Day 101

It was our last Sabbath here in the Holy Land, and it was a really good one. Probably the best one ever. I woke up early and walked down to the Garden of Gethsemane with a few other girls. They let us into the locked private garden and we just sat and read and pondered for a couple of hours. It was the perfect beginning to the day.

At Church we had an amazing fast and testimony meeting. I went to Spanish Sunday School and said goodbye to Hermana Dulca, our teacher. In Relief Society my roommate Jessie gave an amazing lesson on how we can take everything that we've gained here and use it to serve others when we go back home.

We took a group picture of all the students outside the Center right after Church- with 79 of us, it was quite an adventure getting it all set up. Then a few of us went over to the Garden Tomb for the Living Prophet's Society. We all read the talk "He Is Risen" that President Monson gave at this last GC. We talked about the Resurrection, and what it means to us in our lives. It was so powerful to talk about it at the Garden, where the Savior Himself was resurrected and where the angel told Mary, He is not here, for He is risen. I think that visiting Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb will be one of the things that I'll miss the very most. I love the special feeling that you get there, a Spirit of peace and truth.

Tonight we had a Triclinium program- they had set up the stage to look like the Upper Rom would have looked at the Last Supper, with the tables and seats on the floor where the apostles would have leaned and eaten the unleavened bread of the Passover. There were a few musical numbers and narrators of the chapters in John that talk about the Last Supper and the events that happened right after. It was really cool to see what it would have looked like and to be able to picture it while they read the account.

After the Triclinium we watched one more Messiah movie- it was about the apostasy and then the Restoration. I have loved watching these movies as we've studied the events that they talk about. We have been to most of the places they filmed at and we have discussed most of the scriptures in class or on field trips. I feel like I have learned so much about my Savior since being here, and I have loved getting to know Him better.

Roommate pictures outside the JC


Dome of the Rock


Riding the bus to the Garden Tomb