Kicked off the week with my favorite free day so far. We went to the Western Wall which was a nice way to start off the day. When I go pray at the wall I feel a similar feeling as when I am in the temple. At least similar enough for now.
We also went to the Temple Institute which is a museum where you can see all the things Jews have built for the temple they hope to rebuild someday. This sect of Jews are fixed on rebuilding a new temple, but believe that it must be rebuilt where the Dome of the Rock currently stands, which presents a problem. Despite this, they are totally ready to move in. Everything in the museum is ready to be moved to the temple at any moment.
We also revisited Hezekiah's tunnel which was super fun. This time we did it with just a lighter and some times in the total dark to get more of a feel for what it was like back in the day. It was super fun.
We also visited the artist's colony and had some amazing falafels. And we just explored the Old City and found fun stuff! Like Christ's Church, which was cool to sing in. And these cool lions.
That night we got back to the center and enjoyed hamburgers and hot dogs for fourth of July! That impressed me a lot. A lot of the workers in the cafeteria are Palestinians and they could have a lot of reasons to dislike Americans if they wanted to. But they threw us this American party and were so kind to us. They are always kind to us, but it struck me then how amazing the Jerusalem Center is. It provides an atmosphere for Israelis, Palestinains, Americans, Jews, Muslims, and Mormons to get to know and love each other!
So cool.
Monday we took a field trip to Bethlehem! We visited the Church of the Nativity which is where a lot of Christians believe Christ was born. This picture includes a silver star on the ground, which many claim as the exact site of Christ's birth.
My favorite part though was going to these fields overlooking Bethlehem where the shepherds likely were. We spotted the first star of the night there and sang Christmas songs. The spirit was so strong and I was reminded of the reality of Christ's birth. I am so grateful that Christ was born of Mary. Being born of a mortal woman Christ was endowed with the capacity to feel pain, fatigue, sorrow, and be truly tempted. Although He lived life as the son of God, His life was in no way easy. It was so difficult and that was made possible by His mortal birth, which I am so grateful for.
It was amazing to sing Christmas songs and realize that I was so near to where the events they proclaimed took place. I got a little glimpse of what it would have been like for the shepherds to see the first start of the night. A highlight was singing Silent Night and hearing the words "with the dawn of redeeming grace". Those words struck me. With Christ's birth, the world finally saw a dawn. All of us who were in spiritually darkness were finally given a light, the possibility to receive redeeming grace.
Sunset over Bethlehem, although we can pretend it's a sunrise.
The next couple of days were mostly class/homework days but we did take a fun little walk to Hebrew University and saw their gardens. I saw some really cute cats, a frog, and some leeches. Fun.
And then....BYU JERUSALEM APOCALYPSE TIME. Out of 78 students, 35 were struck ill on Thursday. It was a dark time. I think everyone is better now though.
Thursday we went on a field trip to the ruins of Herod's temple. I gained an appreciation for how huge and splendid it was. It was also cool because it's a place where Christ would have gone to teach and throw out the money changers. Also the Old Testament became more real for me then as I thought more about the destruction of Jerusalem. They were literally burned to the ground. Even the temple, their most magnificent building was reduced to ruins.
Just #candidly reading my scriptures on the temple steps
And then Friday we had a midterm in the evening so that was kind of a less exciting day.
Today has been a wonderful Sabbath. One of the girls in our program unexpectedly lost her sister a few days ago. Today in the garden tomb I watched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZqTRSVA1YA and it was so powerful. Christ truly changed the world. I am so grateful that death will not permanently separate me from people I have loved, and that I will be reunited with my earthly and heavenly family. The gospel is true, and Christ truly is at the center of it. I am so grateful for Him- for His reality, His mercy, and His grace.
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