Day of Service

A few years ago, the First Presidency of the Church commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Church Welfare program by asking church-members worldwide to participate in some kind of organized service project during that year.  Throughout the year, we received reports of all the local service wards and stakes were doing in their areas.  It was truly inspiring. Since then, the Church-wide Day of Service has become an annual event.  

This year, our ward participated in a clean up project in Princeton, TX, an outlying area within  our stake boundaries.  (Yep, that's the place I wandered to earlier in the week when I was looking for a photo opportunity and a little adventure.)  Over 40 families drove to the Princeton Cemetery to pick up trash and clean up their little community. 

We had to get up early on a chilly Saturday morning, and there was work involved.  None of those things typically sound very appealing to teenagers.  But we had committed to participate in this activity, and once we got there, we were so happy to have been part of it.  We cleaned the cemetery, the POW memorial park, and a long stretch along their main highway.  It was a great feeling to see all those yellow vests working together.  

A few hours later, the cemetery was beautified, we had solidified a few friendships, and we felt great about our super-productive morning.  This is rapidly becoming one of our family's favorite annual activities.  A few hands doing a little bit of work really can make such a huge difference.  

And this was my absolute favorite picture of the day.  Isn't that the sweetest little boy?  He toddled around after his older siblings all morning and I couldn't resist catching a few pictures of him.