Today I am grateful for CULTURE!

The MUSLIM CULTURE: Alana and I were able to attend a mosque and learn alot about the muslim faith.

I learned that the abaya (the dress and the head covering) is worn because of TRADITION and MODESTY. I was trying to dig deeper when I was talking to the muslim man who was answering questions. I thought that the veil and clothes would represent something or were symbolic. They were just designed by the muslims living in the desert to protect from sand and the sun. The muslims in the gulf area wear the abaya, but muslims of India, Turkey,Eygyt, Jordan,etc wear different things or muslims that live in America could wear jeans and that is totally up to them and their relationship to God.

There are alot of misconceptions that people have of Muslims. The man giving the tour would joke about what we see on CNN. The Muslim faith is the 2nd largest religion in the world after Christianity and there are a lot of good people that are muslims. It is too bad that a group of them ruin many people's view of the whole religion. As I was learning about the Muslim faith I couldn't help but to relate it to the LDS faith and find some similarities.

MUSLIMS: They are to pray 5 times a day at mosque in order to connect with God. They can also pray any other time of the day that they want. The women are not required to go to mosque in order to take car of their family and household responsibilities.

LDS: We are taught to pray always and keep a prayer in our hearts.

MUSLIMS: They believe in one holy creator of the world. They believe in Christ as a prophet.

LDS: We believe in God the Eternal Father and in his son Jesus Christ and in the holy Ghost.

MUSLIMS: They have a washing ceremony they do before mosque. They only do it once a day (not before every mosque). This represents being cleansed from sin.

LDS: We have the sacrament we take once a week that is a cleansing for the remission of sins.

MUSLIMS: They believe children reach an age of accountability which is at about 13 or 14. There is no formal ceremony (like a baptism) to enter the religion.

LDS: We believe that children are innocent and come to an age of accountability at 8 years old when they are able to enter the waters of baptism.

This is part of the mosque ceremony. When they put their forehead on the floor it means a total submission to the God who is Allah. Beautiful mosque below!

I am grateful for the culture of INDIA!!

They are the ones that brought YOGA to me and Lane!

I am grateful for AFRICA OR THE NORTH AMERICA? Some say that camels originated in Africa and some say in North America although they are not currently found there.

Either way the camel is considered a blessing to the people of the desert. It can hold a lot and is very strong and doesn't need much food or water. It can go for 3 weeks with out food or water!
We loved riding the camels!

I'm grateful for THE USA for inventing snowboarding (this is sandboarding) and jeep riding! (This is land cruiser riding in the desert)

Our driver was from Pakistan and boy, was he driving crazy. We were so scared we were going to roll that we were holding each others legs the whole time!

Traditional Arabian dinner.

Also grateful for any culture that has clean bathrooms! This was so funny when we tried to go to the bathroom in the middle of the desert, I looked at Alana just standing in the doorway saying "Stressed!" She was a little stressed about using such a dirty bathroom with no toilet paper. Oh, the sweet pleasures of living in the USA.

I'm grateful that we got to have THANKSGIVING DINNER with people from a few different cultures. Thankful that the CANADIANS brought this award winning pumpkin pie!

The Australians brought some great dressings as well!
The AMERICANS of course did the turkey and the ice cream!


We had a wonderful THANKSGIVING...AND I HOPE THAT YOU ALL DID TOO!

I am so grateful and happy to be alive! There is so much beauty in the earth to experience and learn from to help us be more of a loving and understanding people. I really liked this quote I found on lds.org.

"Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. Grateful people are quick to acknowledge the kindness and help they receive from our Heavenly Father and others around them. Where there is gratitude, there is courtesy; there is a concern for the happiness and well-being of others"

I hope to have more and more gratitude everyday! Happy holidays everyone!