Trying to do Something Good

Sunday (not the Sabbath) we were invited to go to Ramtha to see some Syrian refugee children get immunized against measles in a local Health Center.

Our friend Baseem, supervisor of public health and supervisor of health education marked the fingernail of each child after they received the vaccine.

On our way home from Ramtha we stopped by the King Adbullah Hospital to see a member of our branch who is is undergoing treatment for lung cancer.  We have been working with a supplier in Amman who can provide an oxygenator for her so she can go home.  The funds will come from fast offerings.  What a great blessing.

Just as a side note, the line-up of people wanting assistance from the Church isn't nearly as long as it was 6 months ago.  The members are starting to learn that this is not the bank of Jesus Christ--it's the Church of Jesus Christ.  President Amer is teaching the principles of self-reliance and Lynn is teaching him.

Lynn spent a good part of the afternoon on the phone counseling with President Amer about selecting a new counselor to take the place of Morad, who was sustained as a counselor in the new district presidency.  There aren't a lot of people in the branch to choose from. In the end Lynn told President Amer it was between him and the Lord.  
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An Historic Day in the Middle East

Today we were all reminded once again that this is Christ's church and he is very much directing it.

Elder Rasband from the Presidency of the Seventy came to Jordan on assignment to re-organize the Amman Jordan district presidency--release the old and sustain the new.  No one was prepared for what he ended up doing instead.  In fact, even Elder Rasband said he was shocked!

In his remarks in district conference this morning, Elder Rasband told us of a conversation he had earlier in the week with President Asuad,our current district president who lives in Lebanon.  During the discussion, both President Asuad and Elder Rasband were prompted to divide the Amman Jordan District and create a new district in Lebanon.  They knew it was right by the Holy Ghost.  They also knew they should do it now.

Creating a new district is something Elder Rasband couldn't do on his own.  He also knew he had to act quickly before the district conference the next day, so he wrote an e-mail to Elder Holland in Salt Lake explaining what he had been prompted to do. Within the hour, Elder Holland sent an answer that he would take the proposal for approval from the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve in their meeting in the temple that same day.  Literally within minutes of that meeting the answer was given:  "It's approved.  Go forward."  (I have a picture in my mind of  Elder Holland in the temple texting the answer to Elder Rasband from his cell phone--that probably didn't happen!)

The new Lebanon district will include Lebanon (Beruit), Egypt (Cairo), Syria (Damascus) and small group in Kurdistan (Iraq).  The Amman Jordan district will include two branches in Amman and one in Husn, (where we are).  Our new district president in Jordan is an ex-pat American who works at the Embassy and speaks fluent Arabic.

President Penrod selected Morad Elyas from our branch for his second counselor.

Morad will probably need to get a haircut.   And get married.

During Elder Rasband's trip to the Middle East he also called a new district presidency for the Jerusalem, Israel district.  That district includes Jerusalem (one branch), Tel Aviv (one branch), Bethlehem (one small branch), and Galilee (one small branch).  It is wonderful to us to hear of branches of the Church in such places as Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Galilee. 

Middle East/Africa North Humanitarian Seminar

The Middle East/Africa North Humanitarian Seminar was held this week in Amman.  There were seven couples in attendance.

The Andersons serve in the Kurdistan area of Iraq.  Earlier this month there was a car bomb in the city they were in so they were pulled out.  Yesterday they received permission to go back. 

The Allens are in Beruit, Lebanon.  They are proselyting.  How amazing is that!!   They only came for the last day of the conference because they aren't humanitarian.

The Gyslers are from Switzerland and serve in Lebanon.  They've only been married two years. 

The Madsens are in Morocco.  They flew to Jordan via Paris for the conference.

The Strongs are in Jordan. They are the diabetic retinopathy project leaders.  We've been assisting them for the past three months.

The Hammonds, the country directors in Amman.  They make friends with influential people.

Dave McMillan, executive secretary to the Presiding Bishopric, Director of Temporal Affairs for the MEAN (Midle East Africa North) Desk gave training.

"Teach principles of self reliance when we do humanitarian projects"

Sharon Eubanks the Director of Humanitarian Services for the Church and the Welfare Services Manager for the Middle East was here for the meetings.  She is an outstanding leader and teacher.

