We accompanied the students on two of their final field trips, following the footsteps of Jesus in the last days of his mortal life.  The first day, we visited the tomb of Lazarus in Bethany (which is now over the border from Jerusalem in the West Bank) and then to the Church of St. Lazarus.

The largest poinsettias!

Bethany Israelsen from Utah sharing thoughts in Bethany, Israel!

The Mount of Olives, Bethphage, where Jesus started his triumphal entry into Jerusalem

traditional site of where Jesus mounted the donkey

Sam, Eric, and Elaine Huntsman

Church of the Pater Noster (The Lord’s Prayer)

Mallory Menden and Tyler Walters served missions in the Philipines 

Dominus Flevit church (The Lord Wept), shaped like a tear drop

more beautiful mosiac

the GREEN Kidron Valley

We finished at the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden, where we discussed the Olivet discourse. In each place we had instruction from Eric Huntsman and devotionals given by various students, each of them excellent.  Perfect weather, and the hills are green again.  We'd been on this particular itinerary before, but each time it feels like a new experience and each time you learn new things.

The second day, we started at the Garden of Gethsemane with a devotional, then walked through the Kidron Valley, past Absalom's Pillar, along the south wall of the Temple Mount and up the steep hill to the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu. This is where traditionally Peter denied Jesus and where Jesus was imprisoned. We tried to imagine what it was like for the already spent Jesus to be dragged up here to his trial. Nearby is a stone staircase that dates from the time of Jesus. He may well have walked up those steps. 

Zechariah's tomb

Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu

We continued around to the north wall of the Old City where we had a devotional at the Hidden Gate. This is a possible site of Herod's palace and where Pilate might have presented Jesus to the angry mob (rather than at the Antonia Fortress near Lions' Gate). "Behold the man!" 

Our final stop was the Garden Tomb, a peaceful setting with an empty tomb. We had a devotional and testimony meeting. We sang "He is Risen," and ended by repeating "Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia." 

We are so lucky to be living in Jerusalem where we are reminded every single day of these all-important events. 

This was the last night at the Center for this semester's students. The kitchen put on a splendid seafood dinner (non-kosher...).

Director Eran Hayet and Prof Frank Judd

Paella

Finally, there was a "Memories" program with awards, slide shows, videos, and lots of sharing of experiences of the amazing past 15 weeks.

Kahoot!

Superlatives

For the first time since we arrived in June we were able to visit the Temple Mount, the Dome of the Rock, or the al-Haram al-Sharif or al-Aqsa Compound as it is known to Muslims. The reason we have been asked not to go on our own is that there are usually Jewish settler activists on and around the Temple Mount, and BYU doesn't want us being inadvertently identified as being connected with them. That could jeopardize future visits by people from the Center. We went as a smallish group and had an experienced and entertaining local guide, although he went pretty heavy on his Palestinian interpretation of the history of the sites. It was exciting to be there after five months of only seeing it from outside the walls and gates. To enter the mosques, women are required to wear long sleeves and skirts, the hijab, or head scarf. We were very fortunate to be able to go into these sacred buildings, built around the 7th century, because they are not as open now to tourists as they once were, due to terrorist attacks and other security concerns. 

with Emma, Reagan, Julia, Isabella, Mckayla

The Rock!

Beautiful tiles inside and out

It was the last day for the students. We were all very nostalgic as they watched the sun set over Jerusalem for the last time.  

With Charley Davis

We hosted a number of friendly visitors. Especially interesting was Etan, a social worker who deals with schizophrenics and people who come in with "Jerusalem Syndrome," which is a real thing--"an acute psychotic state observed in tourists and pilgrims who visit Jerusalem. The main symptom of this disorder is identification with a character from the Bible and exhibiting behaviors which seems to be typical for this character." Remember the picture we posted of "James" from Michigan who dresses like Jesus and walks around Jerusalem? Well, he was at Jim's concert at Notre Dame de Jerusalem. And it was a very nice concert--people from the parish and from the Jerusalem Center were there. Father Cristobal, the parish priest from Spain, introduced Jim's program of Christmas carol arrangements. This was Jim's first official organ recital in Israel outside of the Center. 

We await the arrival of Nicholas, Jameson, and Erika tomorrow! It will be a very Merry Christmas with them here.