We had the opportunity to fly to the Holy Land of Jerusalem and have two of our older children join us, so nine of us total. We took a flight from London to Tel Aviv. From Tel Aviv we went by a taxi/shuttle bus to Jerusalem. Our rental apartment in Jerusalem was in the Jewish Area outside of the Jerusalem Gates.

This week I worked to put a video together of what we saw in Jerusalem and have compiled it into a Youtube video, I hope you enjoy:

I have a testimony of my Savior and it was really special to visit some of the places he lived, walked and preformed miracles.

The Garden Tomb

The Garden Tomb was really nice. It is located in a small garden area near Skull Hill, which is the hill the Savior may have been crucified on. I learned the Roman’s crucified people near busy road ways and 2000 years ago this area was a hill near a busy road with a rock cliff resembling a skull on it (Skull Hill).

We happened to arrive and have a couple minutes to ourselves here, which is unusual due to so many visitors. It was a moment of peacefulness.

BYU Jerusalem Center and Mount of Olives

We hiked the two miles uphill from our rental home to the BYU Jerusalem Center on Sunday for church, and were almost there when we were told by some BYU students, that church in Jerusalem is on Saturday. We found out that due to the Muslim and Jewish communities around Jerusalem, and their sabbaths being Friday and Saturday, our church needed to have their services on Saturday to accomidate the local workers employed in the Jerusalem Center.

From the Jerusalem Center we walked to the Mount of Olives. This was a spectacular view of Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock, and the area prophesied that the Savior will come back and enter into Jerusalem for his second coming. We visited the Garden of Gethsemane and saw a tree that was over 2000 years old and alive when the Savior was there.

Western Wall

We visited the Western Wall or Wailing Wall, which is the only part of the Temple of Solomon that still stands. This was the first temple built to God by the Israelites. There is a men’s part and a women’s part of the wall, sectioned off by a partition. The men were to wear a hat to approach the wall, and there was a booth of small round caps for the men to wear. On the women’s side we learned that one should, out of respect, not turn their back to the wall when walking away, but walk backwards. Symbolizing not turning your back to the Lord.

The Jewish people feel the Western Wall, is the holiest spot they can come to pray. I enjoyed visiting the wall, saying a prayer and seeing women and men put prayer notes into the crevices on the wall.

Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock is controlled by the Muslims. It is thought by Muslims to be the area that Muhammad, in a dream, saw the seven levels of heaven and assended into heaven. The Dome of the Rock to Jewish people is the area containing the foundation stone where they believe is the center of the Earth and the place first created by God. For Christians, it is the area where a temple to the Lord will be rebuild prior to the Saviors Second Coming. For the Jewish people, they believe a temple will be built prior to the Saviors’s first coming.

It sure is a sacred area to many people. Because the Muslims have control of the Dome of the Rock, non Muslims are only allowed at certain times to enter the grounds around the Dome building. We enjoyed walking around the area, and even though we all had modest clothing covering our knees, Brooklyn was still asked to put on a skirt which they gave her.

Street Markets of Jerusalem

We enjoyed walking through the streets of Jerusalem, which were big busy markets. We went through the Muslim, Jewish and Christian Quarters. We enjoyed climbing the tower in the Lutheran church and looking over Jerusalem from inside the city. It was interesting, from up high within the city, I could see over the walls surrounding the Jewish and Muslim homes and see a glimpse of what their lives were like.

We visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This church is where Catholics believe the tomb of the Savior, the rock the Saviors’s body was laid on, the hill where the Savior was crucified, the tombs of Adam and Eve and the rock where the Savior sat when the thorned crown was put on his head are all held.

We took three road trips: to Bethlehem, to the Dead Sea and Jordan River and to the Sea of Galilee. These places are also included on my YouTube video above.

Bethlehem

The Dead Sea and the Jordan River

We hired a driver who took us out to a thin strip of land that was given to Israel so they could have access to the Jordan River. On both sides of this thin strip of land, there were fences marking the border country of Jordan. One fence section having signs warning of Land Mines (that was scary). When we reached the Jordan River there were Israeli armed guards on one side of the river and Jordan armed guards on the other side.

It was interesting to think this was the river Jesus was baptized in. We don’t know the spot, but do know this river.

The Dead Sea was really fun. We, being from near the Great Salt Lake, didn’t think the Dead Sea would be all that neat. We were wrong. The Dead Sea has about 34% salt in it. The Great Salt Lake has about 5-26% salt, depending on the area. The ocean is about 3% salt. Our driver took us to a resort on the Dead Sea, we changed into our swim suits and went out into the water. It was amazing! It felt like you were sitting in a tube floating, but there wasn’t a tube. After a bit we smeared the clay soil on us, it was a mud bath, and then got out and rinsed off. Very fun adventure.

On the drive back, our driver drove us up in the desert mountains, which over looked the Spring of Elijah and a monastery which is only accessable by foot or donkey.

Sea of Galilee

We took a bus tour to the Sea of Galilee and saw so many things along the journey. We saw the Valley of Armegeddon, Mary Magdalene’s Town, Capernaum, a Church honoring the miracle of the Fishes and Loaves of Bread Parable, Nazareth, the Church of the Annunciation, Joseph’s house (basement) and workshop, the Sea of Galilee and the area that the Savior walked on water and another spot on the Jordan River where some people choose to get re-baptized.

These are a few extra pictures I wanted to share.