What’s Zack’s Shack, you ask? Watch the following video to see how a young boy was able to be a significant force for good in providing humanitarian service.

Zack’s Shack will be open again at the end of this week. More details can be found on this Facebook event.

The post Zack’s Shack is Back! appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

While acknowledging doctrinal differences, Archbishop George Niederauer of the Catholic Church and Elder M. Russell Ballard of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the “Mormon Church”) share in this interview how choosing to focus on common values and serving together to help the poor and needy have strengthened the bond of friendship between the faiths.

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Other stories related to this topic include the following:

Mormons and Catholics: United We Stand: Mormon Soprano shares highlights of the forum speech given at Brigham Young University by His Eminence Cardinal Francis E. George (archbishop of the Chicago Roman Catholic Diocese, and president of the American Conference of Catholic Bishops). Read another review of the speech at CatholicCulture.org. (You can watch Cardinal George’s talk in its entirety at BYU-TV or read the full text of his talk.)

The Catholic Perspective on Film: This Mormon Times article praises the Catholic News Service’s film reviews as a value-based resource for those who are interested in ratings that aim to “calculate a film’s worth” according to “the extent to which it affirms, challenges or rejects Judeo-Christian values.” Paraphrasing John Mulderig of the Media Reviewing Office of CNS, this article  states that “Catholics and Latter-day Saints…share many common beliefs and are united in opposition to the glorification of violence, the demeaning of human sexuality, and the undermining of traditional marriage and family life.”

The post Mormons and Catholics Working Together appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

My husband and I have a book keeper for our business who is necessarily privy to our salary information. She and I are friends and she recently saw a check that I had written to the Church. Although she is of a different faith, she knew that Mormons pay 10% of their income toward tithing. When she saw the amount of the check she immediately said, “I think you made a mistake, that is more than 10%.” I explained to her that the extra amount was to pay our fast offering. Which of course prompted her next question, the topic of today’s post: “What are fast offerings?”

Fast offerings are monies donated by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to help the poor and needy, in their local areas and also worldwide. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints participate in church-wide fasts once a month, usually on the first Sunday of every month. We call these days “Fast Sundays.” Typically, two meals are skipped while participating in the fast; fast offerings are at least the value of those two meals, although we are encouraged to give much more when we can. But like the widow’s mite, it is the heart of the individual who is making the offering that is most important to the Lord. The goal, of course, is not to see who will give the most, but the spirit in which the donation is given. This is one way we show our love for God, and follow His command to love one another.

No fast should last long enough to cause physical damage. Also, people who are advised by their doctors that fasting would be harmful are excused from participating, but may choose to give up something else to show the Lord they are willing to obey.

These offerings are made to be as near anonymous as possible. No member of a congregation should ever know the amount of tithes and offerings any other member gives, except the bishop [congregation leader, who is responsible for determining how local offerings are distributed] and those who are assigned to record transactions (usually a financial clerk and a counselor in the bishopric).

Every month on Fast Sundays, we are encouraged not only to abstain from food and water for two meals, but to bear our testimonies of the Savior Jesus Christ during the Sacrament Meeting portion of our block of church meetings. We are encouraged to accompany our fasts with fervent prayer, for others’ needs and/or for our own. A common saying in our church is, “Fasting without prayer is just a diet.” The spirit of prayer, testimony, and service associated with fasting can bring significant spiritual blessings in our lives while giving us the opportunity to help those in need.

Some people fast at other times during the month as well — while seeking greater spiritual strength or an answer to prayer, to repent, to give thanks to God for a blessing, or to exercise faith on behalf of the sick and afflicted. Sometimes wards will join together in fasting for a ward member who is sick, going in for surgery, or facing other difficult trials.

Any person can follow the law of the fast regardless of religious affiliation. By fasting and praying, saving the money from two meals, and then donating that money to help others in need, anyone can enjoy spiritual benefits that come from being prayerful, sacrificing, and serving another.

Generous fast offerings enable the Church to help not only the local members’ needs, but also are used to fund the broader humanitarian efforts of the Church, like disaster relief, food for the hungry, clothes for the naked, school kits for impoverished students, local water treatment systems, and more.

In addition to fast offerings, Church members may also contribute offerings specifically for humanitarian aid. As with fast offerings, all of the money goes directly to help those in need. In humanitarian efforts, the Church will often partner with other organizations to provide assistance. For example, with the current situation in Haiti, the Church has partnered with Islamic Relief USA, the largest Muslim relief organization in the United States. Other organizations are helping with transportation (Airline Ambassadors) and distribution (Food for the Poor).  We recognize and are grateful that there are also many other organizations and individuals worldwide assisting with this current disaster and in many other ways around the world.

We love and pray for all people of the earth, and especially join with people all over the world right now with thoughts and prayers for the people of Haiti. We hope for swift delivery of supplies and relief to the afflicted.

For more information about the current efforts in Haiti, see the articles below.

Church Sends Team of Doctors to Assist Needy in Haiti

Church Sends Additional Aid to Earthquake Victims in Haiti

Church Response To Haiti Earthquake

Similar responses were given in Hurricane Katrina and in the Indonesian Tsunami. The Church has worked with numerous organizations worldwide through the years to help with hundreds of other local relief and service efforts.

To learn more about fasting and fast offerings, see the following link:

Fasts and Fast Offerings

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**Please note: The answers in “Ask a Mormon Woman” reflect the thoughts, perspectives, and experiences of individuals. Although here at Mormon Women: Who We Are, we strive to have our content consistent with the Church’s doctrine and teachings, we do not speak officially for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For official information about or from the Church, please visit www.mormon.org or www.lds.org.

