I love it when I find out about Church resources from my daughter! She’s a passionate media follower and she introduced me to these videos that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently released several new videos that give some summary information about our faith.

What do Mormons believe? The video at the end of this post explains some of our basic beliefs. Following is a summary of what is shared in the video.

We believe in God, the Father, and that we are all His children. The reality and power of this doctrine is so simple, and yet it has the power to change individual lives and relationships. Simply knowing we are loved by our Father in Heaven, and that ALL of His children are loved by Him, is a doctrine that is an anchor in our lives.

We believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer. Everything we do and believe centers on Jesus Christ and His role in Heavenly Father’s plan for His children. We know that it is only by His grace that we have the opportunity to live and breathe and learn and grow and repent and potentially live with God and our families again after this life.

We believe in the scriptures. We love and use the Bible (both the Old and New Testaments) and gratefully proclaim that the Book of Mormon is also a testament of Jesus Christ.

We believe in living prophets, in latter-day revelation just as in the days of ancient prophets where the Lord spoke to and reached out to the people through prophets like Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and then Peter and the apostles in the New Testament. (To read more about the experience depicted in the photo above, see this post by Becky called Meeting the Prophet on the Roadside in Gila Valley.)

We also believe in personal revelation — in being able to connect directly with God in prayer and to have Him answer prayers through the voice of the Holy Spirit and through tender mercies that happen in our lives.

We believe in seeking to follow Jesus Christ, to serve and love others. We believe in seeking to live what we believe. We know we aren’t perfect at that, and we definitely know we aren’t the only ones who care about serving others, but the bottom line of our faith, as Clayton Christensen explains in this video, is that it moves us to want to help others.

There’s a funny story from a talk given by President Henry B. Eyring that comes to mind.

I was part of the crew of Latter-day Saints who spent a number of nights putting in landscaping. I remember the last night, standing next to the husband of the family as we finished. He surveyed our work and said to us standing nearby, “This is the third yard you Mormons have put in for us, and I think this is the best.” And then he quietly but firmly told me of the great satisfaction he got from membership in his own church, a conversation we had often in the years he lived there.

In all that time, the acts of kindness extended to him and his family never ceased because the neighbors really came to love them.

We are encouraged, as described on this LDS Humanitarian Services website page, to be proactive about seeking opportunities in our communities to help and serve. (I didn’t know that in the U.S. one can call 211 in most metropolitan areas to find out about community service opportunities!)

What do Mormons believe? You can find out more about our beliefs at Mormon.org.

The post Learning more about the Church — What Mormons Believe appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

And if you haven’t seen this video from the time of Hurricane Sandy, it’s well worth a watch.

The post Mormon Helping Hands Videos appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

If you live in California or Hawaii, you may see people in yellow jackets in your communities doing service. Even young ones get involved! (Photo from the Mormon Newsroom.)

This map of California gives an idea of the hundreds of communities where projects will take place.

As the following video explains, while members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do a lot to “help our own” in our callings and responsibilities within the Church, we also have a serious and vested (no pun intended!) interest in helping serve the communities in which we live.

Are you a community leader who could use some help with a service project in your area? Let Mormon Helping Hands know!

Next week, Mormons in California will be joining with other community and religious organizations and individuals for a community service weekend called “Big Sunday.”

We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints desire to find ways to serve shoulder-to-shoulder with people in our communities. If you live in one of these communities and see the yellow jackets, we invite you to come join us! Follow the day’s events and find photos at on Twitter at #MHH2013.

The post Mormon Helping Hands in California and Hawaii – Statewide service day today! appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

As of late, there have been busloads of people from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wearing the “Mormon Helping Hands” yellow vests assisting in clean-up efforts after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. Local missionaries also hang up their suits and ties (or skirts and blouses, as the case may be) to help.

In addition to helping victims of the storm clean up, drives were held to gather and distribute clothes and supplies to those in need.

New York Mormon Josh Brown created the following video capturing some of the devastation…as well as some glimmers of hope and comfort that come as assistance arrived.

“With a catastrophe you see the worst happen physically, but emotionally and socially, it can turn and you can see the best in some people.”

