Women of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Thousand Oaks, California, using a clever yet simple idea, recently made T-skirts as gifts for young girls in Solomon Islands.
The dresses are simple and easy to make. They are a T-shirt with a gathered skirt attached.
The T-skirts were distributed in Honiara and the surrounding area by Self-Reliance Services missionaries of the Church.
“Some of these girls have never owned a dress before, never mind a brand new one,” said Theresa Nish who next week, along with her husband David Nish, complete 18 months as Self-Reliance Services missionaries in Solomon Islands.
“It’s difficult to describe the happiness and pride of these young girls when they came to church on Sunday. They walked as if they were ten feet tall.”
“The dresses the Relief Society made are fantastic,” said Elder Nish. “The kids and the mums loved them. They thought Christmas had come in May.”
The distribution of the dresses is one of the many things the retired couple are fitting into their tight schedule before they return to their home in South Africa.
The T-skirts will eventually wear out, but there is a good chance replacements will be locally available in the near future.
A sample T-skirt was given to the Bethesda Technical and Vocational Education and Training Centre for physically challenged students. The faculty was thrilled about the simple idea. They plan on teaching the students how to sew them and to start a home business to sew and sell them.
“I think it sums up our whole mission. Happy, clean, modest, grateful ‘Island Girls’,” said Sister Nish reflecting on their time helping the Solomon Island people, regardless of their religious affiliation, with their basic temporal and spiritual needs – teaching them to be self-reliant.
The Relief Society is one of the oldest and largest women’s organizations in the world, founded in 1842. Women around the world who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints belong and work tirelessly to live up to its motto: Charity Never Faileth.