Bek at Ignore the Crazy does volunteer work in Africa a couple of weeks a year and does ongoing projects with charities that work there.

My friend in my ward goes with her husband to do dental work in the Dominican Republic or Samoa or other places where dentists are scarce and people are poor.

My husband and I are fostering a baby right now through our county child services agency. That has selfish purposes too, for us, but I think it’s something more people could do that would make a big difference.

If you look on the Church’s humanitarian service site there are lists of things they need and projects you can do to help. Heck, crochet some leper bandages while you watch TV at night.

A lot of moms I know volunteer in their kids’ classrooms. That takes a lot of pressure off teachers who can then help kids more effectively. I think that is a big thing.

Something I want to do (maybe when I get released from Young Women) is take Spanish classes. Then I would be able to help people in need in my own town so much better.

Something I am not at all good at doing is sharing the gospel. But that is a big thing that one person can do.

I’m not trying to urge complacency–I have great respect for those who reach out and I have a desire to do more, but I hope in doing so I don’t forget that no matter what I do globally, there are many things I can do–as simple as sending a warm smile someone’s way or offering a hug at the right moment–that will make the greatest difference among my family, neighbors, friends, co-workers and people I meet on the street.

I love what angie says about “spiritual poverty”– so true. Maybe we feel guilty sometimes for the relative ease of our lifestyles and so we want to give back and DO SOMETHING! It’s difficult to feel helpless. I know it seems cliche, but I believe the whole “think globally act locally” slogan: we do what we can for those we are able to help and to them, it does make a difference, for them and for us.

Maybe it’s because I’m just getting my visiting teaching done today (horrible, I know!), but this post reminds me of the April theme of caring for the poor and needy.

Definitely a helpful post for me– thanks, Justine!

I think it’s vitally important that we make our children aware of the broader world and of the sometimes excruciating conditions that people live under. And then we need to encourage them to take action–to do whatever they can, using their own unique gifts, to make life a little better for their fellow sojourners on this ole’ planet. Our daughter, who loves music and theater, founded the DreamMaker Theater Workshop–a theatrical troupe for kids with disabilities–when she was in high school. Thanks, largely, to the efforts and example of their dad, each of our boys have participated (willingly even!) in numerous service projects and humanitarian efforts. For his Eagle Project, our 13-year-old son collected materials for and put together 150 school kits to deliver to the children in that area of Mexico where they’ll be building homes this summer. And our 9-year-old is currently working on a project that he calls “No More Wars.” His goal is to collect stuffed animals and candy to send to the children of Iraq to foster goodwill. “That way we’ll all be friends, so when we grow up there will be no more wars,” he says. Gotta love it. (This whole thing, by the way, was completely his own idea.)

And I got involved with Kiva last year. It’s a great idea, for sure, but it does feel slightly sanitized and removed from the whole process of sacrifice and giving. I feel removed from the process, even though I know I’m vital to that process. Strange, I know.

Emily, I thought a great deal about that talk after she gave it. And she is just so fundamentally right. We all are equal in opportunity where spirituality is concerned.

I worry not only about teaching my children, but about what I have learned and what I am doing in a practical sense. And whatever it is, it doesn’t feel like enough.

My husband, who grew up in poverty in a family of migrant immigrants, has a slightly different perspective. He says Americans think Mexicans are poor in terms of material items, but Mexicans see the spiritual poverty of Americans. He doesn’t see physical suffering as being as big a deal as I do. But either way, I feel like I am being tested. What am I doing with my (relative) material wealth? Am I using it to cultivate spiritual wealth?