"You Mormons . . . are a lot like Muslims"

Hello everybody! I am not going to try and write about everything that has happened thus far in this blog post, but I will try to capture some of the best moments in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Christian Quarter of the Holy City. I hope you are all doing well. Oh . . . and I should mention for my Utah and Idaho readers that it has been a freezing 50 to 60 degrees all week. I am sure you feel bad for me right?

Garden of Gethsemane:

First of all, it is so exciting for me that I can go to Gethsemane whenever I want (It is about a 15 minute walk if I am in a small group. That's 900 seconds to the GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. Wow. Count to 900 right now, and that is how long it takes me to get there. I just want to make sure I convey how amazing that is to me!). After our Sabbath services were over (which are held on Saturday - for those of you who are more interested in this, please talk to a Seventh Day Adventist and you can learn all about it), we walked through the Orson Hyde Park, which is really a beautiful stone walkway that switchbacks down into the Kidron Valley. The Church bought the land and donated it to the city decades ago, and now it provides a sort of preparation/thoughtful time before the Garden.

When we got to the garden, I spent some time reading the different accounts of the Atonement, and there is a beautiful Roman Catholic Church that is nearby that contained many paintings and murals about the Savior's suffering. It is a great study room. It was a beautiful church, and it is the tenants of that church I think who take care of the olive grove just outside. I later found out that if olive trees are taken care of, they never die of old age (there must be a two and a half minute talk in that fact I think!). We have a tree here at the Center that is 1300 years old, and from I understand, they are much older in the garden. It is amazing to think about what those trees have seen, what they have lived through, and who has walked among their branches.

I am looking forward to going to the Garden again when I have more time, because it is there that I feel like I need to read and understand as much as I can. Don't we all feel that way?

Christian Quarter:

Jerusalem has at least 6 gates that I know of so far, and the most popular one seems to be Damascus Gate on the North Side. Not far from Damascus Gate midst the hundreds of merchants and money changers in the Old City is a little shop named Ali Baba. The owner of this shop is known simply as Shabban, and he is an absolutely wonderful man. An honest dealer with fair prices, he helped us understand what things should cost and where to go for the best products and prices. He has been working with students and teachers from BYU for over 27 years, and he was happy to tell us about the visits he has had from Steve Young, Truman Madsen, and a list of other names that I should have remembered. The neat thing is, he understands us perfectly, and though is English is not his strong point, he was anxious to tell us that he likes to work with us because, "You Mormons . . . are a lot like Muslims." He went on in broken phrases to compliment the modesty of the women, the Word of Wisdom, and the kindness and honesty we have. I will definitely think twice about what I think it means to be Muslim now. I was so impressed by this good Arab man who lives his faith and treats others so well.

Later, as we were walking on the Haram al-Sharif, or as Christian and Jews say, the Temple Mount, a muslim  woman came up to us and began to compliment us on the same things that Shabban did. She was so kind, and I felt like I was on my mission again. We did not proselyte, and we did not even explain anything other than that we were from BYU, but it was so welcoming to be treated with respect by the native people here. I am finding that it is very difficult to take any sides because they are so devoted and good whether they are from Israel or Palestine, whether they are Christian, Muslim, or Jewish. These are extremely faithful and devoted people, and my heart goes out to all of them.

As we sat in Sacrament Meeting on the Sabbath, a Christain-Mormon Palestinian woman got up to speak. She is the district Relief Society president of Israel (districts are what are formed if there are not enough members to make a stake). She welcomed all of us warmly, and she bore powerful testimony of something I thought I knew but had never come to realize. She told us that we were all children of Abraham, and because we are to inherit all of Abraham's blessings, this very land that we live on now is our familial Divine inheritance. This Holy Land is our home, spiritually AND literally. Father Abraham secured it for us by his faithfulness. Up to that point, I have felt somewhat like I was a stranger in this land. A stranger to language, custom, culture . . . just about everything. But when that woman testified of the Abrahamic Covenant, I realized that I am home. This place will be, if I am faithful, where I can find my father Abraham.

"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God." Ephesians 2:19 (emphasis added). 

I read that scripture over and over again. I think Paul was writing to our little group on Mount Scopus when he wrote that.


The Spirit of God like a fire is burning in my heart, and I love you all,


-SJM