A True Princess

Today we were invited to a meeting at the Sheratan Hotel in Amman.  The meeting was to give an update of an ongoing project regarding water conservation and drinking water in impoverished areas  in Jordan.  We had nothing to do with the project, but were invited by Princess Basma to attend the meeting.   Princess Basma is the aunt of King Abdullah.  Why would she invite us?  Because of Jamal, of course.  In a meeting with the princess yesterday he told her about our work with providing food for Syrian refugees.  When she heard about the project and also about our interest in agriculture projects she insisted we attend the meeting today.  We brought the Hammonds with us.

Can you guess the reason she is so deeply loved by the people of Jordan?  It's because she loves them.

We were seated on the same row as the princess (that's her leaning forward to offer us some candy).  She spoke English to us, but we were provided headsets so we could listen to a translation of  the Arabic speakers on the program.  It was a very thoughtful thing to do and we appreciated being able to understand what was said.  After the program we hated to hand them back in.  It would be so nice to keep them (along with the translator).

Princess Basma is a great lady.  She has spent her life doing charity work among the poor people of Jordan.  We found her to be very gracious and kind.  After each speaker on the program finished their talk and walked back down the stairs into the audience, she rose and met them, gave them a hug and a kiss on each cheek and spent a moment expressing her appreciation.  Now that's a TRUE princess.  No crown, no jewels, no fancy clothing--just a genuinely nice person with love in her heart for her countrymen. She is a great lady, a Muslim who follows the words of Christ,   "Love one another as I have loved you."

She didn't have time to spend with us today, but invited us to meet with her after Ramadan, which begins next week.  We will most likely be discussing agriculture and water with her.  We know that agriculture and water are important, but we also know that having an advocate for the Church being officially recognized in Jordan is more important.  Maybe she's the key--we don't know yet.  So many times we feel like Nephi--we don't know, but the Lord knows and that's all we need to know.  We trust in Him to guide us.  We hadn't expected anything like what happened today.