Area Objectives:

• Help members to live the gospel
• Built relationships of trust
• Relieve suffering
• Strengthen and/or establish the Church
• Built the next generation

President Amer from the North Jordan Branch was asked to speak to the group about his conversion and to teach us about the culture in Jordan.  Everyone loved him.  (I put Amer's story on our blog several months ago, but wanted to include it again in the way he told it to us at the conference)

Amer learned about the Church from the internet.  He read that Mormons had lots of wives and he liked that!  He heard that the Church would give him a computer if he got baptized, so he started to meet with the couples at his uncle's home.  He was thinking about getting money from the Church.  When he read the Book of Mormon he couldn't find anything wrong with it.  The missionaries asked him to pray and he said he did, but he really didn't because he had never done it before and he didn't know how.  Then finally he prayed and he felt the Spirit.  Two years later he went on a mission.  His sister Sewar was baptized 1 1/2 years later.  She heard bad things about the Church and didn't like it at first and tried to discuss it with Amer.  Then one day she asked to be baptized.  Today she's a good example and reads the Book of Mormon every day.  They discuss the gospel together.

When Amer went on his mission he didn't understand anything about a mission.  He didn't know anything.  He took his laptop so he could listen to his favorite music and watch his favorite movies.  He didn't know any English.  He spent 3 weeks in the MTC and didn't know what they were talking about.  When he talked to the MTC president and told him he wanted to go home, the president didn't understand.  When they assigned him a companion he wondered why the guy kept following him everywhere he went.

Amer wanted to teach and his companion let him teach a 70 year old man.  He shared his testimony and felt the man understood him.  The man's wife cried and Amer felt something change inside.  The man and his wife were baptized.  After that things changed.  He wanted to serve.  His companion set a good example and always let him teach.  He didn't know if he was teaching right or wrong and he made a lot of mistakes, but he built a good relationship with his companion.

His mission helped him overcome his shyness and helped him in his business.

When Amer was asked what things he worries about he said "what would we do if the missionaries weren't here?  Will the Church stay and grow?  What is the future for the youth?  Many people bring old traditions with them when they join the church.

"Sometimes we forget about the Lord.  Money is not enough to make you happy."  When he had an accident and hurt his arm he felt the Lord was with him.  He saw how much the Lord loves him and he felt His love.

Today Amer is the branch president of the North Jordan Branch.  He dearly loves the members and they love him back.  He is teaching them correct principles and making a difference in their lives.

American School in Ramtha

Today we went to a school built by U.S. Aid in one of the poor areas of Ramtha.  It is really quite a nice school and serves many Syrian refugee children and poor Jordanians.

We were invited as guests of a man named Baseem Al-Refeai, the public health and human relief advisor for Ramtha.  We met him during the recent diabetic retinopathy campaign.  He's a very outgoing man and very well connected.  

We're not sure exactly what Baseem said because it was in Arabic, but the message was about personal hygiene.  He showed the children how to blow their nose into a kleenex and how to wash their hands.  It was cute.  

Everyone loves to have their picture taken with the Americans.  We ask them "Shoo is mick?"  (what is your name?) 

We also met a woman named Lena who is with the Middle East Children's Institute, a charity based in Switzerland.  We're anxious to meet her again and to find out more about what her organization does.  They could be a possible partner for LDS Charities.  Baseem wants to be our partner, too!!

15 Sisters Attend Conference

We are so pleased that 15 sisters from the North Jordan Branch attended the district Relief Society conference yesterday.  We hired a bus to take them to Amman.

The district divided the women into two groups--one English speaking and one Arabic--to watch the Relief Society session of general conference.

When the women come to church in Husn they dress very casually.  Husn is a very conservative Muslim area, and they don't want to draw attention to themselves by dressing up.  But for this special event in Amman everyone came in their finest.  They were so beautiful.  At the closing of the conference we all joined together and some of the women bore their testimonies of the Book of Mormon.  It was just awesome!!

"We are daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves us..and we love Him."

"The Book of Mormon is Like Gold"

"The Book of Mormon is true"

This is Samah Tashman, a returned missionary and member of the North Jordan Branch.  She's also a member of the district Relief Society Presidency.

The Relief Society President of the North Jordan Branch is Huda Tashman.  She is one of the great leaders of the Church in Jordan.  

