Arabian Guests

Thank you for all of the birthday cards and wishes! I feel so spoiled
by you all! I actually had the coolest birthday of my entire life on
Saturday!

Our Muslim investigator who is from Saudi Arabia had invited us to
come to an event at Drexel University to try some Arabian food. We
went in between conference sessions (which were absolutely
incredible!), thinking it was just a casual community event. When we
got there, Mustafa directed us in to the room where the celebration
was happening. Immediately we were aware that we were the only white
people in there haha! And it was not just a casual event, but a huge
holiday celebration of many of the Saudi Arabians in the area. Mustafa
took us to the table where his family was sitting and introduced us to
all of them. There was a little opening program of sorts, and we
understood absolutely none of it because they were speaking Arabic!
Mustafa's daughter, who was in charge of the event, suddenly pointed
at me and Sister Bettilyon and introduced us as the special guests,
and everyone clapped for us! What! We had no idea that we were the
special guests!

 A little later, the other guy in charge of the event asked me if I
would stand up and say something about their holiday. Ummm. I had NO
clue what I would say! He really wanted me to though, so I stood up
and thanked them all for letting us be there with them, and I said
that we loved being there, even though we didn't know what the holiday
was even about. The crowd laughed and as I sat down, you could hear
people translating to others who did not speak English. What the
coolest thing ever!! Then! Once they said that we could go eat,
Mustafa took us over to be the first ones in the line for food because
we were the guests! Those people are just so hospitable! And the food
was SO good! Sheesh, we could not believe that we were actually living
that experience, it was so cool! We got a picture with some of
Mustafa's family and they gave us super cool masquerade type masks and
pins of the Saudi Arabian flag. Coolest day of my life!

We went back and watched the second session of conference which was
phenomenal! There were a few different talks that were about exactly
what I have been studying about recently and learning about. It is
incredible how inspired the leaders of the church are!
Some of the main themes that I noticed were the importance of asking
questions and seeking answers from the right sources, and most
especially for us all to come to better understand the Atonement
(primarily the enabling power of the Atonement). What beautiful
messages! I love this gospel and I love being a missionary for the
restored Church of Jesus Christ! I love you all!

Love, Sister Amber Ricks