Humanitarian Center!

So I had my first week in the Humanitarian Center and it was great! We get to tell people about the Church's humanitarian efforts and how it fulfils the three purposes of the church's Welfare Program:

 

1) Help the poor and needy

2) Foster self-reliance

3) Encourage giving and service

 

We always start out our tour by telling the story of Jesus Christ healing the man at the pool of Bethesda. Jesus Christ healed a man that was laying there for 38 years so that he could take up his own bed and walk and then could go help others. It perfectly outlines the three purposes of the Welfare program of the church. I love that everything we do is because we are trying to follow His example. This week I learned that the Humanitarian Center here in Salt Lake sorted and shipped 8 million pounds of clothes in 2010, but not only that, the people that work there are being trained so that they can acquire the skills they need to get their own jobs. Most of the people that are being trained there are refugees or immigrants from other countries and aren't members of the church. I also found out just how far reaching and the humanitarian efforts of the church actually goes. I found a great website on www.mormon.org about the program: http://mormon.org/humanitarian-aid/

 

I found a neat website called the pure religion series that had stories about the service that the church has offered. Check out the Humanitarian Center one. I haven't read any of them, but it might give you more of an idea about what they do at the Humanitarian Center.

 

But most of all, I love how there is no "me" in any of the service that the church offers. Everyone is a child of God and therefore deserves any assistance that we can offer. It made me re-evaluate what I do for myself and how I can put others before self more. President George Albert Smith said, "I can say to you, my brethren and sisters, the happiest people in this world are those who love their neighbors as themselves and manifest their appreciation of God's blessings by their conduct in life." I love the humanitarian center and gaining a testimony of the power of selfless service.

 

Sister Wilson and I have had quite a few meaningful tours on the Square lately. Something that we have been focusing on is relying more on the Spirit. I've realized that when you let the Spirit work through you and you have the courage to follow its promptings it makes you a much more powerful instrument in Heavenly Father's hands. We talked to an older couple briefly as they were on their way out of the Square and she told us that she thought it was a beautiful place. Usually when people say something like that I can tell that they have been touched by the Spirit while they were here, so I pursued talking to her and came to find out that her father had just died not too long ago and it sounded like they were having issues with his estate. I felt impressed to tell her about how this church has answers to "why we're here?" and "what happens after we die?" That must have been what she needed to hear because she started to cry and said that was something that she wanted to know more about. Unfortunately she didn't refer for missionaries then, but we gave her our contact information and she said that she would call us. I really hope that she does because the restored gospel will absolutely fulfil her needs.

 

This transfer my roommates are from the US, Italy, China, and Uganda. It's quite a cultural bled here at Temple Square.