Saved from the Mud

By Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella

Of the Seventy

“I’ll share my Savior’s love by serving others freely” (Children’s Songbook, 74).

My family lived in São Paulo, Brazil. On the other side of our street, there was a forest of mangrove trees. Mangrove forests have rivers crossing through the trees. The ground is very muddy.

Many people built houses on that muddy ground. They put huge logs in the mud. Then they built their house on top of them. But when it rained, the river overflowed. The water got into their houses. Then the people had nowhere to sleep at night.

When that happened, my father would invite all of them into our home. Sometimes there were as many as 15 people! He brought them into our living room and gave them blankets. Mom made them something to eat. Then they slept in our house until the next day.

This happened at least three or four times. I remember thinking, “Not very many people would take strangers in.” My father was letting people we barely knew sleep in our house! But then I thought, “They have nowhere else to go.”

My parents always did things to help people. But their service was more than just helping and giving. It was showing love to our neighbor, even when our neighbor was somebody we didn’t know well.

We should reach out to people in need. We should help them with everything we can. We shouldn’t limit what we do to help people. We can give shelter and resources. We can share our time. We can share our knowledge about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, especially this Christmas season.