There are many ways an LDS Stake (Diocese) can benefit the community where it is found. A stake can cover a whole city or province. In some cases, multiple stakes can be found in one city. Wherever an LDS Stake is organized, it can have a positive effect in a community.
Here are the top four benefits of having a stake in your area:
1. Good People
Whenever there is a unit of the LDS church the community receives an addition of good citizens. As members of the church, they are encouraged to "be anxiously engaged in a good cause" and to "let their light so shine before men."
Members of the church do not smoke, drink alcohol or use illegal drugs. They have closely knit families who attend church together. They are good and honest employees, law abiding citizens, courteous drivers, voters, and good neighbors. They also support their leaders and obey traffic rules.
2. Voluntary Service
In Mosiah 2:17, in the Book of Mormon, it says, "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Members of the church are cheerful helpers and find joy and fulfillment in service. They are always ready to extend a helping hand to a neighbor and others around them.
Every year members of the church organize a service project in the community on the National Day of Service. Members are well known as blood donors in hospitals and with the National Red Cross.
You will find LDS volunteers in non-government organizations (NGOs). They are among the first to arrive to give assistance during typhoons, earthquakes, fires and other disasters. Members of all ages show up when their church meeting house is used to pack relief goods for victims of calamities.
The stake leaders collaborate with government and non-government organizations on projects like the "Plant for the Future" which is a partnership with East-West Seed Foundation, the Anti-Dengue Campaign in cooperation with RGMA Super Radyo, City Health Office and Island Garden City of Samal and many other projects that help the entire community.
3. Beautiful Meetinghouses
Communities with LDS congregations will usually have chapels for meetinghouses. These edifices can add beauty to a community. In two occassions that a stake president in Cebu City visited Cardinal Vidal, he remarked, "How beautiful and clean are the the church's meetinghouses. The lawns are well kept and the buildings are always in top condition."
In addition, the meeting house basketball court is a favorite of both young and old for recreation. Not only that, chapels are also used as evacuation centers and places of refuge for members of the church and the non-members during calamities.
4. Hardworking Missionaries
Although they are few in numbers in any stake, LDS missionaries add light to a community. Seeing them out in the community sends a message of hope -- hope that something better is coming. Missionaries always seek out ways to serve individuals and families in the communities where they live.
As you can see, when a stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is organized in a community the benefits reach out to the entire community and not just to the members of the church.
Photo by: Dallin Dale Nunez