Penultimate Field Trip

That was today. Great. Only one more day of field trips, a free day, and....traveling. Ahh!

Okay, whew. I'll keep it together.

Today we had an awesome day. We went to Bethany, Bethpage, Pater Noster Church, Dominus Flevit, Orson Hyde Park, and the Upper Room. I'm going to touch on all of them. Just you wait.

So Bethany is on the east side of the Mount of Olives, on a little outshoot of the Mount. It is the town where Mary and Martha lived, and where Christ would go to stay a lot. There's no record of where their house is, of course, but Bethany is also where Lazarus lived, and where Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, and there is only one tomb there that fits the criteria for that, and that's where we went today. It was really surprising, actually. It was pretty deep, down in the earth, down a slippery staircase, and then into an antechamber and then a small tunnel into the tomb chamber. Only about 10 of us could go down at a time. It was fun, though.

After that we went and we had a discussion/lesson on Mary and Martha, and Christ coming to raise Lazarus from the dead. He waited four days after Lazarus' death because according to Jewish tradition, the Spirit lingers in the body for three days after a person's death. By waiting four days, it was a sign from Christ that He had power over the spirit, to call it back to the body. Pretty interesting, right?

This is the Church at Bethany. All of the churches have amazing acoustics, and we love to sing.

This is looking into Lazarus' tomb...

This is the entrance. Sorry, I had a better one, but I don't know what happened to it. It's just a little entrance though.

This is me and a poinsettia! It was huge, and pretty, and made me think of Christmas! I'll be home soon!

After that we rode the bus to Bethpage, which is where Christ waited while his disciples found a donkey for Him to ride into Jerusalem on, for the triumphal entry. Well, they didn't just go find a donkey, but there was one that Christ told them to go find, and the brought it back. At that point He got on the donkey and rode over the Mount of Olives and into Jerusalem. There was a beautiful church there, commemorating it, that had amazing accoustics. We sang there. Today was a day filled with singing, which was really wonderful.

This is the Church at Bethpage...

A fresco depicting Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. They always have paintings that have landscape backgrounds but don't show Jerusalem, it's interesting.

This is me and Megan at the church, with the fresco in the background.

After Bethpage, we walked over the mountain to Pater Noster Church. This is the Church that is famous for being the traditional site where Christ offered the Lord's Prayer. Pater Noster means "Our Father." Some other things that this site is known for are Christ's Olivet Discourse, His ascension into heaven, and also the place where He decends from heaven. It was a beautiful place. Brother Brown said that, to him, it is one of the most special places in all of Jerusalem. It was very peaceful, and is the site of where many great things happened. They also had The Lord's Prayer all over the church on these panels, in different languages. I'm not kidding, I found one for everybody! Here, you can all take a look!

Pater Noster!

This is the Church, with the courtyard...

The original place that they are commemorating is a cave that is on site, so this is me in the cave.

Me and Lyndsay in the cave!

This is the "Anglais" version of the Lord's Prayer.

Tagalog! Yay for Patrick!

The main church and altar!

Creole! I don't know if this is the same one Clayton spoke..but it said Creole, and so I took a picture. See, one for everyone.

Samoan! Funny sidenote. I saw Fijian, and so I thought there must be Tagalog and Samoan (sorry Clayton, but I didn't even dream of Creole), so I walked around the whole church, and couldn't find them in the courtyards....so I went into the actual chapel. Yeah, Samoan and Tagalog...they were right inside the church, by the altar! Spanish wasn't even in there! ENGLISH wasn't even in there! So there you go. Creole, Samoan, and Tagalog are apparently more central in the Lord's Prayer than English and Spanish. Good work to our Returned Missionaries.

And FINALLY, I found Spanish, and was happy. Oh excuse me "Espagnol." I found Espagnol. Love it!

After that we walked down to Dominus Flevit, where I went a couple weeks ago, and we learned about Christ lamenting over Jerusalem. Dominus Flevit means "The Lord wept." It has a church in the shape of a teardrop, built in 1955, commemorating His weeping for Jerusalem. It's actually one of my favorite churches because of the beautiful view there. It's really peaceful and just really pretty. I really loved it going back.

The view from Dominus Flevit on a rainy day. The Dome is so pretty. It's big, too. It still surprises me.
This awesome apse and altar. I love this church, really. It's simple, yet beautiful.

This is a reference to Christ's lament over Jerusalem when He says, "How often would I have gathered thee like a hen gathereth her chickens." Or something like that. It's on the altar...

And again, the view! And some....Asians, I think.

Next we went to Orson Hyde Park, and we ate our sack lunches and learned more about Orson Hyde. He was an apostle called to go on a mission in this area. He had visions before he came of all the places he visted, and everything he would do. He also dedicated the area from the Mount of Olives, looking over the city. I love that park, it's really fun to go sit in. It's beautiful!

After that we went and caught our buses again and drove to The Upper Room that is over David's Tomb. We learned a little more about the Last Supper experience, and then we went on the roof and looked over the city.

This is Dormition Abby, and I thought it was a cool angle...

The Upper Room... packed with Mormons! Yessss!

This is me and Sarah Ingalls in the Upper Room. I love this girl!

That was the end of the field trip. It was really cold in the city today, and so some of us opted to come back to the center afterward. We could've gone out, and I'm a little sad I didn't, but for some reason it just felt right to come back to the center. So I enjoyed a nice afternoon here at the center, and wrote my last paper for class and just enjoyed the center!

We also had a pre-departure orientation meeting tonight. They love to orientate us, which is great. So, the clock is really winding down. It's weird. I think I'm going to start packing tonight too, just to make sure that I can fit everything I've bought in!

Love, love, love!

P.S. I love all of you, and I love everyone here. I am so blessed to be amongst such amazing people here, and to have such incredible people in my life. I love you all, really. So much.