I am sitting on my balcony listening to the call to prayer… it sounds like this mmm inja la famia la mmm ba dina wanda eEeEeE mmmhadina wania. Today was quite normal thus far. I began the day waking up at 6:15 to go running along the lower level of the center. The sun was rising and the sky was a pinkish blue. 2 hours of Old Testament along with 2 hours of ancient near eastern studies later we had lunch. I rocked my committee meeting. I am in charge of planning and coordinating all of the activities we do in Jerusalem. I am really excited for this job because I am not only going to plan amazing trips for the students, but my goal is to visit every single place that I can. The Sabbath is tomorrow and we aren’t allowed in East Jerusalem until 3. Also, we have to be out of East Jerusalem by 5. So we are planning on just walking there and getting lost.
So The Old City was so much fun. There were 4 of us walking around. We walked down the Via Doloroso. It is the street where Christ supposedly carried the cross before his crucifixion. All of the Jewish men were in their robes, furry hats, and sideburn curls. It reminded me of Weird Al in Amish paradise. I did love however seeing all of the different religions dressed in their apparel. We walked back and watched the sunset over Jerusalem. A few girls and me had a little dance party- of course - and now I am back inside. Sabbath has started for the city and our Sabbath is tomorrow…Saturday. This should be a fun, interesting experience.
Today is the Sabbath. I had a wonderful realization as to where I am right now. We sat down overlooking Jerusalem, and when they were blessing the sacrament it hit me…this is where Christ was bruised and broken. I can take a 5 minute walk and be in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ bled from every pore. I was taking the sacrament in the city where this happened. I have a few quotes that I want to share
“God does not need us to love him, but oh how we need God to love us”
“God knows our hearts and knows what we are capable of”
“If you understand the nature of God your testimony of God will grow”
*this is for Mike and Ash J “if you want to make God laugh…Tell him your plans”
Before dinner a few of us walked to Gethsemane. We walked through some dirt roads and between people homes. After walking through a gate it opened into Orson Hyde Park, which is a bunch of switch backs of pure beauty! The path is all stone with small flowers and trees everywhere. It overlooks the Old City the whole way walking down. After walking down a steep street we were greeted by some friendly guys. They knew that we were "the Mormons" and they took us into the private gated off garden. We all walked in and went silent. It was simply beautiful. Everyone separated and found a place to sit. We all were still, reading scriptures and writting, or just praying. I am excited to spend more time every sabbath in that garden. As my mom told me and as was mentioned in church today, it is not the location you are in, it is what happened in that location. I still can't believe I am here. I feel like I have known my friends for years, I can't wait to really get started this week.
We haven’t really started much yet- just getting acquainted with the city and the center and the people. But I know that this will be an amazing experience and I will learn so many things. I cant wait to share this experience with you. I love everyone and cant wait to hear from you. Please write to me:
dance_freak03@hotmail.com . dance_freak (use the underscore between dance and freak)
love from the Holy Land
Katie
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