The Long and Winding Road to Jerusalem

I have been in Jerusalem for 1 month now and everyone here is blogging like crazy, and I have been meaning to revive my blog and so here it goes.... I am entering the blogging world once again. I am going to have to play catch-up for a little bit, because I might as well start with when I began this adventure.

From the time that I decided that I wanted to go to BYU, I have dreamed of following in the footsteps of Kiersten, Jeff, Amber, and Derek and attending BYU Jerusalem. I thought and prayed about it a lot and coming winter semester 2011 seemed to be the best option for me. As the time approached, and definitely since then it has become more and more obvious to me that I am meant to be here right now.

On January 5, I safely arrived in Jerusalem! After 4 different flights, 3 layovers, starving (I kept sleeping through meals), 7 personal interrogations, and meeting a ton of wonderful people I made it, and it is even more amazing than I could have imagined. I started at 4:30 Am on January 4 and arrived in Israel at 3 PM on January 5, confused as can be. When we got off the plane we had to go through Israeli customs. We were warned to tell them that we were just visiting the holy land and not to tell them that we were students because then we would need student visas (which we dont really need cause we are at an american university and we are leaving the country twice to renew our tourist visas...). Well the lady who I was lucky enough to get as i went through coustoms didn't like Americans. She asked me why I was there. And i responded to visit the Holy Land. She then went on to ask me How long I was staying (wanted to see my returning tickets), where I was staying (when I said I didn't know she freaked out on me), who was picking me up at the airport, who I was with, why I was really coming... all this time she was being very rude and untrusting and I just would smile and give her straitforward answers back. But inside I was freaking out cause she didn't want to let me go through! She then asked me what I wanted to see while in the Holy land. At that moment my mind went completly blank and everything I know about the Holy Land evaporated from my mind, and so I said the dome of the rock and Bethlehem and other sites. She said what else. and I couldnt think of anything at all! I said I wanted to spend time in Tel Aviv also. She asked to visit what?, I said the Beach! She then glared at me and said its winter. Then she started lecturing me about how when you go someplace like New York you know ahead of time where you want to visit, such as the statue of liberty and ground zero.

She continued to lecture me and intterogate me and then she talked to the woman in the booth next to her and then called security. Another woman (security) came and retrieved me and took me back into a room where I waited for a long time, I was then individual interrogated by 3 more people at separate times. At this point another boy was placed in the room who I had met earlier. After two more interviews we were finally released. My heart was racing and I was sweating... but heck it was quite the experience! And it was very fun to tell all of the big eyed students who were waiting for us for that whole time (luckily there were other people waiting for their luggage so we wern't the only ones being waited on). I lucked out with my luggage, the people who checked in directly before me and after me at the airport dont have any luggage.

We then took a bus to the center and began even more orientation. The center is unbelievably gorgeous and I the people here are wonderful. Something about it reminds me of the mission. Living in the center of the action. Having senior couples that tell you they love you. Opening and closing every 10 minutes with prayer. Its wonderful.

The most amazing experience to me yet was when we got to the center and we had our welcoming orientation. We opened the meeting with singing Redeemer of Israel accompanied by the most elaborate organ in Israel (so they said) by one of the senior couples who is a byu organ professor. As we were singing the blinds that were covering the massive windows that overlook the old city were opened and It felt like we were singing to all of Israel about Christ. Go back and read the words of the song. It was really an amazing experience.

This is Jerusalem seen from the Ramparts walk- A path on top of the city walls. Thank you to one of my greatest friends here, Ashley Crist (who is a photographer) we had some amazing photos.

This is the daily scenery as walk up from the center on the way to the old city.

One of the first things we did is take a tour under the center. I guess they take you there so you don't get curious and venture there on your own. I left my mark so that my kids, and their kids, can see that I was there. It was so fun to see the names of people who came in the early 90's still on the wall. I can't imagine the chalk lasting that long, but my roommate went down in a group after me and went over it with a permanent marker. Thank You Bethany!

Paul Peter and Mark

This class, Honors New Testament part 2, has helped me discover who Paul is. Before his class, honestly too my embarassment, all I knew of Paul was that he is a follower of Christ. Through this class I was able to follow Paul through his journeys until his final records in Rome, the city of his citizenship. We know this because when Paul is at the Herodian Temple mount the Romans save him, because he is a citzen, and he also speaks perfect greek and Hebrew. Luke is Pauls traveling compainon and wrote Acts Lukes account can be trusted because he quotes Mark and he was in the right places to do the research and personal interviews. Luke however, corrects marks order. Mark is Peter’s scribe, and therefore the book of Mark contains Peter’s Memoirs. Mary is the mother of Mark, she owns the room where the last supper was held. Peter and Paul were both strong sayers of truth. When Peter and John were arrested, Peter anounces to the rullers that they killed Christ. Mark was the missionary compaion of Paul and Barnabas. In the end of Paul's life he writes to Timothy and asks him to bring John Mark. Mark going to Rome completes the triangle between Peter and Paul.

