Missionaries in Action: Service That Transforms Communities

Volunteer service is the backbone of the humanitarian, welfare and self-reliance work that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints engages in worldwide. The Church’s 80,000 missionaries are among these dedicated volunteers.

These missionaries serve in the Church’s 450 missions worldwide, where they play a key role in community service efforts, disaster cleanup, and projects related to the faith’s welfare and self-reliance operations.

The power of this collective effort has been on display in recent months. In May 2025, in Pasadena, California, the Church hosted a six-day wildfire disaster recovery hub at its Pasadena Stake Center. This collaboration with the American Red Cross, Emergency Network Los Angeles (ENLA), and ENLA’s network of providers supported approximately 2,500 households affected by the 2025 Southern California wildfires.

Young missionaries were there to help, offering the hope many fire victims needed. Through their selfless actions, they were cultivating lasting good.

Kevin Cox, CEO and founder of the Hope Crisis Response Network, one of the organizations present, observed, “I don’t think I’ve ever met a missionary who’s ever used the word ‘no.’ It’s like, ‘We’ll figure this out. Let’s see how we can do this. The Church needs to be very proud of its missionaries. When you send these young people out, they’re learning a lot of life lessons, but they’re also sowing such great seed. And that’s what we need in our country.”

Missionaries were also there in the tragic wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which struck the Southeast United States in late September and early October 2024. In the storms’ aftermath, 21,284 Church volunteers mobilized over six weeks across five states to help. In their familiar yellow shirts, they served neighbors in North and South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee.

“It was sobering to see the devastation to property, but more importantly to families and individuals,” said Elder Ahmad Corbitt, of the Church’s North America Southeast Area Presidency. “The consecration of time by our thousands of members and full-time missionaries, along with the food, water and many other commodities provided by the Church, has helped our friends and neighbors across the South. It was all part of living the Savior’s two great commandments [love God and love others], and it was inspiring. I personally saw hope and tears of joy in the faces of the grateful recipients.”

Missionary service lifts communities in other important ways. For example, in 2022, missionaries joined other volunteers in an important project with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in San Francisco. Together, they installed an irrigation system at the Florence Fang Community Farm, which provides fresh food to a diverse and underserved community that inhabits a food desert.

“This is a wonderful day,” said Elder Patrick Kearon, then a member of the Presidency of the Seventy. “We’re here from all kinds of backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures, all working together to make this extraordinary garden a better place. And the real benefit today is working together. When society generally is showing so many fractures, this is pulling all kinds of people together, and we’re delighted to be a part of it.”

Similar examples of missionary service can be found around the world. Earlier this year in the Philippines, for instance, missionaries participated in a medical mission hosted by a congregation in Barangay Mintal, Davao City. The event provided community members with free physical and mental health services.

“This medical mission is a shining example of what it means to care for one another,” said Yolanda Villaflor, a Garden Villas Senior Citizen Association member.

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In April, missionaries in Costa Rica participated in a day of service. In collaboration with the Works of the Holy Spirit Association, Church members and missionaries cleaned a children’s playground and the Catholic parish in San José.

In Papua New Guinea, missionaries were essential to flood relief on Parama Island in October 2024. When a barge and accompanying dinghies arrived on the island with food, water, water filters and tarps, the water was too shallow for the vessels to bring the supplies into the village. The closest they could get was a kilometer from shore.

Throughout the afternoon of October 29, villagers and missionaries walked back and forth through two kilometers of tidepools to carry the supplies to shore and into the welcome arms of grateful families.

In July 2024, missionaries assisted in cleanup work in Saas-Grund, Switzerland after devastating storms.

“Seeing how our work improves the lives of the people here was very moving,” said Elder Tobias Kroes. “Instead of our everyday tasks, we were able to achieve something really meaningful by joining forces.”

“I never imagined how fulfilling it could be to carry stones all day,” said Elder Leon Radtke.

In Rome, missionaries and local Latter-day Saints spend one day a week preparing and serving hot meals to the homeless at Parrochia del Santissimo Redentore charity kitchen. At Christmastime, they prepare gift bags with sweets and other items.

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All service that missionaries engage in is rooted in a desire to follow Jesus Christ’s two great commandments: love God and love our neighbor.

“The Savior loves all of God’s children regardless of their socioeconomic circumstance, race, religion, language, political orientation, nationality, or any other grouping. And so should we!” said Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf. “God’s greatest reward goes to those who serve without expectation of reward. It goes to those who serve without fanfare; those who quietly go about seeking ways to help others; those who minister to others simply because they love God and God’s children.”

Additional Resource

• Explore the 2024 “Caring for Those in Need” Summary