Kyle's Leg

The plastic surgeon took a piece of skin and muscle from Kyle's thigh and put it over the hole in his leg.  It looks pretty gross, but we think he did an excellent job and are grateful that Kyle is making good progress.  He will have to keep his leg elevated for a few weeks so the blood vessels and muscles can heal and connect properly.  

Repair to crushed bones

WARNING TO THE FAINT-HEARTED!!!

The following pictures were taken before the surgery

General Conference in the North Jordan Branch

It took us all night (over 8 hours) to download the opening session of general conference in Arabic into our computer.  It was stressful to say the least.  Finally at 5 minutes before we had to leave for the church this morning it was finished.  We quickly packed up our projector, computer, chords and speakers and left with grateful hearts and much appreciation for the tender mercy of the Lord.

 

15 people watched the conference session.

Food Box Project Extended

Our good news this week is that our food box project has been extended for one more month.  We really like this project.  It will feed 250 refugee families, which isn't very many compared to all the millions of people who are suffering.  We have to remind ourselves that we know we can't do everything, but we can do something.

"What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean, but if we didn't do it, the ocean would be one drop less than it is."--Mother Theresa

We hope to get some good direction next week when we have the Middle East Humanitarian Conference in Amman.  Our leaders from Salt Lake will be here for three days.

Wind, Dust and Mud

This is what downtown Al Husn looks like from the walking bridge over main street.  It's a busy place with lot of traffic.  We live down the street from the building with the blue sign.  A big storm blew in on Wednesday and covered everything with dust.

During the night it rained a few drops, just enough to make everything muddy.  We pay a kid to wash our car, but he isn't very reliable.
 

The Cat Woman

We're trying to do some good here and we hope we are.  It's sure a different mission.  Most of the time we don't know what we're doing and we're in WAY over our heads, but we keep plugging along and things are getting easier.

Monday we spent the entire day trying to help an elderly member of the branch get a cell phone.  We had an old Nokia phone in our apartment and we wanted to give it to her so we went to her house, discovered we forgot the phone, went back to get it, drove through crazy traffic again (1 hour each way) and when we finally got back to her house we discovered that she didn't need the phone.  She already has one, even better than the one we were going to give her.  We laughed and laughed.  What else could we do?  We felt like a couple of dummies.  We couldn't even talk to her because she doesn't speak English or we would have avoided a lot of time on the road.

The woman's name is Sumaiya.  She is one of the most faithful members of the branch.

Sumaiya's parents wanted to have children but were not given that blessing until they were married for 12 years.  When her mother finally got pregnant they were thrilled.  However, the happiness over their new baby quickly turned to grief when Sumaiya's father was hit by a car and killed on his way to the hospital the day she was born.  Sumaiya grieves for her father every year on her birthday.

Many years have gone by and now she is old and living alone.  She never married, has no brothers or sisters and her mother has passed away.  She suffers aches and pains and can't see very well.  Her home is in the oldest part of the ancient city of Irbid in an area that was probably built by the Romans.  She's a bit eccentric, a big time hoarder and she loves cats.  Many of the members of the branch won't go to her home because of the dozens of cats that live there.  Every time we have a party or event at the church Sumaiya takes the left-overs for her cats. 

This is the front door or Sumaiya's home.  It opens into a small courtyard filled with possessions.  It's very crowded.  There's a little bedroom/living room at the back where we can sit and visit.  She is always pleased and excited to have us visit.  Today she served us juice and individually wrapped chocolate cookies.

Her cat named Bowbow came over for some chocolate from Sumaiya, but she wouldn't go very far away from her five new babies in the chair.

The little baby kittens are just a few days old.  Wonder if their mother's milk is chocolate flavored??

Sumaiya has been to the temple and received her endowments.  She is not only one of the most faithful members of the branch but also one of the most giving.

We take our cell phone and call one of the members of the branch who speaks English to translate for us if the conversation gets difficult, but mostly we just bumble along with sign language and a few simple Arabic words we've learned.

Goodbye!!

Easter in a Muslim Country

Sunday was Easter in Jordan and it rained and the wind blew all day.  It was so cold.  We went back to sleeping under four blankets again.  Brrrr.  

Even though it's a Muslim country, Easter is a good excuse for a weekend off, so everybody observes it.  The schools, government offices and banks are closed.    The holiday starts on Thursday afternoon and goes through until the following Tuesday.   You gotta love the Christians.

