Where Are We Needed? Service Experiences from Around the World
Caring for those in need is one way young adults can experience connection, love, and growth.
We all have moments in life when things are not unfolding in the timing or way we want. Lydia was experiencing exactly this when she poured her heart out in desperate prayer.
“Heavenly Father, I’ve tried to be worthy of the blessing of marriage—to have a family and raise them in the gospel,” she remembers praying one evening at the temple. “But it’s just not panning out, and I just can’t understand why. Put me in the game! I’m tired of being on the bench. Let me be a wife, let me be a mother, let me further the work.”
In the peaceful quiet of the temple, Heavenly Father’s answer came swiftly: “You’re already in the game, so start playing.”
As young adults, we are often building toward and longing for important milestones, whether it’s getting married, attending school, or starting a new job. It’s normal to feel stuck when life doesn’t go as planned, but as Lydia discovered, God has a work for us to do at every stage of our lives.
“I started asking myself, ‘What is it I’m being asked to do where I am now?’” Lydia recalls. She came to understand that, as a young single adult, she was particularly well-positioned to reach out to those in need: “I realized I needed to be more diligent in serving others.”
Caring for those in need is a way we honor our baptismal and temple covenants. It’s also a gift from the Lord: a way to experience connection, love, and growth as we become “of one heart and one mind, [dwelling] in righteousness; [with] no poor among [us]” (Moses 7:18). To emphasize and celebrate this work, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prepares an annual report to reflect the work the Church and its members do to care for those in need.
Every year, young adults all over the world show their diligent efforts to be “in the game” and serve where they are needed. Here are just a few of their stories.
Community Service in Bolivia
More than 50 young single adults from the Tarija Bolivia Tabladita Stake gathered for a service event at the Tarija Urban Bio-Park. To improve the conditions of the park for their community, the volunteers did everything from sanding and painting railings, signs, and fences to cleaning drains.
“A commandment we respect is to help our neighbor,” said Lidia, a local Church leader. “As members of the Church, we are always willing to do so voluntarily and with love. It is a very special experience for us.”
Maria, the biologist in charge of the Bio-Park, added: “We are very happy with the service these young people provide. This place belongs to everyone, and their contribution is valuable, as it improves the well-being of those who visit.”
Laboring in Love in Bulgaria
Fifty young adults from ten different European countries gathered in Bulgaria for a week to serve at a school for socially disadvantaged children. The weeklong event, organized by local leaders, marked the beginning of a four-phase renovation and landscaping project at the Dimitar Ekimov School of Arts and Crafts.
Participants worked from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for five days to clear weeds, brush, tangled trees, and rocks, transforming the daunting overgrown grounds into future play areas for the school’s children. Volunteers ended their week of effort with a vibrant cultural celebration filled with traditional Bulgarian folk songs and dances from across the world.
Caring for Children in Turkey
In Turkey, 29 young single adults joined with local leaders and school officials to transform a state-run children’s home in Nevşehir.
Over the course of three days, they improved the facility by painting walls, landscaping grounds, installing playground equipment, and donating hygiene and education kits. Their efforts made a lasting impact—and brought joy to the children and staff.
Serving Where You Are
Like Lydia and these young single adults across the globe, you are needed in your ward, neighborhood, and beyond. Serving those in need is work you can do in Relief Society or in elders quorum. It can be as simple as listening to a friend in need or volunteering a couple hours at a local food pantry you found through JustServe.org. After all, “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6).
While we’re all growing in our capacities to serve, we can be confident that God knows us, loves us, and can teach us through the Holy Spirit to truly live the first and second great commandment (see Matthew 22:37–39).
Want to see more ways young adults are serving those in need around the world? Check out the Church’s “Caring for Those in Need: 2025 Report” to see how members like you cared for their neighbors in 2025—one small act of love at a time.