Volunteer Spotlight, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

This group of missionaries comes from all over the country - places like Utah, California, Texas, Arizona and Maine. We’ve even had a volunteer from Belize. They are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have chosen to leave their homes to spend a few years serving other people. Since May 2018 this group has been part of the Blue Spring State Park family. They stay in one area for a brief period and then move on to serve in other areas.

Over the last three years this group has been committed to helping the park create memorable experiences for our visitors. Anywhere from picking up trash to exotic plant removal, painting cabins, trimming the roadways, helping with park programs, and helping with manatee rescues and releases, this group can be found weekly somewhere in the park.

Why do they keep coming back? "There is beauty all around at the Blue Spring State Park. We love coming to serve and see the nature around us. Although our service is mostly spiritual, we do also commit ourselves to physical service as well. Though we must serve, there is no place we'd rather be serving than at Blue Spring! The rangers are such lovely folks, the wildlife is majestic, and the atmosphere is fun, relaxing and free … and that's just when we're working! It truly is a little slice of paradise. We always look forward to coming to Blue Spring each week because it is so rewarding to get to spend time outside and pass by many guests. We always have a new adventure every time we go. It is amazing when we spot new alligators, see even more manatees and fish of every size! Blue Spring truly never gets old."

It is truly a pleasure having this group honor our park with their service. We have probably had over 100 missionaries from this group as volunteers in the past three years. Every few months there is a change when missionaries change areas. Their excellence in service has not wavered even though the members have changed. They have increased their service time to twice a week and the park really appreciates the volunteer time they spend in our park. It is at the point where we don’t know what we would do without them. We are proud to have these missionaries serve at our park.