One day after a devastating tsunami sent surging waves along the coast of Kenya on Dec. 26, 2004, villagers found a baby hippopotamus in the sea, stranded on a sandy coral reef without his mother.

Hundreds of villagers worked together to save the hippo, who they knew would become sick if he stayed in the salty seawater too long.

Two feet tall and 600 pounds, the baby hippopotamus was secured in nets and named "Owen" after a rescuer. He was hoisted into the back of a pickup truck and taken to Haller Park, an animal sanctuary about 50 miles away in the city of Mombasa.

Once at Haller Park, Owen was placed in an enclosure with a 130-year-old tortoise called Mzee — the oldest resident in the park. That night, Owen snuggled up against Mzee. As the days passed, the unlikely pair became friends; soon they were inseparable. They slept together, and Mzee showed Owen what to eat. They learned to trust one another.

Their story of friendship gained international attention. People were surprised that a mammal, such as Owen, and a reptile, such as Mzee, could form such a strong bond.

Scientists aren't sure whether Mzee — a tortoise who once preferred to be alone — sees Owen as a fellow tortoise or if Mzee knows that Owen isn't a tortoise, but likes him anyway.

One thing however, is clear: Owen and Mzee found friendship when they least expected it ("Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship," Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff and Paula Kahumbu).

As Church members, we, too, can find friendship in unexpected places. We can, like Mzee welcomed Owen to the animal sanctuary and helped him adjust, extend a hand of friendship to members as they join the Church or as they move from one ward to another. And as we learn from Owen and Mzee, our friendships should know no age, race or religious bounds.

"The fellowship of true friends who can hear you out, share your joys, help carry your burdens, and correctly counsel you is priceless," said President Ezra Taft Benson ("Do Not Despair," Ensign, October 1986).

Perhaps no one in the Church is a better example of friendship that knows no bounds than President Thomas S. Monson. As a young man, he once gave neighbors two prize rabbits for Christmas dinner. As a young bishop, he cared for 85 widows; he would later make time to speak at the funeral of each of them. And as a young apostle, he worked for nearly two decades, forging friendships that would eventually lead to the June 29, 1985, dedication of a temple in Freiberg, Germany.

John W. Gallivan, a member of the Roman Catholic Church, a leader in the Salt Lake community and past publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune, once said, "If he's ever met you, Tom Monson is your friend. This warm, genuine, gregarious man doesn't love his neighbor because that is the mandate; Tom Monson is your friend because he loves mankind. That's his nature" (Jeffrey R. Holland, "President Thomas S. Monson: Man of Action, Man of Faith, Always 'on the Lord's Errand,'?" Ensign, February 1986).

The formula to being a good friend is simple, said President Monson. "A friend is more concerned about helping people than getting credit. A friend cares. A friend loves. A friend listens. And a friend reaches out" ("To the Rescue," Liahona, July 2001, 57–60).

Elder Marvin J. Ashton, who served in the Quorum of the Twelve, said no words are greater than a sincere, "Thank you for being my friend."

"When those who need assistance find their way back through and with us, it is friendship in action," he said. "When the weak are made strong and the strong stronger through our lives, friendship is real. If a man can be judged by his friends, he can also be measured by their heights.

"How can we help a friend? An Arabian proverb helps us answer: 'A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.'

"Yes, a friend is a person who is willing to take me the way I am but who is willing and able to leave me better than he found me" ("What Is a Friend?," Ensign, January 1973).

That's what happened to Owen after he became friends with Mzee. Because of Mzee, Owen not only had a friend, but had learned how to make friends.

More than a year after the friends met, Mzee was taken out of the pair's enclosure for medical treatment. When Mzee was gone, Owen found a new friend, another tortoise named Toto.

And when Mzee returned, Owen did not forget Toto. Today, Mzee, Toto and Owen rest their heads on each other and take naps in the heat of the day ("Owen & Mzee, The Language of Friendship," Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff and Paula Kahumbu).

Their story of friendship has a simple message. If we try, we can find friendship everywhere — even in the most unlikely places.