Week 5: A Week of Holidays

This week was filled with National holidays and celebrations here at the JC. It was our first day back from Turkey and we had sacrament meeting and then the rest of the day was a free day. That also happened to be the day that the Pope was in town. So we decided to head down to the Old City at Jaffa gate and stand in a HUGE crowd to see the Pope drive by. It was one sweet cultural experience because we got to see first hand one of the largest controversies going on between religions here in Jerusalem. I saw the Pope's arm! 

Israeli Guards were everyhwere 

This picture is cool if you understand the context behind it. In his picture you can see Jews and a bunch of Palestinians.  *Basically the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a conflict between Palestine (Muslims/Christians) and Israel (Jews). Both names refer to the city of Jerusalem but Palestine would be the name of it if the Muslims/Christians owned it and Israel is the name of it today because the Jews own it. A long time ago the Muslims and Christians were kicked out and no longer given the same rights as the Jews in Jerusalem. Slowly, the Jews are taking over the land and the rights of Jerusalem, which makes the Christians and Muslims frustrated at the state of Israel. The Muslims and Christians (also known as Arabs) want to gain political control of the Land and call it Palestine. Today Jerusalem is referred to as Israel exists, not Palestine.

Ben, Me and Jenny standing by the city walls waiting for the Pope

Because we aren’t allowed to stay in East Jerusalem after dark a bunch of us just went over to West Jerusalem and the boys played in the water fountain with a bunch of little Jewish boys! Everyone enjoyed that, it was a hoot!! Then we got some dinner and shakes at a cute place, then headed home. 

Monday was field trip day and we went to Jericho and the wilderness. We learned about Jesus fasting in the Wilderness which was a great experience itself, it was spiritual for me, I really learned some valuable lessons from Jesus’s experience. Then we went to Jerich0 which is claimed to be the “lowest point in the world”. It’s 1300ft below sea level. My ears were popping like crazy. But basically this is where Herod built his kingdom. This day was also USA Memorial Day! We didn’t celebrate for that though haha.

Wilderness selfie 

Oh hello donkey! 

Tuesday was Al- Isra wal Mirj (the celebration of the ascension of Muhammad (Muslim)) so there were celebrations going on out there but we had a lot of classes that day and didn’t have that much time to go out.

Wednesday was Jerusalem Day! Confused by all the holidays? Yeah, I was too. This day was a dangerous day for Israel because of the Palestinian-Israel conflict. *Above*  There were some riots in the old city so they didn’t let us out. So I studied that day too.. but I really wanted to get out! Haha.

Thursday was ANOTHER holiday in Jerusalem but this time for the Christians, it was the day they believed Christ ascended into heaven. We didn’t celebrate that either it’s just cool to read about it in the news and then be able to see it first hand. We had a lot of classes again but got to slip out to city and get some Arab clothes at Shabans (a shopkeeper) for Arab night. Arab night was SO cool! First we had some sheiks (they aren’t Islamic leaders but they are viewed very highly) and they performed the Call to Prayer. Being a sheik is something that is passed down for many generations so we had a father and a son come. The ability to sing the way they did blew me away!

Then we had a ton of yummy traditional Muslim food and then learned how to dance J It was a great night!

Friday again we studied but then a group of us went out to the city and just played around. We got to see a service at the Armenian church which was incredible! I just am amazed at how many different types of worship are all crammed into this small city. We saw this service and then on the walk back there was a Mass going on, and another religious practice just in the streets. It’s just insane. And the smells… oh, I cannot capture all the smells. The incense in the churches, the weird spices, the smell of people without deodorant, the smell of sweets, that is something you cannot bring home with you!

And now Shabbat (Sabbath). Today has been an incredible day for me as well. A spiritual one indeed.  Sacrament was amazing like always. The chapel is like movie theater seating with the speaker at the bottom and behind the speaker are just glass windows so you can see the ENTIRE city of Jerusalem during church. I just kept looking at the walls of the Old city and thinking about Christ and about all he has done for me. Sacrament has taken on a whole new meaning for me.

After church we went to the Garden of Gethsemane. I actually didn’t really feel any sort of spirit testify that THIS IS THE PLACE, but it was more of the idea of the atonement that I reflected on. That’s the problem with the sites here is that SO many different churches will take over and build memorials and cathedrals and churches which bring in hundreds of people to these sites but they just don’t quite bring me the same peaceful feeling that I get when I’m in the temple. It’s cool to visit these places but to me, it’s not about finding the EXACT rock where Christ suffered, but it’s more of understanding Christ and having faith that the event took place.

On a more personal note if you care to read, here’s what I learned about the Atonement at the Garden of Gethsemane today:

I was at the site of the most remarkable and universal event that has ever happened to humanity and I thought about the symbolism of the Atonement and how the Atonement has been an influence in my life. I haven’t had any significant sin I needed to overcome or had to go through the repentance process and I always thought that was how someone utilized the Atonement. But then I started to think that the Atonement is WAY more than Christ making up for our sins to fulfill God’s will, it was Christ overcoming a trial, and not just his own physical and emotional trial but one to help him empathize with ours. I began watching the people walk by me, and I just thought everyone, every single person in this world has a trial. When I think about Christ in the Garden I picture Christ in agony and frustration in pain and confusion. Then I thought about those moments that were hard for me, where I was curled up in a ball, crying my eyes out because of an emotional or physical trial. Is that not the same? Didn’t Christ have the same experience? Past all the pain though, is the resurrection of Christ and his ability to overcome the sins of the world. And how we can overcome our sins by not only realizing that Christ has overcome but by our faithfulness to God and our “not my will by the thine be done” mentality. Hopefully that makes sense. That was pretty personal, but maybe it will help someone out there who is struggling to understand how the atonement can benefit our lives today.