Friday, November 9, 2007
We began our day today, as we have done everyday, with prayer as a group on the bus. Steve was asked to offer the prayer, and it set such a spiritual tone for our day. Today is Friday, the day before Shabbat. We expected larger crowds at the holy sites we would be visiting today, but we also had to make sure we went to the sites that would be closing early because of the upcoming Shabbat. As we made our way to the Mount of Olives and parked the bus, we looked behind us and could see bus after bus (I counted 10 just behind our bus alone) of groups like ours wanting to see the same sites. As we walked down the narrow winding road towards the olive garden, we could see masses of people, along with street vendors hawking their wares. Then Alan and Asher took us to a small gate by a church where our group was allowed to enter and be by ourselves for a small amount of time. As Alan talked to us about Gethesemane, we all sat in awe as we thought about the Great Atonement that took place in this area. The greatest gift of sacrifice to man, for man, that was offered by the Only One who was willing to complete the most diffiult of all tasks: D&C 19:16-18, "...Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of the pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit..." It is my testimony that there was one plan of salvation presented in the pre-existance, and two proposals of how that plan would be accomplished, and that Christ's proposal-his willingness to be our mediator so that we could retain choice--was the only way that our Father's plan would be completed. Lucifer never would have submitted himself to the agony and pain that would be required--he is too selfish. I know that those of us who voted for the Savior's proposel inherently knew that He had what it would take to fully complete the task that He promised He would do. I am truly amazed....
As a group, we realized that our time alone in the garden was a miracle, because soon after we had our little devotional, the gates were opened to a flood of people. We continued to walk around the site, which included a church built around a rock that is one of the "traditional" sites of where Christ offered up the intercessary prayer on our behalf.
After leaving Gethsemane, we continued to another area that contains the largest Jewish cemetary in Jerusalem (and the world, I am sure). On many of the headstones we could see rocks, placed in remembrance of the Exodus in the dessert and also to symbolize that the loved ones of the dead are still building a monument. From here, we boarded our bus and went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. It was a very moving memorial to those who died at the hands of the Nazi regime, but at the end it offered hope for the future while honoring the victims.
After lunch at Pasha's, a Turkish restaurant, we went back over to see the remains of the Pools of Bethesda, which we know is an ACTUAL site of where Jesus performed miracles, including healing a crippled man soon after Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem at Passover. Near the pools is the Stations of the Cross, the pathway many devout Christians follow to retrace the steps of Christ on the day of His crucifixion. The end of this found us at the Church of the Holy Seplecure, another "traditional" site. This is a huge church that is claimed by six different religions: Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Armanian, Syrian, Ethiopian, (?? an Egyptian religion, I can't remember the name). It was a crazy mass of people and each "church" was performing their individual services (Mass?) all at the same time. Wow! Alan quoted Pres. McKay as saying that there were three things he would never advise someone on: who they should marry, what profession they should choose, and to go to the Church of the Holy Seplechure. It is important to remember, however, that even though we do not feel that this was the very site where Jesus was crucified, washed and buried, there are all of these masses of people who do believe in Christ and that he died for us. They are all here to worship and give thanks for the gift that Christ gave to each of us. As daunting as the crowds were, it was neat to see so many devout followers of Christ, from many different lands throughout the world.
We began our day today, as we have done everyday, with prayer as a group on the bus. Steve was asked to offer the prayer, and it set such a spiritual tone for our day. Today is Friday, the day before Shabbat. We expected larger crowds at the holy sites we would be visiting today, but we also had to make sure we went to the sites that would be closing early because of the upcoming Shabbat. As we made our way to the Mount of Olives and parked the bus, we looked behind us and could see bus after bus (I counted 10 just behind our bus alone) of groups like ours wanting to see the same sites. As we walked down the narrow winding road towards the olive garden, we could see masses of people, along with street vendors hawking their wares. Then Alan and Asher took us to a small gate by a church where our group was allowed to enter and be by ourselves for a small amount of time. As Alan talked to us about Gethesemane, we all sat in awe as we thought about the Great Atonement that took place in this area. The greatest gift of sacrifice to man, for man, that was offered by the Only One who was willing to complete the most diffiult of all tasks: D&C 19:16-18, "...Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of the pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit..." It is my testimony that there was one plan of salvation presented in the pre-existance, and two proposals of how that plan would be accomplished, and that Christ's proposal-his willingness to be our mediator so that we could retain choice--was the only way that our Father's plan would be completed. Lucifer never would have submitted himself to the agony and pain that would be required--he is too selfish. I know that those of us who voted for the Savior's proposel inherently knew that He had what it would take to fully complete the task that He promised He would do. I am truly amazed....
As a group, we realized that our time alone in the garden was a miracle, because soon after we had our little devotional, the gates were opened to a flood of people. We continued to walk around the site, which included a church built around a rock that is one of the "traditional" sites of where Christ offered up the intercessary prayer on our behalf.
After leaving Gethsemane, we continued to another area that contains the largest Jewish cemetary in Jerusalem (and the world, I am sure). On many of the headstones we could see rocks, placed in remembrance of the Exodus in the dessert and also to symbolize that the loved ones of the dead are still building a monument. From here, we boarded our bus and went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. It was a very moving memorial to those who died at the hands of the Nazi regime, but at the end it offered hope for the future while honoring the victims.
After lunch at Pasha's, a Turkish restaurant, we went back over to see the remains of the Pools of Bethesda, which we know is an ACTUAL site of where Jesus performed miracles, including healing a crippled man soon after Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem at Passover. Near the pools is the Stations of the Cross, the pathway many devout Christians follow to retrace the steps of Christ on the day of His crucifixion. The end of this found us at the Church of the Holy Seplecure, another "traditional" site. This is a huge church that is claimed by six different religions: Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Armanian, Syrian, Ethiopian, (?? an Egyptian religion, I can't remember the name). It was a crazy mass of people and each "church" was performing their individual services (Mass?) all at the same time. Wow! Alan quoted Pres. McKay as saying that there were three things he would never advise someone on: who they should marry, what profession they should choose, and to go to the Church of the Holy Seplechure. It is important to remember, however, that even though we do not feel that this was the very site where Jesus was crucified, washed and buried, there are all of these masses of people who do believe in Christ and that he died for us. They are all here to worship and give thanks for the gift that Christ gave to each of us. As daunting as the crowds were, it was neat to see so many devout followers of Christ, from many different lands throughout the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment