LAMDUAN, Thailand — In a small village several hundred kilometers outside of Bangkok, the work of two humanitarian service missionaries for the Church is helping to alleviate malnutrition.

There, about two years ago, an elementary school teacher prepared for the school day. Before she left her modest home she packed some extra rice for a few of the students in her class — students who, without this rice, would have had nothing to eat during the day.

Last year, Thailand's Ministry of Welfare and Labor reported that 3.7 million children in Thailand suffered from malnutrition. Rice, the staple food in Thailand, is low in protein, a critical element that helps develop strong bodies and active minds.

School administrators throughout the country recognized the best way to alleviate malnutrition was to encourage new agricultural projects that would not only supply needed nutrition, but also provide a source of income for the schools. They proposed projects from growing vegetables and mushrooms to spawning fish to raising chickens and ducks for eggs and meat. However, the one thing these schools lacked was the funding to make their dreams become a reality.

In the Surin Province of Thailand, Elder Joel Sperry and Sister Kathryn Sperry — on a humanitarian mission for the Church — requested $3,100 to fund several small agricultural projects. The proposal was approved and the Sperrys, members of the Heber 6th Ward, Heber Utah East Stake, went to work.

The Lamduan Elementary School, for example, had been hoping to raise chickens, mushrooms and vegetables. The Sperrys helped them purchase the chickens (with feed and medicine) and the mushroom spores and other materials for the gardens. They produced enough chicken that the school was able to include it on the lunch menu. They sold enough mushrooms to buy an equal amount the next year. The vegetable gardens became a permanent part of the campus. Today, the little school in Lamduan can fully support its own agricultural classes.

To date, the Sperrys have helped establish 30 similar projects in Surin. School officials have reported increases in protein consumption from 10 to as high as 30 percent. Not only do children now consume healthful and life-sustaining food, but the schools are now self-sustaining as a result of the income they receive by selling surplus food.

Elder Sperry describes the scene as he and his wife visit the grateful children: "The children gather around [my wife and me] and respectfully bow in the traditional Thai way. They put their hands together at the chest, symbolizing the heart, and bow over until their fingertips touch their noses. Sometimes the whole school [200-300] will follow us out to show us their projects."

He expresses humbly, "They treat you royally." Of his work with the Thai schools and the benevolence of the Church's humanitarian aid he exclaims, "It has been the experience of a lifetime."