The past 24 hours have been filled with spiritual experiences that I probably won't fully be able to explain but I'll do my best. It all began when we went to the Western Wall last night to celebrate the beginning of Sabbbat or the Jewish Sabbath. All of the 70+ students on the program went to the Western wall together and it was a huge celebration. There was singing and dancing and just pure joy and excitement as they welcomed in the Sabbath! It was a really fun experience because I love a good dance party but it was also a spiritually thought provoking experience. Our time celebrating with the Jews also made me contemplate my feelings of the Sabbath. How do I prepare for the Sabbath? Am I excited every week to go to church? Do I celebrate the fact that I have the freedom and ability to worship? These and other questions came to mind that really made me stop and think about my feelings for the Sabbath. The Sabbath has even taken on a new meaning since coming to Jerusalem because we have our church services on Saturday. That is our Sabbath! Growing up the Sabbath always meant Sunday to me but now it has so much more meaning. Now it is so much more than just a day off of work, or a day to sit at church for 3 hours.
 |
| The Western Wall |
Which leads to my actual Sabbath worship today! Yeah, this is my view for church! It is AMAZING!!!!!! I can't believe how lucky I am to have a view like this for church. I fear it will be difficult to go back to a normal church building when I get home!
Today we had District Conference so that was pretty neat! It was another culturally enriching experience because the opening prayer was in Russian, special musical number in Arabic and closing prayer in Spanish.
My favorite part was the opening song. As we sang "I Believe in Christ" the spirit filled the room and warmed my heart. It was one of those moments when your testimony is just reconfirmed. I know that Christ lives and sitting there looking at the city where he lived and walked just made it all the more real to me. It was an amazing experience!!!
"I believe in Christ; oh blessed name! As Mary's son he came to reign."
Following church we had another outing and we went to the Garden Tomb. Oh what a peaceful feeling can be felt in those gardens!!! The spirit just washed over me as I contemplated the events that took place there. The Garden Tomb is thought to be the possible place where Christ died and was buried but if it is the exact location or not we aren't sure. But it's not about the exact location, it's about the event itself. The focus is the fact that Christ suffered, died and rose again. He over came the grave. "There is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ." - Mosiah 16:8
Today we had District Conference so that was pretty neat! It was another culturally enriching experience because the opening prayer was in Russian, special musical number in Arabic and closing prayer in Spanish.
My favorite part was the opening song. As we sang "I Believe in Christ" the spirit filled the room and warmed my heart. It was one of those moments when your testimony is just reconfirmed. I know that Christ lives and sitting there looking at the city where he lived and walked just made it all the more real to me. It was an amazing experience!!!
"I believe in Christ; oh blessed name! As Mary's son he came to reign."
 |
| Me and my roomies after church |
 |
| inside the tomb |
 |
| The hillside thought to be Golgatha because it looks like a skull |
Christ lives and loves you! Don't ever forget that!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment