Travis & Stephanie Evans Family: Day 7- May 6-Garden of Gethsemane/Church of All Nations/BYU Jerusalem Center/Masada

Saturday

Happy Shabbat!

In Israel, the Sabbath is observed on Saturday... even at the BYU Jerusalem Center!

We started our day at the private gardens of Gethsemane, which is near the bottom of the Mount of Olives, across from Kidron and the Golden Gate.

There were lots of little chairs we could sit on and we gathered together for a lesson.

John gave us about 15 minutes to do a synopsis study of Christ's suffering in Gethsemane. Studying Christ's suffering in the Garden while IN the garden was transcendent. A truly moving experience I won't ever forget. So we read all of the gospel accounts of the garden and looked for all of the similarities and all of the differences. It was very enlightening! Only reading one account, you miss insights and important details.

For example, in Mark 14:42-52 - it is not an angel at the tomb in Mark's account but a “young man.” Maybe he is highlighting that this young man failed at the garden but at the tomb there was triumph.

John points out that there seems to be 3 themes of Jesus in the accounts:

Healing Jesus, Saving Jesus and Loving Jesus.

Luke 22:39-53 - Luke paints a portrait of a healing Jesus.

John 18:1-11 - John paints a portrait of Jesus as in control and in charge.

Matthew and Mark focus on more a human Jesus.

They are the only gospels where Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss.

Christ stops Judas before the kiss in Luke, and there is no kiss in John.

Luke is the only account that speaks of an angel strengthening the Savior.

And yet the angel coming to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at the sepulcher is very prevalent in Jesus's resurrection story.

Also in Luke we read about about his sweat being like great drops of blood falling to the ground

as he prayed in agony.
Only in Luke does Jesus heal the ear of the high priest after Peter cut it off.

There is no suffering in John's account.
The soldiers fall back when Christ boldly declares his identity.

He is not betrayed but is completely in control of the situation.

He never needs help carrying the cross.

When everything in our lives seems out of control, we can turn to him, because he is fully in control.

What stood out to me the most was that when Jesus was suffering, he asked, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

Now, that in particular wasn't new to me, but the fact that he went to his disciples and asked them to wake up and then he left them and said the same words again to His Father. I only ever pictured him asking the cup to be removed once. But Matthew and Mark record him as saying it 3 times. I think this underscored the difficulty of the task to me. It also comforted me to think that in our own suffering, we may pray over and over again for relief or help in accomplishing God's will and that's ok.

After our study, we were given some time to just walk around, pray and enjoy the garden which was such a peaceful experience.

Shelley and I had on our matching skirts from the market yesterday!

We made a quick stop at the Orson Hyde memorial garden to remember how Joseph Smith sent Orson Hyde so early in church history to dedicate this land. For him it was a two years round trip to get there with only two days in the Holy Land. The garden/park was purchased by private donors and then donated to the country of Israel. Somewhere on the mount of olives Orson Hyde offered a prayer to the gathering of Israel.

Then, we walked across the street to The Church of All Nations.

This church

had 3 BEAUTIFUL mosaics depicting what we had just discussed.

The middle section was all about that sweet angel coming to comfort Christ!

Of course we don't know who that angel was.

There was some speculation from a church authority who believes it was Michael, or Adam.

The Savior's atoning work in Gethsemane is directly linked to Adam's transgression, which brought the fall of man.

Who better than Adam to aid and assist the Savior during his time of extreme distress than he whose actions had brought about mortality.

Who better to thank the Savior for paying the debt that his actions had introduced (sin and suffering), than Adam himself?

The kiss of Judas...

The arrest of Jesus...

In front of the high altar is a flat outcrop of rock.

Long Christian tradition identifies this as the rock of agony where Jesus prayed.

The ceiling is supposed to be the dark, night sky the evening Christ suffered and was arrested.

Within the church compound, is a well-maintained garden around an olive grove which includes some of the oldest olives trees known to exist anywhere in the world. A 2012 study by a team of Italian experts concluded that three of the eight oldest trees, all of which are remarkable in both size and texture, range between over 800 to over 900 years old, and may come from saplings of earlier trees from the Garden, leading to the possibility that these trees are the direct descendants of those present at the time of that fateful moment in the Passion of Christ.

Incredible to think that this tree could have been in the garden with Christ.

We hustled to the BYU Jerusalem Center for Sacrament service!

John knew it would be busy and we would have to fight for seats in the main area overlooking

all of Jerusalem. Once it got full you had to go to the over flow area downstairs with no windows.

We pulled up to many tour buses.

I was NOT going to sit in the overflow! We were fairly close to the front of the bus and you best believe I BOOKED it inside! I was in an "elbow grannies out of the way" mode! And it's a good thing I was because we snagged some of the last seats in the main area! Wahooo! Better feeling than being the first on a ride at Disneyland.

