Summer's here in the northern hemisphere and the movie houses are again filled with superhero films.

That's no surprise. Popcorn flicks about comic book characters donning masks, leaping tall buildings and fighting crime with their amazing powers are proven heroes at the box office. Moviegoers can't seem to get enough of the superhero genre. Perhaps they're naturally drawn to men and women who do things beyond the capacity of regular human beings.

Sports writers, of course, are always looking for the next hero on the playing field. Each week there's likely a story about an athlete who, in heroic fashion — Bam! — blasted a home run to the upper deck or sank a game-winning basket at the buzzer.

But are there people among us, beyond the artifices of cinema or sport, who can really be defined as heroes? Are there truly men or women who can be admired "for their qualities or achievements and regarded as an ideal or model"?

The answer is a resounding "yes." Heroes live among us — and most never wear a cape, outrun speeding bullets or score a dramatic touchdown.

Bishop Richard C. Edgley of the Presiding Bishopric once participated in a high priest group meeting where the instructor asked group members to identify their heroes. The answers were not unexpected. One man, of course, named the Savior, the Redeemer of the world. Another said Abraham Lincoln, the American president who helped end slavery. Still others chose Joseph Smith and other prominent Church leaders.

"As each named a hero, I silently concurred and acknowledged that all were men worthy of emulating and that I would be a better person if I possessed some of the qualities that made those men great."

Then Bishop Edgley offered a few responses of his own. He turned to one man on his right who, with his wife, had lovingly cared for a comatose son for some 20 years. He pointed to another man in attendance who had remained faithful to the Lord after losing his young son in a car accident.

"I could have also answered that my hero is Tom Abbott and his son John, my faithful home teachers who never missed a home teaching assignment even though we are often a difficult family to catch at home.

"I could have named dozens of others that I admire and could call my heroes. Many do not hold so-called high or prominent callings in the Church, but all are worthy to hold any position. None are widely known to the general membership of the Church, but all, I am certain, are known by name to our Heavenly Father" (October 2003 general conference).

Take a measured look around your own priesthood quorum, your own Relief Society group or even inside the walls of your own home. You will find heroes.

Perhaps that hero is the Scoutmaster who never misses a troop meeting or camp out that helps the young men realize their worth. Or maybe it's that sister sitting on the back row of the gospel doctrine class who can always be counted on to offer just the right comment to put a nervous instructor at ease.

Bishops and branch presidents come to love and count as heroes that unassuming brother or sister who can be counted on to accept, fulfill and magnify any Church calling extended their way.

And any parent, bishop or friend who stands, patiently and faithfully, in support of an individual who has lost his or her way can be listed among the world's heroes.

In his 2002 general conference address, Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve spoke of the full-time missionaries — those heroes and heroines found in almost any ward or branch — who will go anywhere and do whatever is asked in the work of the gospel.

"Senior missionaries offer a special measure of sacrifice and commitment. So do our mission presidents and temple presidents and their loyal companions. All leave their homes and families to serve full-time for a season. The same is true of the army of young missionaries, who put their lives at home on hold and bid good-bye to family and friends and set forth (usually at their own expense) to serve wherever they are assigned by the Lord, speaking through His servants.

Millions of others, he added, perform heroically from their homes, spending precious time away from family and other commitments to serve in bishoprics, branch presidencies, quorum presidencies and in Relief Society, Primary and Young Women organizations.

Heroes are among us in everyday life. They aren't just in the cinema.