The Newsroom Blog

Mormons Around the World Country Newsroom Websites August 31, 2015

MormonNewsroom.org features stories from its international Newsroom websites to share what leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world are doing to better the communities in which they live.

Pacific-Auckland, NZ: Community Service Affects Wide Variety of Those in Need
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Auckland, New Zealand, recently volunteered several hours of time to feed the hungry, donated blood to a local hospital and assisted prison inmates and refugees.

Service is a vital principle in the Church because Latter-day Saints try to follow Jesus Christ’s example of forgetting self and focusing on helping someone else.

Read more about the donated service on the Pacific Mormon Newsroom website.

Brazil: Volunteering and Promoting Religious Liberty
A national service project involving Mormon Helping Hands to promote and defend religious freedom was held in July throughout Brazil. The event also included participation by many faith denominations.

A number of community service projects were completed, including helping people recover from damage due to flooding, painting, caring the elderly and helping to clean the grounds around Catholic cathedrals.

Go to the Brazil Mormon Newsroom website (Portuguese) to read the responses from those who served.

USA-Baltimore, Maryland: Faith Leaders Unite to Toss First Pitch at Orioles Game
Three Baltimore religious leaders stepped onto the pitcher’s mound of Major League Baseball’s Orioles at Camden Yards to throw out the first pitch.

Church leader, Baltimore stake president Michael Brady, invited Reverend Dr. Alvin Hathaway of Union Baptist Church and Reverend Dr. Todd Yeary of the Douglas Memorial Community Church to join him on the mound. Dr. Alvin Hathaway had the honor of throwing the baseball.

Go to the Mormon Newsroom website to read why these three religious leaders participated in the first-pitch event.

Australia-Perth: Mormon Women Assemble Birthing Kits to Help Mothers
Expectant mothers in developing nations are receiving a birthing kit thanks to the efforts of 36 Latter-day Saint women in Perth, Australia.

The women of the Church’s Relief Society assembled 1,400 kits complete with a plastic sheet, soap, two gloves, a sterile scalpel blade, three cords and five gauze squares. The supplies go to women who do not have access to hospitals.

The Australia Mormon Newsroom website provides more information on the project as well as on the Relief Society organization of the Church.

Philippines: Church Volunteers and USNS Mercy Partner to Help


LDS Charities and Mormon Helping Hands joined with the Mercy Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy recently to bring medical care, and supplies to hospitals and residents of the Philippines.

Latter-day Saint doctors, nurses and therapists donated their time and skills to help people in need of medical care and Mormon Helping Hands volunteers assembled hygiene kits and school kits for young students.

Go to the Philippines Mormon Newsroom website to understand more about the partnership.

Pacific-Wellington, NZ: Mayor Honors Mormon Helping Hands
Celia Wade-Brown, the mayor of Wellington, New Zealand, recently honored Latter-day Saints for their Mormon Helping Hands service.

More than 1,500 people have given in excess of 5,500 hours of volunteer service to the citizens and community of Wellington over the last several years. For those efforts, Mayor Wade-Brown gave the Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Award.

Read the mayor’s comments on the Pacific Mormon Newsroom website.

USA-Seattle, Washington:  Church Opens New Family Discovery Center
The Church’s FamilySearch has opened a second family discovery center. The initial center opened on Temple Square in February of this year.

The second interactive center is now located in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Washington, where the public of all ages may research their ancestors as well as enter other family information to preserve for future family members, all free of charge.

Read more on what is offered at the Seattle Family Discovery Center on the Mormon Newsroom website.

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