SCHEDULE & SIGHTS

    We left Atlanta on the 11:30 a.m. flight. It is best to choose an even earlier flight because Newark has so many problems with weather and ATC in the afternoon. When we arrived, we were surprised and pleased to see that the booking for the Tel Aviv flt that had been at 294 with a capacity in back of 235, had now dropped to 225. I felt much better after that.

    We left on a flight at 5:30 pm and arrived at Tel Aviv at about 10:30-11. The airport terminal we arrived in was very small. We took a bus from the airplane to the airport. We had to show passports, turn in the customs form and put down the address of where we were staying. To exit the airport, the security for us was very minimal. We had put one bag on the security belt, when the man motioned for us to just go on through. We followed the signs that said to Jerusalem and they led us to the taxi/van area. These sheruts will take you directly to the address you are staying.

    When we arrived, Varda was on the sidewalk waiting to greet us. She took us to our apartment made sure we were set up and then left. We slept for hours. That evening we walked down to a nearby park (no playground, just grass and picnic areas). We sat in the cool breeze watching one group of local children play soccer and another group have a birthday party.

Wednesday:

    We took the bus to the Jaffa gate and walked in. Immediately a man (Tony) came up to us and asked if we wanted a tour. We were on the verge of saying no, but he said it would cost us $60, take two and a half hours and he would show us 30 sights. We were glad we said yes, because he proceeded to take us on a tour of a maze that we could never have deciphered so easily. He took us to all of the main Christian sites, the wailing wall, into several shops of his friends who tried to pressure us to buy and I had no interest in even thinking about shopping that day.

    We saw a lot that day, but it was not a very pleasant day for us. We were all tired. The tour went fast, the streets were crowded, the younger children and Tara wanted to go home and were bored. And I came away quite disappointed in my quest to feel Jesus in this land.

    This report is also my journal of my thoughts and feelings. I hope anyone who reads it will respect it in that way. Therefore, I hope that my many good Catholic friends will not take offense at my different opinions on some subjects. It is not my intention to offend at all.

    In the early centuries after Jesus, Constantine made Christianity the official religion of his empire. He sent his mother to Jerusalem and in her zeal and faith, she organized the building of great churches over all the traditional holy sights. They were done in an elaborate fashion, as were most Catholic cathedrals and buildings dedicated to God. It was their way to show honor and glory to God.

    In Jerusalem we can be grateful that many sites were preserved in Christian hands, thanks to Constantines mother. Because of her they have survived the centuries.

    My problem was that the Jesus I know, was not like that. He was not into grandeur and elaboration. His whole life was one of humility, down to earth service and simpleness of life. I couldn't help but think Jesus wasn't like this, He wouldn't like this.Simple natural places were made elaborate. And I could not see the Jesus I know in those buildings and was very disappointed.

    In the "tomb" area, many people were loud and irreverent. I already knew that I didn't believe this to be the real spot, so we didn't wait in the long line to enter it. I was really disappointed in the chunk of rock showing through the wall ,that they said was Golgotha and the small square of glass over a place where they said the cross stood.

    I  thought some of the things I heard were rather hokey. There was an indentation on the wall said to be where Jesus put His hand on the wall. Another place they told us that a woman named Veronica wiped His face with a cloth and that the imprint of His face remained in the cloth. And the silliest thing of all, to me, was that there is a place where it is said that when Mary and Jesus fled Bethlehem for Egypt, she sat on a rock to nurse the baby and that some of her milk dropped on the rock turning it white. As a result a church was built over the rock.

    Thus ended our major day of sightseeing in the old city. I'm glad that we got all of this over with quick, because it was all stuff we needed to see, Tony made it easy and now it was done.

    I had seen gypsy women begging with children in Spain, and was told that they drugged their babies and that is why they would sleep all the time. Somehow, seeing them as a mother made me feel very personal about it. I felt very angry. I thought surely these people could do something or make a home somewhere, where they wouldn't make their children be drugged and live this tortuous life of sitting on the sidewalk in the sun, begging. I embarrassed our children by yelling at the gypsy mothers saying that if they really cared for their children, they wouldn't make them live a life like that on the sidewalk and that it was child abuse. (not that they could understand a word). * Consult Sunday for my change of heart.

