LDS Helping Hands
by Melanie Tidwell

Serving others has always been a major part of our religion and it will always play a major role in the ‘working out’ of our individual salvation. Our Church leaders have recently admonished us to bring the Church out of obscurity here in Singapore by letting our “light so shine”. The service we do as a Stake and individual wards needs to be clearly connected to the Church. One way this is to be done is through the “LDS Helping Hands” program. The Church has secured a logo, which has been printed on vests. Service project participants will wear these vests when they are out in the community. The front of the vest has the LDS Helping Hands Logo and the back displays the full name of the Church with the words “Charity never Faileth”. This program has been very successful in other countries, especially in Brazil. Now the leaders of the Church want to give it a try in Asia.

President Hinckley reminds us, "As we recognize our place and our goal, we cannot become arrogant.  We cannot become self-righteous.  We cannot become smug or egotistical.  We must reach out to all mankind.  They are all sons and daughters of God our Eternal Father, and He will hold us accountable for what we do concerning them.  May the Lord bless us.  May He make us strong and mighty in good works.  May our faith shine forth as the sunlight of the morning.  May we walk in obedience to His divine commandments.  May He smile with favor upon us.  And as we go forward, may we bless humanity with an outreach to all, lifting those who are downtrodden and oppressed, feeding and clothing the hungry and the needy, extending love and neighborliness to those about us who may not be part of this Church.  The Lord has shown us the way, He has given us His word, His counsel, His guidance, yea, His commandments.  We have done well.  We have much to be grateful for and much to be proud of.  But we can do better, so much better." (Gordon B. Hinckley, "Living in the Fulness of Times," Ensign, Nov 2001, 6)

As we put forth serious efforts to serve others, the community at large will begin to recognize our faces and feel of our spirits and understand that we are genuine representatives of our Savior. The instant they see us, they will feel comfort and relief. This was recently made apparent in the aftermath of hurricane ‘Charley’, which has devastated parts of  the state of Florida,  in the United States. Bishop David Kanar, of a ward near by led 29 members of his congregation to the areas hit hardest by the hurricane. They spent some time at the local community center which was reported by the St. Petersburg Times as being a grim scene.

“Without electricity, elderly residents were lined up on cots. Some read books or newspapers, but most just sat there with blank expressions on their weary faces. Trash barrels caught rain dripping through the roof.   But in the misery, Kanar and others were brought closer to the human spirit, he said. Some of the best help they could offer Charley's victims was a simple touch of the hand or a hug.”

The story concludes with, “A woman named Sue, who was in charge of the community center, ran over when she saw Kanar and the rest of the group from the church, ‘Everybody, everybody’ Sue called out, tears running down her face. ‘The Mormons are here!’”

Yes, indeed, the Mormons ARE here and we look forward to working together to make our corner of this world a better place.