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Something that leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as "the Mormons") have stressed throughout the last century is the need to be prepared for disasters or other unforeseen events. Not only do we need to have our own homes and affairs in order, but we also need to be prepared to help others in need. Two stories recently in the news shows this counsel put into action.

In Ghana, a country in Africa, twenty-eight missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently visited two orphanages in Accra and brought food and gifts for the children. As reported on allafrica.com, the children performed songs and dances for the missionaries, and two of the missionaries performed a Polynesian dance for the children. The mission president told the children about the birth of Jesus Christ.

The food and gifts were provided by the Church, and included bags with school supplies and two books for each child. These bags had been put together and filled earlier by volunteers, with the intention of distributing them to children who needed them. Reports such as these remind us of our responsibilities to help those in need; there are so many people in the world who can use our help. For information on how you can assist LDS Humanitarian Services in helping people in need throughout the world, including making school kits for children like these, visit www.lds.org/humanitarianservices . Instructions for making the school kits can be found by clicking on the link for "How Can I Help?" at the left sidebar. From there, click on "Make humanitarian aid kits."

Across the globe in Lehi, Utah, another emergency plan was called into action earlier this month. LDS meetinghouses - as well as meetinghouses of other faiths - are sometimes used as shelters in times of natural disasters when people are evacuated from their homes. A nasty snowstorm that ripped through Utah County in February did not create a need for evacuation, but did leave some motorists and school children stranded after several roads were closed. Several local Church leaders made their meetinghouses available for stranded individuals as they waited out the storm. Local police were also involved in the efforts to provide safe places for these individuals.

"Church buildings are ideal for this type of situation," Larry Johnson of Saratoga Springs said to the Deseret Morning News. "They have great facilities - bathrooms, a gymnasium, little rooms where you can turn on a video." He spent that evening looking after individuals who took refuge in his local chapel. The Relief Society (Church women's organization) provided hot chocolate and snacks.

Local Church leaders credit their congregations' emergency preparedness plans. With plans in place for how members of each congregation will mobilize in the event of a disaster, it was relatively simple to bring those plans into action when they were needed.

Both of these examples remind us of the importance of having plans and resources available in times of need. Preparing ahead could make all the difference in the world to us later on.

A seminar was held on February 23 in Richmond, Virginia, where presenters discussed the preservation and indexing of the Virginia Freedmen's Bureau Records. The seminar was presented by the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia and volunteers from the Central Virginia Family History Centers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often referred to as "the Mormons").

The Freedmen's Bureau was a federal agency formed in 1865 to assist and protect newly freed blacks in the South following the American Civil War. The Bureau only lasted nine years, but the records involved in administering it included marriage certificates and licenses, applications for food rations, school and land reports, and other court records. A wealth of information on the ancestors of many of today's African Americans can be found in these records, so preserving them is important and indexing them is vital to their usability in genealogical research.

The Freedmen's Bureau Preservation Act of 2000 authorized U.S. government funding to preserve some 4000 bound volumes of records. Currently preservation is going on under the National Archives & Records Administration (NARA). In a partnership with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a searchable CD has been released that contains records of the Freedmen's Bank. Approximately half a million names are on this CD. Information available on the bank records include names of depositors; names of spouses, children, parents and siblings; birthplaces; and other data useful to genealogical research. It is estimated that 8-10 million African Americans today have ancestors who deposited money in the Freedman's Bank.

An article that appeared in Powhatan Today on February 20, 2008, described one man's visit to his local Latter-day Saint family history library. Carleton Finney already had a book with information on his ancestors that had been compiled by relatives, but the volunteer working at the family history library quickly guided him to available census records that verified the information that he had. Family history libraries of the LDS Church are staffed by volunteers who are available to guide researchers of all backgrounds to records that can help them in their search for their ancestors.

Why do people research their family histories? There are many reasons to do so, including that it can be a fascinating hobby. However, members of the LDS Church have additional reasons as well. According to an introductory page at www.familysearch.org, a free online family history resource run by the Church that features access to their extensive record collection:

Why do members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do family history research? They do it because they are motivated by love for their deceased family members and desire to serve them.

Life does not end at death. When we die, our eternal spirits go to a spirit world, where we continue to learn while we await the Resurrection and Final Judgment.

Members of the Church believe that the family can also continue beyond the grave, not just until death.

This is possible when parents and their children make special promises, called covenants, in sacred temples. These covenants, when made with the authority of God and faithfully kept, can unite families for eternity.

Members of the Church believe that their deceased ancestors can also receive the blessings of being eternally united with their families.