Oh man, that VIEW!!! I was so grateful we got lucky enough to gaze out over Jerusalem for our sacrament meeting. I have never experienced anything like this. With a world class organ behind us and this view, I was on cloud 9! A once in a lifetime experience!

We had about 30 minutes before church started so we took turns saving our seats and getting to go out onto the terrace to take pictures. The beautiful roses reminded me of Grandmother.

It was fast and testimony meeting and I wanted to get up, but there wasn't enough time and so many people who were clambering for the mic. I was grateful that John allowed us to continue the testimony meeting in the bus as we drove to our next stop. Then I was able to share my testimony. All I remember is sharing the story about when we moved to our new house and I felt we had made a wrong decision. I ached with that feeling for nearly a year when Heavenly Father gave me an experience where my mind was taken up and I saw my day play out. I saw myself driving Tanner to the library for story time, being in my home, etc. and throughout seeing my day I had the overwhelming assurance that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. God spoke peace to my heart that all was well. I was finally able to move forward in my life without worry or guilt.

On the bus, we headed back to the desert past the dead sea to Masada. It really put in perspective how much Lehi and his family had to journey from Jerusalem to the Red Sea as we followed some of that path! Masada wasn’t a spiritual stop, but it was interesting. King Herod built a palace-fortress on a very tall plateau. After it was abandoned by him it was overtaken by refugee Zealots after Jerusalem was destroyed. We learned about their last stand against the Romans and how they all chose to die rather than to live in captivity.

You can either hike to the top or take the tram. We took the tram! Evidently, a woman, earlier this year, died on the hike when she fell behind from her group. That says everything you need to know about this place!

Up at the top we could see out to the Dead Sea. Plus miles and miles of barren desert. It was an impressive view!

It was so hot and windy and dusty. Macmood led the tour around the ruins but I only kept up for maybe 20 minutes. He is hard to understand and I was ruin-ed out. I found my way to a bench in the shade and waited for the rest of the group to finish.

We loved hanging out with Josh and Carrie on this trip! Seriously sad they live in Utah or we'd totally hit them up for a group date here and there.

Even sadder to part ways with the legend, John Hilton.

What. a. tour. guide.

He is insanely intelligent, a master teacher and all around enjoyable guy. We could not have had a better experience with anyone else. I am sure of that. I will thank my lucky stars to the end of my life that we were privileged enough to go on this tour. Although there are other travel experiences I’d like to have, no other place on my bucket list really matters after this trip.

My NUMBER ONE TRAVEL DREAM is complete!

I have walked where Jesus walked.

I have seen where Jesus lived.

I now have a visual setting for his miracles and teachings in my mind.

I don't believe He is the Christ anymore now than I did before this trip, but his life has come alive for me.

I LOVE my Savior.

Getting to spend a week immersed in His land was an honor.

There is a quote by St. Jerome I love:

"Five gospels record the life of Jesus. Four you will find in books and the one you will find in the land they call Holy. Read the fifth gospel and the world of the four will open to you."

I soaked in every experience and will TREASURE these memories.

I thought that coming here would be a "one and done" but I want to come back! Especially to Galilee.

Right outside Masada we stopped to do the big switch. Those going onto Jordan (us) were to go in one bus, those going home with John on another bus. Time for goodbyes! It was so sad! I wished Shelley and Casey were coming to Jordan with us. I didn't want to leave them. It had been such an amazing trip with them and I was so so SO glad we got to share this experience together! It kind of felt like we were leaving our safety net with them and John going the other direction.

I'm surprised I didn't take any pictures of our drive to Jordan. We had actually gotten into a little shuttle van with a few other couples. It took a couple hours to reach the Arava border crossing. This was not a pleasant experience. We were given very strict instructions on how to act, what papers to have ready to present and what "not to do". Any infractions could at best, delay your entrance, at worst, land you in jail. We gathered our suitcases and filed into the government building that looked like it had been built in 1920 and never renovated. I was so nervous. I remember a person from the other group making a joke and laughing while we were in line to get our passports stamped and I mentally was firing daggers at him to shut up! Don't get us in trouble!! Thankfully, we passed through without any trouble and were now boarded onto another bus. Part of the tour group we had been with the past week was mixed with half the group from the Dirkmaat group. It felt like an extended family reunion when you're forced to mingle with your 2nd cousins but all you want to do is stay next to your sister. It was a much shorter drive from the border to Al-aqabah, where our resort was. Our tour guide seemed trustworthy and that set my anxiety at east.

I was not sad when we arrived at our resort! Wowza! It was on scale with grand, Vegas hotels.

Intercontinental Aqaba

King Hussein Street

Aqaba, 2311, Jordan

00 962 03 2092222

And right on the shore of the Red Sea. The lobby alone made my eyes go wide. We got settled in our room then went to down to... you guessed it! The buffet! It was not nearly as elaborate as our previous three hotels but it still had tons of options AND was no longer kosher! Mazel tov!