Brother Stanley Drake of St. Vincent

Hands and Hearts Go to Work

The “Mormon Helping Hands” were out in full force Saturday, November 2, in the West Indies Mission for the International Day of Service. A total of 475 participants from 9 countries completed 1441 hours of service. The projects included cleaning roads and beaches to painting school buildings and planting trees and preparing fields for crops.

Some branches and wards combined efforts with other churches and community groups. Hearts were knitted together as many hands combined to complete the work.

A Tremendous Tobago Effort

“There were 33 Helping Hands Volunteers who participated in the service project of cleaning the Lambeau Beach which is on the Atlantic Ocean side of Tobago Island.

They collected approximately 80 large garbage bags of trash which were thrown into the back of a large truck driven by Sister Antoinette Cupid.  The truck was used with permission of the Trinidad Tobago Department of Infrastructure and Public Utilities.

The branch cleaned approximately 1/3 of a mile of the beach.  Everyone had a wonderful time and the Tobago Branch was rewarded with the satisfaction of working together which formed a stronger bond of friendship among all that participated.

The youth enjoyed picking up garbage bags from the roadway and stuffing them into the back of the  vehicle. After they finished, the participants let out a cheer as they sat on 50+ bags of trash waiting to be taken to the countryside to be burned.  A good time was had by all.”

Pastor Schultz of the Pentecostal Church of Bush Lot, wrote the following letter:

Dear Elder,
I do greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I rejoice at the reported success of the clean-up exercise.  It was indeed a pleasure to have the young people participate. I do sincerely believe that the venture testifies to the concern the church has for environmental issues.
Thanks for clearing the roadway to our new building. That was indeed a remarkably kind gesture.
We no doubt display maturity to set aside doctrinal and methodological church difference to push the common good of our community.
Blessings. Thanks for the pictures.
Ovid Schultz  ~ Pastor

Saint Maarten’s Smiling Faces

In Saint Maarten there were two service projects.  One was with the Nature Foundation in doing a beach cleanup in Guana Bay where endangered turtles lay their eggs and the other was painting Oranje School in Philipsburg in preparation for the visit of the King and Queen of the Netherlands.  Both projects went well and were well attended.  The school project was painting classrooms and the outside of the school building.  The beach cleanup was picking up all the debris and trash along the beach, generally cleaning it up to make life for the turtles a little easier.”

Service In Suriname

“The Wanica and Koewarasan Branch cleaned the streets from the Indira Grandhiweg. It took 28 people six hours to complete the project. This was a most welcomed project by the people and even the District Commissioner and the head of the Department of Public Works were very generous with their comments and praise.”

“The Nickerie Branch planted 130 flowers at the Nation Square of Nickerie. The district Commissioner was there to plant the first flower in the ground.”

Many Hands In Trinidad 

“The Sangre Grande Ward combined with the groups from Matura and Valencia and participated in a roadside clean-up in Sangre Grande. We also deep cleaned the meeting house for our church by washing windows and scrubbing the baptismal font.”

“The Port of Spain Ward cleaned a homeless shelter in the city. The members were very humbled by the experience.”

There were ninety members working together!

Thank you to everyone who helped make this a wonderful “Day of Service”.  Many people witnessed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and their non-member friends working together serving their fellow man.

“When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God”. Mosiah 2:17