Johnell

Staring out our open bedroom window at 4 a.m., I heard the haunting voices of the muezzin (callers) coasting over the early morning darkness. The call to prayer is a sound I've heard frequently during the almost two years our family has lived in the beautiful country of Algeria, but at 4 a.m. with no noise in the house and no traffic on our busy street, it was pure serenity. That serenity was all the more marked because of its contrast to another day when I was again in front of an open window.

"Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh." (Prov. 3:25)

On Dec. 11, 2007, a suicide bomber detonated himself and his large truck in front of the UN building just 400 meters from our home. I had heard the first of two bombs, which had detonated in a nearby district, and ran to close our open windows. We had been in the country only two months, when on April 11, 2007, Algiers city was hit with the first set of suicide bombs. While those were relatively far away, I remembered the sounds and knew I had little time to close our shatter-proofed windows before the requisite second bomb hit.

As the driver detonated himself and his large truck full of explosives in front of the UN, I was standing at one of our open, 9-foot tall, front-room windows. I heard and felt the blast. The air around me pulled, as if in a vacuum, and then held for one moment of tangible silence as if time and sound had paused for a moment of mourning. Then that moment was shattered by a blast of returning air and the erupting sounds of sirens and screams of pedestrians. The phones went dead, our power went out, and we were left in an eerie suspension.

Someone from the U.S. Embassy finally got through to confirm that we were ok and to assure me that the embassy, where my husband works, had not been the target. That day marked the second successful suicide attack in Algiers city by the newly formulated Al Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb--a result of the recent merger of Algeria's long-standing terrorist group with the global network of Al Qaida terrorists--and the first in the city's purported safe zone of Hydra where we lived.

"We believe that every man should be honored in his station, rulers and magistrates as such, being placed for the protection of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty; and that to the laws all men show respect and deference, as without them peace and harmony would be supplanted by anarchy and terror..." (D&C 134:6)

View of ruins in the Casbah where much of the battle between the FLN and the French government took place.

Algeria has a violent history. Shortly after World War II, a group of Algerians formed the National Liberation Front (FLN) a political party with the goal of liberating Algeria from French rule. In 1951 the FLN launched a guerilla-style war for Independence against the French government in Algeria. Thousands of innocent lives became collateral damage in the conflict. Algeria gained independence in 1962 and many of the former FLN fighters became leaders in Algeria's current government. (For a greater understanding of Algeria's recent history, I highly recommend three movies: The Battle of Algiers with the second disk of special features that includes interviews with various players in the battle; Bab el Oued City ; and Rachida )

Algeria's homegrown terrorist arm formed in the early 1990s after the government nullified the results of an election, which showed that the Fundamentalist Islamic party (Islamic Salvation Front or FIS) was on its way to power. Some from this fundamentalist group then formed a Gadianton-style terrorist group called the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) that hid in the cover of Algeria's thickly wooded mountains and came down into the villages and cities to commit "political" acts of violence.

In 2000 the government enacted the Charter for National Reconciliation granting amnesty to all but the worst among the FIS and GIA supporters. Nevertheless, splinter groups of the GIA remained and reformed, one of which was the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). This group continues its terrorist activity all over Algeria with bombs going off in the rural areas almost daily. However, the 2006 merger into Al Qaida meant a shift away from acts solely against the Algerian government to include acts against all foreigners. Thus attacks on the capital city were renewed and intensified.

View of Algiers City coastline

While it is true that Algerians have been dealing with terrorism long before the word became a catch-phrase in the Western world, the last thing I would wish is to leave the reader with an impression that there is nothing else to this land, a fact that I admit that took me many weeks to accept as the heightened security measures left us feeling like prisoners in our home.

"But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten." (Jer. 20:11)

My first sighting of Algeria was from our plane. I fell in love immediately with the beauty of its bluish-green verdure and Moorish architecture. The capital city, Algiers, sits on the Mediterranean coast and is built on layers that wind around in narrow, often one-way streets. Often called the "White City", Algiers, looks like an odd assortment of wedding cakes piled together and laced with rich vegetation. It is truly a storybook sight.

Home of the Moors, the Barbary Pirates, the Berbers and Touareg, Algeria is full of thrilling history. It houses some of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world. It was the capital of Free France during WWII and still has the hotel and the room where Eisenhower stayed and planned his counter assault against the Germans.

