Super Sunday

This blog entry is mostly for my dearest mother because I fear that I've failed miserably in keeping her up to date on my adventures here in the Holy Land.

Today was a wonderful Sabbath, not Sunday but an ultra holy Sabbath. It's really been neat having Church on Saturday because it represents the whole feeling of the Holy Land here in Israel. There are so many people who are worried about the physical validity of where things took place in the last week of Christ's life that it seems to me that they forget the importance of the locations all together. Just today while listening to students bare their testimonies, I looked from my seat at the beautiful panoramic view of the city and noticed all the buses driving all around the city, undoubtedly taking tourists to notable sites. While watching these buses scury along their paved paths, I thought not of the importance of the physical sites were miracles happened, but rather of the importance of those places in the spiritual realm. The fact that an atonement took place or the resurrection, crucifiction or the other countless miracles in this city is wonderful to me. I love the fact that I can strengthen my testimony and faith of these events while here in the Holy Land.

Something else that I really enjoyed today was going for a walk with Abby, Greg, Austin, Carrie, Ally and Emily. Our walk started out going to the church of the Ascention but once we found out that we had to pay money we decided to stroll the streets of Mt. Scopus. Just like every street here, we found a church that was dedicated to something from the Bible. This church was dedicated to the triumphal entry of the Savior as read in 1 John 12. When I was reading of this entry that the Savior made into Jerusalem, everything became silent in the most holy way. There was no noise from cars, friends or anything, just the still and peaceful silent. During this silence I felt a warm peace, a peace that was offered through the edifice that I was located in. I felt a sense of gratitude for the ramification of those who believe in Christ and have built such holy places where others can feel a similar peace, a peace in the seclusion from the turmoil of the world. After writing in my journal we decided to sing our favorite hymns which sounded sacrosanct and angelic because of the 4 second reviberations from the ceilings of the church. So amazing.

Well, I hope that those who take the time to read this are either a) satisfied that I have taken time to update my life b) excited to have a cup of Joe c) love my mom becasue she's happy she knows her son is doing well!


Have a wonderful night!