Crandall Printing Press

Last week instead of going to class we attended the Crandall Printing Press on Center Street, in Provo. Like I have said in previous blog entries, I really enjoyed the opportunity that we have in this class, to get outside of the class room and learn about things that I would never have the opportunity to learn about otherwise. I have run past the Crandall Printing Press museum quit frequently and noticing that it is quite a small building I assumed that the tour would be relatively short. To my surprise the tour was two and a half hours! The information was relayed through 3 experienced men; two printers, and one historian. These men have given of their time and their savings to make this knowledge known to everyone. Similar to the bible seminar in the special collections, they focused on how things have been “published” over time. What I enjoyed, was learning about the Gutenburg press. Not only did we get to hear about the press, we were able to reenact everything in it. We made moveable type and we even printed a page of the bible in latin! We also learned about the founding fathers and how they produced the Declaration of Independence. What especially interested me was learning about how the Book of Mormon was published. The basement was my favorite room and was modeled after the original printing press where the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon was produced. I was touched as these men bore their testimonies of the divine help that was necessary to complete this impossible task in such a short amount of time. I was touched and it helped me understand and helped strengthen my testimony of the importance of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon contains a FULNESS of the gospel. I know that everything that happened, including the legacy of the Johannas Gutenburg, was in preparation for the publishing of the Book of Mormon. This opportunity to attend this museum lecture has helped me to understand and gain a greater appreciation for God’s hand in bringing forth the precious book of truth that we have, The Book of Mormon.

Gracious in Grace

It is important that Paul went to Jerusalem, however, the topic that I feel impressed to write about after our last discussion is the grace of God. I really enjoyed reading about the letter of Philemon written by Paul while he is in prison. Paul confronts the topic of slaves, in this his shortest letter. Paul has received a slave who has run away from his owner, Paul’s friend. Paul attempts in this letter to convince his friend to accept his slave back. Paul baptized the master and most likely has now baptized the slave also. Paul redefines the master-slave relationship. As we discussed this letter we said that its main importance was simply the fact that it was written by Paul and that the content wasn’t that important. However, I really loved the message that it brought to me. Because God is gracious in grace, we need to be gracious in grace. If Jesus Christ was willing to save us we need to be willing to save others. All of this is part of his commandment to ‘love one another.’ I know that Jesus Christ died for mankind, and that we can never do what he did for us. However, he has asked us to come to him, and to become like him. To become like him we must be gracious in grace.

Types and Shadows

I love Dr. Holzapfel’s class because it is not only based on lecture but we are able to to a lot of extracurricular activities. Last week, instead of class, we went to the BYU Museum of Art and attended “types and Shadows” exhibition. This exhibition specializes in religious artwork. As we entered the exhibition the first painting that caught my eye was a piece by Arnold Friberg. He is one of my favorite religious artists and I was so excited to see one of his originals up close. To my surprise, much of the artwork that we looked at wasn't the classic LDS art that we se in the Ensign and in the temples, such as Friberg’s work. At first I was skeptical of why such works, which didn’t even depict a religious scene should be included in a religious exhibit. However, lucky for my ignorance, the curator did a good job of explaining what different things could symbolize. The painting entitled “Daily Bread” by Lee Bennion gave me the most grief. The painting depicts a woman in simple clothing offering a piece of bread in her apron. Although I still don’t feel like this piece of art quite belongs in the gallery I now understand it. The bread could be representing the sacrament, or Christ (“I am the living bread” (John 6:51)). And the woman's arms could represent Heavenly Father’s “Arms of mercy [which] are extended” (Alma 5:33). Although I now understand this painting, and I am able to appreciate it, and I believe that I am allowed an opinion and an opportunity to say that I still am not the biggest fan.

My favorite picture in the gallery was entitled “Exchange No. 8” by Ron Richmond. The painting is of an upright chair with a white sheet draped over it, in front of it is a fallen chair with a read table cloth draped over it. There are many squares in the picture, and the whole painting is surrounded in a circle. I love the symbolism of chairs, of the “mercy seat” or of a throne. The standing chair had a pure white cloth that was the purist part of the picture. It was twisted perhaps giving the feeling of a robe. The red cloth on the fallen chair seemed to reflect imperfection and possibly sin. What touched me is when the curator said that “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). I felt like that scripture completely encompassed the artists purpose for the painting.

