A few weeks ago, Bill and I attended a branch here in Joberg. I can't remember the name, but it was about 45 minutes away and a very small, humble branch it was. They are meeting in a temporary building which is reminiscent of a trailer.....a triple wide trailer. Anyway that morning the attendance was low, because in December people travel home to there villages to for the holidays and many places simply close down. This particular morning I was really touched by what happened in Relief Society. There were 8-10 women there and they passed out the new David O. MacKay manuals. You'd have thought they passed out the crown jewels. Those women were exclaiming, touching the manuals like they were gold, hugging them and even kissing them. They were SO THRILLED TO HAVE THIS BOOK OF THEIR OWN TO READ. THEN the RS president passed out once RS sticker to each woman there. Again, they went into spasms of joy....touching and trying to decide what to do with this precious addition to their lives. Finally, they decided they would put them on the new manual. Again, they touched and loved and really caressed their new possessions...all the time exclaiming and expressing joy and laughter. it was quite a sight.
Soooo, when I went to train in Zimbabwe, I took RS stickers. They are easy to carry and have no weight. The weight restrictions are tough between countries. Anyway, I cut them up and had someone give each woman in the training session a sticker as they left. I gave about 125 stickers. I didn't see much of a reaction because they were leaving and I was answering individual questions. Well, low and behold the next morning at District Conference we were sitting on the stand and all of a sudden it came to me that the women were wearing them on their dresses. At least half of the sisters had come adorned in their RS stickers. Quite a fun sight and very humbling to see that so little could bring such joy.
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