08 August 2011

I woke up this morning excited for the adventures the day would bring. We had a half-day field trip today around Jerusalem and its surrounding areas. After a quick breakfast we left promptly at 7:30a in the morning for the village of Bethany. Jesus Christ spent much of His time in Bethany visiting His friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. It was in Bethany that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and showed forth His power as the Son of God, His power over death. Bethany is a quick walk across the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem. However, due to the newly constructed Separation Barrier, we had to take a thirty minutes bus ride on the highway in order to get to the village. To honor the town of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus a church was built near Lazarus’ tomb. The church is simple but beautiful and was a great place to remember the miracle that was performed nearby. Prior to entering into the church, Brother Judd held a small devotional to talk about the story of Lazarus. It was a very peaceful moment and one that prepared us for the remainder of the day. Brother Judd always invites the spirit into our field trips by sharing his testimony, by giving us time to reflect on the Savior and strengthen our own testimonies. It has been great to have him as a professor. Hopefully I can take a class from him in the near future!

Pater Noster (meaning Our Father in Latin) is generally associated with Jesus Instructing His Apostles during the last week, his Ascension, and the Lord’s Prayer. After a short devotional about the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15, Luke 11:1-4) we were given time to walk around the grounds and take pictures. I went on an expedition to find the Lord’s Prayer in several different languages. I was pleasantly surprised when I found one of the translations to be in Guarani, a language Mike’s brother, David, has spoken on his mission (in addition to Spanish). I happily took a picture to send to him at a later date and continued my expedition, getting pictures of the prayer in English, Spanish, Thai, Nahuatl, and German. The grounds of the church were beautiful, surrounded by many gardens. As I was walking around with Kymberly, we were approached by one of the young men who maintains the property. He picked up two roses that had fallen on the ground and handed them to us. Haha it easily made our day. While our roses were wilted within in a couple of hours, it was nice to have flowers given to us!

Dominus Flevit Church commemorates the incident when “the Lord wept” over Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37, Luke 19:41). It is also one of the many churches where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang when they last came to Jerusalem. We didn’t do much at this site. As he does at all the other sites, Brother Judd took some time to explain the significance of the site and to read some scriptures. We also sang a few Hymns inside the church. Most of us spent our time outside taking pictures of the Old City. Dominus Flevit is located on the Mount of Olives so it gives a beautiful overview of the Old City, especially of the Temple Mount. It was fun to take some pictures. I have taken a lot of pictures since I have been here, but you can never have enough!

On our way down the Mount of Olives, we stopped in at Orson Hyde Park to eat a quick lunch. We then made our way to the Upper Room near to Dormition Abby on Mount Zion, another site to commemorate the Last Supper. We held a devotional, sang a few Hymns, and continued on our way to a church down the road: Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu. The site commemorates Jesus’ trial by the High Priest Caiaphas and also Peter’s denial. We spent some time inside of the church contemplating the significance of the site and then made our way to ancient steps that Christ would have ascended if this was the place of His trial. It doesn’t matter how many times I have realized that Jesus Christ was in this city, that he walked many of these very streets; it will still feel unreal to me. I can’t believe that I am here, walking in His footsteps. As we made our way back up to the buses to go back to the Center, Brother Judd gave us the choice to stay in the city or go back to the J.C. Along with Jenessa and Jenny S., I decided to stay in the city! (There were only three other students from our class who stayed.) I only have so much more time in Jerusalem…I don’t want to waste it in the Center! We didn’t do very much. We went over to the Jewish Quarter to relax and then we slowly made our way back to the J.C. and stopped into a few shops. It was nice just to be out in the city. You don’t have to go to some extravagant site to be in the City. All you have to do is be there to fully appreciate it…to be in the City.

Tonight we were privileged to sit in a meeting on how to check-out of the J.C. and how to go home. I spent most of the time coloring in my Tangled coloring book… I didn’t have the patience or the attention span to listen to much of what was said. Haha but…I also don’t feel like I am going to have that many problems once I get to the airport. I have flown around the world; I’ve flown out of Israel once before. I am not very worried about it. I am mostly worried about being in a group. It is much harder for a group to get through security that it is for individual people, but I don’t have much choice in the matter. We have been asked to stay together as a group so I will do that the best way I know how…if that happens to be floating off on my own to get through security and then meeting back up together in the terminal, then that’s life…haha.

The evening was spent watching movies and talking to friends as usual. I stayed up way too late…but what else do you expect? I only have so many nights left in Jerusalem. I don’t want to waste them away by sleeping. I can sleep when I get home!