Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, for the third annual JustServe night at the Kansas City Royals Major League Baseball game on Thursday, April 9.
People participated in tailgate service projects before the game and 150 full-time missionaries in the Missouri Independence Mission sang the United States national anthem.
A JustServe award was presented to local nonprofit Kansas City Heroes, which uses JustServe volunteers as it supports people who are working to secure more permanent housing and health. In the service projects before the game, volunteers — including young Church service missionaries, local members and friends —put bags together for Kansas City Heroes to distribute.
The JustServe platform is a free website and app provided by the Church that posts volunteer needs of organizations. More than 5,000 JustServe users are registered in Kansas City alone.
Elder G. Michael Ortiz, Area Seventy in the United States Central Area, threw the ceremonial first pitch before the game against the Chicago White Sox.
“The evening was a powerful reminder of what can happen when a community unites around service,” Elder Ortiz said. “It was meaningful to recognize Kansas City Heroes for their commitment to strengthening and uplifting individuals in the area. I especially enjoyed seeing so many members and friends taking part, and hearing the full-time missionaries sing the national anthem, which sounded incredible.”
People wore shirts saying “JustServe” and ”America 250" to showcase what the Church is doing in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday this year.
Sandra Millett from the Liberty Missouri Stake has lived in the area for 20 years and said she’s seen a lot of Church growth. She attended the game and tailgate events with her family.
“The tailgate party was such a fun way to see old friends from wards all over the metro,” Millett said. “My family also enjoyed the games, music and yummy food. Hoping this is a tradition we can repeat for years to come.”
The first JustServe night in 2024 included the first pitch from Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the missionaries singing the national anthem. In 2025, Elder Jeremiah J. Morgan, then an Area Seventy, now a General Authority Seventy, threw the first pitch and an interfaith youth choir sang. In both years, people took part in service projects and JustServe honored a nonprofit organization on the field.
A touching experience for many missionaries
Elder Rhett Anderson, from Lyman, Wyoming, grew up loving and playing baseball since he was three years old. The missionaries stood along the third base line when they sang — an area of the field that is very familiar to Elder Anderson, as he played that position in high school and on traveling teams.
While playing competitively at age 14, he was diagnosed with chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis, which is an autoinflammatory disease that causes painful bone lesions. Then, a year later, he suffered a severe injury to his throwing arm. After surgery, he didn’t know if he could throw a ball again.
“I was in a very rough patch in my life and was pretty angry at Heavenly Father,” Elder Anderson said. “I blamed Him for everything that was happening to me. How could He allow this? He knew my plan was to go to college and play baseball. … This had been my dream for years and I didn’t want to let it go.”
But he made a choice: “I decided that I should trust Heavenly Father,” he said. “Through prayer and spiritual experiences, Heavenly Father made it known to me that I should serve a mission. This decision has been the best decision I could have made.”
While he doesn’t know what lies ahead, being a missionary has been the best part of his life, he said.
“All the struggles I’ve been through have brought me here. Being able to walk out on the Royals field and watch them play felt like home to me — an experience I never would have had if I weren’t here serving the Lord.”
Other missionaries also gave their thoughts about the evening.
Elder Christian Haskett, from Syracuse, Utah, said: “Walking onto the field was a surreal experience. Stepping where professionals had stepped to sing the national anthem, I felt pride for my country, gratitude for the men and women who fight for my rights. Most of all, grateful for God’s hand in preparing a place where I am free.”
Elder Rhett Gardner, from Hinesburg, Vermont, said: “Singing at the Royals game is going to be one of the unforgettable moments of my mission. I loved being able to sing the national anthem in a choir of 150 full-time missionaries. The Spirit was palpable.”
Elder Tyler Mauchley, from South Jordan, Utah, and Elder Matthew Croasmun, from Kaysville, Utah, wrote: “We were walking to get our food, and a man approached us all excited to see us. He told us that he had served a mission here a long time ago and he said it was really cool to see all of us missionaries there. It was his first time back to the area since serving his mission and he was very happy to be back. We had many people that seemed drawn to our light. They wanted to know who we were and what Church we belonged to. People definitely knew there was something different here.”
— Amanda Volk, the Church’s assistant communication director in the Kansas City area, and Corrie Clasen, JustServe director for the Kansas City area, contributed to this article.