For this purpose, Church members make covenants in temples in behalf of their ancestors, who may accept these covenants, if they so choose, in the spirit world.

In order to make covenants in behalf of their ancestors, members must first identify them. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has gathered genealogical records from all over the world. These records are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and at Family History Centers throughout the world.

This is a large reason why Latter-day Saints research their family histories. But there are plenty of family history researchers out there who utilize the vast resources of the LDS Church simply out of an interest in their own pasts. The resources of the Church are available to people of all faiths.

So stop by the family history library of your local LDS meetinghouse. Volunteers there will be glad to help you get started on your own journey.

Following recent flooding in Lewis County, Washington, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as “the Mormons”) stepped in to help with the clean-up effort. Thousands of volunteers came forward to deliver cleaning kits and offer assistance in cleaning.

Ten thousand cleaning kits were sent on trucks from Salt Lake City and distributed to people whose homes had been affected. The kits contained rubber gloves, cleaners, and cleaning items, and were packed in buckets that could also be used in the clean-up.

“A lot of the homes are absolutely covered with mud,” noted Scott Turner, a local Church leader, to www.lds.org.

Hygiene kits, blankets, and sleeping bags were also made available at the two Mormon church buildings that were used as shelters for those displaced by the flooding.

The buckets containing the cleaning kits came in handy for at least one flooding victim. At the home of Steve Roberts, according to The Olympian, the floods brought so much mud into his house that volunteers removed the contents from the cleaning kits and used the buckets to scoop up the mud.

The buckets, as well as shovels, wheelbarrows, pickup trucks, and anything else that could be used were pressed into service for both mud and debris removal throughout the affected area. In a news video at The Olympian’s website, one resident gratefully noted the yellow-shirted Latter-day Saints who had come to help with the cleanup, as well as other volunteers from throughout the community.

“The valley is filled with the nicest people,” remarked Rod Lewis to The Olympian. His property was damaged by the floods, and Mormon volunteers helped him clean out his garage.

Other faiths who provided volunteers included the Salvation Army and Faith Lutheran Church. Businesses near the flooded area collected donations for those affected by the floods.

Stephen Daniels-Brown, a spokesman for the the Mormon Church, said that this is just the beginning of the recovery process. "The larger community in Southwest Washington is going to have to come to the realization that this is going to take weeks and weeks to get people back in their homes," he said to The Olympian.

President Gordon B. Hinckley, current prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has said: “All about us there are many who are in need of help and who are deserving of rescue. Our mission in life, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, must be a mission of saving. There are the homeless, the hungry, the destitute.” (President Gordon B. Hinckley, “Our Mission of Saving,” Ensign, Nov. 1991, 59)

It is wonderful to see so many people taking this counsel seriously, helping those who have found themselves in need.

As wildfires blaze through southern California, we are mindful of those who have been or will be displaced from their homes. According to the local ABC TV news affiliate in Salt Lake City, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has reported that all the missionaries in the area are safe. Missionaries are assisting in shelters and are also helping with evacuations.

At least 300,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes so far. High temperatures and winds and dry weather conditions have made fighting the fires very difficult.

A number of ward meetinghouses are being used as temporary shelters. At last report, no Church buildings have been seriously damaged by the fires. Commodities from the local bishops' storehouses are being provided to those Church meetinghouses serving as temporary shelters. The Church has also supplied blankets and food to evacuees in Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Further evaluation of the need for humanitarian assistance will continue as the situation progresses and evacuations are lifted.

This is another reminder to us all about the need to both prepare ourselves for any emergency, and to contribute to the Church's humanitarian fund or the funds of other worthy organizations. Without our contributions and their preparations, those truckloads of blankets would not have been available to the evacuees in San Diego. The food would not have been there in the storehouses. When the need arises for these commodities, it's too late to begin gathering them. They need to be there, in place, and ready to go when sudden disasters strike. Because, as the people of southern California are currently and painfully aware, these disasters do happen.

So get your 72-hour kits ready. (72-hour kits are intended to be portable kits with basic food, medical, and emergency supplies that you can grab and use at a moment's notice in the event of a disaster.) And then be sure to include that extra payment to the Church humanitarian fund with your tithes and offerings. Or make a donation to the Red Cross or other worthy charitable organization. Donate your time gathering supplies or helping these charities in other ways. They need our help. Large-scale disasters will continue to happen, and these charitable organizations need to always be ready to act.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those in California who have lost their homes or are waiting in shelters, as well as with those valiant firefighters who are doing all they can to quench this terrible blaze.