MormonNewsroom.org pulls stories from its international Newsroom websites to show 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: Samoan Latter-day Saints Help Tongan Cyclone Victims
People in Tonga continue to recover from the devastation of Cyclone Ian, which hit in January this year. The storm affected thousands of people and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Samoa recently packed a fishing boat full of food, including 150 bags of taro, and unloaded it in Tonga on 15 April. The taro, an island staple, was harvested from Latter-day Saints’ gardens. Church leader Elder O. Vincent Haleck of the Seventy arranged to have the boat also stop by America Samoa, where fish and chicken were added to help the victims. Taro grows in tropical climates and is similar to a potato.
Read more about the effort on the Pacific Mormon Newsroom website.
Lithuania: Help With a Smile
Latter-day Saints in Lithuania gathered packages of flour, oil, sugar, canned food and other products for the local food bank in a campaign for those in need called Help With a Smile.
Volunteers, dressed in the familiar yellow Mormon Helping Hands shirts, also helped secure wheelchairs, clothing and food during the March campaign. The Church’s meetinghouse acted as the collection point before the food was delivered to the food bank.
Read more about the project on the Lithuania Mormon Newsroom website (Lithuanian).
Brazil: Young Disabled Brazilian Girl Becomes Mobile
The smile on two-year-old Victoria Carregal’s face says it all. She is happy to receive her very own wheelchair from the Humanitarian Aid program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was one of 200 people to receive a wheelchair recently.
Margarete Geraldo Bigardi, the first lady of Jundiaí in the state of São Paulo, commented how the Church has helped Brazilians for many years.
Go to the Brazil Mormon Newsroom website (Portuguese) for more information.
Costa Rica: Students Excited About New School Materials
Homeless Costa Rican children are setting goals for the future as a result of help they are receiving at a school that caters to their needs. The school is capable of helping 180 children with food, studying assistance and materials.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated 440 school kits to the facility, and each kit contains three notebooks, a ruler, scissors, three pencils, pens and an eraser.
Read the comments students made on the Costa Rica Mormon Newsroom website (Spanish) about their appreciation for the school materials and the opportunity to learn.
Germany: Mormon Helping Hands Clean
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the German communities of Mainz and Wiesbaden came together to clean in April.
Mormon Helping Hands volunteers numbered around 75 and included people from age three to 79.
Go to the Germany Mormon Newsroom website (German).
Pacific: Aussie Latter-day Saint Woman Talks About Being a Mormon
Sarah Osmotherly says she has a “ridiculous amount of energy” and she is in love with her Australian family.
She is one of thousands of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who have shared their feelings and beliefs on the gospel of Jesus Christ through the website mormon.org.
Go to the Pacific Mormon Newsroom website to view her fun and lively video.