been a wonderful blessing for us to be such good friends with them,” he said.

The newly remodeled mosque will be larger than the original.    The new 27,000-square-foot, two-floor mosque is more than twice as big as the old one. About 300 to 400 people worship there during Friday afternoon prayers, Anwer Khan said. The mosque is still raising the $1 million necessary to build a basketball court, industrial-sized kitchen and a home for Imam Nasir.

Article adapted from ThePressEnterprise.com, and MormonTimes.com.

LDS Aid in Tsunami-Stricken Samoa

In October, 2009, an 8.3 earthquake occurred in the sea southwest of Samoa and American Samoa.  Since there are a large number of Latter-day Saints on the islands, local Saints and church leaders first tried to locate every member.  Emergency response was then coordinated between the Church and local congregations.  About 150 people died in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, 26 of whom were Latter-day Saints.  All Mormon missionaries on the islands were accounted for and found to be safe.

Latter-day Saint authorities in Samoa and New Zealand have continued to devote substantial energies to organizing humanitarian relief locally for the battered islands of Samoa and American Samoa.

Latter-day Saints throughout unaffected areas in Samoa have been gathering supplies and are continually shipping these to the impacted communities. Aid is to be given to all people in need, regardless of their religious affiliation (MormonTimes.com).

In American Samoa, at the request of the government, church meeting houses have been opened to residents who lost their homes in the disaster.

In Tonga, the tsunami crushed the small northern island of Niuatoputapu, destroying most of the homes in its three villages and leaving roughly 90 percent of its 1,019 people without shelter and clothing. Survivors reported that the waves reached the boughs of the coconut trees and obliterated the island’s hospital, bank, government offices, telecommunication facilities, jail and airport buildings. Nine people died and four were critically injured.

No Latter-day Saints were killed in Tonga, although some lost their homes and all their possessions.

Church members on Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu provided relief for the people of Niuatoputapu. On Thursday, Tongatapu’s 12 stake presidents broadcast a message on local Tonga radio inviting church members to donate food, clothing, cooking equipment, pillows, blankets and other necessities.

Church members were invited to drop their donations at their local churches, where full-time missionaries helped load them into trucks. At first light Friday, dozens of trucks began transporting the goods to government warehouses. From there, military trucks transported them to the nearby wharf, where they were loaded into a French ship, which will carry them to Niuatoputapu.

Government leaders on all three islands were impressed with the speed and coordinated efforts of the LDS Church and its members and expressed gratitude for the help.  Rebuilding efforts will also receive the continuing attention of the LDS Church.  The Church is still continuing rebuilding efforts in the tsunami-stricken regions of Indonesia and Thailand, even though the disaster occurred several years ago.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-update-on-pacific-earthquake-and-tsunami-crisis

Click here to read a personal account of the devastation in Samoa.  This article has many before and after photographs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAaBJrn9su8

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