Mourn with Those that Mourn

"[A]s ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—" Mosiah 18:8-9, Book of Mormon

Last Sunday, Tim Ballard put on a devotional for my Stake. If you don't know who he is, he's an LDS man who used to be a politician but is now a philanthropist working with Underground Railroad. This is a non-profit organization that rescues kids that are involved in human trafficking. 

The crowd that gathered under his name topped any stake conference I have ever attended. It almost made me sick because the spirit of this meeting was much less significant than that of an actual stake conference. I wondered why so many people wanted to be here to hear Mr. Ballard speak, but didn't much care to hear their neighbors.

Then I just spiraled into sad thoughts. Not only were kids suffering in Haiti and Mexico  because of human traffickers, but there are children being shot in Palestine. Kids were run over in New York. The most terrible things happen to the purest creatures.

Kids are suffering everywhere. It is overwhelming to consider them all. But I know there's gotta be something I can do in my own neighborhood to help one out.  If there are kids suffering everywhere, there must be some near me.

And this way, when I reach out to them, it's likely I actually speak their language.