Thanksgiving Cruise to the Holy Land-Part Four

O Jerusalem!

I had been more than anxious with anticipation of this big day.  I couldn't believe it was finally here...I was headed two hours down the road to one of the most important cities of all time.  It's a city that is so important, so revered and meaningful to so many different cultures and religions.  The history is so long and deep that one just can't comprehend it.  It was where the Savior spent his last week and where he suffered and died. I wanted to see this place that is so sacred to me and try not to let my emotions get too carried away.  You should know that every time I just thought about Jerusalem over the last few weeks, I would find myself in a big gooey mess of tears.  I was feeling amazingly blessed to have this chance to see it with my own eyes!


Our day began by getting off the ship at 6:30 and meeting our guide Moti by the bus for our two hour drive through Israel to the city of Jerusalem.  He pulled out a map and described our route southward past Tel Aviv, where we would be just yards away from the Palestinian Territory.  There is a wall all along the border and in this area it is extra tall because you can actually see how close it is to lob rockets into Tel Aviv in this area.  

Moti and his map.

The wall

 We then drove through what is called "The Corridor" which is a mountainous pass right before you get to Jerusalem.  This was a much fought over area during the war for independence in the late 1940's.  It was the road to resupply the besieged city of Jerusalem and after many battles the Israelis found another route through the mountains and were able to get supplies into the city.  Moti told us the road used to be scattered with the detroyed vehicles of the convoys but now they have lined them all up in the median in one area as kind of a memorial.  There is also a big memorial on the hill above it.

Then we arrived in Jerusalem, through the west side, which is the Arab side. It was really dirty, with small, narrow, winding roads.  The bus driver did a great job of getting us through that part of town.

A guy carrying a coffin to somewhere?!

Bus jam

A little food stand

Selling bread on the street corner

Our first stop was The Mount of Olives, which lies across a small valley from the eastern wall of Old Jerusalem.  It's mentioned in both the Old Testament and the New Testament and has been a Jewish burial ground since biblical times.  Lots of tour buses, lots of people and even a cranky camel could not detract from the spiritual feeling of this place!   

The view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

The cranky camel...I think I know why he was so cranky :)

Sister Tintle singing for devotional.

We had a wonderful devotional here and talked about how the Christ walked down from here, through the valley, up the slope to the eastern wall and in through the Golden Gate which was later sealed up.  Sis. Tintle sang "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" so beautifully and with the view of Jerusalem behind her.  It was a moment in time I will never forget!

The Golden Gate in the eastern wall

We then drove just down the hill from there to the Garden of Gethsemane.  There was a really pretty church here called the Church of All Nations.  There was a huge crowd in the garden area around the church, but our guide got special permission to take us to a more secluded and private garden across from the public one.  It was so quiet and peaceful among the ancient olive trees.  Some of the olive trees are a thousand years old.  The olive trees that would have been here in Christ's time were all cut down by the Romans in the siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  

The Church of All Nations

Olive wood figures for sale on the hood of the car

Olive Tree in the Garden of Gethsemane

Moti telling us about how the Savior was left alone here.

 From here we traveled up the hill and around to the west side of Old Jerusalem to the Garden Tomb.  This was such a beautiful, green, quiet place (except for the group of Brazilians who were worshipping loudly in song).

You were required to be given a short tour and explanation by one of their guides. He told us that for hundreds of years the traditional place thought to be where Jesus was crucified and then placed in the tomb was within the walls of the city at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but in 1888, a  British officer named Gordon, discovered what he believed to be Golgatha (Calvary) because of it's location and it's resemblance to a skull.  A few years later they discovered tombs carved into the hill nearby.  They also found a cistern from New Testament times which confirmed it to be a Garden area.  No one knows for sure, but many of us felt the Spirit there and a confirmation that it was indeed a holy place.

Our guide then let us explore the tomb area on our own and I was so surprised we were able to actually go inside the tomb and take photos.

The sign on the door says "He is not here, for He is risen!"

We then had a devotional overlooking the tomb and sang "I know That My Redeemer Lives"  Every time I sing that hymn from now on, I will remember the day I stood in the Garden.

Next we went to a little shop called Jimmy's Bazaar.  Some of the group know Jimmy from bazaars in the Germany area and one gal even knew him from when she was a BYU student here.  He and his family do some amazing olive wood carvings and although he isn't LDS, he does a lot of LDS related carvings.  We shopped for almost an hour!

 After shopping at Jimmy's, Moti walked with us to the Damascus Gate into Old Jerusalem where he let us loose to explore and told us he'd meet us at the Western Wall (The Wailing Wall). 

 We wandered into the old city and walked through the Christian Quarter, along the edge of the Armenian Quarter which were both just a lot of narrow streets with market stalls lining both sides.  I was so surprised how enclosed it was. Most of the time you couldn't even see the sky because there was coverings over the streets.  It reminded me a lot of Tunisia.  

Travis found a chess set and we stopped at a falafel stand for lunch.  I got a shawerma and it was SO good!  The we wandered into the Jewish Quarter.  What a difference!  It was so much more open and clean..interesting, huh?

A street in the Jewish Quarter

This was on a little table near the staircase down to the wailing wall.

We went through a security checkpoint and then went down the stairs to the big plaza in front of the wailing wall.  Moti met us here and told us a lot about the history of the wall and why it's so holy to the Jews. They believe that they are closest to the Father's spirit at the temple and the closest they can get to where the temple once stood is the western wall.  They have been denied access to it over different periods of time and it was a symbol of victory when the military reached the wall in the 6 day war in 1967.
This is the holiest shrine of the Jewish world. The Western Wall is part of the retaining wall supporting the temple mount built by Herod in 20 B.C. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D., Jews were not allowed to come to Jerusalem until the Byzantine period, when they could visit once a year on the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple and weep over the ruins of the Holy Temple. Because of this, the wall became known as the “Wailing Wall.”
Jews were again not allowed to visit the wall from 1948-1967 when it was in the Jordanian section of the city. After the Six Day War, the Western Wall became a place for national rejoycing and prayer, as the last accessible relic of the last Temple.
After teaching us all about it, Moti said we could actually go down and pray at the wall if we wanted to.  I thought only the Jewish people were allowed to.  The men had to put on yamekahs and the women just had to be modestly dressed (legs and arms covered).  The men pray in one section and the women in another. It was really a special moment to be able to approach this wall that is so sacred to them and to place my little slip of paper with my prayer written on it, into the wall.  

The boys meeting some Israeli soldiers

Dallin, McKay and Travis

 I placed my hand on the stones of this ancient wall and whispered an additional prayer, then reverently left.  I noticed later that the women were walking slowly backwards as they left the prayer area and realized that is a tradition.  I felt pretty bad that I had been disrespectful but Moti forgot to tell us about that!

The southwest corner of the temple mount.

The port of Haifa at night as we sailed away from Israel

Israeli Sunset

So ended our two wonderful days in Israel.  I can't put into words how these two days have changed my life, strengthened my testimony and made my relationship with my Savior more personal and meaningful.  I am blessed beyond words and forever grateful for this experience.  

love and miss you all,
-corri

PS- next stop: Izmir Turkey and Ephesus