Thursday:

    Tara, Erik and Shannon didn't want to go to town with us. So Michael, Kelli and I went. All day we realized that the others would have been tired and bored, so we were glad that they stayed home.

    We went first to the Tower of David Museum and Citadel. This was the highlight of the day. It was very interesting, having a movie and several displays of the history of Jerusalem. It was not crowded so we got breathing space. There were lots of  beautiful artistic displays made of glass formed into different shapes. The whole place looks like a castle wall and courtyard and we had fun exploring it. The view from the top was wonderful and we could look out and see the whole city. It was here that I first found the land of Jesus that I came to see and feel. I gazed out over the temple mount, toward the city and out to the Mt of Olives and thought. Somewhere out there Jesus walked the streets and hills. Somewhere out there He was crucified, buried and resurrected. etc. And finally it felt real to me.

    We next tried to find the "burnt house" and Herodian mansions". We never did find them but instead ended up terribly lost in the maze, wandering the backstreets. We saw a side of the old city that I'm sure the tourists usually don't see. We saw the actual living spaces of the people who live in the old city. In the back, the stores were for living, not tourists. Children played on the streets and people sat together and visited and the throngs of people seemed far away. Asking directions got us nowhere, but more lost. Finally we asked some American students directions and they led us out a gate. It turned out to be the Damascus Gate on the other side. So we walked around the outside of it to the Jaffa gate. It was a long and tiring walk but we were just thankful to not be lost any more. When we arrived home, the other kids were just fine and had the apartment looking neat for us.

    I began to get concerned about the sightseeing day that we had set up with Tony. I thought we don't really know him, we haven't seen his credentials and now we are going to go driving out in the wilderness with him. I thought of the Never talk to strangers ideas. I am so trusting of everyone, but decided I should use a little common sense in this situation. So I had Sinai call Tony, as if he were looking for a guide and check him out.

Friday:

    I felt somewhat guilty checking out Tony, even though I knew it was the right thing to do. The first question he asked us was if we had given his phone number to someone and I said yes that we had given it to our landlord because he often had guests there and that they might need a guide. Tony lost some of his friendliness that day and though nice, was just a little more reserved.

    This day was our only excursion from Jerusalem. Destination Masada and the Dead Sea. I chose these locations because I thought this would be a fun day for the kids. They had seen the Masada movie, so were able to appreciate the ruins on top of the mountain. It was helpful to sit in on some of the guided tours. I was surprised to learn that as Herod's palace fortress, it was a place of great luxury and beauty. The inside stucco walls were orignally painted in  colors to look like marble. They have small painted areas to illustrate how it was.. Another interesting place was the synagogue, built as one of the first synagogues in the land. It was also a place where the people met together to talk and have meetings. In this place they found ancient scrolls. The dirt remains of the roman ramp used to conquer Masada, are still there. It was a lot of dirt to have been placed there by manual slave labor. There are  markings down below where the Roman camps were placed. You can walk up the mountain, a steep hike taking about two hours. But in the heat of this desert, it can be hot. We chose instead to take a cable car ride. Masada is in a spectacular location with a view of everything.

    The Dead Sea has swimming only at a few designated spots, and they are roped, perhaps so people don't go floating off  to sea. It is a beautiful, bright blue lake. The water is warm, but the wooden ramp and the surrounding sand is scalding hot. Wear sandals. The sea is 33% salt. It stung the little girls bottoms and we all had the very painful experience of getting salt water in our eyes. It isn't a really good experience for very young children.

    You truly do easily float. I couldn't get the balance thing right. (Brian explained that the reason I always felt like I was going to topple headfirst into the water, was because the part of me under the water was trying to float, making the part above water feel like it was going to tip over. I liked floating on my back though the currents move you all over the place and I would crash into people or rocks. So, the favorite activity for Shannon and I was to sit in the slippery, squishy mud of the shallow water and play in it. The sea, water and mud have therapeutic, beneficial qualities. We smeared the black mud all over ourselves. We even brought home a glob of it in a plastic bag. My face felt especially smooth for a couple of days afterwards.

    Tony took us to Jericho, above which is said to be the Mt. of Temptation. He took us to a quite modern store in a hotel to buy souvenirs, said they were cheaper there outside Jerusalem. I bought a plate that says Shalom, made by Armenians. I also bought inexpensive clay oil lanterns like they used anciently. I bought them because they reminded me of the parable of the ten virgins which was symbolic of the necessity of always having your lamp filled with the oil of preparation. I bought one for my parents, Kathy, Connie, all 5 children and me. I will fill it with olive oil (it is authentic and doesn't smoke when burned). I will give the children theirs when they marry so they too can fill it with oil for their homes. Erik bought an ornamental knife for his collection. I said absolutely not to his first choice, a chinese knife. I said, we aren't going to buy you a chinese knife as your souvenir of Israel. He ended up with a Bedouin one instead. Shannon got a wooden camel. Tara got her dress and Michael and Kelli later bought their souvenirs in the old city. Michael got a full sized Israeli flag and Kelli, two small flags, one Israeli and one Palestinian. She carried them through the streets of the old city, crossed as a symbol of unity. She got lots of favorable comments, especially from the Palestinians, happy to see their flag. Michael had really wanted a shofar (rams horn) but though beautiful, they are very expense, over $100.

    In the deserts along the drive home it was very interesting to see the Bedouin camps. They must have lived that way for centuries. They have sticks in the ground with cloths hanging over them for shade tents. They looked like refugee camps. It looked to me like a miserable hot way to live, but perhaps these people have known no other life and are happy. I hope they are.

    This night we had our Shabbat meal with Varda and Sinai.

    At 3 am Erik awakened us all with the news that there was water all over the floor. The dish person the night before had left the stopper in the sink and someone left water running which overflowed everywhere. We jumped into action, lifting things off the floor, sweeping water out, mopping with towels. We worked for an hour trying to clean it up. Thank goodness for tile floors with no carpet.

Saturday (sabbath):

See below.

Sunday:

    Again, Shannon, Tara and Erik decided to stay home and Michael, Kelli and I went to the old city.  I asked Jeff my question about  the gypsys and first learned that these people were Bedouins. We are still trying to get used to calling them Bedouins instead of gypsys as the ones are in Spain. He said that they are very poor, have no education,do care about their children and have difficulty getting jobs. I decided that I shouldn't be so judgemental. As we packed for the trip, we went through all of our things, donating non-essential clothes, backpacks etc. When we entered the old city area where the Bedouin beggars sat, we handed them each a bag of things. Unfortunately, what we had were mostly little girl clothes and these beggar children happened to be all boys.

We got lost trying to find the entrance to the temple mount. I made the mistake of asking a shopkeeper in the Moslem quarter where the temple mount entrance was. He sharply told me that it wasn't the temple mount, it was the mosque and that I shouldn't call it the temple mount because I would offend people. I learned something new constantly. We arrived at the temple mount at 2:30, the very time they close it. We wandered by the excavated ruins that Jeff had shown us and took pictures of the cemetery and Mt. of Olives since we hadn't had a camera the day before. We decided to be adventurous and hike down to the Kidron Valley and over to the ancient tombs. This was the time that spooked me in Jerusalem. It felt like anybody or anything could be hiding in those dark crevices, and we were away from the city and people and I felt nervous being there, but it was very fascinating. After climbing back up, while Kelli and I rested, Michael went around the wall and got to the Golden Gate and was able to touch it. The Golden Gate is a wonderful thing. It is the only gate to the city that is sealed. It is the gate said by the Jews to be where the Messiah will enter in and by the Christians, where Jesus will enter in when He returns. Until that time, it will remain sealed. It enters onto the temple mount. Before that day comes it will be decorated in preparation. Jesus will come down on the Mt. of Olives, walk down through the Kidron valley and up through that gate. What a glorious day it will be.

    After we had done these things, we felt like all was finished, and we were ready to go home. Unfortunately for us, there was one more thing. We managed to get lost again and ended up again at the Damascus gate. We groaned at the idea of the long walk again, but did it and survived. Sunday night was spent packing.