Roman ruins in the city of Tipaza, Algeria

The people, predominately of Berber origin with a small mixture of Arabs, Turks, French and other Europeans are stunning. They are a proud people with a strong sense of family and a great affection for children. I have often been surprised at the gentle attention towards my children the Algerians have universally displayed. Rarely do they return home from an outing without some free gift. In fact, my 3-year old daughter has received more flowers from complete strangers in the short time we've been here than many women receive in a lifetime.

Algerian girls in traditional dress taken in Algiers City Casbah

So while there have been moments of confusion, there have also been moments of great compassion. That 4 a.m. gaze out of our bedroom window reminded me of those beautiful moments. Gladly, only the wailing of my 18-month-old baby shattered the peace of that moment.

There is nothing sweeter than a sleeping child, for more reasons than one, and following the bombings, I took great comfort in watching my children sleep untroubled and unaware. I peeled away from the window to attend to the cause of my son's wails, and after watching him nestle comfortably back in his crib, I was gratefully able to get some much needed, peaceful slumber.

"And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee." (Isa 54:14)

Although we are isolated from the body of the Saints, in fact we are the only members of the Church that we know of in this country, we have tried to make our home a place where the Spirit can dwell and where our children can learn the gospel. We hold church services in our home every Friday (the holy day in Algeria ). This simple service has been saving for our family in more ways than one. We drew great strength from holding the sacrament each week and studying from the scriptures and the manuals as a couple. We also held primary for our daughter and later nursery for our son. In fact, some of my most cherished moments came from those one-on-one primary classes.

At about the time I taught our then 3-year old daughter primary, the Imam from the nearest mosque broadcasted his sermon. The mixture of sounds from his sermon and our singing often amused me, but one Friday, my heart was touched with a poignant message.

This mosque rests in the Algeria's infamous Casbah. The loud speakers on this mosque are very visible. Each day, we could here the call to prayer from several different mosques, especially the one on the road behind our house spoken of in this article.

As my daughter's sweet, off-key rendition of "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam" weaved itself into the poetic cadence of the imam's sermon, my heart filled with joy. How profound was that moment where a message of Jesus, not as a prophet, but as the Son of God, was mingled within the Imam's sermon, a child's message of a loving Savior asking us to be a beam of light.

Only the healing light of the Savior will be strong enough to cut through the darkness that has haunted this country for so many decades. When that gospel message is finally accepted in this land, it will be a miracle as fantastic as the fall of the Berlin Wall.

While we are forbidden to proselyte, we have been able to answer questions about our beliefs. Though my interactions have been small, my husband's work has placed him in positions to mix with leaders of all levels of the Algerian government and many others within this nation that have expressed curiosity into the nature of our religion. His experiences will follow as I end my words with gratitude to God for our preservation in this fascinating but troubled land.

"... And be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled: But sanctify the Lord God in your heart; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." (1 Peter 3:14-15)

Bryan:

As a diplomat I often have the opportunity to meet with Algerian Government leaders. Since Algerians take great pride in being good hosts, nearly every meeting began with tea and coffee. As many Latter-day Saints have experienced, the simple act of politely refusing tea or coffee almost inevitably leads into a gospel discussion, which is exactly what happens. The direct answer "it is proscribed by my religion" usually makes them more curious.

Many Algerians equate Christianity with Catholicism, or Protestantism, neither of which rigorously follows a health code such as the Word of Wisdom, so I would usually tell them that as in the Islamic religion, Mormons have a health code and practicing members of the Church take it very seriously. This almost always drew approving nods across the board. The more devout or curious individuals would ask more probing questions into my religion. One man in particular, who seemed to be a more pious Muslim, followed up with further questions:"

"Do you have premarital sex?" I replied, "No." He continued, "After you are married, do you fool around?" Again, I said, "No." He promptly added, "Do you fast during the Holy Month?" "No," I said, "but we fast for 24 hours the first day of every month." Finally, he asked, "Do you eat pork?" "Yes," was my candid answer, at which he replied, "But for that, Mr. Bryan, you are almost a Muslim."

