Muslims Can't Be Mormons

This is a paraphrase of the conversation that President Dew had with his wife in the car on the way home from church:

"So it turned out that nice family that came today is Muslim. The husband met with me after church, and Fayez helped translate the story to me. Apparently, the husband had cancer, but the Virgin Mary appeared to him and told him that he would be healed from cancer, and then touched his forehead. She appeared to him several times after that. So then, he decided to become Christian. He went to the Baptist church for about six months, and I'm not exactly sure why he stopped going there, but then I went to the Catholic church. What I understood was he kept going to different Christian churches, and all of them told him that if he wanted to get baptized, he should come to the Mormon church."

Sister Dew: "Oh, so he just wants the ordinance."

"Well, either that or he was a plant*."

"It just broke my heart, but I told him that it's against the law for Muslims to become Christian in Jordan, and we respect the law. So then he asked if he could just come to church without being baptized, and I said that no, it's against the law. Then his wife asked if we could send them to another country, and I said that we don't do things like that. Fayez talked for a long time, without skirting around what I said but he was able to, I think, make things a little bit smoother."

"It just breaks your heart, doesn't it?"

"It really does. Either this was a really good actor, or he was being sincere."

I read Jacob 5 recently. It is a chapter in the Book of Mormon that is a parable for the gathering of the house of Israel. In this parable, the gardener and his servant work hard to try to make the most fruit grow. They end up taking branches of the tame tree and grafting it with the wild tree, and vice versa, and they are successful for a long time, but then all of the fruit starts to go bad. So they are trying to restore the tame branches to the tame tree, and the wild branches to the wild tree. Verses 65 and 66 really stood out to me:

65 And as they begin to grow ye shall ^aclear away the branches which bring forth bitter fruit, according to the strength of the good and the size thereof; and ye shall not clear away the bad thereof all at once, lest the roots thereof should be too strong for the graft, and the graft thereof shall perish, and I lose the trees of my vineyard.

66 For it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard; wherefore ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow, that the root and the top may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad, and the bad be hewn down and cast into the fire, that they cumber not the ground of my vineyard; and thus will I sweep away the bad out of my vineyard.

Just like the gardener didn't want to graft the branches too fast, or "all at once", the gospel cannot be preached to all of the world all at once.

I believe that the Lord has a plan for the gospel to be preached in the Arab world, to the Muslims. It is not now, but the time will come. During the Youth Conference, President Doug prophesied of a day when there will not be a building big enough to fit all of the members in Jordan.

Sigh. Really tough.

Later, the Bradshaws (the other missionary couple here) called, and President Dew said:

"These Muslim people want to be baptized this afternoon, so I told them I'd meet them over at the church around 5:00. We should be there at least a half an hour earlier to be able to fill the font."

It's funny, but not very funny at the same time.

*The Jordanian Government is very suspicious of the LDS church because of its link to the United States. The Jordanian Secret Police, or moghabarat, is more than likely to send a spy to the church to see if we uphold the laws of the land about not letting Muslims convert.





On a TOTALLY different note, I had two dreams about Danny last night!

Youth Conference, Part One

Oh man.

My life here...it just gets more and more...it's like...

Okay, so I speak three languages. And the three languages I happen to speak also happen to all be useful to me here. English, French, Arabic, I speak them all every day.

But I despite my tongue, I don't have the words.

I wish there were just one plan for my life, that was extremely obvious. I wish it were obvious which path I am supposed to lead. I know that there is no ONE right thing, but I absolutely wish there were. At least I have my faith, and my priorities straight. But I'm still really...

Right now I am in Sal7's internet cafe. It is called, "The Iron Rod." There are people reunited here from Cairo, Lebanon, Amman, and Al-Husn. The largest number is from Cairo, but the largest number of Arabs is from Al-Husn. The name of the conference is, "RESTORE". I can't believe how much faith people here have.

The meeting was conducted in English and translated both into Arabic and French. There are two French girls here.

