First Shabbat

It's been a busy last few days; I do believe it's time for a recap of the goings on. The day after our tour of the Old City, we had our first two classes: Old Testament, which I am loving (although the reading and studying is taking up a lot of time), and Ancient Near Eastern History, which is... ok. Brother Chadwick teaches that one and, while I love him, the material is a little boring. Mostly maps, so far.

After that we had our committee meetings. I am on the Snack Bar committee, which we have named The Holy Land Stand for the semester. We are open for an hour each night, and I am in charge of running it on Thursday nights. Kinda crappy I have to spend time in the Holy Land 'working,' but at least it is only once a week for an hour. We had the rest of the day unscheduled, but we couldn't leave the center because it was Ramadan. (We've left since then and it's still Ramadan so I'm not entirely sure why we couldn't leave that particular day.) Good opportunity for a 4 hr nap, if you ask me.

Saturday was our first Shabbat, or Sabbath, in the Holy Land. I loved it. It brought a whole new meaning to the Sacrament being able to overlook so many holy sites where so many events have taken place. We are so blessed to get to be here and see and experience so many things this semester. Our Gospel Doctrine teacher is from the States, but she is currently attending Hebrew University. She is SUCH a sweetheart. And our Relief Society President is a Palestinian from Bethlehem. She was originally Greek Orthodox, but attended BYU Provo where she became a convert to the church. After BYU Provo, she attended University in Turkey to get her PhD in Statistics before returning to Bethlehem. (One smart cookie, if you ask me.) She used to have a difficult time getting through the Separation Wall so she could attend church at the JC, but has a bit of an easier time now because she works for the UN and has a special pass.

After church a bunch of us wanted to walk down to the Garden Tomb, but word on the street was we weren't supposed to go there on our own until after next Sabbath when they take us as a group. So instead we went on a walk to the Tower of the Ascension. (Like the JC, it is also on the Mount of Olives) Not gonna lie, I was miserable. I felt like I was walking through the desert because it was so HOT.  Furthermore, when we got to the tower they said we had to pay to climb the stairs to the top... So we promptly turned around and walked home for dinner. I'm glad I went though because I learned a valuable lesson: I will only be taking skirts on our trip to Egypt in two weeks. The heat was bad enough in a skirt. No need to add pants to the equation.

Another bright side of our little trip was I finally used my camera in Jerusalem. I now present you with the Augusta Victoria Tower. It's not the tower we walked to, rather this one is actually closer to the center. You might think we were dumb for not going to the tower closest to us, but we knew our field trip was taking us here a few days later, so we didn't bother w/ good ol' Augusta this time.

Augusta Victoria

After dinner a few more of us decided to walk back to the Old City to visit the Holy Sepulchre. On our way through the Old City streets we followed a cart that was pushing a rack of raw meat. Josh, being the nice guy he is, got in front of the cart to help guide the cart through all the people. Gotta love the Old City.

It might be hard to tell here, but Josh is pulling the front of the cart.

In the courtyard outside the Holy Sepulchre
My roommates are on both sides of me: Morgan on my right, RaeLynn on my left.
Shout out to Charles for being the photographer and having to miss out on being in the picture.

This is the Anointing Stone inside the Holy Sepulchre.
Most Christians believe this is where Christ's body was laid after He was crucified and before He was taken to the tomb.
(Mormons believe the Holy Sepulchre wasn't where all of these events occurred, however)

After walking around the Holy Sepulchre someone asked us if we would like a tour of the place. He took us to the spot where Christendom believes the center of the Earth is. We got to touch it, and then he asked if we wanted to go inside the tomb where Jesus was laid (once again, this is according to most Christians). We said sure, and he said that we could pay him our 250 shekels (!!) after the tour. We told him we didn't have any money on us (we didn't) and that we don't spend money on this day (Sabbath). He said it was fine and that we could just pay him if we do another tour in the future. We were kinda stressed for a second there, thinking we owed him a whole bunch of money.

He gave each of us a special honey candle and took us to a place in the Sepulchre (the building is huge, btw) where they believe Joseph of Arimathia's tomb was. We each got to go inside to see the empty grave in there, which was cool to see. So many people view this spot as sacred ground and I felt blessed that I got to see it. And even though the Spirit isn't always felt in these places, there is still a feeling of reverence that is difficult to describe.

Inside the tomb

I am so lucky to be here! I just love it so much. I must say I'm still not impressed with my Chacos, though. I got mega blisters walking to the Old City so I haven't worn them since. I'm determined to break them in though, once my current blisters heal. I'll provide an update later if I ever decide I like them.