Last week we visited a Hindu Temple. The peace and beauty of the temple was incredible! The hand-carved wood and marble is breath-taking!!  Most of the carving work was done in India and pieced together after being shipped here.  During our visit we experienced their Rajbhog Arti (ritual prayer).  The music and chanting echoed beautifully through the room (see marbled pillar room pics).  After the chanting they passed a candle around and took turns extending their hands over the flame and drawing the warmth of the flame to their faces, each doing it 3 or 4 times before passing the candle to the next person.  It was awesome!

 

This week we visited a Muslim Ismaili Centre to participate at an International Women’s Day event.  The people we met were overwhelmingly kind and hospitable!  We enjoyed touring their Jamatkhana (prayer hall) and seeing the hand-carved ceramic wall done by a father and son who traveled from Tajikistan to do the carving (taking nearly 6 months)!  We met Shelina & Shellina (same name coincidence) who said they serve every week at the centre assisting families needing help with funeral preparations.  They estimated there were 40,000 Muslims within their service area.  According to Goggle, the Muslim religion is the second largest in Canada (7%).  Christianity is the largest, although Mormons aren’t considered Christians by most Christian religions in the area (because of the differing trinity doctrine).  The Mormon population in Canada is less than 1/2 percent (0.37).

 

Tomorrow we will participate at the baptism of a teenage boy who committed to baptism last Sunday!  The sister missionaries and I will sing a special musical number at the baptism.