Most of the American adults work for various embassies. Their kids are extremely impessive; they know a lot more than I did when I was their age.

GO MORMONS!

احترام

The International Club at Al-Yarmouk University sometimes organizes trips for the students. Ayhem Abu Sha'ar is the main guy in charge of these trips. In fact, he is the only official faculty in any way responsible for International Students, which make up over a 1/4 of the student population. But I have already made my feelings on that subject somewhat clear...

The next trip for International Students was supposed to be this weekend (it has since been canceled due to bus scheduling issues), to Um Qais, the Jordan River Valley, and Ajloon. I have been to all of these places, but that was almost half a year ago. They are all worth a second look.

Unfortunately, the trip was scheduled to leave Friday morning at 8:00, meaning I would have to skip church. I told Ayhem, "Yeah, sorry...it looks like I won't be able to go with you."

"But we already put you on the list!"
"Yes but...my religion is important to me."
"You're Christian though! Why is your prayer on Friday? That's the Muslim Sabbath!"
"Yeah, well my church decided to put its prayer on Friday because there isn't work or school on that day. It's always open. You know?"
"Well, you can go pray at the Catholic church on Sunday, instead!"
"No, not really..."
"But we really want you to come with us!"

This kind of talking went on for about half an hour. Finally, I had enough. I said, "Look, if I can't go, I can't go. The end."

It was mostly a case of the-straw-that-broke-the-camel's-back. Ayhem was just joking around, not trying to purposefully disrespect my religion.

I'm totally used to living as the minority. I come from the state with the least percentage of Mormons per population; not only that, but from the non-urban area. I know all about the shock-factor my religion evokes: "You don't drink or smoke?" "Wow, you don't drink coffee or tea?" "You mean to say, you've never slept with anybody?"

It's funny. All the non-Mormon Arabs I've met think I'm an alien with two heads for not drinking coffee or tea, yet once they find out I'm a virgin it's like I've joined some secret club. EVERYBODY respects me more, and is suddenly interested in learning more about Mormonism. Usually, I try to focus on the things our religion shares in common. Today, I was told that there is only a tiny line that differentiates Mormons from Muslims. In my mind, I made a sarcastic comment about, "Yeah, there's that whole Savior-Messiah thing..."

"You mean, Mormon girls should be virgins when they get married?"
"Yeah."
"Wow! That's AWESOME!"

Later, I went back to the same person and said, "You know, my response to your question was only half-adequate. I should have said, yeah, and so should Mormon guys."
"Of course, of course!"

Off topic. Back to respect. There are several reasons why Ayhem's pressuring me to skip church to go with the school trip really pissed me off.
1. It was insistent, as if he wasn't going to change his mind until I changed mine. Ana hurra, I'm free. I can make my own decisions, thank you very much.
2. He wouldn't go ask a Muslim girl to not wear her hijab; going to church is a wajib or duty in my faith just like wearing the hijab is a wajib in Islam. He shouldn't ask me to do something that goes blatantly against my faith.
3. ESPECIALLY because he is the only person in charge of International Students! He should be understanding, welcoming, and tolerant. Right?

I went to his office and forgave him. He was really, really, really sorry for having pissed me off yesterday.

This experienced helped me bond with my Arabic family. I came home, and burst into tears. Lots of factors - homesickness, discouragement with the language, culture shock, etc. etc...those things had been in the back of my mind, but just realizing how much I am alone, and the minority, and how Ayhem disrespected me brought many of those worries to the front.

Sanaa took me in her arms and told me about how impressed she has always been with me. Multezima! She said she didn't believe that there were devout Christians before she met Nedal, and the other Mormons. She said it's very, very, very good that my religion is so important to me. I told her that my faith is the most important thing, that I could lose everything - even my family (big deal here), or my honor (even bigger), but not my faith.

My Arabic mom said that is one of the main reasons they decided to let me come live with their family, almost literally adopting me as their 5th daughter; because I am a God-fearing religious person. I felt very comforted. She also said, "Kate, don't care about people that are outside of your family. If they're outside the family - whatever, it doesn't matter. Don't care about them. Only care about things that happen to your relatives. That's what's really important." I like her philosophy.

"Sh@* on all of the people who don't respect your religion. You're better than them." said Hibba.
"You shouldn't care about people who don't have brains, right?" said my Arabic dad. "The cows and horses and sheep at the farm (the Hammouri's have a farm about 10 km away from the house) have more respect than most human beings, don't you see?"

I love the Hammouri's.

Tashman Family Conversion Story

Two year ago, Sayer went with his cousin Amr to church on a Friday morning in Al-Husn. He was barely eight years old at the time. Little did he know the affect that one decision would have on his entire future, and the future of his family.

Sayer liked church, and wanted to come back.

The current branch missionaries (the Hiltons) contacted Sayer's family to ask their permission for him to come to church regularly. The Tashmans were impressed when the Hiltons came to visit, and Sayer's mom said, "sure, why not let him go to church?"

The Hiltons continued to visit and befriend the Tashmans, Sayer continued to go to church, and eventually it was Christmas. The entire Tashman family went to a branch Christmas activity, and were so impressed with the kindness of the members and the feeling they had at the activity that they decided to attend church the next week.

Samira decided that the Mormon church was better than the Catholic church, and she, Sayer, her oldest son Tamer, and daughter Halla were baptized.

Tamer is 19, a senior in High School. He translated Sacrament Meeting today. He is my favorite translator because even though he sometimes makes mistakes, he tries to translate everything without skipping. Also, he uses words that I understand. Tamer is a kind, funny, intelligent, patient person, who I love.

Abu Tamer (Tamer is the oldest so his parents are "Om Tamer" and "Abu Tamer") is talking about getting baptized at the same time as the youngest son, Thair.

Tonight, I went to their house and ate mensef, the traditional Jordanian dinner. The feeling I had in their home was similar to the feeling I had in my home as a small child; peaceful, comfortable, intimate - family. I felt home, thousands and thousands of miles away from my real family/home in the States.

END NOTE:

Amr continued is continuing his missionary efforts by serving a full time mission in South Africa.

Tashman Kids

I ate dinner at Tamer's house today. Here are Tamer, Halla, and Thair, Nedal's cousins, some of my favorite people in Jordan

Sacrament Meeting in Jordan

Today, in church, Virginia told us about a phone call she got from Hannah.

Several years go, there were three branches in Jordan: the Amman Branch, the Al-Husn Branch, and the Irbid Branch. Because of inactivity, lack of priesthood-holding members/full tithe-payers, and people joining the church to get humanitarian aid, money, and visas to go to the states (to serve missions), they combined the Irbid and Al-Husn branch.

Hannah was a member of the Irbid Branch. She and her family are from Iraq, and as such recieved quite a lot of persecution. Already, Christians consitute only 2% of the population of Jordan, and Mormons are a minority in that group. On top of that, there is extreme prejudice against Iraqis, and apparently most of the persecution was from other (currently inactive) branch members. Sister Bradshaw said the abuse was physical as well as verbal - fist-fights even. annah would routinely call the police.

It got to such a point that Hannah and her family couldn't stand living here anymore, so they moved back to Iraq. Hannah and her husband and kids, her sister, her brother (the former Branch President of the Irbid Branch) and his family all moved to the Kurd area of Northern Iraq. Sister Bradshaw says it was a very emotional parting. "She left with her temple recommend in hand, knowing that there would be nothing." Iraq does not currently have any organized LDS wards or branches, besides those on military bases, or perhaps in the Green Zone.

Hannah called Virginia last week to ask her to pray for her and her family. They are living in a house with three other families. Every day there are bombings around their house. Neighbors and friends die. Virginia asked the branch to pray for Hannah and her family.

I am asking you, whoever may read be reading this, to pray for Hannah, too.

It's difficult for us to put ourselves in Hannah's position, to understand the kinds of daily problems faced by her and thousands of others in Iraq. Hearing stories like Hannah's reinforces my desire to learn Arabic. Learning the language will help me learn and understand the problems of this part of the world.

"Problems in the Middle East" are not in a seperate box. They may seem very far away when you have your own car, you eat whatever you want whenever you want, take half an hour long showers multiple times a week, and have a job that pays more per week than the average Jordanian gets per month (approximately 200 JD's, or 250 USD - PER MONTH). The problems are relevant. The people here are real. They matter.

I hope that I can inspire you to learn more about this place. I want you to care about Jordan, and Iraq, and Palestine, and Israel, and the entire complex world of the Middle East.

Church in Jordan

2.16.2007

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; I am LDS, also known as “Mormon”. Believe it or not, there are Mormons in Jordan. I go to the North Jordan branch in Al-Husn. A Google Search on the LDS Church in Jordan comes up with out-dated, irrelevant information. Here are some facts about the LDS Church here:


CHURCH ORGANIZATION IN JORDAN
- There are two branches in Jordan: the North Jordan Branch, and the Amman Branch.
- The hierarchy of the church in Jordan is as follows (there may be mistakes):
President Dew – Branch President
President Doug Bradford – District President (he was my Arabic 201 teacher at BYU)
President Enrickson? Nobody around here, including the Americans, can pronounce his name (German seems like an easier language to master than Arabic but oh well) – the Mission President of the Greece/Eastern Europe Mission
President Uchdorf, Area President
The First Presidency
- President Doug Bradford presides over all the branches and wards in the Middle East (not including those on American Military bases or in Israel) which are:
Branches: North Jordan (20ish active), Amman (40ish active), Beirut (4 active, including the humanitarian aid missionaries), Syria? (I don’t remember)
Ward(s): Cairo (about 100 active)
- The church in the Middle East is not organized by stakes and districts, but by mission. However, the branches that President Bradford presides over are technically our “district”
- The Mission President’s offices are located in Frankfort, Germany
- The Bradshaws visit each branch/ward in the district at least once every 3 months

THE NORTH JORDAN AL HUSN BRANCH
- The North Jordan Branch is located in a rented building in Al-Husn.
- It is big enough to host over 100 people
- It is new, clean, and has the best bathroom I’ve seen in Jordan so far
- It has three floors, a kitchen, three bathrooms, one large room for sacrament meeting, approximately eight classrooms, and one large lobby-type room with couches
- there is a hired cleaning lady who is not Mormon.
- President William Dew (the Branch President of the N.J. Branch) and his wife, Sister Joleen Dew, are from the suburbs of Salt Lake City, UT
- The Dews, and Elder Jeremy and Sister Marilyn Bradshaw (also, I believe, from UT), are full-time humanitarian aide missionaries for the church. Their missions last for 23 months because of something to do with tax laws and international foreign aid
- The Dews will have been here for a year in March
- President Dew studied Arabic at the University of Utah years ago
- The North Jordan branch is the only Arabic speaking branch in the world
- There are two missionaries serving from the North Jordan Branch: Ibrahim Tashman serving in Ghana, and Amr serving in South Africa
- There is one Arabic Returned Missionary from the Middle East in the entire world: Nedal Tashman (and he’s my close friend)
- The first ever temple trip of the North Jordan Branch is at the end of this May, to the London, England temple (and I am going with them!)
- There are six Americans in the North Jordan Branch: the Dews, the Bradshaws, Virginia (wife of a Muslim, from the Midwest, has 3 girls in their 20’s), and me

RANDOM FACTS ABOUT THE LDS CHURCH IN THE MIDDLE EAST
- Most of the members in Amman and Cairo are ex-patriots from the Philippines, Europe…
- Active proselytizing is illegal in Jordan and can result in jail time
- Muslims converting to Christianity is illegal in Jordan
- Not only is it against the law, sharia, or Muslim religious law, requires the convert’s family to kill them
- although this is true, not all families will do this, especially in Jordan, which is in a constant state of westernization/modernization