My Egyptian Friend

As I have been watching the news unfold in Egypt I have been praying for the safety of my Facebook friend who lives in Cairo. I want to share my story about him with anyone who may be reading because I think it is special, at least to me.

Sometime last year, around April or May, I "liked" a page on Facebook where they send you pictures of LDS temples randomly through the month. One of the first pictures I saw was a beautiful shot of the Manti Temple taken from the cemetery at the foot of Temple Hill. This is a special cemetery to me because one of my ancestors is buried there. I thought the visual idea of the cemetery headstones and the temple was very fitting. There were only a few comments so I clicked on them to see what people were saying. It was the typical "I love this picture" type of comments, but one really stood out. His name was Adam Smith, and he said he didn't know this building but got such a warm feeling when he saw it, and he would like to know more if anyone would be kind enough to send him any information. It was evident from his sentence structure and word choice that he was not from the United States, although his English was very good. I continued to read comments thinking that surely someone would comment on his comment, but no one did. I went back to his comment and clicked on his name, which sent me to his Facebook wall. From what I saw there I assumed that he had just started up his Facebook account because there wasn't much there, and very few friends. I noticed he listed his home as Cairo, Egypt. That was a shocker!

I left him a message on his wall, offering to answer any questions I could about the building and the church it belongs to. He wrote back in just a few minutes, saying he didn't know what to even ask but wanted to know about that building, and that no one else had responded to his request for information. Then he added, "Just let me pray for a bit and then I will know what to ask." (Paraphrasing from what I recall.) In our next exchange I asked him if he had a Bible, which he said he did, but it was in Arabic, which he speaks along with English. He did look up lds.org on the internet but couldn't find any church near him in "this desert I live in." He then proceeded to tell him how much he wanted to leave the area and get to some place safer. That is when my warning signs took over. "If he asks for money, I'm gone!" But he never did, not even suggesting any such thing.

He continued asking questions about the church, asking several every day. He soon started posting links to church videos, and asking for a Book of Mormon. During this time his friend list was growing a bit each day, as he added more LDS friends that were beginning to respond to the questions he posted on his wall. He was just yearning for information about the church.

During the next month he told me in private messages that he would be in danger if anyone found his conversations about an American church, that his believes were so different from the Muslims in his country. He admitted that his name was not really "Adam Smith" but that he had made that name up because he sounded American, and perhaps it would be not followed by the authorities in his area. He gave me his real name, and his national number "so if you have need to find me you might be able to." Here is a quote from one of his messages:

i tried to have the political asylum to usa to feel safe when i change my dogmatic background but no body care in embassy with me cause im just normal one from 75 milinos people live in egypt so i have to be someone vip or politician or bussiness man so im losing the hope day after day. by the way happy happy birth day

I was still worrying about him asking for help and was ready to step back if he did, but he never has.

He has asked so many questions about the church, some very funny ones. One day he wanted to talk to the modern prophets and tell them they need a temple in Egypt so the people could go there to pray. He said he couldn't find their email addresses on lds.org so he wanted to me send him a list of their email addresses. I explain that would not be possible, but I was sure they wanted a temple there as well. Many times he mentioned that one day he would love to be in an LDS temple to pray. He continued to post links to LDS pictures, videos, and music. Along with music like Frank Sinatra! He just seems like a very special guy that want to learn. He wanted to know if Mormons believed in send flowers to people because he heard we did not. I told him not to let my husband know because he always sends me flowers! He responded with laughing saying how could he be so unbelieving when God created beautiful flowers of course his people would give them to each other.

Sometime during the summer we were finally able to get a Book of Mormon to him, which he loves reading. He commented several times on how special he "felt" when he read that book. Then in October all communications from him stopped. In December he returned and said that he had spent two month in jail for his "dogmatic' believes. He had a terrible time but didn't share what had happened.

You can find his Facebook page from my facebook page. He is listed as one of my friends. I am really concerned for his safety. I can envision him as one of those early church pioneers that the Lord places in areas to plant the seed of the gospel. I hope that he can continue to learn about the church, and someday be able to enter the temple to pray.