Our 100th post... and our first time sight seeing here in Israel

Anabelle woke up today with a smile on her face and this on her lips: "We are going to Dome on the Rock today Daddy." Today the Tel Aviv, Tiberias, and Jerusalem congregations from our church met together at the BYU Jerusalem Center for a district conference (on Mount Scopius, next to the Mount of Olives). The meeting was great (though between the great view of the Old City that dominates the meeting hall, and a wiggling, cookie-obsessed, sugar-charged 2-year old, I'm not sure how much of the 2 hour meeting I heard). We loved the peaceful feeling that permeated the place.

A view of Jerusalem from the BYU Jerusalem Center



After our meeting and luncheon, we headed into the "Old City" with two good friends, Erica and Carla, who go to Church with us in Tel Aviv. Because of Shabbat we went to most of the Catholic and Muslim sites.
The Garden of Gethsemane, oldest olive tree in the background

On the steps of the Church of the Nations (next to the Garden of Gethsemane)

The Church of the Nations

A view of The Golden Gate (currently sealed shut with stones), where it is believed by most Christians and Jews that Christ will enter when He comes. It is Jewish belief that when He does he will waken the dead and bring them in with him. Ironically, the cemetery you see below is Muslim owned.

Entrance to the Church where Mary's tomb is found


Lion's Gate, entrance to the Old City and to the "Via Dolorosa" which is believed by Catholics to be the route Jesus took on his way to Golgotha


Ecco Home Convent which houses below it ancient Roman cisterns, ~1st and 2nd Century A.D.; as well as ancient roads that now lie under the convent.

Here we are descending into the actual cisterns. Erica and Carla are behind Nate and Anabelle.



The stones you see right in front of this picture are part of the ancient road originally found during Christ's time and which is part of the Via Dolorosa, thus the mural of Christ carrying the Cross.

Muslim Quarter

I love this picture because the board sign on the bottom left advertises "hubbly bubbly." We almost bought some just to see what it was, but we figure there was a good chance we would end up "hubbling" home if it was bubbly, so we passed.

Family pose in front of Damascus Gate

Garden Tomb

We are glad we decided to come here today. There were several different religious services going on all around the Garden, plus a good size LDS tour group was singing hymns near the tomb itself. When we entered it we could still hear them. It really made us ponder the infinite beauty and mercy of the Sacrifice of our Savior; and the miracle of His resurrection. Anabelle wanted to sing too, since she heard others singing, so we sang "I know that my Redeemer lives" in Spanish. I (Maria) am not one to usually do something like that, but it felt good. As we came out, Anabelle ran over to this rock and said, "this is to cover the tomb, it got moved so Jesus could come out. It was amazing to see how much she remember from what Nathan told her before coming here, even though she only saw the pictures from the internet and guide book, she remembered the names of a lot of the sites, as well as some of the history.

Our little tour guide was so pooped at the end, she passed out in Nate's arms even before we got into the bus home. Nathan and I fell asleep soon after taking this picture.

Even though Anabelle squealed with glee when she saw the Dome on the Rock from the bus as we entered Jerusalem, she never got to go inside. It is usually closed on Saturdays (although both the internet site and the guide book said it would be opened). So this is as close of a look as she got of it today. I guess we'll have to go back!


-posted by Nate and Maria