Have a question you would like to ask? Send an email to us at gmail, with username ‘mormonwoman’

The post Ask A Mormon Woman: What Are Fast Offerings? appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

If you are looking for a way to donate to the Church’s humanitarian services emergency relief fund used for disasters like this, see this link. 100% of donations are used to help those in need. You do not have to be a member of the LDS Church to donate.

The post Links We Like: Help for Haiti appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

~by Chantal

“We think we have chosen our peers. In reality, a few years’ difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another, posting to different regiments, the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting – any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret Master of the Ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples “ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,” can truly say to every group of Christian friends “you have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another. The Friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others.” –CS Lewis, The Four Loves, p. 85

Choice friends cross our life path at unexpected times and often in ways we don’t recognize at first. Severall years ago, my dear friend-to-be, Cindy, served as the Stake Relief Society President and is a midwife by profession. We had a Stake Relief Society service project in conjunction with the Relief Society broadcast that was no different than many others I’d attended over the years. And yet, this event would end up being a significant experience in the tapestry of my life.

This particular Saturday, we had gathered donations and were assembling birthing kits to go to Mozambique, Africa. Cindy had joined a medical team to give training to traditional birth assistants in rural Mozambique. These kits included a sheet of plastic (for the mother to lie on the ground), a shoe string (to tie off the umbilical cord), a razor blade, and several disinfectant wipes. She then showed a video from her experience there. I cried for the mothers in Mozambique. How is it possible that nearly half of the almost 6 billion people of the world live today in such abject poverty?

A few months later, in my role as Primary President in my ward [local congregation], we were setting up for a Primary activity. I was expecting our 5th child and had to leave early and to go to a doctor’s appointment for a routine monthly checkup — which I felt was a waste of time.

But this checkup turned out not to be routine at all. There was no heartbeat.

Ultrasound confirmed our baby had died inside of me. After a difficult induced delivery, our baby daughter, Ann, was born four days later with a kink in the umbilical cord. We held her, dressed her and buried her in the dust of the earth.

Here I became acquainted with death, grief, and God.

I am always astounded at the depth of pain I felt for a little one I had for such a short time. This heart-searing pain came from the depth of love a mother has for her baby, given only by God. My greatest desire was to hold, love, raise and nurture this beautiful daughter.

Grief was a confusing mystery to me. The anger, the depression, the forgetfulness, the loss of time and motivation all came in waves I did not recognize or understand. Most surprising to me was also the loss of self-esteem and confidence. It doesn’t seem to be mentioned much. But all that I was, all that I knew, all that I believed was crushed into tiny pieces, mixed together and left in a pile of mess at my feet. How do I begin from there?

I won’t go into much detail on the year following except to say that after much fasting, prayer and a priesthood blessing we decided to have one more little baby. Not to replace our little girl, for no one will replace, but we felt to move on. In full confidence and faith we were delighted to learn another little daughter would join our family. Having paid my dues to death and with such astronomical medical odds of such a problem, I moved on in courage, not fear, and hope.

But again at a regular appointment in nearly identical fashion and timing, there was no heartbeat. It had never even remotely crossed my mind that this could happen again. The surprise and shock was more than I could wrap my mind around. There are no words to express the stunned crushing blow that moment held. I literally thought my own heart would stop and I would die of pain on the spot as I collapsed to the floor. It is far more horrific when you know what is ahead and I was hysterical. I learned that death twice is exponentially more painful and difficult.

I fought depression with anger. I was mad. Mad at the world, mad at people, mad that I would have four out of six children to raise here on earth. Logically, I understood everything about the plan of salvation but my heart would not match my logic. The river of emotions came despite my knowledge and faith. It was several years but felt like a lifetime. I felt 90 years old. Then I was numb. I felt nothing. I wondered if as a mother I could ever find joy after such grief or if I would have to die first. I prayed many times my other children would forget and not be too damaged from the difficulty of those years.

Here is where my friendship with Cindy changed my life….

(Please follow this link for Part 2.)

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For more First Person posts, please click here.

The post First Person: Hope Arising from the Ashes of Grief, Part 1 appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints takes this passage of scripture very seriously. As members of the Church, we believe it is our duty and privilege to help one another (of all religions and countries) in times of need, without expectation of anything in return. Humanitarian efforts are constantly underway all over the world:  Asia, Africa, Europe, the Pacific, South America, North/Central America .

For example, recently volunteers from the Church worked with the United States navy and several humanitarian organizations on a project called Continuing Promise 2009. Traveling with a medical ship called the USNS Comfort, workers and volunteers stop at seven different countries — Haiti, Dominican Republic, Antigua, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua and El Salvador — on a medical training and care mission.

More information on that mission can be found here at the LDS Newsroom.

This video, created last year and reporting upon the world-wide Humanitarian efforts of LDS members in 2007, shows the importance of service with love:

For more information on getting involved with humanitarian work, see here.

Also, keep your eye out here on Mormon Women in the next days and weeks as several Mormon women share how they have used their talents, resources, and interests to serve people all over the world through charitable work.

The post Video(s): Humanitarian Service appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

You can watch Elder Nelson talking about the new website about the Savior here.

Watch Elder Ballard addressing the question, “Are Mormons Christian?”

Elder Cook talks about the need to make a clear distinction between our Church, and the FLDS group that practices polygamy here.

And here’s one about the Church’s recent efforts to help in Myanmar.

There are many others, under the username LDSPublicAffairs

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