Oh, and Wednesday, we’re meeting with the Hussian’s – short version of the story is that they’re a part of the Area Presidency, I think, and they’re coming over here to our house tomorrow to meet with Fahim and I. Pres Hussian (Brother Hussian?) is an Arab who grew up in Palestine with a Muslim father and an Orthodox Jew mother who, when he became an adult, chose to become LDS. He’s also a computer programmer from back in the sixties and loves science fiction. Well, his wife is knowledgeable about family history, and seeing as how I’m the District Family History Consultant, she wants to meet with me to discuss family history in Sri Lanka, and he’s tagging along to meet and talk to Fahim. I haven’t met them before, and before I received a call from Pres. Sunil yesterday afternoon, I didn’t even know they were in town, nor had I heard of them.
Anyway, it was pretty funny in the phone call – Pres. Hussian is telling me that his wife would like to give me a CD for a program that would be really useful. Which program? I ask. PAF 5.2. Oh, I have that. Or perhaps I have version 5.1, I say. But sure, if your version is the all languages/all options, it’ll be handy to have because it takes so long to download that here. Oh, he says. Then he starts to tell me about some of the databases the church has on the internet. Oh, you mean FamilySearch.org? Yeah, I know all about it. Oh! he says. He then tells me about all sorts of other resources available on the internet. Yeah, I know, I say. Oh! he says.
I then tell him my history with family history and the extraction program, and he’s happily surprised, as is his wife, and he comments that they’re used to training people in the Area (with a capital A!) who have no internet/computer/family history/extraction experience, that they usually start with the basics.
I then tell him what I actually need – just the really really short version (all of the family history publications that we have here date to 1987 or 1993 – nothing more recent!!! and we have nothing on policies and procedures, contact info, how to submit temple work without having TempleReady – all that sort of stuff – because doing family history in Sri Lanka is vastly different from doing it in North America where Family History Centres are, relatively speaking, pretty accessible), and he’s excited that I’ve already identified what I need! They’re not used to working with anyone who actually knows what she’s doing. Well, what do you know! That was actually what led me into telling them about how I’ve been on the internet since before it was called the internet and it consisted of a lot of BBS’s attached to each other.
One question I HAVE to remember to ask them is: What would it take to get a Family History Centre in Sri Lanka? I already know that Pres. Sunil (the District President) wants a stake in Sri Lanka. I’m all for that, of course, but I also want a Family History Centre.
Anyway – back to the Hussian’s. I have to say that, even though I can understand the need for Sister Hussian meeting with me, I’m a little surprised at Pres. Hussian wanting to meet with Fahim. I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to say about this after it actually happens. And yes, President Sunil has met Fahim and knows that Fahim’s a Muslim.. Fahim’s come to my setting aparts, and they talked briefly then. So it’s likely the whole Muslim connection.
Well, I’ll have more to say about this after it actually happens.
They’re coming over Wednesday afternoon sometime after 1pm.
