A group of young single members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in American Samoa have shown by their actions that working together to make their community a better place is a big part of their faith.
Responding to a call for assistance from the territory’s governor, the young Latter-day Saints got to work planning and preparing for three days of community service leading up to and during this year’s Flag Day celebrations.
The volunteers were young singles from the Church’s Pago Pago American Samoa Central Stake. A Mormon stake is a group of congregations in a geographical area.
The clean-up was led by two of the young Latter-day Saints in the stake, Siniva Tuileto'a and Joe Tanielu. Both have served as missionaries for the Church — Siniva in Guam and Joe in Adelaide.
As they were looking for places to clean-up before the territory’s Flag Day celebrations, the young people’s stake president, Starlight Lotulelei, suggested that they focus on the city’s main stadium. They also cleaned up other parts of the city.
KHJ Radio’s Talanei News program reported on the clean-up crew’s efforts.
For Siniva, serving in the community is a natural extension of her faith. Citing a passage from The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, she said, “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God (Mosiah 2:17).”
After the service project, the young people discussed the feelings that they felt as they worked together, and concluded that they have never felt this unified before.
One participant said, “Given the fact that two new congregations have just been created in our stake five months ago, this service brought us closer together and has brought big smiles to our faces.”
Another said, “We know that we did not just represent the Church, but we represented the Savior Jesus Christ. He showed us the way by always serving others.”
