Helping Hands at Winter Olympic Games

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – With all of its blue and yellow, a make-shift, two-story building near PyeongChang’s Olympic park is certainly hard to miss.

Built in less than a month, local leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints call its creation ‘a miracle’ as the church seizes an opportunity at the Winter Olympics.

The Helping Hands Center sits just across the street from the Gangeung Train Station, where trains arrive every 20 minutes.

Thousands of visitors walk off the train and out the doors to see the bright sign that’s written in English, not Korean.

Rocky and Adele Nielsen help run the center, what they call a rest stop for weary travelers to warm up, grab a beverage, have a little Olympic fun and if they’re interested, get a quick look at their family tree.

“It’s really an incredible opportunity to here in this center and helping people feel the spirit of family history,” said Elder David White, a missionary from Vernal, Utah serving in South Korea.

White is just one of many missionaries and members who volunteer in the Helping Hands Center every day.

The idea of the center is not to proselyte or convert every person who visits, instead, Nielsen explained, its purpose is as simple as the words on the sign.

“Our goal is for them to see the light of the gospel in the eyes of our missionaries and members, and they see it.”