I was driving to the last session of Summer Institute a couple months ago when I found myself stopped at a light off the freeway, wondering what the girl ahead of me could possibly be looking for in her car. There was a young man on the side of the road who appeared to be homeless. He was holding a cardboard sign for "help" of some sort. Naturally, I thought this girl was going to hand him a couple of dollars, or spare change since she seemed to be searching quite hard for something. I didn't have any money to give, or I didn't feel like giving that night-I don't remember, but my eyes were contently fixed on this girl in the car-her gift-and this young man. I watched as she handed him a copy of the Ensign for that month. What is he going to think of this 'handout', How is he going to react? I was seriously not expecting what I saw. First of all, I have never thought of handing out Ensigns or church material to others-slap on my hand, right?-and second, I thought for sure he would have some kind of disgusted look on his face, like "Why this? Why not money?" But instead, he graciously accepted it. He took a moment to look at the cover of the magazine, smiled ear to ear and said thank you to the girl (I'm guessing he said thank you-I was a few cars back and couldn't actually hear anything) and then he went to place the magazine with his pile of stuff that he carried with him.
Wow. I thought it was a really neat thing for this girl to do. She was going to the same institute building that I was. I did not see her there, nor do I know who she is. However, that moment left an impression with me; not only for her actions, but for the young man's reactions as well.
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