Lynn's Speech

Here's the latest video from United Muslim Relief with some words from Brother Tolley (he's the one speaking English)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-KBH3hbiLA

Message from Iraq

Remember Mark Tiari, the young man from Iraq who was denied a visa to come to Jordan for youth conference?  Well, here's the rest of the story from Facebook this morning:


"Thanks God for the technology and it was a blessing to meet in the conference through skype ‪#‎lds‬ ‪#‎youthconference"

Mark is 14 years old.  He was one of the speakers at youth conference via Skype.  His talk was on baptism.  He's solid in his testimony and wants to go to BYU some day.  Like the sons of Helaman in the Book of Mormon, he has been taught the gospel by his mother.

One more thing about the Tiari's--even though they live in Iraq, they are members of our branch here in Jordan.  Their attendance isn't too good--they haven't attended any of our meetings for about 9 years.  Their wish is that they can come here and feel of the spirit in our Sacrament Meeting, but they can't.  May the Lord bless this dear family.

Things Will Work Out

Even though we're worried about Kyle, we realize that we have to put everything in the hands of the Lord and press on with our assignment here in Jordan.  We pray with all our might, shed a few tears, try to have faith that things will work out and rely on heavenly help--which we have received.  We appreciate our children--Brian, Kristen, Jill and Kevin for all they are doing to help their brother and to support us.  We feel so very blessed.

"Thing work out.  It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is.  It all works out.  Don't worry....Put your trust in God and move forward with faith and confidence in the future.  The Lord will not forsake us.  He will not forsake us.  If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings he will hear our prayers."  --President Hinckley

Tender Mercy

We received word this morning that the surgery on Kyle's leg (10 hours) went well.  Brian gave him a blessing before the surgery and my sister Susan "just happened" to be there to hear and report back to us what he said.  Words cannot express our feelings of gratitude for the beautiful blessing from our Heavenly Father.  We long to be there, but we have a sweet assurance that everything will be okay.

The Tiari's in Iraq

There are not  many members of the Church in the middle-east.  The Amman district (stake) includes 3 branches in Jordan, 1 each in Lebanon, and Egypt, a small group in Syria and 1 family in Iraq.

This week is district youth conference and young people are coming to Jordan for the weekend.  We're not sure how many kids will be here--maybe 15 or 20.  The activities should be fun and strengthening to the young people.  The Church is paying for their airline travel.

Mark Tiari lives in Iraq with his mother and two sisters.  As far as we know they are the only members in Iraq and they are a strong family who love the gospel and the Church.  Mark is 15 years old and cannot travel alone because they are afraid he will be kidnapped by Isis, so it was approved for the Church to fly both him and his mother to Jordan for the conference.  We were so excited to have them come and have been busy making plans for Mark and his mother to visit the North Jordan Branch after the conference.  The family lived in nearby Irbid about nine years ago and they have many friends here.

Today we received word that their visas were not approved and they won't be coming.  It's heartbreaking to know that Mark will miss such a great experience.  He was scheduled to give a talk.

We hear that Isis is now within about 10 kilometers of the city where the Tiari's live.  It's not a good place to be right now, especially if you're a Christian.  We pray for their safety.

General Conference Loud and Clear

We were so grateful we were able to watch general conference/  What a treat!

The first session started at 7 p.m. 

Update on Kyle

We got this letter from Kristen this morning:

"Saw Kyle tonight.  He looked and sounded good although he said he still felt the same.  

He said that he met with the doctor on Thursday and he is the one that told him it would be 2-3 more weeks until he could operate.  The hospital called Kyle Thursday night and left him a message about his surgery on Monday.  Kyle was confused and called the doctor.  Apparently the doctor spoke with the plastic surgeon and the plastic surgeon said it would be best to do the surgery now.

He heads over to the hospital at 6 a.m on Monday.  The plastic surgeon will operate for 6-8 hours grafting the skin and muscle.  The doctor will then go in for 6-8 hours and put in all the hardware.  He'll be in the hospital 7-8 days after that with his foot up.  He won't be able to get out of bed during this time.

I told him I wouldn't even bother to contact him until Wednesday because he said he would probably be out on Tuesday.  He said that Brian is on his medical contact list so hopefully Brian will keep us posted.

Oh, he said that it is only 15-20% chance of losing his foot if the arteries don't take.  He didn't sound as worried as his text yesterday.  I think the plastic surgeon was just telling him the reality of the situation so he could be prepared just in case. " 

We have been very concerned about Kyle and would appreciate prayers for him.  

Spring Time in Jordan

Spring is coming to Jordan . . . These are pictures taken in our yard.

Our landlady, Zuha.  She carefully tends all the flowers (and onions)

Not the Same as Utah

We were expecting Mt. Nebo to be like the one in Utah--a high mountain peak and a difficult hike, but it isn't like that at all.  It's located on a regular road about 6 miles from Madaba.  We parked our car on the road and walked a short incline and stood on the spot where the Lord showed Moses the promised land.  From where we stood the terrain slopes sharply downward to the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea.  It's a breathtaking sight.

"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah that is over against Jericho.  And the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan.  And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephrain, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.  And the Lord said unto him, this is the land which I sware uto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed; I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes."  Deuteronomy 34:1-4

This is the land that Moses saw from Mt. Nebo.  Moses never went down into the promised land.

When we entered the park some old guy said he would show us around for 10 JD.  We said no thank you, too much.  Then the Jordanian Policeman who is posted at the site offered to show us around for free.   We know we got the special treatment because we are Americans.  The Jordanians LOVE Americans. They make us feel like celebrities.

More Testing in Madaba

We like to think of Jordan as a bit like Utah.  We live in Husn (Logan) in the north, the capital city is Amman (Salt Lake) in the middle, and Aquaba (St. George) is in the south.  The climate is about the same in all three.  Madaba would be compared to Provo.  Madaba is about a three hour drive from Husn.  We can stay in the Amman center whenever we want and we've been very grateful we don't have to make that drive every day during the diabetic retinopathy campaign in Madaba.

The goal for the diabetic retinopathy campaign is to test 20,000 people for diabetes.  This isn't our project, but we've been asked to take over when the lead couple goes home in May and we've been assisting them as best we can.  We two old people from the Salem 9th Ward can't even spell diabetic retinopathy but we're learning.  The skills we learned doing the measles campaigns have helped us.  Every time we think we're "in over our heads" we remind ourselves that the Lord doesn't make mistakes and he's the one who sent us here, so by golly we'll do our best.

We trained the volunteers from a nearby university.  They were very happy to assist.  

These two students set up a table and tested in a busy area by the bus station.  They loved it.

Don't Marry Your First Cousin

There is so much to see and learn about the history and culture of this wonderful land.  We enjoy being able to visit the historical sites whenever possible.  On Saturday the couples went to the Jordan Museum in downtown Amman.

We thought this ancient statue was interesting.  Someone joked that it was probably the child of someone who married his first cousin.

NOTE:  It is common for people to marry their cousins here.  These marriages very often produce disabled children.

A Letter from Vanuatu

The missionary couples get together every Saturday for a district meeting.  We discuss a gospel topic and enjoy learning, sharing and feeling the Spirit.  Today we discussed the topic, "Living Joyfully in Troubled Times" from the Ezra Taft Benson manual.

In the meeting we shared a letter we received from Katamal Kaun, a member of the church we met during an assignment in Vanuatu in 2013.  We had written him after the devistating storm that hit a couple of weeks ago and asked about him and his family.  This is his answer:

Dear Elder & Sister Tolley,

What a pleasant surprise! Of course how could I forget your lovely smiles. And thank you so much for your prayers. So you folks are now in Amman???. We are pretty much recovering well. My wife and I lost our home - but these are just material things. The one thing though that we are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for, was his arms of mercy that surrounded us when the category 5 cyclone  was battering us. Not a single member was injured nor lost his/her life.

While recovering, each one of us is looking forward to the creation of the first ever stake in this country next month. That is the joy that is filling our hearts at this point in time despite the situation we are currently in.

With much love

Katimal

It touched our hearts to read of the  faith of this dear friend.  He and his family know the important things in life--family and the gospel of Jesus Christ

Missionaries Pulled Out of Iraq

Up until last week there was a humanitarian missionary couple in the city of Erbil which is in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.  Because Isis was getting a little too close (15 miles away), the Middle East Desk decided to pull them out.

Elder and Sister Anderson spent three days with us in Amman and then left for Cairo, Egypt to check out some possibilities for humanitarian work there.  They are awesome.

It's comforting to know that the Church will never put missionaries in harms way.  Now all we have to worry about is the one LDS family left behind in Erbil.  We pray for their safety.