As I have attended some of the quilting sessions, it is encouraging to have members of the Stake approach me with such questions as, “When are we going to visit the Leprosy Home again?” or “After we are finished making the 100 quilts, what will our next service project be?”

This service minded attitude is making a positive difference world-wide. As the hurricanes raged and took their toll on parts of the United States, Cuba, and Jamaica, members of the Church were ready at a moment’s notice to assist in the clean up.

The Sun-Herald recently reported a story of the devastation one family received as a result of Hurricane Charley:

“Ron Brodzik sat with his wife in their Port Charlotte home Saturday, pondering their next move. Their house was damaged badly by Hurricane Charley, with caved-in ceilings and a half-inch of water on the kitchen floor. Then volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to their door.
‘They came from nowhere,’ Brodzik said, like God sent them.’

Clad in their ‘Mormon Helping Hands’ T-shirts, Mormon churchgoers from around the state descended on the area Saturday to help patch roofs, clean yards and do pretty much anything they could for the hard-hit Charlotte County residents. For the volunteers, it is just another day's work.

"It feels good just helping everybody out," said Coral Springs resident Daniel Delgado.

‘This is what our church believes in,’ said Dave Cowart of St. Petersburg, ‘service for others.’

As we continue to do service in this part of the world, consider the words of Elder Glen L. Pace of the First Quorum of the Seventy, “As far as person-to-person assistance is concerned, the greatest compassionate service each of us can give may be in our own neighborhoods and communities. Wherever we live in the world there is pain and sorrow all around us. We need to take more initiative as individuals in deciding how we can best be of service.”