Paul's Letter to the Romans

I the many of the different letters that Paul wrote he used secretaries, or scribes to relate his messages to the people of different lands as a substitute for personal visits. Romans is a unique letter because it is believed to be written in word for word verbatim of what Paul actually dictated. The book of Romans was written to the churches that Paul had authority over, and is not to be read as a biography but more as a theology.

In the first verse Paul introduces himself as a servant of Jesus Christ. In this context the word ‘servant’ is equivalent to ‘slave’. According to the Hebrew tradition everyone has a master. When Paul says that he is the Slave of Jesus Christ he is calling Christ his master. This also acts as a representation that he is a good person because he has a good master. Because he is referring to Hebrew tradition, Paul is inferring that Christ is Jewish. Paul also makes this known by referring to Christ as the son of David. In the second half of the first chapter. Paul declares that humanity is fallen, and that all are condemned to go to hell. Paul makes it sound like due to the weakness of the natural man, any man if under certain circumstances and in certain places could sink to a fallen state. Paul makes a standing argument: we are only men and we are weak, none of us are invincible. We as mankind are still able to be influenced by the devil even in the small aspects of life. Therefore, if any man claims perfection, he is indeed lying because no one is sinless.

As Christians we don’t set the terms for our own sacrifices, our sacrifices are determined by what the Lord has asked of us. Christ too sacrificed himself in accordance to what Heavenly Father asked of him. In 5:7 of Romans, Paul says “scarcely for a righteous man will one die”. I would even add to Paul’s truth by saying that man will not give up their lives for anyone whether it was a righteous man or a sinner. After talking about how all of humanity is sinners and that it is rare that a man would die for another Paul made one of his most powerful points. One of my favorite things that Paul said is that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We are all so imperfect, we are sinners, yet Christ was willing to give up his perfect life-- even if it would have only been for me. Paul describes the the process of the Atonement and all of its power, and then he councils the Romans to follow it. In Romans 8:35-39 he said “who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life... Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Christ did all of that for us, so that we might have the unconditional opportunity to be saved. To me this brings powerful zeal, I will not let anything, no not anything halter me in my understanding and use of the Atonement. Christ died so that I may be free from my sins. I will not let him die in vain for me. I will not bleed again what he already bled for me. For I will not let anything separate me from the love of my God, and my brother Jesus Christ, who by mercy allowed me to be free from the damning effects of sin.

Charity= Christ

In our class discussion last Wednesday in Honors New Testament, we discussed 1 Corinthians, and the multiple ways in which it can be interpreted. Paul says that even if we have the tongues of angels it will not be sufficient if we do not have charity. Even if you could know, understand, and predict everything, without charity, that would be nothing. I love how Paul that faith to move mountains is nothing with out charity. We know from (James 2:20) that “faith without works is dead.” The bible dictionary defines faith as a hope for things which are not seen, but which are true. Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Faith is an action action, but without charity it is nothing.

If charity is more important than knowledge, faith, and prophecy it begs the question: What is Charity? Paul said that charity, “suffereth long, and is kind, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemingly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth.” Paul continues the list of the traits of charity saying that it “bearith all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” It “never faileth.”

If charity is the pure love of Christ, it is the highest type of love. Without Christ we cannot experience charity-his love for us. Therefore this chapter can also be read by replacing the word “charity” with “Christ.” Christ is perfect. Without Christ, there is no need for faith or hope. Christ “suffereth long, and is kind, vaunteth not [Himself], [Christ] is not puffed up, doth not behave [Himself] unseemingly, seeketh not [His] own, is not easily provoked, [Christ] thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth.” Paul continues the list of the traits of [Christ] saying that He “bearith all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and [Christ] endureth all things.” Christ “never faileth.” Christ is our Savior and Reedemer. Without Christ we would be overcome with the consequences of our sins. No imperfect thing can dwell with God. Without Christ we are all sinners, and we cannot return to live with our Heavenly Father. Because Christ chose to be our Savior he was able to suffer all things, and he chose to endure all things. He was able to undergo the great atoning scacrifice which frees us from our sins. He was able to endure every pain and heartache. Charity, the love of Christ is the reason that he came to earth as our Reedmer; it is the reason we worship him today and know him as brother, Savior, and friend. As the apostles of today have said “God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.”