Today it was 111 degrees and we traveled to Dahuk to visit with our dear friends the Tiari family. Hannah Tiari has such a strong testimony and loves the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she is diligently teaching her sweet children the Gospel. Jon and I learned today that Hannah is not Kurdish, but Chaldean and comes from a very ancient Christian background. I wish there was more that we could do for her. She is always telling me how alone she is in the Church and how much she wants to be able to attend Relief Society and other meeting. She is so faithful and is an inspiration to me through her love of the Gospel. The short version of her conversion story is that when Saddam was in power they had to flee to Jordan. There they were introduced to the Gospel and met with a small branch of the Church. Once Saddam was ousted they had to return to Iraq because it was hard for them as Iraqi's to stay in Jordan. Now they are the only active Iraqi members of the Church in the Kurdistan Region. Hannah has been faithfully waiting for years for someone to come and support her and her family. We are so grateful to be able to be their Home Teachers. 

Hannah shared with us today about a family in Yemen that has contacted her through Facebook. This family has been praying for 10 years to find the true church of Christ. They told her that the Holy Ghost led them to the LDS church on the internet and they have been reading the Book of Mormon every day from the internet and want to be baptized. The problem is that they were Muslim and now want to convert to Christianity. This is very dangerous for them and so we have to be careful. We are waiting to hear from the area presidency to see how to proceed with them. The Gospel is true my dear friends and it is spreading forth in all areas of the world. Even in places we would never dream of. PLEASE keep these families in your prayers. They are pioneers in the Middle East and face many challenges and dangers.