30 July 2011

Can you believe it's Sabbath again? Already? I remember the afternoon of my first Sabbath in Jerusalem. I was sitting in a group of people, and they were discussing how sad it would be when we had to go to church back in Utah, in Idaho, in Hawaii. Someone piped in and said that we had sixteen Sabbaths left in Jerusalem...that sixteen Sabbaths was a lot. Well, sixteen Sabbaths is nothing. I can't believe that there is only one more Sabbath Day left in Jerusalem...one more day to look out over the Old City during Sacrament meeting, one more day to listen to Brother Chadwick bust Mormon Myths in Sabbath School, one more day to share in the sweet spirit of Relief Society. I didn't expect this day to come for a few more weeks...months even. And now, here I am, wondering where all of the time went...wondering if I will ever have this again, if I will ever have another Sabbath (after next week) of partaking of the Sacrament in the same city where the Last Supper occurred.

Sacrament was fully centered around Jesus Christ - becoming like Him, seeking after Him, taking His name upon us. It was a great time to reflect on what I have learned about Him and on what He has done for me. I couldn't tell you why I chose to come to study in the Holy Land; the best answer I can come up with is that I wanted to go to Egypt. But as most of you know, that part of the program was cancelled and replaced with a trip to Turkey. As my time in Jerusalem is coming to an end, I have been searching for an answer to why I chose to come to Jerusalem, why I was supposed to come here. The one thing...or person, rather, that comes to my mind is my Savior, Jesus Christ. On this program, I have had many opportunities to grow closer to Jesus Christ through study, through personal experience, through prayer. It has been a chance for me to come to know my Savior in a different light, to leave the world behind and really focus in on Him and on His love for me. I know without a doubt that He is the promised Messiah, that He came into this world to save all men from sin, that He died upon the cross so that all men can return and live with Him and the Father someday. It is only through Jesus Christ and His Atonement, His Sacrifice that we can be saved. We have to make an effort. We have to be obedient to the commandments; we have to search after Him. We must do our part if we expect His Atonement to have any effect on us. I am so thankful for the opportunity I have had to come to know my Savior the past few months. I have said this before, and I will continue saying it. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior, my Redeemer, my Brother, my Friend. And I know that He lives; without a doubt in my mind, I know He lives.

Once church let out, I had the opportunity to go to the Old City with a few other students to participate in a service activity. We were able to meet with a elderly member of the Christian Quarter in the Old City, to learn a little bit about her life, and to sing a few songs to her. It was the first time I had been inside of a home in Jerusalem. It wasn't what I was expecting. They live very differently from me; their entire culture is different. She seemed to really appreciate our visit. Like in the United States, there are so many elderly people who are not visited, who are left alone. I think it is so important for us to reach out to the elderly in our societies. We don't truly understand how lonely they really are, how eager they are for a simple conversation until we speak with them. There is so much we can learn from them. Reach out to them. Go out and visit someone in your neighborhood, in your city. Adopt a grandmother; adopt a grandfather. You will not regret this decision.

We got back to the Jerusalem Center just in time for a delicious Sabbath meal in the Oasis. I always look forward to Sabbaths when it comes to food! There is always roast and potatoes and vegetables. I love it. And dessert tonight...I cannot express how amazing the dessert was tonight! Imagine a chocolate fudge brownie....covered in a hot chocolate sauce. It was amazing. And the chocolate was dark and rich. (Rachel...you would have been in heaven; it was that amazing! We don't always have amazing desserts at the J.C. Like many foreign countries, the desserts aren't always sweet. But tonight, this was not the case. Yum. Yum. Yum.

Seminary was amazing, as usual. And it was even better because I didn't have to teach! Lizzie taught the lesson tonight, and it was amazing. She finished up the prophets (Ezra Taft Benson, Howard W. Hunter, and Gordon B. Hinckley) and then spoke on The Family: A Proclamation to the World. For those of you who have not read that document recently (or ever), I encourage you to read it. (A copy can easily be located on lds.org.) The family truly is essential to the Father's Plan; without the family, His plan becomes pointless. I have gained such a great appreciation for my family this summer. I am so grateful for them and to them, and I am so thankful that we have the ability to be together forever. Forever it a scary thought sometimes, but through the Father's plan, this forever is perfect happiness. We watched one of those cheesy seminary videos made in the 1990s and I just...I started crying (and I am not usually one to outright cry). My mom and dad have given me everything in life. It is because of them that I am in Jerusalem, that I am studying at BYU, that I have the developed talents that I have, that I have a knowledge of my Savior, that I am happy. We don't realize how much our parents do for us until we stop and think about it, and I don't think I will ever truly realize the love and devotion they have for me until I have children of my own. It has been such a great experience for me to teach seminary this semester. The Lord really does call people to callings where they can grow, where they can learn.

Brother Judd gave a fireside tonight on the choices that we have in life and how we can better make those choices with our minds centered on Jesus Christ and our Father's Plan for us. He centered a lot on the Spirit of Revelation and how we can better turn to the Lord for assurance, for answers to our questions. The past few nights, I have had something on my mind that has been a little unsettling. This fireside helped to settle those feelings. God really will do all that He can to help us and to answer our questions and to guide us in life, but we have to do everything in our own power to accopmlish the goals that we seek and turn to Him before He will reach out to us. We have to show forth that faith. I loved the insights Brother Judd had. He really is an inspired man. I am lucky to have him as a professor in Jerusalem.

The day is over. And it was an amazing day. I know that I am continually saying that everyday I have is amazing, but I really do mean it. The way I am touched with the Spirit, the interactions I have with those around me, the insights I gain both through classes and experiences make each of my days amazing. Like I've said multiple times, you just can't have a bad day in Jerusalem. Even if you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, everything will work out by the end of the day.