A Great Blessing, a Middle Eastern Miracle.

Finally a light at the end of a long dark tunnel!  No it is not the end of our mission, it is something so much better than that.

Sheraak, Olga, Elder and Sister Nelson, Eskan
This picture was taken in June of last year while Elder
Nelson visited Ankara

Eskan and Olga Hagobian have finally received their travel notice and will fly into Salt Lake City on March the 4^th.  What a great thing this is.  Unfortunately, Sheraak will have to remain in Turkey until his final interviews and he receives his release from the horror of living as a refugee in Turkey.  He will remain in Kayseri.

Some ward in Utah will be getting two absolutely incredibly faithful people.  They could be the poster children for enduring through the most difficult circumstances.  We wish they could be in our ward in Ft. Collins.

 

The Mediterranean Coast
Between Antalya and Adana.
Raw beauty.

This will not be an easy transition and I worry that people will not realize what a prize the Hagobians really are.  I worry that they will not be accepted because of their accents and different backgrounds.  After all how many people have ever personally known a veteran of the Iranian Iraqi war and an Armenian Iraqi?  Olga is Sri Lankan.

The Hagobian family, Eshkan, Olga and their sons Armen and Sheraak were baptized July 22, 1994 in Amman-Jordan.  Armen served a mission in Sri Lanka and now lives there with his wife Radi and two children.  Eshkan and Olga have never seen their grandchildren except on Skype.

Both Eshkan and Olga were born into Christian families, but with little religious experience. 

A trail to the Mosque in Alanya, Turkey
It was so remote and quiet.  You could
wander around forever and see old remnants
of an ancient castle.  We slowly drove
down the coast along a road adjacent
to the sea.  Like California costal route 1
It was beautiful.  A little scary because
the road dropped off over a 1000 feet
at times with no guard rail and no
shoulder.  A two lane road that switched
back and forth up and down the mountains
for over 400 miles.
Everything was in bloom and it felt like
spring.  Stunning.  

While living in Jordan, they were desperate to put their boys into school and heard that the Catholic school was nearby.  Eshkan took his sons to the priest and asked if he could help.  The priest replied, “I can’t help you!”  Eshkan said, “But Jesus taught that you should knock and he would open, so please help us.  The priest told Eshkan to “go back to your own country and knock there.”

 

More of the coast of Turkey.
The water was so clear and there was literally
no one around.  We broke the rules and drove.

A week later Eshkan saw a building that said in English, Education Center.  He could not stop, but was excited about the word education.  Later he went back and met President Bill Wilson.  The baptism came just weeks later after six lessons.  A picture of Christ in the building told Eshkan, as he says, "I had a feeling like I had never felt before.  I knew this was the right place for me and my family."

Unfortunately the situation in the Middle East is beyond comprehension and the Hagobians have been routed through Jordan, Yemen, Dubai, Syria and Turkey.  They have experienced persecution and personal pain in search of religious freedom and the right to live without fear.  They have lived in Kayseri, Turkey for over two years in conditions that break my heart.  Through all these trials, they have remained strong in the gospel and just want to go to the temple.

Sheraak in Cappadocia on a trip we
took last summer.  This is a good
young man.  It will be so hard for him
to be here alone for who knows how long.

We met the Hagobians about a year ago through our good friends, the Edwards.  After the Edwards left to return to Utah, we have been blessed to home teach these great people weekly through Skype sessions and to have then stay in our apartment here in Ankara.

St. Paul's well in Tarsus.
A visit to Tarsus is not worth the time.
Nevertheless we have been there.

We look forward to joining them in a temple session in a few short months and being there when they are reunited with Sheraak.

Again, who ever get them in their ward has won the lottery of faithful members.  The gospel would be so lucky to have an entire congregation of Hagobians.  The faith of the oppressed in this part of the world is a testimony-strengthening blessing.

Who ever you are, welcome them HOME!!!!! If anyone knows of a possible job in SLC that needs a good honest laborer, let me know.  (And to my dear and wonderful daughter in Draper,  you should invite them to your home just to experience their charming personalities.)