Annie - Leader and Friend

Monday, Nov. 1

We got into some heavy rain going to Amman today.  The local people are very grateful for the rain because they have had a long drought.  In town we splashed through big puddles and got soaking wet going into the Orange Cell Phone store.  It took us a long time to find a parking place.  Traffic was terrible and we spent most of the day sitting in the car going nowhere.  The Hammonds spent all day with us and we are very grateful.  We could never find our way around without them.

The reason we went to Amman for the second time in three days is because the Strongs and the Hammonds were giving a dinner for their dear friend Annie Majocopian and her husband Husam.  Annie heads up the Al Hussen Society that works with handicapped children.  The founder is Queen Abdula whose husband is the king of Iraq in exile.  Annie is good friends with the queen and is one of our key partners in Jordan.

The other two couples and us spend a lot of time developing relationships with influential people/partners.  We're amazed at how many leaders in the country have been influenced by the Church.  Approximately 200 people have gone to BYU on scholarships and come back to occupy leadership positions in Jordan. Some of these people are influential judges in the Jordanian court system who have gone to BYU law school for a year to earn a masters degree in international law.  We can't proselyte, but the Church has had a positive influence.

Annie's husband is leaving tomorrow for a job in Arabia.  He'll be gone for a few years, and everyone wanted to tell him goodbye.  Sister Hammond gave him one of the new hymnbooks in Arabic and he was thrilled.  The couple is Christian and has attended our church twice.  We met them at the hygiene kit service project the first day we were here.

We enjoyed the company of a great lady.

Diabetic Retinopathy

Sunday, November 2

Diabetes is a big problem in Jordan.  If it isn't brought under control diabetes can cause blindness (Diabetic Retinopathy).   Since the Jordanians are a very proud people, and it's hard for them to admit they have anything wrong with their health, they neglect to see a doctor until it's too late and they go blind. Local health clinics had been given very expensive diagnostic equipment but it was lying around not being used.

Brent and Margaret Strong are working with national leaders and health care workers to address the problem and to do what they can to help.  They are a very personable couple and have made friends with many leaders in the country.  They have been very successful in bringing with other agencies and churches together to find solutions.

Today we went with the Strongs to the Jordan University of Science and Technology where we met with the head of the school of nursing.  She will be part of a national team the Strongs are helping to coordinate.  We didn't have much of a clue what they were talking about.

The Celestial Six

Saturday, November 1

There are three missionary couples in Jordan.  That's it.  No young elders or sisters.  We will get together every Saturday in Amman for district meeting.  Ron and Sandy Hammond are the district leaders.  Ron has been an area seventy.  Brent Strong was a  renowned professor at BYU.  He and his wife Margaret are here to help the American Catholic University become accredited.  These wonderful people are making friends with key leaders in the country.  Both couples are awesome.  And then there's us--we're members of the Salem 9th Ward.  We don't know where we'll fit in with this awesome group yet, but we will.  They are very kind to us.  We call ourselves the "Celestial Six" and our goal is to become totally united in everything we do.  They truly "lift us up."

Brent and Margaret Strong, Sandy and Ron Hammond, Myrna and Lynn Tolley

 It was a privilege to be instructed by Ron Hammond.  He is very wise and Christ-like and a great leader.  He advised us to move away from the mirror and look out the window.  Alma 26:27.  In other words, forget yourself and concentrate on others.  The more we focus on work here the more the windows of heaven open up upon our family.  

The humanitarian work in Jordan is focused on three principles or "legs":

1.  Instruction by specialists 

2. Donation   

3. Volunteerism

The people we work with and teach these principles are being prepared to receive the gospel.  Training by specialists is compared to training in the gospel.  Donations are compared to the Savior's atonement.  Volunteerism is compared to our commitment.

We are  preparing the world for the return of the Savior.  We are doing missionary work on a massive scale.

Our Names are Lynn and Myrna

Friday, Oct 31

They don't call us Elder and Sister here in Jordan and we don't wear badges either.  Our official title is "Humanitarian Service Volunteers" and we represent LDS Charities.  Our names are Lynn and Myrna.  Some members of the Church call us "Brother" and "Sister" but we introduce ourselves by our first names.  We have to be careful in a Muslum country where they have laws against proselyting.  We could be on the first flight home if we're not careful.

We attended church today in our small branch and we were the speakers.  We had to have translators help us.  All the announcements and lessons were given in Arabic, and then translated but President Amer said they won't be doing that again after today.  There were approximately 27 attending, including some nonmembers and BYU students who are here studying Arabic.  Lynn was called and set apart as a counselor and branch clerk in the branch presidency.  Up until now the missionary brother has been branch president, but the time has come for local leadership. It's a good thing.  These men are ready.

Take note, young women, these two handsome leaders are both eligible bachelors.  The one on the right is taken already.

10,000 Knitted Caps

Thursday, Oct 30

For several months the members of the North Jordan Branch have been knitting caps as a project for needy children in Jordan.  The winters here are quite cold and the hats are much appreciated.  They will be donated to a local charity who will distribute them.  Up until today they have been kept in plastic bags in a storeroom on the roof of the chapel. This morning the charity came with a truck to pick them up.  Our job was to get them to the ground, 3 stories below.

Amer brought his brother to help, but we could tell it was an impossible task to bring the bags containing the hats down 3 flights of stairs.  They were much too heavy.  As we were thinking about how to do it we looked over the edge of the roof and got an idea (I wonder where that came from!!)  There was an old hose lying nearby.  We took the end, tied it to the bags and carefully let them down over the edge.  It worked great!  Laziness brings invention.

 

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.

The Doctor

Monday, October 27

Getting adjusted to a foreign country and learning how things work isn't always easy.  We can always expect a few glitches and sometimes we have to step back and take a deep breath.  And laugh a lot.  Most problems aren't too serious, but they seem like it at the time.

Lynn's ear got plugged up on the flight over and has been a real bother to him.  In Jordan you can get almost any medicine you want at a pharmacy, the pharmacies are everywhere.  We decided to walk down to the main road in Husn to see if we could get Lynn some medicine.  The woman at the pharmacy said we needed to see a doctor for ear problems and she directed us to a doctor across the street.  Off we went dodging heavy traffic to get to the other side.  There we found a man who pointed us in the direction we needed to go.

The doctor's office wasn't glamorous, but we've seen worse.  A man was sitting at a desk behind a doorway with a curtain pulled aside.  He motioned to us and we went inside.  We were the only ones there.  Lynn told him he thought he had wax in his ear, so the doctor took him into a nearby examination room to take a look.  The small room had antiquated equipment in it.  The man rummaged around and found an old otoscope that was taped together with bandage tape.  He wiped it off with a rag, but when he picked it up the batteries fell out the bottom.  He picked them up, shoved them back inside, held it up at arms length and looked inside.  "Nothing there!"  he pronounced.   "I see nothing" for the other ear too.  He explained that the problem might be that Lynn's ears are still adjusting to the differences in air pressure from the airplane trip.  There was no charge!!  At least he spoke English. Kind of.