Relief Society goes “viral” in the Dominican Republic in 1980.
Two Relief Society sisters in the Dominican Republic went from teaching homemaking skills at a local health fair… to becoming national television personalities on a prime-time TV show for more than two years.
Two Latter-day Saint women went on national television and helped grow the church across the Dominican Republic. In 1980, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sponsored a health fair in the Dominican Republic. During the fair, senior missionary Ada Davis gave a television interview about health and family living. The interview was so warm and natural that a local prime time TV host named Irene Napierre invited Ada Davis and another Latter-day Saint woman, Mercedes Aaro onto her weekly television program.
What started as one appearance turned into more than 2 years on national television. Every week, millions of viewers watched the Sisters from the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And the women didn't preach the way most people expected missionaries to preach. Instead, they taught people how to live better. They demonstrated banana bread, pineapple fritters, homemade noodles, vegetable soup, food storage, emergency candles, and hurricane lamps.
But while they cooked and demonstrated homemaking skills, they also quietly taught the gospel principles. They talked about provident living, emergency preparedness, family relationships, health practices, and faith in Jesus Christ. One week they taught about family home evening. The television host herself had participated in one with the missionaries. At the end of the episode, she looked directly into the camera and told the nation, "This is a really worthwhile program.
The missionaries have been to our home, and I would advise that for anybody. Imagine hearing that on prime time television." Other members joined the program too. Young women helped. Primary children came on the show and sang songs. And viewers across the Dominican Republic started asking questions. Who are these people? What church is this? And why do these women seem so happy?
The television crew themselves fell in love with them. Partly because of the spirit they carried and partly because after every episode, they all got to eat the delicious food. The cameraman became so interested in the church that he was eventually baptized and later served a mission himself. The show became so popular that Adah Davis became a minor celebrity. One day, she met the first lady of the Dominican Republic.
The first lady immediately embraced her and said, "I know you. I know you." At a time when the church was still small in the Dominican Republic, two Relief Society sisters walked into people's homes every week through television. Not through debates and not through arguments, but through kindness, cooking, service, preparedness, and simple conversations about faith and family. And it helps spark rapid growth across the country.
