Bushrou Angelii

So yesterday I got Preach My Gospel in Arabic and today I was going through it with my regular Preach My Gospel study. It was thrilling. There is something about reading the scriptures in another language that makes it so much more meaningful: probably because it takes me so much longer to get each word! I felt this way about Hebrew, though, before I ever started learning Arabic. I will never read Genesis 22 the same way again after reading it in Hebrew. But anyway, I have been trying to learn how to do simple things in Arabic--pray both a personal prayer and as if I were praying in a public setting, introduce myself as a missionary (just to prepare me for the mission, no matter what language I speak!), bear my testimony for 10 minutes, etc. I am feeling quite pleased with my progress, and most of all it is helping me really focus on the core doctrines and principles of the gospel, since I can't say very much. A couple of weeks ago I wrote down the Plan of Salvation (Chuta Al-Chalas) in Arabic, and it was a beautiful experience to think of the gospel in such simple terms. And who knows, perhaps one day I will be able to use my Arabic on my mission!