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!!