A Missionary Update

Ok, enough of my grumblings. Everyone gets trunky, and I allowed myself a little bit of self-pity on my blog. But lest all of you blog readers out there fear that my blog might become depressing and boring, never fear. I have plenty more funny stories to tell. Just have patience, my friends. To those who comment on my blog or email me, thank you. It is for you that I write this record.

On to the missionary update. As I mentioned before, I always wanted to serve a two-year mission. So, since coming here to Amman, I have tried at every opportunity to be a missionary--every legal opportunity, that is. I do not talk about the gospel with my Muslim friends, as it is forbidden by our program, but I do live my religion. And it sure comes up a lot when we talk about coffee and tea, since these are Arab staples but Mormons do not drink either.

I have, however, had the marvelous opportunity of participating in missionary discussions that the Cooks, the humanitarian missionary couple here, have been giving. This required quite a bit of proactivity on my part, but after a lot of work, I am now invited to every lesson.

Samir, our friend about whom I spoke before, has committed to baptism. He is getting baptized this Thursday evening, and he said his wife and daughter will be in attendance.

I could hardly contain my excitement when he committed to baptism at his discussion on Wednesday. He is more than ready and through participating in his discussions, not only has my Arabic improved, but my testimony has grown as I have seen his faith and humility. He will be a great strength to the branch here, which is severely lacking when it comes to the activity of the Arab members. (In fact, the last question Samir asked Wednesday night was why the Arabs here stop coming to church not long after their baptism. I am sure you can guess many of the reasons--they are found in every branch and every ward of the church, all over the world.)

Isabella has gone back to Brazil. I was in Israel when she left but I am working on getting in touch with her and making sure the missionaries where she lives is aware of her and her two sons.

And as another exciting note, the Cooks are teaching two older brothers in Arabic and they are amazing too. They have been coming to church for quite some time now and are quite familiar with the scriptures and the doctrine. I attended their first discussion in Arabic and it was a beautiful experience. I feel that they, too, will be baptized soon.

Missionary work is beautiful and incredible. And I have finally realized that ordinary members of the church, even those who can't speak the language very well, can be member missionaries and do a lot of good. And prepare for missions, even missions in different countries and different languages!