Mormons weren’t the only ones helping. Dozens from Islamic Charities and Catholic Charities as well as people from neighborhoods not as severely affected as those in the Rockaway, NY area also jumped in and put on yellow vests to help clean up.

NOTE: If you know someone who has been affected in the NY/NJ area who is needing help, you can go to one of the following Facebook pages for more information about how to submit a request for help so that volunteers can be coordinated and sent out.

Also, if you are in in the area and are able to help, you can find contact information for those coordinating the service efforts to let them know when you could be there and to find out where the greatest needs still are.

Mormon Helping Hands NYC

Mormon Helping Hands NJ

Mormon Helping Hands New England

The post Mormon Helping Hands in the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

We shared the sneak peek video teaser of the arrangement of Have I Done Any Good? featuring Alex Boyé and American Idol singer Carmen Rasmussen. The final version of the video has been released, in time for yesterday’s Mormon Helping Hands (MHH) day of service.

The post Have I Done Any Good? Alex Boye and Carmen Rasmussen MHH appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in California and Hawaii are working tirelessly today to help with various projects in their communities. Here are a just a few of the Tweets that are flying at the #dayofservice hashtag on Twitter

Beach clean-up! @jaseboards Joining @mhhhawaii in the#dayofservice

 Mormon Helping Hands ‏ @mhhcalifornia

Map Data – Terms of Use

3hCatherine Stringer ‏ @Cat_Stringer

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We love our city! @mhhcalifornia #dayofservicehttp://twitpic.com/9etb4l

 View photo

3hCatherine Stringer ‏ @Cat_Stringer

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Volunteers clearing a head stone from 1883. #dayofservice@mhhcalifornia http://twitpic.com/9eta9j

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~by Michelle

I grew up hearing my dad quote one of his favorite Book of Mormon scriptures, found in the book of Mosiah. Consequently, this became a favorite of mine, too:

[W]hen ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. – Mosiah 2:17

Prophets ancient and modern teach us this principle, as the Savior taught:

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. – Matthew 25:40

Service is an important part of Mormon doctrine, because we know, as other believers do, that one way to show our love to God is to love His children.

And we also know what it’s like to have someone be an answer to our prayers. How many times has someone’s small act of service been like a gift from heaven for you?

I’ve always liked this quote from Spencer W. Kimball:

God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other.

Service is built into every facet of our Mormon life. It’s of course encouraged in our families, first and foremost. But our church is organized so as to help every family have someone (called a home teacher) to turn to for help. Each woman in the Church is also connected with two women (called visiting teachers) who have a special watchcare responsibility…a sort of “first line” of defense in times of need. Home and visiting teachers are to visit or contact their family/sister every month to share a spiritual message and especially to check in and see if there are any needs.

We also seek to serve in a wider sense, in our communities. For example, the following video shows Mormon Helping Hands in New Zealand working on a community service project.

The Church also has does humanitarian service work that helps get aid, education, clean water, immunizations, and more to the poor and needy in various places around the world.

The post Mormons Believe in Service – Helping Hands Video appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

But for Mormons, service is not something we just do for each other within our own faith. One of the ways we seek to serve others is through the Mormon Helping Hands program.

Perhaps you have seen people wearing yellow jackets or T-shirts, working in their communities. Sometimes they appear after a disaster like the tsumani in Japan or Hurricane Katrina or the devastation in Joplin, MO.

Other times, they plan community service efforts to help with ongoing needs in their communities, such as with service activities organized in California this past spring, or efforts last month in 40 countries in Africa such as “Madagascar, Reunion and Mauritius in celebration of the 5th Annual All Africa Mormon Helping Hands day Saturday, 20 August 2011.”

The LDS Newsroom article talking about Mormon Helping Hands’ service in Africa explains simply what MHH is:

Mormon Helping Hands is a worldwide program where Latter-day Saints reach out in their communities to give service and help those in need.

We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe strongly in the admonition of the Savior, Jesus Christ, to love and serve those around us. Mormon Helping Hands is one way Latter-day Saints seek to follow His example and His commandments.

The post Mormon Helping Hands: Serving in Our Communities 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.

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