Several months ago I attended an official dinner accompanying some visitors from Washington DC. During the dinner conversation, the leader of the Algerian delegation was querying the Americans about the then hot presidential primary campaigns. One Algerian official noted that one of the candidates, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, was from a strange religious group, and he asked if it was true that the man was a polygamist. The head of the U.S. delegation, knowing I was a Mormon, referred the question to me. As all eyes at the table turned to me. I said, "Yes, he's a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes called Mormons, and no, he's not a polygamist. We haven't practiced polygamy for more than 100 years and if you hear of anyone who does, they aren't us." This answer satisfied the head of the delegation, but the Algerians seated near me had more questions the first of which was, " What makes you different from other Christians?"

This is Notre Dame D'Afrique, a cathedral constructed during the French reign in Algeria. It sits on a high hill overlooking Algiers City and is quite spectacular.

There is a history of persecution against the Algerian Catholics and Protestants. As recently as 2008, the Algerian government was cracking down on Christian groups and even convicted two Algerians Christians for carrying "proselyting" material. That said, based on the reactions of the majority of the people we interacted with, Algerian Muslims would have little trouble living side by side with practicing Mormons. Any animosity towards the Church would probably stem from more fundamental theological differences and doctrinal divergences, but the outward practice of the two religions would be more similar than different. I hope that my limited interaction with Algerian officials will eventually make the Church welcome in that country, in the good time of the Lord.

"Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation." (1 Peter 2:12)

My embassy colleagues and I often were in the position of having long, involved conversations with an Algerian leader who fancied himself a religious scholar. At each encounter the man preached to us, I believe with the genuine desire to convince us of the "error of our ways" and to persuade us to become Muslim. During one of his more zealous moments, he excoriated the Christian doctrine of the divine sonship of Jesus Christ and proclaimed it to be the greatest of blasphemies of modern religion. He also railed against depictions of Jesus and the prophets, such as Moses in the movie the Ten Commandments, saying no prophet should ever be demeaned in such a manner. Fortunately, according to this man, people have not yet depicted God as a human being, which was the worst thing he could think of. This encounter was the first time I considered how some of the inspirational artwork in the church depicting God, Jesus and the prophets might be perceived by a strict Muslim, not to mention church films and other depictions of the Divine by actors.

Our understanding of the true character and nature of God and his relationship to humanity would raise the hackles of the more devout Muslims and their clerics. I had more than one Muslim lay theologian describe the relationship between God and man as that of Creator and Creation, making the notion of a paternal-filial relationship anathema.

This young man washes up in preparation for prayers.

On another occasion during a brief interlude in the business of the day, I was talking with another Algerian leader and the topic of religion came up. He brought up his mother who was very sick, and we talked about the afterlife. In short order, I was able to explain our basic beliefs in God as our Eternal Father and Christ as the Savior and the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was very polite, listened intently, and pointed out some of the similarities and differences in Islam. He specifically pointed out that the main difference was our opposing views of the divine sonship of Christ. Their belief is that Christ was a prophet who was badly misquoted by his followers and that the Bible is thereby full of errors.

"And after it had come forth unto them I beheld other books, which came forth by the power of the Lamb, from the Gentiles unto them, unto the convincing of the Gentiles and the remnant of the seed of my brethren, and also the Jews who were scattered upon all the face of the earth, that the records of the prophets and of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are true." (1 Nephi 13:39)

As noted above, immediately following the discussion about Governor Romney, the Algerian's seated near me asked, "What makes you different from other Christians?" My short answer that seemed to both satisfy their question and further peak their interest was "The Book of Mormon."

In the nearly two years that we have lived in Algeria, and the innumerable times we have had the opportunity to talk about the gospel, the best answers always came from the Book of Mormon. Appealing to the Bible was a two edged sword when dialoguing with Muslims because of their distrust in its translation. So while the rest of the Christian world may echo the words in 2 Nephi 29:6, "...A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible," we have seen a very substantial reason for "Another Testament of Jesus Christ."

As the Book of Mormon prophetically states, "...These last records, which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth of the first, which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved (1 Nephi 13:40)."

The church is entering a new phase in proselyting. We have lived in Africa for six years now. Due to the absence of organized branches in the countries where we lived, for four of those years we were obliged to hold church services in our own home. But the day will come when groups of indigenous Saints even in those countries will raise their voices in faith to the Most High. The world is opening up to the Church and miracles are happening.

In the Lord's time the Gospel will be preached unhindered in traditionally Muslim countries such as Algeria, and when we start proselyting in Muslim countries the Book of Mormon will be the key. That is the book's purpose, to convince both the Jews and Gentiles, indeed all people everywhere to believe that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer of the world.