Doctrine and Covenants 65:2
This has nothing to do with Mexico, but everything to do with our lives, so we now take you to the Middle East:
Twenty years ago when we moved to the United Arab Emirates, we were told that we could bring in only our personal scriptures. Any other church material would be (and was) removed from our house when every box in our household shipment was searched by the morality police. We met in the home of one of the members each Friday for church meetings and had 30 to 40 members from England, the U.S.A., Philippines, Australia, Pakistan and India. Our Branch President worked for the Sheik managing his wildlife collection and breeding hunting falcons. His story (and part of ours) can be read in the following two links:
When he and his family finally left Dubai, the Sheik wanted to give him a gift and offered him anything he wanted. Our Branch President asked for a building in in Dubai in which our members could hold meetings. He was granted that building which was a monumental event for church members in the U.A.E.
This week we read that there is now a Stake Center in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and the state next door to Dubai. When we were there our stake conference had to be held in 20 small meetings in homes all over the gulf, one at a time, by "traveling" Stake Presidency members who lived in Saudi Arabia. Only once, were we granted permission to have a "combined" meeting with Abu Dhabi Saints when Elder Carlos Asay came to visit. What a miracle to see this gift of space, technology, and opportunity available to the saints in the Middle East. (See story below).
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| Stake Center in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/63295/Stake-center-in-Abu-Dhabi-Elder-Holland-dedicates-chapel-in-Middle-East.html
Thank you for this, Linda. Although I read the story about the stake center in our Church News, I was disappointed there was no photo of the described Muslin-style dome. Our print version in the newspaper did not include this photo, so I was thrilled to see it here. Thank you. I am fascinated by your perspective, and was pleased to read about the Platt family. In fact, I looked up the article in my collection of old Ensigns, to see those photos as well.
ReplyDeleteOops. Obviously I meant Muslim-style ;-D
ReplyDelete