This past week we recorded two oral histories. One was of a sister leader who had over ten years experience as a YW president and Relief Society President in Limassol, Cyprus. The other was a young woman starting out in BYU-Pathway and loving it! The conversations were up-lifting and faith affirming.
The temple can be a life affirming experience. It can be revelatory! The temple experience is what you make it. Truly, the only variable is you, so if you are not experiencing the Love of God you need to do some earnest praying and soul-searching. The Lord meets you where you are but you do have to look up and reach up! That is the only way to lasting Peace.
Yes, I am missing the temple!-(
We did see some old buildings here on Cyprus. Together, with other senior missionaries we went to the Limassol Castle Archeological Museum. It has a long history! It was an early Christian basilica in the 4-7th centuries. It was fought over many times, destroyed by earthquakes, and even razed to the ground. However, it was always rebuilt and now stands in its current iteration a relic from 1590. It is traditionally believed that the castle was the site of Richard the Lionheart’s marriage to Berengaria of Navarre, France in 1191. A political marriage, Berengaria never set foot on English soil. The alliance simply secured a French homeland for Richard’s mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Politics!
Cyprus is still in the middle of things! As the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran this past Saturday, Cyprus was ready. They opened their refugee camps to all third party stranded travelers. They asserted their neutrality which will, hopefully, keep Cyprus out of the mix.
Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos had said on Saturday that the Cypriot government had activated the ‘Estia’ plan, adding that the plan is “activated in the event of an emergency or crisis, to allow the safe evacuation of people from nearby crisis areas from the wider Middle East region via Cyprus”.
https://cyprus-mail.com/2026/03/02/limassol-port-ready-for-estia-evacuations-harbourmaster-says
There is something reassuring about having a plan. This Estia plan is a good idea for a country so close to a number of warring nations. So far, there have been a few stray drones that did no damage. For the time being, we are safe.
krhofhiens.com 