Sunday and Monday

Yesterday morning, I drove the Snack Bar committee to purchase treats for the snack bar. At one point I turned down the wrong street! Not a street, really, more like an alley with cars parked on both sides and a dead end. :) Since I had 7 or 8 people I was in a van so I couldn't turn around - I had to back all the way down the alley. At one point there was a car in front of me trying to get out and a car behind me trying to get in. STRESSFUL! The students were very kind and patient and gave me directions as I tried to steer my way. Whew - that's a trip none of us will forget in the near future!

Sunday evening we attended the first concert of the winter semester. It is the 25th anniversary of the Jerusalem Center and the marvelous organ we have here! Richard Elliot - the Morman Tab organist - was the guest performer. Now, I don't really enjoy straight organ music, but THIS was amazing! He played everything from a Bach fugue to George Gershwin - all of it unbelievable!

Monday, today, was our first field trip. Here was the conversation I had with myself as I was getting ready to go. Me1 - "I don't want to go on this field trip. I've seen these overlooks multiple times before. I'm too tired - blah, blah, blah". Me2 - "What do you mean you don't want to go? You're in Jerusalem for crying out loud! How many other people are getting up today with a Jerusalem field trip on their schedule??"
Long and short - I went and I loved it.

We did Jerusalem overlooks today. Below is at a place called the Haz Promenade. We are looking at the south end of the Old City - where there are steps remaining that Jesus would have walked on.

Below is a close up of the previous view. On the left is the wall of the city - somewhere within Christ and his disciples would have had the Last Supper. Then he would have walked down into the valley and up onto the Mount of Olives, somewhere in or around those 2 churches - into the Garden of Gethsemane. I've seen this sight before but this time I felt a sweet confirmation of my testimony of Jesus' atonement. Not a confirmation because I am here, but because it actually happened -- for me. And for you.





 Another look out was at the Augusta Victoria Hospital. In addition to the hospital, the complex also includes a hospice, a restaurant, a kindergarten and a church. I've shown you pictures of the church before but I took more today because they still had their Christmas decorations up and they had some really interesting paintings on display.

This is the altar

Some of the Christmas decorations

As the sign says the following pictures are of an altar taken from a Syrian orphanage: 

I thought this was a really sweet little nativity scene

Sorry this is way blurry, but I wanted a picture of Kent teaching:

  I wish I knew where these paintings were from. They were all bible stories, but the colors were what I found so interesting:

  

 

Our last stop of the day was at a place called Nabi Samwel - Prophet Samuel. There is a synagogue downstairs and a mosque above. These are some of our girls preparing to go into the synagogue: