He Joined the Church for the Wrong Reasons

October 28, Tuesday

Amer (pronounced to rhyme with "hammer") Elyas, the branch president of the North Jordan Branch joined the Church for the wrong reason.

When he was a young boy he went to many churches but he didn't find what he was looking for.  Someone told him the Mormon church was giving away free laptops, a job and a trip to America.  That was very appealing to him because he wanted all three of those things.  When he went on the internet he found lots of information about the Church, but it was not good, mostly about polygamy.  In spite of the bad things he read, he decided to go and see for himself.

Amer was soon attending all the meetings and reading the Book of Mormon.  Because he is a Christian, the missionaries were able to teach him and he agreed to be baptized.  All went well until about a year and a half later he asked the missionary couple some questions about a mission.  He just wanted some information, but they misunderstood and thought he was asking if he could go, and before he knew it he was sending in his papers.  The call came and it was for the Johannesburg South Africa mission, which was great, except he couldn't speak English.  When he got to the MTC in Johannesburg they didn't have language classes so he had no idea what was going on.  After two days he went to the mission president and said he wanted to go home.  But again, he was misunderstood and soon found himself out with a companion from America. It was difficult but he did learn some English and he learned how to overcome his shyness.

Then the Lord started to pour out blessings on Amer.  After two years when he returned home he had the necessary skills to set up an importing business--a working knowledge of English and the self-confidence he needed.  His business began to thrive and he was very successful.

One day last year he was driving along in his van with his arm hanging out the window when he lost control and the van came crashing down and crushed his upper arm, severing the bone.  His lower arm was just hanging.  He was able to call for help with his other hand, but the doctor at the hospital told him they couldn't save his arm--it would have to be amputated.  Immediately he was rushed to a larger hospital in Amman and, with the help of Elder and Sister Hammond, a noted surgeon agreed to take him as a patient.  As it turned out the doctor was the best in the middle east.  He and his team worked a miracle with Amer's arm and were able to put it back together.  A metal plate was inserted and the nerves and muscle in his arm were repaired.  (we saw pictures, and it wasn't pretty).  It was a long process and took about a year and a half, but Amer's arm was saved and he has feeling in his left hand and some motion.  He's doing physical therapy and making remarkable progress.

 In the meantime, Amer has become refined.  His faith in his Heavenly Father has increased and his testimony deepened through the trial.  Last month he was called as branch president for the North Jordan Branch.  He will be a good one.  His business is building up again and he knows he has been blessed. To us it sounds as if the Lord is preparing him for greatness.  He is certainly a man for this time.

All this for a person who joined the Church for the wrong reason.  Come to think of it he got what he was looking for--a laptop, a job and a trip to America (which will probably come sooner or later).

One of the richest blessings we have received as missionaries is meeting people like Amer.