Humanitarian Work - Something We Care About

My sister's father-in-law joined the church because he was invited by a guy named Don Clarke to church while the two were getting MBAs at Washington State University. Don Clarke has been the area president of the church in Guatemala (and the rest of Central America) the last couple years. I served my mission there from 2003 to 2005.

I just read an article in the church news about a humanitarian project being done there. A humanitarian missionary helped the community get running water into a town of 2,000 (the church bought the supplies but got the town to volunteer almost all of the labor) and also build a school there as well as other projects. It was great to hear what was accomplished as well as the approach the church used to get the entire community involved so that the project could be larger but also have greater long-term effects.

I love being in this church and look forward to seeing more and more of these projects get done as a greater number of senior couple missionaries serve in the church. We look forward to being missionaries ourselves.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700150533/LDS-Church-helps-as-Guatemalans-bring-water-education-to-their-village.html?pg=1

Sunday meetings - Finding heroes happens at church

My brother has only a couple of weeks left for his mission. I wrote him the following:

Please enjoy your last moments as a full-time missionary. What's interesting is that now that I'm working, one

of the major goals of my career is to get to the point that I can do full-time missionary work again. You're doing what I want to be doing again (along with Jamie) as soon as life will allow us to do it.

Also, we had an amazing testimony meeting on Sunday. A man read his wife's testimony. She has MS and can barely talk. She has probably spent 40 years in that wheel chair by my estimation. It was a tear jerker to say the least. It was a great example of why we go to church. A common question people have is, "why do I have to go to church for 3 hours every Sunday? I believe I can worship God on my own." They're wrong. You can't worship God "on an island." Worshipping God is personal but also needs to involve helping others come to him. By going to church you get the chance to help others come closer to him and also you will become inspired to do better yourself. Listening to the testimony of a man and woman who have been faithful members for 40 years of his wife going through a debilitating disease was truly powerful. They're such a great example. It's so awesome to find "heroes" in everyday life, and I have consistently found those at church.

Going to church is one of the best things I do every week. I really do find heroes there. I really appreciate the chance to go there. I'm very grateful for our church meetings. Even if there were 3 months of bad meetings (which there aren't), going to a meeting like last Sunday makes it all worth it. The man and woman who bore their testimonies, her written and his spoken, were truly refined. Very powerful people.

Also, I feel like the song, "I hope they call me on a mission" applies again in life. Missionaries are quite blessed....

Have a great day....