Service
by Shauna Gibby

Service is to be given unselfishly, with no thought of personal gain or reward. It is to be given as needed, not when convenient.

---

Conference Talk:

For more information on this topic read “Service,” by Steven E. Snow, Ensign, Nov 2007, 102–4

Thought:

Service is to be given unselfishly, with no thought of personal gain or reward. It is to be given as needed, not when convenient.
(Steven E. Snow, “Service,” Ensign, Nov 2007, 102–4)

Song:

“I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus” Children’s Songbook, p.78, verse 2.

Scripture:

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:40)

Object Lesson:

Materials needed: One large box filled with several heavy objects. Have a family member try to lift the box. (Be sure he does not hurt himself.) Ask how it feels. Instruct two other family members to help the first lift the box. This will be easier.

Explain that the box is like the burdens we might carry in day-to-day life. Discuss what some of these burdens could be. When we give service we can help others with their day-to-day burdens.

(Beth Lefgren and Jennifer Jackson, More Power Tools for Teaching, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1991], p. 99.)

Story:

The Great “Bale-Out” Edgar E. Eaton

Grant Tracy grumbled as he wrestled with his hay crop just outside of Carbonado, Washington. A rainstorm threatened. This was July, when it’s not supposed to rain, even in usually damp Puget Sound country. But the clouds wrapped themselves around each other like huge clumps of dirty cotton, dark and rumbling. And a thunderstorm would ruin his hay.

To top it off, Brother Tracy had promised his barn to the stake youth that night for a barn dance following their annual youth conference. Even with the help of his sons and their families, Brother Tracy was convinced he would never get the hay in before the rain, and the teenagers on their way only accentuated his problem. For six hours that morning the 200 Auburn Washington Stake teenagers and 50 leaders had cleaned yards and homes, painted inside and out, put booklets together, fixed food, cleaned headstones in a cemetery, and helped with children.

For six hours they had fun together helping others. Then they cleaned up and returned to church for dinner and a testimony meeting. Now it was fun and games time at the Tracys’. They arrived in cars, vans, and pickups—ready to dance. And dance they did until around 10:00 p.m. It was about then that Chris and Jeff Williams of the Buckley Ward, who had worked for Brother Tracy on the farm at times, could see that even though he had finished baling the hay, he was going to have trouble getting it in the barn before the storm.

Chris and Jeff went to Rae Dell Killstrom, one of the Young Women leaders, and told her they were going to “buck hay.” A self-declared “city slicker,” Sister Killstrom thought that they meant they were going to go play in the hay. Picturing them with hay all over them she said no, if they left the dance they couldn’t come back. But then Sister Killstrom talked with Geraldine Tracy, Grant’s wife. Once she understood the problem, she talked with other stake leaders and found that some of them had just been discussing the same thing. And that was it. As soon as the problem was explained to the kids, there was no hesitating. With no gloves and with bare arms, they marched out, swarming over the fields like seagulls attacking crickets.

By then it was pitch dark and lightning danced across the sky, illuminating groups of young people everywhere, racing the weather. Within an hour the hay was in the barn and stacked—stacked by a bunch of kids in their party clothes. Grant Tracy was overwhelmed. “Oh, man, I’ll tell you, it was unbelievable,” he recalls. “It just gave me . . .” He breaks off, searching for the right words. “You could see kids all over the field.” He pauses again. “It would bring tears to anyone’s eyes. It couldn’t have been a more perfect ending to their conference.”

If Grant Tracy ever builds a monument on his farm, it won’t have a seagull on it. It’ll be a golden replica of a teenager with a smile on his face and a bale of hay in his hands.
(Good Deeds, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003], 51.)

Activity:

Give each person a pencil and paper with the word “SERVICE” printed down the left side of the paper. The object of the game is to see how many words you can make starting with each of the letters S, E, R, V, I, C, E. These words must in some way pertain to service or describe some kind of service you can do.

Decide on a service project to participate in as a family during the upcoming week.

(adapted from Alma Heaton, The LDS Game Book, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1968], p. 60.)

Refreshment

Fruit Pizza Dessert

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1⁄2 cup butter or margarine
• 1 1⁄4 cups flour
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1 recipe Cream Cheese Topping (see below)
• 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
• 2 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced
• 3 fresh peaches, sliced, or 1 (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained

In a large bowl combine cream cheese and butter or margarine. Mix until well blended. Add flour and salt. Mix well. Form into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to form a 12-inch circle. Place in a 12-inch greased tart or pizza pan.

Prick the bottom and sides with a fork. Bake at 425° F. for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the Cream Cheese Topping; spoon over crust. Arrange fruits in circles atop the filling, working toward the center of the tart—arrange strawberries around outer edge of pan, then kiwi fruit slices, fresh peach slices or mandarin oranges, and more strawberries in the center. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Cream Cheese Topping

• 12 ounces cream cheese
• 1⁄3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup non-dairy frozen whipped topping

Combine cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice. Mix until well blended. Fold in whipped topping.

(Julie Badger Jensen, The Essential Mormon Cookbook, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004] p. 18.)

Deseret Book

Comments on this article	ADD COMMENT
Be the first to comment on this article