The word “service”
can be defined as the action of helping or doing work for someone. “Service”
can also be defined as someone’s contribution to the welfare of others. After a
long and perhaps arduous week at work and studying in the classroom, most
people treasure their weekends as time for themselves to relax, unwind and do
some of the things that they enjoy doing. Rendering service to someone and
without receiving monetary compensation, or at the very least, some sort of
personal recognition, is one of the last things that they wish to consider
during their time off.
However, on
Saturday, 17 September 2011, as part of a worldwide effort, and under the
direction of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, that is exactly what some 250 members from the various Wards and
Branches that comprise the Annapolis Maryland Stake did as they rendered a 'Day
of Service' to their communities and to members in need. Devoting some 625
man-hours, these men, women, and children went to work with the goal of being
able to contribute to the welfare of others as they completed a variety of
projects.
As members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we believe that “when [we] are in
the service of [our] fellow beings [we] are only in the service of [our] God”
(Mosiah 2:17). The Savior Himself taught us, "By this shall all men know
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35). And
in the twenty-second chapter of Matthew, beginning at verse 35, we read of the
account of a Pharisee, who was a lawyer by trade, who comes to the Master and
asks the question, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”
(Matthew 22:36). The response that the Master gave the Pharisee is the same
response that He would give you and me today if we were to ask the same
question. We learn of His response in verses 37 – 40, “Jesus said unto him, thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like
unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets.”
Therefore, one of
the ways that we demonstrate our love for our Heavenly Father and our fellowman
is through the service that we render to others. That service can be for a
family member, a Church member, a friend, or even a total stranger. We do not
render service in hopes of receiving monetary reward or personal recognition.
Our reward is in knowing that we were able to help our brothers and sisters in
even the smallest of ways. Through our acts of kindness and service they are
blessed, and we in turn are also blessed.
One such project
was the painting of the fence at the Annapolis City Municipal Swimming Pool.
Due to budget constraints the city had not been able to pay for labor costs to
have the fence painted, and so they welcomed the opportunity for volunteers to
come and do the work for them. Some 40 members of the Annapolis Ward
volunteered to get the job done and gave a combined total of 120 man-hours to
prepare and paint 60 sections of fence. Mr. Ambrose from the City Parks
Department expressed his gratitude and extended an invitation for people to
come back and help any time a service project is needed.
The Severn Ward
helped out at the Kinder Farm Park. Their original project was to clean brush
and trash around a pond area, but the Ranger diverted that project as there was
a walk/race for Chiari (a brain malformation) going on in that area. However,
the 50 Ward members who came to help that day did not allow this diversion to
stop them from rendering service nonetheless. Instead they devoted a collective
100 man-hours to shucking corn for the upcoming fall festival, and picking up
trash throughout the park.
The members of the
Kent Island Branch rendered service at the Ferry Point Park in Chester
Maryland. Some 40 members came to give of their time and service. Their initial
goal was to have one group prepare and paint a boat on display at the
Chesapeake Exploration Center, and another group would work cleaning driftwood
and trash off the beaches at the park. However, due to a lack of power at the
boat and the possibility of rain, the boat painting project had to be abandoned
and so everyone diverted their time and attention to cleaning the beaches,
devoting a collective 160 man-hours of service to the project.
These are just
three examples of the community service that was rendered. Still, there were
other members of the Stake who gave unselfishly of their time to contribute to
the welfare of others, to include the members of the Severna Park and Broadneck
Wards. Some 120 members from these Wards dedicated a collective total of 245
man-hours rendering specific acts of service to families in need, especially to
the widows and single women in the Stake, including much needed repairs
following the aftermath of hurricane Irene which struck just days prior to the
'Day of Service.' Some of the examples of the service that was rendered to
members in need included house cleaning, cutting up a tree that fell into the
yard of one of the women and then stacking it for firewood, leveling the area
where a stump was removed so it could be seeded with grass, moving dirt to
bring up to grade a portion of a yard that consistently floods, pulling down
vines that had overgrown a fence and tool shed, digging up of dead shrubs and
planting new shrubs, hammering down nails on a deck that had popped up and were
posing a trip hazard, pulling down poison ivy that had grown over a fence,
emptying and dismantling a shed that had fallen into disrepair as a result of
age and the recent storms, building a foundation for an A/C unit whose
foundation had crumbled, and removing leaves, branches, and other debris that
had fallen into yards as a result of the hurricane.
From the reports
that were received from the local leaderships, the 'Day of Service' was a
success. These ordinary people gave unselfishly of their time and efforts to
render service to both their communities and to those members in need. What
then was their motivation in providing such service? What was their reward?
Their reward was in knowing that they were able to help where needed even in
the smallest of ways. Some gave more, and others gave less. Nevertheless, through
their acts of kindness and service, those whom they served were blessed and in
turn they themselves were blessed. Not only were they able to render service to
others, but it was a wonderful opportunity for them to bond together as a
Church family and interact with their local communities demonstrating that they
do care and are here to help whenever needed.
The words of President
Thomas S. Monson, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints puts all of this into proper perspective. He said:
As we look
heavenward, we inevitably learn of our responsibility to reach outward. To find
real happiness, we must seek for it in a focus outside ourselves. No one has
learned the meaning of living until he has surrendered his ego to the service
of his fellow man. Service to others is akin to duty, the fulfillment of which
brings true joy. We do not live alone—in our city, our nation, or our world.
There is no dividing line between our prosperity and our neighbor's
wretchedness. 'Love thy neighbor' is more than a divine truth. It is a pattern
for perfection” (Thomas S. Monson, "The Joy of Service," New Era,
Oct. 2009, 4).
