Sunday, March 22, 2009
Geopolitical lesson for the day
Sharing borders with International heavyweights Iran, Turkey and Georgia, Armenia is best described as the “eye of the storm”. The country, slightly smaller than Maryland, claims to be the first nation to embrace Christianity. In fact, legend has it that Noah’s Arc landed somewhere on Mt. Ararat and that Noah himself founded Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Between the 4th and 19th centuries, Armenia was conquered and ruled by Persians, Byzantines, Arabs, Mongols and Turks. In 1936, Armenia reluctantly became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. In 1988, tragedy struck. The Spitak Earthquake killed roughly 25,000 people and destroyed multiple towns in northern Armenia. Two years later, Armenia declared its sovereignty from the Soviet Union and became an independent nation. Today, Armenia has roughly three and a half million people and the citizens enjoy the fruits of democracy. Ten years ago, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints sent the first missionaries to Armenia. We are thrilled (slightly nervous) that Derek will be honored to join such a young mission.
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2 comments:
We're excited for Derek, too. After seeing some pictures on the internet of Armenia's beautiful mountain scenery and ancient churches, I was actually jealous, wishing I could take a trip there myself. And that language, wow, that's going to fun to learn. Congratulations Derek. We can't wait to hear of your spiritual adventures there.
Those were some interesting facts. Isn't it funny that you don't pay any attention to a country until you find that your son is going to be laboring there for two years and then you want to know all about it. I suppose we'll know quite a bit about Armenia before we're through. I told Derek he had to give us "details".
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