One of the things I was most excited about was spending Easter here in the Holy Land. So, all of us students were a little sad to discover that we'd be spending Easter Sunday on a bus heading up to the Galilee. However, we convinced the powers that be to bend the rules a little bit and I had some of the most amazing experiences of my trip!
After church on Shabbot (Saturday), a group of us headed for a visit to the Garden of Gethsemane, just on the other side of the hill from where we live. I was able to spend a little time reflecting on the Atonement and thinking about the power of Christ's Sacrifice for us. We had an incredibly powerful testimony meeting in this garden (in the picture) across the street from the "official" Gethsemane (which has a huge church built on it and is usually overrun with tourists- one of the many benefits of being a Mormon student in Jerusalem is that people know us, so we get to go into places like this that aren't open to anybody else and have some peace and quiet.)
That night, a small group of us took a shrute to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City for the midnight Easter mass. It was really neat to attend the mass and see how Catholics (and Russian Orthodox- it's a many-denominational church!) worship. It was also amazing to see the Old City at night- we're usually not allowed in after dark. This picture is of the moon with the city walls.
After midnight mass, a few of us sat around talking for a while until it was time to walk to the Garden Tomb for the sunrise service- we were so tired! Obviously...this picture was taken while we were waiting in line. After we took the edge off with a little standing nap, we sang rousing hymns to try and wake us up until we got into the Garden.
Once we got in there, this is what we saw: the King of Kings Worship Team! Not exactly the peaceful Easter service I was expecting, the meeting was very good at rousing me out of my no-sleep funk. It was my first evangelical and I loved it! 
Appropriately, Joe, Christian and I (possibly the loudest 3 people musically at the JC) sat together.
We had quite the time singing, dancing and Hallelujah-ing. Most of the people you can see here are BYU students...we kind of infiltrated the front lines of the service. The Worship Team seemed to enjoy our enthusiasm, although I don't think they would have had they known that we're Mormon.
After church on Shabbot (Saturday), a group of us headed for a visit to the Garden of Gethsemane, just on the other side of the hill from where we live. I was able to spend a little time reflecting on the Atonement and thinking about the power of Christ's Sacrifice for us. We had an incredibly powerful testimony meeting in this garden (in the picture) across the street from the "official" Gethsemane (which has a huge church built on it and is usually overrun with tourists- one of the many benefits of being a Mormon student in Jerusalem is that people know us, so we get to go into places like this that aren't open to anybody else and have some peace and quiet.)
That night, a small group of us took a shrute to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City for the midnight Easter mass. It was really neat to attend the mass and see how Catholics (and Russian Orthodox- it's a many-denominational church!) worship. It was also amazing to see the Old City at night- we're usually not allowed in after dark. This picture is of the moon with the city walls.
After midnight mass, a few of us sat around talking for a while until it was time to walk to the Garden Tomb for the sunrise service- we were so tired! Obviously...this picture was taken while we were waiting in line. After we took the edge off with a little standing nap, we sang rousing hymns to try and wake us up until we got into the Garden.
Once we got in there, this is what we saw: the King of Kings Worship Team! Not exactly the peaceful Easter service I was expecting, the meeting was very good at rousing me out of my no-sleep funk. It was my first evangelical and I loved it! 
Appropriately, Joe, Christian and I (possibly the loudest 3 people musically at the JC) sat together.We had quite the time singing, dancing and Hallelujah-ing. Most of the people you can see here are BYU students...we kind of infiltrated the front lines of the service. The Worship Team seemed to enjoy our enthusiasm, although I don't think they would have had they known that we're Mormon.After the service was over, Chuck King (leader of the Worship Team) came and found us to thank us for our "spirit." Right then and there, I declared Christ as my Savior, so now I can tell any enquiring evangelicals that I was "saved" March 23, 2008. Woot, woot.
2 comments:
Finally an update! I've been waiting to see more pictures of your smiley face. Looks like fun- I've always thought the mormon's need to step it up a little with the energy at the meetings.. maybe you can give Judy Larson some tips when you get home! We love you.
Awesome pictures!! It's looks like an amazing experience. We're excited to see you!
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