A Day on the Mount of Olives 12-1-09

After classes on Tuesday, we decided that we would get out and see the beautiful area of Jerusalem!

We set out to stay on the Mount of Olives. It was me, Lauren Hays, Emily Andersen, and Lexi Young.

Our first stop was going to be the Garden of Gethsemane, but they weren't open yet, so we went to Mary's tomb. It was so nice because we just got time to sit and be there, even though we weren't worshiping or anything, we just sat and talked because we were the only ones there. It was nice. We read scriptures and just talked about the Resurrection, actually. Kind of random, but I always wonder where all the bodies are in the tombs that we visit, and that led us to the Resurrection, somehow :).

Next we finally made it to the Garden of Gethsemane. It was beautiful. We first went to the Church of All Nations, and we just sat in silence and thought and read and etc. (The Church of All Nations is the church that the Garden of Gethsemane is in.) It is a beautiful church, and it is nice to just sit and think. We have the time now, just to take things slowly and enjoy these last weeks being here in Jerusalem. It's so nice.

We love nuns...

It is a gorgeous church, and the main colors used are gold and purple. It is just absolutely beautiful.

Loved the purple stained-glass windows...I didn't realize for a little minute that they had crosses in them, but they are still beautiful.


After that we walked around the garden. The trees in the tourist garden are really, really old. Much older than the private garden, so that is one thing that is so cool. It takes Olive trees ten years just to start producing olives when they are young. They can live indefinitely, until something kills them. And they grow very, very slowly. So an old tree is very rare, and very precious. It explains why the one at the Salt Lake Temple is so, so precious, and also there is an old one here at the entrance to the Jerusalem Center. It's amazing.

The Garden :) So the gardener was working around the outside today, and one of the gates was open, and so I definitely tried to get into the inner part where nobody is allowed to go. By trying to get in, I mean that I asked the gardener, and tried to convince him we'd be very respectful if we could just walk on that lovely white-pebble path. He didn't really go for it. Darn.

Next we climbed up the hill, but in the opposite direction of the JC. We passed the Jewish Cemetery on the way, which was really, really cool. We even saw some Jewish people gathered around some tombs...
This is the group of Jews at the tomb... They're in traditional garb, with all black coats and hats (for the men.) They were worshiping here. They always wear those clothes though, don't get me wrong. It wasn't in mourning or anything (although they probably were in mourning), but it was just really neat to see them in the Jewish Cemetery.

Tombs...

Me and tombs.... and you can see the rocks on the tombs in the background. They put rocks instead of flowers on the tombs here. Maybe cause rocks last longer? Just an interesting tradition, I think.

And of course, we took the opportunity to take a shadow picture. Naturally.

At the top we went to a church at the top of the Mount of Olives called Dominus Flevit, which is the Church commemorating Christ weeping over Jerusalem. We got there and there was a wall that faced the entire city. It was beautiful. We sat for probably and hour, just talking, and looking at the city that we have come to love so much. We talked about our goals for when we go home, and just how being here has changed us. I hope to always be different. I want this semester to be a changing point in my life. Something that I can look back on and say that it monumentally changed my life, my actions, my thoughts, everything. I think it will be just that for my life.

The view from the wall. Oh Jerusalem, how I love you!

Me, Lexi, and Emily.

It was so beautiful with the evening, fall sunlight. The pictures just don't do it justice.

The is the apse inside the church. It had a clear glass window! It was so beautiful, you could see the Old City of Jerusalem. Props to whoever designed that. It reminds me of the temple with the clear window overlooking the Sacred Grove. So beautiful. Again, thanks mom and dad for all the fun trips and things I've seen!

Anyway, after that we walked up the rest of the hill and walked down a street along the top to get back to the Center. I'd never been up there, just walking, so that was fun. We did see one very ironic thing, however. A HUGE Israeli flag, flying high, right in the middle of a Palestinian neighborhood. The conflict is real, and we live in the midst of it. It's so interesting to think that something like that could be happening today, and that daily life can go on. So many lives here are affected by it, though. It's so sad to see two groups of people that are so loved by our Heavenly Father, fighting against each other, and completely unable to accept each other.

Interesting.

Anyway, after that it was home again, home again, jiggity-jig! (Love you Dad and Mom!)