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Saints and Buddhist Members Unite
Saints from the Brisbane Australia Stake have joined forces with members of the Buddhist community to take part in a service project at the Buddhist temple in Priestdale as part of the Annual Community Outreach Weekend.
More than 120 members of the Brisbane Australia Stake gathered at the Chung Tian Buddhist Temple to undertake maintenance of the buildings and gardens. Volunteers spent their Saturday morning seeing to maintenance of the gardens surrounding the temple. The grounds are important to the peaceful atmosphere experienced at the temple.
During the event, participants cleaned the wishing ponds and pathways surrounding the temple with high-pressure water cleaners, cleared rubbish from the temple grounds and cleaned various other facilities of the temple, including the Tai Chi area.
Buddha’s Light International Association use and take care of this particular temple.
“It was an immense help, and we greatly appreciate the time and effort from the Church,” said Stephen Chang, president of the association.
Toward the end of the activity, volunteers from the Church participated in tours of the temple, learning more about the Buddhist faith. Worshippers at the Buddhist temple were also given the opportunity to learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Gifts were also exchanged, including important religious texts, further providing an opportunity to increase understanding of each other’s faiths.
Brisbane stake president Esben Strodl stated: “An important part of our teachings is to serve others and to be good friends and neighbours within the community. This was a wonderful opportunity to serve our Buddhist friends while helping our members learn a little more about the faith and practices of this wonderful community. It was particularly pleasing to see so many of our children, youth and young adults here serving our Buddhist friends. It is really important to us that our young people learn the principles of community service and being friends with all faiths and beliefs.”
Members of the Brisbane Australia Stake look forward to continuing their relationship with the community of worshippers at the Priestdale Buddhist temple.