As part of being good neighbors and having common understanding, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Whitefield, Bangalore, India opened their doors for a tour of the church building by local school children. Each day 100 children from a prestigious educational institute, located behind the meetinghouse, accompanied by 10 teachers, toured the meetinghouse during five days in August. A total of 500 children came. The local members of the church were happy to have the children visit.
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The tour began in the chapel where an explanation was given of the room. Two short three-minute videos were shown. One video was a true story about Heber J. Grant. When Heber was a young boy, his mother stitched a new coat to wear to protect him from the cold weather. One day while he was walking down the street, he saw a boy who was trying to warm himself by a fire on the side of the road. He was without a coat and very, very cold. Heber removed his coat which had been lovingly stitched by his mother, and gave it to the boy. He returned home to his mother who did not scold him but was glad Heber wanted to share with another. Through the video, the school children were taught the principle of sharing with those in need.
The second video was by Russell M. Nelson who spoke about our body being a “Temple of God”. The children were taught to keep their bodies clean and appreciate the beauty of the creation.
President Abel, the leader of the local congregation, was pleased to have the neighbor children visit the church building. He said “We wanted to build good relations with our neighbors. We wanted them to know what the Church offers to all people.”
The children were told of some of the programs that are offered to youth and families such as Family History. They were given a pedigree chart to show their parents. Also given were the Strength of the Youth booklets and information about the Self-Reliance program. Duty to God, Personal Progress and Faith in God were programs that were also explained. It was a full tour and the children enjoyed it. Each teacher who accompanied the children was given a copy of the Book of Mormon.
President Abel said “We hope some parent may need our assistance and when they come, we will be ready to extend a hand of fellowship to make their life easy.”