Sunrise, Sunset on Shabat

Well, I broke my pattern of posting everyday by not posting yesterday, but it was really a relaxing day. On the Muslim Shabat, we are not allowed to go into the Old City or East Jerusalem. (Left - In the Garden of Gethsemane). Since we live in East Jerusalem, we cannot leave the center without taking a taxi into West Jerusalem. The only groups going out we going out to shop in West Jerusalem and I didn't really feel like shopping, so I decided to stay at the center and get some homework done. I also wanted to post a couple of videos, but I think I will not be able to do so. It is hard enough for me to post pictures (it takes a long time) and I guess the internet isn't fast enough to upload video. Oh well, maybe when I get home I will post a few videos from my stay here in Jerusalem.
Anyway, today was great. We had church meetings this morning. During Relief Society, a woman from Bethlehem who is a Palestinian Christian. (Right - Sign in the Garden). She told her conversion story. She felt like she should go study at BYU even though she had a $36,000/yr scholarship to a university in Washington D.C. While she was at BYU, a friend of hers gave her a Book of Mormon, asked her to read 3 Nephi 11 and pray about it. She thought, that's not really fair to pray about a single chapter, so she decided to read the whole book and pray about it. By the time she finished reading the book, she knew it was true, but she didn't really think about getting baptized until a friend of hers got baptized. (Left - While in the Garden, we found an olive. We also discovered that the inside is red and looks like blood. It was very interesting). She told her family and almost decided not to get baptized because of their reaction, but she couldn't walk away after getting a testimony. She was baptized, and after graduating, returned home. She now lives in Bethlehem, but travels to Jerusalem (when she can) to attend church. The problem is, with the conflict here in Israel-Palestine, movement is severely restricted. There is a wall that goes all around Bethlehem. To leave Bethlehem, you must get a permit, and those permits are increasingly more difficult to obtain. In fact, she said that this will be her last Sunday because her permit expires on Tuesday. (Right - Mary's Tomb - The mother of Jesus. People go up and kiss the icon here). That is one thing that you take for granted in America. If you want to go to California for the weekend, you pack up and go. But for those living in Bethlehem, that is not the case. They cannot leave the city, either to go to Jerusalem, or even into other parts of the West Bank, without a permit. Movement is so limited!
After church, I got together with a couple of girls. We decided to go see Mary's Tomb. We joined a group going to Gethsemane because the tomb is near Gethsemane. We first went to the Garden and went into the other side. (Left - Mary's Tomb). That was very peaceful and I took the opportunity to pray. After a while, several other people showed up. There were a few girls who were reading the story of Gethsemane, so I listened to that. It was very nice. There were a lot of people in there by the time we were ready to leave. We left and went to Mary's Tomb. That was very interesting. There was a huge group of Russians there to praise Mary. The tomb (really cenotaph) is a door leading into an underground chamber that is decorated by hanging lamps and things like that. I guess these decorations are gifts from all over the world to the mother of the Savior. (Right - the little room in front of the cenotaph of Mary where you can light candles. It is a very small door. See if you can tell where it is). If you look at this picture here, you follow the stairs down and to the right is a large, but short hall that leads to the icons. Before that is a tiny room where you can go an light a candle for Mary. It is all very interesting, and very different from what I am used to. I guess, if I understand correctly, it is believed by Catholics and Orthodoxes alike that God is too holy to approach on your own, so you need a mediator in the form of Mary to take your prayer to God. (Left - The way that we noticed as we left Mary's Tomb. From left to right: Meghan, Jordan, Adrianne, Debbie, and Catherine). It is interesting because in away, we believe something similar, though we believe that mediator, that intercessor is Jesus Christ.
As we were leaving, we noticed a little place off to the side that said Gethsemane over the door. We went inside to see what it was. There were a few signs near the door that called the place the Grotto of Gethsemane and said that this is traditionally the place where Judas betrayed the Savior. I always pictured it as being above ground, but according to tradition and pilgrim accounts, this is the place. (Right - One of the pictures on the wall inside of the Grotto of Gethsemane). Inside is something much like a chapel. It was very dark, and so kind of hard to get a good picture. We tried talking to the priest and nun down there, but they didn't speak English every well, so that was a bust. Anyway, I plan to ask my religion professor about it and perhaps also consult Murph (the name lovingly given to an archaeological book called The Holy Land written by a man named Murphey by my Ancient Near East professor, Professor Seely.
After that, we headed back to the center for dinner. (Left - sunset from the auditorium). We made it back just in time for dinner which was really good. We had three good kinds of meat, veggies, and soup. It was great. The dessert was really yummy, too. I was very happy. After dinner, I was going to get my stuff and check my email, but I learned that we were going to have choir practice. I talked with a few people (including President Browning who is our district president and also the patriarch for Russian-speaking areas). I went to choir and was treated with a beautiful sunset while we sang. It was great. Today was just great. Tomorrow we have classes once again, and then most of us are heading to Tel Aviv for a day away. I hope that it will be a lot of fun. Depending on when we get back, I may not be able to post tomorrow, but I will try.