One of the experiences related was from Yap, in the Western Pacific. An 18-year-old Witness greatly desired to attend the assembly in Hawaii, but had no way of making the money to pay the fare. Her father had died and her mother had abandoned her. To help her to attend the assembly, her fellow Witnesses gave her $500 (U.S.). Some of them started fishing, sometimes six to eight hours a night, selling the fish in the morning. Other Witnesses picked coconuts after work and sold them to stores. Also, they made copra to sell. From these activities an additional $900 (U.S.) was obtained, enabling the young Witness to attend assemblies, not only in Hawaii, but also in the continental United States and Canada​—her first trip off the tiny island of Yap!

Many were impressed by a heart-touching procedure experienced by each speaker just before giving his talk. Because of the typhoons, there was much rain. So an elderly Witness, one who has been preaching full time for more than 20 years, waited with shoe-cleaning equipment. She took the dirt and mud off each speaker’s shoes and polished them, a modern-day version of Jesus’ instructions to “wash the feet of one another.”​—John 13:14.