Service with a Smile

“Our purpose is to help others come unto Christ by serving them as the Savior would. We serve voluntarily in charitable organizations, Church functions, and within the community. We will minister in His name to the one, just as He did, expressing His loving kindness.” - Service Missionary Purpose

We love this simple purpose statement for our service missionaries, whom we have mentioned several times in our blog. Although neither we nor the missionaries with whom we serve most closely are official "church service missionaries", this purpose really fits much of the work we do on our mission. Further, all missionaries have the chance to render service that is completely separate from the purpose of "inviting others to come unto Christ"! In this blog post, I will share some of our interactions and experiences.

Up front I will acknowledge that talking about service is really tricky for at least two big reasons:

Giving service should never be about bringing attention to the giver. Service done for attention is offensive and antithetical to its true purpose (as the Savior taught multiple times.)
It is very important to protect the privacy of those being served. We are asked never to share pictures or personal stories of those we serve without their consent.

The church as an organization has wrestled with this for many years and historically shared very little about their giving. In the last couple years however they have tried to share more to help bring understanding. For example a very beautiful summary of the more than USD $1.3 Billion impact that the church made in 2023 can be found at this link.

As for Vivian and I, here are a few of our personal connections with service while on our mission:

Direct hands on service. While Vivian has had more limited time to do much, both of us have had some great opportunities to get out and help at homeless shelters, halfway houses, and (most recently) the Salvation Army sorting center. I first went there this past Wednesday and am looking forward to returning regularly. It is an enormous operation where truck after truck rolled in with donations. We would then take everything and sort: clothes, shoes, electronics, books, toys, kitchenware, media, etc., etc. It was fun working as a team and fun seeing the things Singaporeans donate.
Observed great service by others. It is wonderful to see all the service that others do. There is a very large and active Days for Girls group going here. We also work with some amazing Humanitarian Aid couples that do things like boat off to remote islands and connect residents with much needed service.
Service Mission Transfers. We have helped several missionaries make this transition, including escorting three personally. We have heard amazing things on the work some of them went on to do and we understand that one of them was able recently to transfer back to a teaching mission.
Family Back home. Lest anyone think you have to have a badge to provide service, we are very proud of family back home. They are also doing Days for Girls, volunteering at Community Reuse fairs, getting CERT trained, running for local school boards, and more!

Service really is a great blessing in our lives and we're so grateful we can fill our lives with it!

Finally, here is a wonderful report, video, and pictures on the recent Asia Area YSA Convention. There were 160 participants with just over 25% from our ward. We know and love so many of those shown in this video and quoted in the report.

Report

Video: