Young single Mormon adults devoted June 15, 2013 to doing service projects across the Southeast as part of their regional conference. They went out into their own communities to serve, and a group from Macon, Georgia chose this project as a way to serve their town. A married couple, Faye and Keith Whigham serve as their advisors and they were the ones who first learned that a house was being built that weekend. They suggested it to the young adults, who enthusiastically agreed to assist. The young people spent a warm Saturday framing and painting the home alongside people from many other faiths and organizations.

Mormons Serve Because Jesus Served

They explained to reporters that they do this type of service regularly because Jesus taught His followers to serve others. They believe a true Christian will try to emulate Jesus Christ and so they look for regular opportunities to perform service projects. Their advisors said attendance is higher at their service projects than it is at any of their “just for fun” meetings.

Our willingness to sacrifice and our skills in cooperative efforts come from our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, from the inspired teachings of our leaders, and from the commitments and covenants we knowingly make (Dallin H. Oaks, Unselfish Service, April 2009 General Conference address).

The Day of Service activities had been done informally by congregations for generations, but in the 1980s, The Church of Jesus Christ asked several South American countries to participate in a formal day of service. They asked local government leaders what needed to be done in their community and then sent congregations to carry out those projects, inviting those who were not Mormon to assist. The program was so well-received that other areas began to imitate it and it is now done world-wide as an annual event for most areas, often with several states joining together in order to accomplish more. Volunteers wear yellow vests with “Mormon Helping Hands” on them so leaders can quickly identify their own people when necessary. Programs include cleaning parks, repainting schools, collecting food for food banks, gathering clothing for homeless shelters, and anything else a community needs. They often partner with other organizations, such as this project with Habitat for Humanity.

Some young adults might be spending the majority of their time on themselves, but programs like Day of Service demonstrate that many young people are living lives of service to others and it is to those young people we can look to for our futures.

As a Mormon, or more properly known as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have a firm testimony that every person walking this earth is a child of God. Since God is literally the Heavenly King, we are literally princes and princesses that are awaiting all of the blessings that come from being heirs of this Divinely royal line (if we are faithful to His commandments). For some reason, the world teaches us that we can have fame, glory, and riches if we become self-centered, entirely concerned about “how am I going to succeed?” But these are blatant lies. The way to true happiness, glory, and eternal riches only comes from losing ourselves in the work of God–having the attitude of “how am I going to help others succeed?” To serve God doesn’t mean we have to go serve in some isolated mountain, reading scriptures all day, everyday. But we do have to be “anxiously engaged in a good cause” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:27), by serving and lifting others towards the light of Christ.

If you feel like you aren’t in a position to help others because you are not as Christ-like as you would like to be, remember that you can change. You can become all that you were created to be–heirs to the throne of God, through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He suffered the Atonement (feeling the pains, sicknesses, temptations, and effects of sin) so that we can be made pure and clean.

I invite you to learn more about your divine mission–how you are meant to build the Kingdom of God. You can do so by meeting with Mormon missionaries. They can also teach you about how to use the power of the Atonement to become completely clean from the effects of sin. These missionaries are called and set apart, by the power of God, to be representatives of Jesus Christ to teach His holy word.

If you have felt inspired to do something about what you have read, don’t only think about doing it, but recall with me the words of a Mormon apostle, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who has said, “somewhere between the hearing, the writing of a reminder on our smartphone, and the actual doing, our “do it” switch gets rotated to the “later” position… let’s make sure to set our “do it” switch always to the “now” position!” (“Your Potential, Your Privilege,” Ensign, May 2011). And always remember the words in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

This article was written by Ashley Bell, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Additional Resources:

How can I feel God’s love in my life?

Am I special?

Read the full message by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf  titled “You Matter to Him”

Read the full message by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland titled “Sanctify Yourselves”

During one of Mitt Romney’s political campaigns, he was sent inside someone’s garage to stay out of the heat while photographers set up a photo shoot. When they went to get him, he was cleaning out the garage for the owner.

Of course, for a Mormon, that kind of behavior isn’t really unusual. Sure, Mormon teens like attention as much as anyone and there are days they might choose to be out with the reporters or doing a little flirting. But they’ve also been taught from an early age to look for ways to help others.

One of the ways Mormon teens learn how to help others is by serving in church leadership positions. The teens run their own youth program. They have adult leaders, but the leaders provide what is called shadow leadership. That means that instead of running everything, they help the teens learn to do it themselves. If a teen class presidency started to plan an activity that was against the rules, for instance, the leader might say, “Have you checked the rule book to see if that is allowed?” That way, the teens are reminded to become familiar with the rules. The leader could just say, “You can’t do that. It’s against the rules.” But if they did, the teens would never learn to look up the rules themselves. If the teens are running an activity and don’t notice one girl is sitting off by herself without friends, the leaders might ask the teens if they’ve looked around to see if everyone is having fun. This will remind them that part of being in charge is noticing what the others around you are doing and then solving any problems you see. When the teens are having a problem, the leaders will ask questions rather than offering solutions so they will learn how to solve their own problems.

This means that the teens learn to pay attention to what needs to be done and then to do it, rather than to think that “someone” ought to fix it. Their parents do the same thing. They read the Bible and the Book of Mormon and see how Jesus served others all the time, even when no one asked for help. He noticed the person who was sick, the person too scared to come up and talk to Him, and the person who was lonely. He stepped in and did everything He could for them.

One day I was teaching a class of preschoolers. We were in a big room with the children and adults from all the classes for a little while. One of my little students looked behind him and noticed an adult standing in the back of the room. He got up, found a chair, and took it to her. It was clear to me his parents had taught him to notice when people need help and to not wait for an invitation to get involved.

Even if no one has taught you to do that, you can teach yourself. Tomorrow, when you’re at school or work or even at home, look around. Who could use a hand right now? Does your mom look like she needs a glass of lemonade? Do the dishes need doing? Is someone sitting alone at lunch? Does anyone look sad? What can you do to step in and help out? How many chances can you find in a single day to make a difference, even a small one, in the lives of the people around you?

The audience cheered for him as he made his announcement. He explained that no one had asked him to serve a mission. He had felt strongly that this is something he needed to do and he had learned to listen to these types of promptings when they happened. He did not announce where he was going but did say he’d be leaving after the first of the year.

Mormon missions are voluntary. They aren’t required, but many young adult men and women serve them. Men can serve for two years at age 19, and women serve for eighteen months when they are twenty-one. They pay their own way and serve wherever they are needed. Some serve in their own countries, but others go to foreign lands. During their time, they learn the language of their mission and live as the natives do, which means they sometimes live very primitively. They follow very strict rules, going to bed early, getting up early, and living on a tight budget. There is no dating and music and books are limited to a strict list of religious media. They spend nearly all their time teaching about religion, finding people to teach, studying their religion, or serving others in need. The men wear suits and the women wear dresses.

Why would any young adult want to live like this—and pay for the privilege—at a time most young people are dating, going to school, starting careers, or just having fun? They do it because they love Jesus Christ and want to share what they know about Him. They understand how God has blessed them and how being a Mormon has affected their lives and they want others to have those same blessings.

Although they aren’t paid for their work in money, there are other rewards for serving as a missionary. Missionaries develop a great deal of self-discipline because of the very strict rules they follow. Because they are assigned to a companion they room with and spend all their time with, and because those companions are regularly rotated, they learn to get along with all sorts of people and to adjust to being with another person all the time, a skill that is great preparation for marriage and parenthood. They learn to budget and to live inexpensively, as well as to take care of themselves and their homes. They develop leadership skills and learn to be comfortable meeting and talking to strangers. All these things make them valuable students, employees, and spouses when they return.

Spiritually, having a few years to focus exclusively on God and Jesus Christ is an amazing opportunity. Very few of them will ever again be able to give so much attention to their spiritual development. They learn the gospel extremely well, memorize scriptures, learn how to explain their beliefs, and strengthen their testimonies. They become comfortable talking about Jesus Christ.

How would it affect your life if you were to—at your own expense—spend two years teaching others about Jesus Christ or doing volunteer work under very strict rules. How would it make you different from your peers? David Archuleta is about to find out.

In history class I learned that the American Civil War was a brother against brother war. Then my dad told me that in my family, that was literally true. Kentucky, where my ancestors lived, was a border state and people fought on both sides. Some families even sent one son to each side to increase the likelihood one of them would come home alive. After that, when my teachers talked about the war, I paid closer attention. That war affected my family in important ways.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes nicknamed Mormons, has just launched a new website to help teenagers learn how to trace their family history. Since it’s meant for teens, it is a little more fun than many of the serious adult sites. More will be added in the future, but right now, you can find a lot of tools to help you get started.

David A. Bednar, a Mormon apostle, gave a speech on genealogy for teenagers. He pointed out teens have great typing skills from texting and using social media and chat. He asked them to put those skills to good use by doing their family history and also to teach older family and neighbors how to use their computers to do genealogy. This new website can help you learn how to do it so you can help others, including your own friends, to get it done.

You have to register for the account if you want to put your genealogy online. However, you can watch the training videos and read the articles without registering. Right now, while the site is still small, there are videos showing you how to get started on your history. Then you can learn how to help others get their family history done and share your own experiences to motivate other teens. Watch some videos or read some comments by other teens who are doing a little online time travel through their family.

The first person whose history you need to look into is your own. Write your story for others to read someday. Put all your information into a chart and then ask your parents for their information. Next go to your grandparents and ask them. Once you run out of living relatives, your older family members can probably tell you about the next generation back. From there, you’ll be able to search online for information on your family. Remember what you learned in school though—verify your information. Some people post genealogy online that isn’t accurate. Look for records and make sure it’s right.

You’ll find that even some of the official records aren’t accurate. For instance, census records are fun to look at because they give you a little snapshot of the family at that moment. But the information is only as accurate as the person who gave it to them—and sometimes it was a neighbor who gave it. When I check census records, I find the names spelled differently and sometimes even different names because the census taker wrote it down wrong or someone started going by his middle name. In one family, a woman decided to tell the census taker she was five years younger than she really was and in every census after that one she was five years younger. If I hadn’t kept searching until I found her birth record and census’ from when she was younger, I’d have had the wrong date.

Sometimes genealogy can seem a little boring, but remember there are real people behind those names and dates. They lived real lives and had real feelings. Sometimes I put their lives into a timeline to get a feel for how their life worked. Then I start noticing things I didn’t see before. For instance, in one family, the father died when the children were very young. Then the mother died. Now they were orphaned. I started wondering how they felt and where they all went when the last parent died. Some were raised by siblings. How would you feel if your older brother or sister had to become your parent? How would you feel if you had to raise your little brothers and sisters alone? Now those kids were real to me. When I read about what happened to them, I try to imagine how they felt about it. I also like to read about famous events that happened in their lives and imagine  how those events affected their lives.

Don’t waste any time getting started. The sooner you start, the more older relatives there are to help you. Try to collect everyone’s life story while they can still give it to you. You’ll get a better understanding of who you are and how you got that way.

Even though you are not here in the same room with me as I write, I am writing as if this is just you and me chatting.  One soul to another.

Mormon temples are sacred to Mormon beliefs.

I was recently thinking about myself and my experience with the LDS Temples. Perhaps this might be interesting to you if you never knew anyone who was “Mormon” before.  I am a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are Christians who believe in the Jesus of the New Testament.

We believe that Jesus has walked in the temples of our time, although not very many people have ever seen him there. One man, James Talmage, was writing a book called Jesus the Christ many years ago. He told his granddaughter that as he was working, he saw Jesus in the Salt Lake City Temple. That was a long time ago. The book Mr. Talmage wrote is very good and has been used as a text book , I heard.

Before I ever went into a temple belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I heard some hideous things, rumors, about what went on inside of there. Pure speculation, apparently.

Since I joined the church, I now have the opportunity to go inside the temple whenever I want. It is open most every day, from early in the morning until late in the evening. Currently, I only live about a mile from the temple, but I remember the days when I had to drive 4-6 hours to get to a temple.

The first time I went into a temple was in 1983. It was a wonderful spring day. Inside the temple we wear all white clothing and it feels so clean and fresh. Something happened to me on my first visit in the temple, though: I had a nosebleed. It was a complete surprise and I was afraid I was going to bleed directly onto the pure white clothing I had on. But fortunately, I was able to get a tissue right away, thus avoiding anything I might be embarrassed about.  The day continued fine and I went through a session where I learned a lot of things and was reminded of things I already knew. Most everything that I heard in the temple I had read before in the Holy Bible. It was really nice to hear it again, though, inside what is called The House of the Lord.

Since my first visit in the temple way back then, I have returned many times. It is a place where I can go to pray for something special or for someone who needs some prayers at that time. I have a lot of faith, so when I go I feel like God knows I am there. Oh, I know he loves me all the time. But I think he is extra happy when I come there to pray to him and to feel of the power of his presence.  I’m not saying it is anything weird, but it is like when you know that everything will be alright. It feels like you know that God is watching out for each one of us.

Sometimes when I am there, I learn something that I never could understand before. It seems like my eyes were covered with dark sunglasses in a dim room, but then the glasses are taken off and the room is brighter. It is like I kind of understood before, but now it is a “duh, of course!” moment.

There is a cafeteria in some of the temples where people who are planning to be there for a while can grab a bite to eat.  When I am inside the temple, I really like how everyone is so nice and since they are dressed in white, they all look like angels. A lot of seniors have time to go to the temple, so there is a lot of white hair and it looks really nice.

One more cool thing about being in the temple is nobody ever yells or shouts. It is more like everyone is being reverent and talking in hushed tones.  I don’t know if I could stay in there a long time every day since I am kind of a social talkative person, but it is really nice to be in there for a couple of hours at a time.

The time we spend in the temple is for us and for our ancestors. It is very rewarding to feel connected to those people in our family. When I was there being sealed to my Mom and Dad, it was a very strong feeling, like they were there and maybe a few angels, too, because it seemed like something bigger than just the few people in the room were there. You know that feeling when someone is there even though you can’t see them. It was like that multiplied.  Sealing is an ordinance that binds families together for life beyond this life.  The ultimate goal is for everyone to be sealed to their family eventually.  Sometimes on this earth we don’t like our family members that much. But if we could see them in their perfect form, we would probably want to bow down to them. And God sees them in their perfect form and their human form. So, I think that is probably what helps him to love everyone, even when they are being awful in this earthly life.

The temple is a wonderful place to go to get a better understanding on something, or to pray for those we love, or those we don’t love so that we can learn to love them and forgive them. And it is a place to take care of those important sealings.  Some people go to ask for health or for help with some particularly difficult problem.

But, I like to go just because. Just because it feels so nice and loving there and because I know God wants me there sometimes. One day I felt like he wanted me to go that very day, so I just changed my plans and went and a lot of my friends were there that same day and it seemed like a glorious party had been arranged. It was awesome!  Maybe someday you and I can meet in the temple!  That would be perfect!

Mormons in Uganda

Throughout Uganda, work is being done by religious groups to help out and many people have moved above poverty.

The musical hints that religion can’t do anything to help with the serious problems of the world. In the last article, we showed how basic faith can make a big difference in the life of someone who is suffering. Today we’re going to look at what churches are doing to try to make poverty a thing of the past. Since this is a Mormon site, we’ll be talking about what Mormons are doing, but lots of faith-based groups are doing similar types of work. God’s people don’t just preach the gospel—they work to take care of God’s children.

In 2009, missionaries got together in Uganda, not to preach the gospel, but to just live it. A lot of refugees were pouring into the country because of dangerous rebel activities in the Congo. These refugees often arrived with nothing at all. The missionaries worked long hours to put together emergency supply kits for them, including blankets, cooking pots, rice, sugar, salt, cooking oil, soap, and mosquito nets. The Church had, at the time of the article linked to on the word missionary at the start of the paragraph, delivered more than 7,000 pounds of food to refugee camps, as well as blankets, cooking pots, and farming tools. Musa Ecweru, Uganda’s Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, received some of these kits and said, ““Our good friends, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, go about quietly, without a lot of publicity, helping the needy people of Uganda,”

One serious problem in Uganda is that too many babies die. Often their lives could be saved if someone knew what to do for a baby who was not breathing at birth. The Mormons put together a program to train midwives and others in neonatal resuscitation. This means helping babies to breathe if they aren’t. The minister of health in Uganda took the class himself and he told the doctors that every time a baby dies in his country, it creates a 100,000-dollar deficit in his country’s economy. That means it hurts the economy that much. In the first six months after the May 2006 training ended, 646 babies were saved from death. How good is your math? Figure out how much that single effort by the church helped the Ugandan economy. When the economy improves, poverty is easier to fight.

Read how Mormons are saving babies from dying.

Mormons have a huge humanitarian aid program. This program isn’t just for Mormons. It’s for everyone in the village or area where they are working. They bring clean water into villages that never had it. Can you imagine drinking dirty water or having to walk hours to get water at all? That’s how a lot of people around the world live until the church goes in and helps the people to create a clean water source. They provide wheelchairs, glasses, vision treatments, farming help…all sorts of things that make life easier for those who are suffering. They also do things that will help people learn to help themselves so they won’t always have to depend on outsiders.

Some people might think it’s pointless to send missionaries into areas where there is a lot of poverty. But God loves all His children, no matter how poor they are. He wants them to know about Him, but He also wants them to be taken care of and made self-sufficient. For that, He needs His other children, the one with greater privileges, to go away from their comfortable homes and get to work. The Mormons have humanitarian missionaries in addition to their regular missionaries.

But it isn’t just missionaries helping out. Ordinary teenagers in Mormon churches also pitch in to make Uganda a better place. In their own communities they assemble kits like the ones mentioned above or go out into their villages to make something better. One group of teens in the US donated their old clothing to a church program. Their clothes were sent to a prison in Uganda. The women there were not given anything to wear and so they had to remain undressed until some teens in Utah decided to donate some of their clothing.

Take a look at the picture at the top of this article. It’s of a Mormon family in Uganda. The musical portrays Ugandans as primitive and stupid. Do you think they got Uganda right? How would you feel if all people in your country were portrayed the way Ugandans are treated in the musical? It might have made the musical’s creators feel “cool” to make fun of people, but Christians know we don’t treat others with that complete lack of respect. Nor do we just goof around being silly when there is serious work to be done, despite what the musical suggests.  While there are some people in Uganda who are poor, more and more are learning the skills and getting the health they need to move on—and Mormons and other religious people are helping to make that happen.

The boys meet in quorums, or groups, on Sundays and usually one weekday as well, based on the level of priesthood they hold. Each quorum has a president, two counselors (similar to vice-presidents) and a secretary. All these positions are held by the boys themselves. Adult leaders are assigned to teach and supervise the groups, but the boys lead themselves under the supervision of the adults.

Spencer understood that being the president meant he was to watch over all the other boys in his quorum and to make sure they were taken care of. While it might be easy and fun to look after your closest friends, a deacon quorum president is expected to become friends with all the boys in order to know what they most need.

In Spencer’s quorum was a boy named Dayton. Dayton has cerebral palsy. He can’t walk and can’t communicate except to blink for yes and not blink for no. A lot of teenagers would find it too hard to become friends with someone who could not communicate, but not Spencer. The two boys became good friends.

One day Spencer, who enjoys doing triathlons, had an idea. He always thought Dayton should get to do all the things other kids his age got to do, and so, he decided Dayton needed to race in a triathlon. He asked Dayton if he’d like to do that and Dayton blinked to show he would.

How do you do a triathlon when you can’t walk or even sit up alone? Well, you need a friend to help out. Spencer had some help in getting the supplies he needed to be the person who helped. First, they created a special bicycle with a cart attached. Spencer would ride the bike and Dayton would be right behind in the cart. That would take care of the bicycle portion of the triathlon. There was also a swimming portion so Spencer had to swim pulling an inflatable boat holding Dayton. When he did the running portion, he pushed Dayton’s wheelchair.

As you can imagine, this was very hard work. Triathlons are difficult when you race them alone, but to push and pull another person as you go makes it exceptionally hard. Spencer noticed he had to work so much harder and near the end, he felt he had nothing left with which to finish the race. But from somewhere deep inside himself, he found the energy and finished the race.

He didn’t win, of course, with the extra challenge of another person. He came in 82^nd, although he did finish first in the relay. Or, we should say, they finished 82^nd and 1^st.  Spencer considered this Dayton’s race and was puzzled to be called a hero. To him, Dayton was the hero.

Jesus taught us to take of those in need, to be loving friends to everyone, to serve. He served and had a special fondness for people with disabilities. The Bible tells us of a blind man who often sat on the side of the road, begging. When he heard Jesus was coming, he was determined to meet him and to ask for a gift of healing. He tried calling out to Jesus but other people told him to stop and to not bother Jesus. In their minds, the blind man wasn’t important enough to bother someone as special as Jesus.

However, Jesus heard the calls and asked for the man to be brought to him. The blind man was suddenly nervous, but the apostles encouraged him to go ahead and approach Jesus. He did and Jesus lovingly and respectfully asked how he could help the man. The man asked for his sight and Jesus praised him for his great faith. He told the man it was his faith that had healed him. Imagine the lesson learned when people realized this man, whom they all thought was unimportant, had faith so great as to bring about a miracle.

And imagine the lessons people learned when they watched Spencer give up any real chance of winning the triathlon and as they watched him struggle to help his friend be able to experience the thrill of a triathlon. Not only did Spencer help Dayton, the story of his great and Christlike gift is helping teenagers and even adults learn how to be more like Jesus.

Watch the video of Dayton’s legs.

Lindsey plans parties everyone wants to go to. She has great ideas for activities that keep everyone busy and entertained while helping them live up to high moral standards.

Kevin is the person everyone turns to when there is a problem to be solved. He always seems to be able to come up with an idea for fixing what is wrong, and sometimes his ideas are unusual, which just makes them more fun to carry out.

Emily loves to cook but she hardly ever makes a recipe the way it’s written. She likes to make changes to them so the end result is something unique to her.

Brian’s little brother has dyslexia and has a really hard time learning to read. Everyone in the family helps him, but they all agree Brian is the best. He comes up with new techniques for solving the reading problems and also thinks of ways to make the tutoring sessions more interesting. He’s doing a great job of helping his brother actually want to learn to read.

Would you have thought of these kinds of things as being creative? Most people are creative in some little way every single day, but don’t realize it because they think of creativity in terms of certain talents. A Mormon apostle, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, said that if we think we aren’t creative we need to remember our heritage. We are God’s children and He is the most creative being in the universe. He created the entire world and everyone and everything in it. Since we are His children, we have inherited a gift for creativity from Him.

“You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us.5 The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.”

So all you have to do to be creative is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before. What could you bring into your family’s life that wasn’t there before? What could you bring into your friend’s life that wasn’t there before?

Here’s an example of a little thing you could do. When you go to school this week, look around for someone who isn’t popular, maybe someone who eats lunch alone. Eat lunch with her—get your friends in on the project so they welcome this person. Convince them to be really nice to her and challenge each of them to learn three great things about this person. Everyone is interesting and admirable in some way, but it takes unselfishness and patience to find out what it is sometimes. That will be the job you and your friends set out to do. If it turns out this person is a good person with good character or real potential, start inviting her to join you every day at lunch and include her in your activities. Spread the word about the good stuff you’ve learned about her. It’s possible, when other people find out what is good, she will start finding other friends as well and that she will gain new confidence.

Does that sound more like a service project than a creative act? What will you be bringing into existence that wasn’t there before? You’ll be bringing friendship into the life of someone who doesn’t have it and self-esteem. Those are wonderful things to bring into someone’s life and it is a very creative way to live.

I remember when I was in high school a group of girls I knew entered our town’s beauty pageant. For some reason a mentally handicapped girl decided to enter. She wasn’t very pretty and her clothes and hair weren’t very nice. The other girls were talking about it and one worried that people might laugh at her when she walked on stage. She thought they should help the girl look better but they didn’t want to hurt her feelings by suggesting they thought she wasn’t pretty enough. Together, they concentrated on being creative and soon came up with the idea of having all the girls get together for a makeover party. They all helped make each other over and this way, the girl they were helping was just getting what all the other girls were getting. They practiced together, shared clothes and shopped together for what they needed.

Here’s an interesting side effect of this creative act, though. The girls did all this to help one girl, but in the end they wound up helping all the girls in the competition. As they worked together, they became friends and when the competition began, they were justifiably proud of every single girl because each person in the contest had helped every other girl be her very best for the competition. No matter who won, they would all have had a part in the winner’s success.

I don’t remember who did win, but I do remember they were asked to vote for the girl who had done the most to promote friendship among the contestants. They all chose the girl they first set out to help because she was the reason they had all become friends. That girl didn’t win the pageant, but she walked away with an award that was more important than one saying she was the prettiest girl—hers said she was the best friend.

The girls who entered the contest thought they were there to prove how beautiful they were but in the end, what they really proved was how nice they were—and how creative.

So, what creative thing are you going to do this week?

Watch the video of President Uchtdorf’s talk to learn more about being creative in small ways.

One day, Madison’s cousin was reading an article about some girls who helped a disabled teenager earn her medallion. She began thinking about Madison and wondered if there was a way she and the other girls in her congregation could help Madison earn her medallion. However, Madison couldn’t do most of the requirements, even with help. The girls decided they would earn her medallion in proxy. Each girl would choose one requirement to fulfill for Madison.

They talked to their leaders, who then talked to their own leaders to get permission. It was decided the girls could do this as long as they completed their own requirement for their medallion first and then did another one—or the same one twice where choices weren’t offered—for Madison. They couldn’t do it once and count it twice.

Some girls chose very long sections. One girl cooked dinner for her family for two weeks. Another read the entire Book of Mormon. Each girl did these things to help a girl in their youth group receive an award that is highly cherished by Mormon teens because it is hard to earn. They are publicly recognized for their accomplishments, and now, when the recognitions were given, Madison wouldn’t be left out.

One girl explained that the Savior had done something for all of us we couldn’t do for ourselves—He died for our sins—and so they were now doing something for someone else she couldn’t do for herself.

Watch the video and listen as the girls themselves tell you about their experience. Warning—it’s a tear jerker!