On a cold, frosty morning in Mexico's Sierra Madre Mountains, a rider came upon a covey of partridges. For protection from the cold, the birds got together and spread their wings, intertwining them so that their bodies were completely covered as a shield from the frost and the cold. Only their heads stuck up above that covering. They survived. Without that united effort of self-protection, they might have succumbed to the weather; with it, they came through in relative comfort.

This scene was described by Elder Antoine R. Ivins of the First Council of the Seventy when he spoke in general conference in October 1950. He was the rider. He described what he had seen on that frosty morning as "a pretty little thing . . . that relates the spirit of cooperation."

"Now if we could so put our arms out and shield each other, if we could so support each other through the faith that we should have in each other, then all the righteous purposes of God as far as this group of people is concerned, I am sure, could be realized," Elder Ivins said.

We have many opportunities to "put our arms out and shield" or help others. Every day, we see people who do that. Here are just a few examples:

• An off-duty nurse took time to talk to the wife of a terminally ill patient. Although the hour was late and the nurse was tired, she sensed the woman's need to talk. Neither the woman nor her husband shared the faith of the nurse, a Latter-day Saint, and neither had been active in their respective religions. The woman was seeking comfort about what happens after death. The nurse spoke of the Atonement, the Resurrection and Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation. When her husband died a few days later, the woman asked the nurse to speak at his funeral.

• A teacher agreed to meet after hours with a parent who was unable to attend a regularly scheduled parent-teacher conference at school.

• A taxi driver carried his passenger's luggage to her front door, then waited in the cab with its headlights on so that she could see to unlock the door, and until she was safely inside her home.

• A shopper noticed a young child who had become separated from her parent. Keeping an eye on the child, the shopper alerted a clerk. Within moments after an in-store announcement was made, the parent and child were reunited.

• A woman noticed another woman weeping at a telephone in a crowded airport concourse. She approached and said, "You've had some bad news, haven't you? Can I help you?" When she heard that the woman's mother had just died, the fellow traveller put her arms around her and said, "I'm sorry." She offered what consolation she could before she had to catch her flight. Parting, she said, "What is your name? I'll pray for you."

• A family became concerned when their next-door neighbors were gone longer than anticipated. As days passed, the lawn and weeds grew. The family mowed the lawn, pulled weeds and watered flowers and vegetables until the return of their neighbors, who explained that one of them had required a hospital stay before their return trip home.

• A father became discouraged and worried over a wayward and rebellious teen. He did all he could think to do but saw his child drifting further away. He felt he had failed as a parent. Another father, a few years older, offered consolation and advice, encouraged patience and held out hope. With such help, the father weathered his child's stormy season and, although everything is not all happiness and light, feels more confident about his relationship with his child.

None of these helpers was required to spend extra time, energy or effort to help others. And each, at one time or another in his or her life, has received help from someone else. They were much like that covey of partridges who spread their wings, offering some protection, a bit of shelter, from life's storms and cold reality.

President Gordon B. Hinckley has reminded us: "We can reach out to help one another as neighbors and associates, extending even beyond our own brothers and sisters in the Church, to assist any in trouble or want wherever they may be. . ." (October 1985 general conference).