"Something Happened Here"

I am completely exhausted from 31 hours of being awake, so this will be a short blog post, but I AM HERE!

Wow is it ever beautiful. I will post pictures later when I go to an internet cafe because we are not allowed to at the Jerusalem Center due to low bandwidth. Then all of you can appreciate what i am seeing - I will try to describe it though :)

I am typing on my computer while literally overlooking the Holy City itself. When we arrived, we sat in the Upper Auditorium on the eight level of the Center. The Israeli director of the Jerusalem Center (who is Jewish - cool), Eran Hayet, said that this is among the best of the views of the city. Imagine being able to walk out the back door of the nicest hotel you have ever been in, and then being able to sit down on an immaculate lawn, surrounded by palm trees and the Biblical Gardens, and gaze down on thousands of years of history, devotion, faith, architecture, culture, and that all being lit up by a deep orange sunset. The Dome of the Rock. The Kidron Valley. The Jerusalem City Wall. And all of it with amazing people. Wow.

Oh, and to top it all off, Richard Eliot (the primary organist for the Tabernacle Choir) is here practicing for the 25h anniversary of the Jerusalem Center and played "Israel, Israel God is Calling" while we all sang and looked over the city. He will be here for the next few days in preparation for his performance on the Sabbath (Saturday). As we sang, I remembered with tears in my eyes what my Mom has been telling me for years about Jerusalem, "In the city, you feel that something happened there. Something great." She would often then testify of the Savior and His infinite words and works.

The Savior was here. He taught and lived and died here. I was reminded of a couple of verses that my brother Mckay read to me just before I left. The Savior was teaching the Nephites about the promises the Lord has made to His people. The Lord taught, "Then will the Father gather them together again, and give unto them ^aJerusalem for the ^bland of their inheritance. . ..  Verily, verily, I say unto you, all these things shall surely come, even as the Father hath commanded me. Then shall this covenant which the Father hath covenanted with his people be fulfilled; and then shall ^aJerusalem be inhabited again with my people, and it shall be the land of their inheritance." 3 Nephi 20:33&46


I am thrilled to be here for a small while to inhabit this Holy Land and to learn more about His words and life. I am grateful that the Spirit is helping direct my mind to what each of us has that is already holy and sacred - the words of the prophets and the Savior himself. It is the scriptures that I hope become better friends with during this trip, because truly it is those words that already testify that something great happened on this earth. Just a few minutes walk away from where I sit is the very garden where He bled and suffered, and the hillside where He was crucified. And yet the beauty of that is I already knew that He had done those things before I came. This experience just brings it to the forefront of my mind and makes it all the more vivid.

I am going to love this place. I think I already do :)

Until tomorrow in Jerusalem,

-SJM