Iranian Woman faced soldiers to get to her Mormon baptism

An Iranian woman walked through armed soldiers to become a Mormon. In the 1970s, a 21-year-old university student named Jamilele Zfnidad was studying at the University of Tehran in Iran. She hadn't grown up religious. Her family was largely secular and faith wasn't something she had thought much about. But her life changed through an unexpected connection. Jamilele worked with an American musician named Lloyd Miller who hosted a jazz program on Iranian national television.

One day he invited her to attend a Latter-day Saint sacrament meeting being held for foreign members living in Tehran. During the sacrament, someone invited her to take the bread and water. She hesitated. She didn't want to give the impression she already believed, but she took it anyway. Later, she said something strange happened. It felt like her whole body was burning and her life was flashing before her eyes like a fast movie.

She walked out of the meeting convinced the bread and water must have been spiked. But the feeling didn't stop. For weeks, she continued to have powerful spiritual impressions she couldn't explain. Members arranged for missionaries to teach her. The discussions didn't impress her much. She thought they sounded memorized, but something deeper kept pulling her forward. Eventually, she had a powerful spiritual experience and decided to be baptized.

But the day of her baptism became one of the most dramatic days of her life. On January 8th, 1975, the Iranian military suddenly moved on to the University Tehan campus to suppress student protests. Jamele watched soldiers open fire. Terrified, she hid in a bathroom stall for 4 hours while soldiers searched the building. Eventually, the chaos quieted down, but soldiers were everywhere.

Still, she had made a promise. She was going to be baptized that day. So, she walked toward a line of armed soldiers blocking the way. One soldier struck her on the head with his rifle. Another pointed the weapon directly at her. Finally, a senior officer ordered them to let her pass, and Jama kept walking. That afternoon she was baptized, becoming the first Iranian woman baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Iran.

Soon after she traveled to Salt Lake City, visited the temple and even met President Spencer W. Kimell. Because almost no church materials existed in Farsy, Jamala helped translate resources into Persian to prepare for missionary work in Iran. Missionaries eventually served there for a short time. But after the Iranian revolution, they were forced to leave and the mission closed.

Today, the church still has no official presence in Iran. But Jamala's courage helped open that door, even if only for a moment.