Monday:

    We left for the airport in a sherut that Varda had ordered for us the day before from the Nesher (sp?) Taxi company. We left at 9, arrived at the airport at 10 for a 1:00 flight. We were way early but avoided the long security check line of later. The flight was delayed first until 3:30 and ended up leaving at 6:00 p.m. Then came a 12 hour flight. Tara was the one to get the first class seat. It was a nice flight with several meals and I got to watch the movie "the Bachelor", but I got very little sleep. When we arrived in Newark at 10:30, we were all exhausted, still had to clear customs and collect our luggage. We went from terminal B to C to try to check our luggage but they were closed, so we traipsed over to terminal A where the Atlanta flights depart from. They wouldn't allow us into the gate area and all the hotels were full so we found a corner of the floor and all sprawled out to sleep. At 3 a.m a janitor woke me up to inform me that Kelli and Shannon had been roaming the airport and playing on the escalators and she was concerned for their safety. We didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night and I felt like a zombie for days afterwards from all this sleep deprivation.

Tuesday:

    The first ATL flight was full as were all the morning flights. I was advised on the 2nd flight that the afternoon flts were canceled and that we should split up. So I immediately threw 4 of the kids into the open seats and Shannon and I stayed behind. We got on the next flight two hours later.

SHABBAT (Sabbath)

    Before I go on to the rest of the day, I just wanted to talk about the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. The building is top notch quality, as the church does any of its projects. The windows of most rooms have a view of the city and the temple mount with it's beautiful gold dome. It is a gorgeous view.

    It was built around 1979. The church had a very difficult time overcoming the opposition concerning it. The same opposition that accompanies the building of our temples. But here, like in the temple areas, the opponents usually end up gaining a respect for the church and for the beautiful building placed in their midst.

    The Jewish people have had a history of  dispersion and persecution. They have remarkably retained their religion, tradition, language and identity despite all efforts to eradicate these things by others.

    Now that they have finally re-established in their traditional homeland with a country of their own, they are very sensitive and zealous about protecting all that they have fought for so long to retain. The more orthodox, especially, were worried that the rapidly growing Mormon Church with it's large successful program of missionary work would come into their land  and  convert their people and make them lose their identity and religion. It was a real fear to them and an understandable one. They don't quite realize that the aim of the church is not to take ones faith and identify away, but to add to the truth and faith they possess. Anyway, the church leaders in understanding this situation better and having prayed for guidance,  chose to make the agreements with the government that would give us the opportunity to have our center and also not be a threat to their Jewish nation in any way.

    The Israeli government loves how early church apostle Orson Hyde went to Israel in the 1800s and dedicated the land to the return of the Jews and it was in that century that they did indeed begin to return. In fact the government gave land to the church to build a beautiful Orson Hyde memorial garden area.

    Since the establishment of the BYU center, the church has gained the respect of both the government and the citizens. They look at the church members as trustworthy, honest and friendly and true to their word. The people in the city call it the Mormon University and everyone we talked to was familiar with it. BYU students are so respected here that they can cash personal checks without I.D.  The church is truly building a great foundation with this university. The university also teaches about all the cultures and religions in a neutral and fair way, gaining respect from all  of them, Muslim, Jewish, Christian. It is a beautiful thing. And something I was far from understanding when I began arguing with the soldier. I had so much to learn.  The people at the center said that most people that come to Israel come on tours or with groups and are informed of the policies. But we had no way of knowing the policy beforehand. It was all a shocking way for me to learn how politics mixed with religion in this world can affect freedom.

     So it is with patience that I need to get in line with my increased understanding and follow the rules established now because this is how it must be. One of the articles of faith of the church states that we will uphold the laws of the land, and so we are, in the state of Israel.

I have learned all this, and so much more.

     I meant some wonderful people at BYU, including Daniel Rona, an LDS/Jewish guide who gives wonderful tours. I knew alot about him and recognized him because of his picture, when he came up to greet us. I met a special LDS/Palestinian man with a tragic past but great faith and hope in the future. It was wonderful to see these two men from the two sides of the issues facing Jerusalem, sitting on the couch as friends, and brothers in the gospel.

    The Branch President was helpful to us as well. One of the first people we met was Jeff C. who ended up helping us in so many ways. First, he spent alot of time talking to me and explaining things, policies, issues. Then as he saw that transportation was going to be a problem to get us home, he borrowed a BYU van. Going beyond the call of this duty, he then took us to eat and to several sights around the area, especially the Garden Tomb, which we would have been unable to see if not for his help, because it was going to be closed on our last day and public transportation doesn't run on the Sabbath. After all this, he drove us home, which was going to be a difficulty for us as well. We appreciate him alot.

    The garden tomb was everything I wanted it to be. It was a beautiful peaceful garden, kept natural by the Garden Tomb Association, a group of Protestants who take pride in keeping it natural and beautiful and I am thankful to them for this. I began to have chills before even seeing the tomb as I descended the stairs. Several prophets had proclaimed this to be the actual site, though the guides let us know that the place isn't as important as what occurred there. It is a true statement.  Jeff has a doctorate in History and Archaeology as well as having lived in this land for many years, thus knowing well the people and place. He taught us so much everywhere that we went. How could we have had a more appropriate guide than this. I told him that I thought he was one of the miracles that Kathy had foretold us would happen on our trip.

    The garden was originally a vineyard. There is a wine press there. Joseph of Arimethea owned vineyards. It is right by a rock that looks like a skull as it says in scripture. This place was originally a place of execution by stoning where they would throw the condemned onto the jagged rocks below. If they survived, then stones were thrown at them until dead.

    The place is also outside the city wall in a busy transportation crossroad where many people would have seen those being crucified and be able to mock them and humiliate them. Again, concurrent with scripture. These and other points make this spot more likely to be the place of execution and the garden tomb, more likely the burial place. But this is my opinion and the opinion of some people. Other people feel like the other place is more real. Which none of it really matters except to the person and where they can feel the spirit of what they have come there to see. It was what happened there that matters to all of us in the end.

    The tomb itself originally had a very short door as was the custom in those times. Only the family of the deceased would enter the tomb, so as not to defile it. They would go in and anoint the body and prepare it for burial. Since Jesus was placed in haste in the tomb and the family had little time before the Sabbath began on Friday night, they had not yet completed the burial process. Thus, the body of Jesus was still in the outer chamber and had not been placed on the burial bed yet when his family returned that third day and found Him gone. They had come to finish the burial anointings and peering into the tomb, they did not see the body there. They would have been able to see His body straight ahead from the door, as opposed to if it had been placed in the burial chamber, where they wouldn't have seen it from the door. We learned all kinds of interesting little things like this.

    My third spiritual moment of the trip came inside this tomb. My eyes filled with tears that streamed down my cheeks as I thought of being in this place. And I felt such a deep reverence and awe as I stepped over the step that Jesus would have stepped from on the day of His glorious resurrection day. Free and victorious. It was a moment I hope to never, ever forget.

    Jeff took was going to take us to the Orson Hyde memorial, garden of gethsemane area and Mt. of Olives, but it was closed off, so instead we went up by the city wall and looked at it from a distance. He explained a lot of things, that I can't now remember. This is some of what I can remember. The large tombs in front of the cemetery date back to important people in or before the time of Christ. The hill to the right of the cemetery , looking straight at the cemetery was where Solomon built the altars to the pagan gods of his wives. He was old, at this time, and forgetful which might have been evidence of some senility. The mountain that the United Nations building is on, was called the mount of evil councel anciently and they are still kidded about that point today. Looking at the whole valley, he pointed out the area (right above David's Tomb) where the last supper location was and how far Jesus had to walk to get to the Garden of Gethsemane. It was clear across the valley.  There really is so much information that I can't remember of what we learned from Jeff. But I do remember thinking very vividly how little of the big picture we see. He has an understanding of things there and cultural things that totally put a new picture on many scriptures. It is wise not to become too entrenched in your acquired knowledge, because there is always something new to be learned. The more you learn, the more you realize how you know so little.

    We had such scant directions for getting home that Jeff was unable to know exactly where our apartment was. We drove all over the city, going in circles at times, trying to point out to Jeff, places that looked familiar. Meanwhile, we got a complete tour of the city, that is for sure. He pointed out the Knesset, where the Israeli government is housed. We saw the Israel Museum and it's rounded roof building where the dead sea scrolls are housed. We saw all sorts of neighborhoods, including driving through Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, where the people there believe that driving shouldn't be done on the Sabbath. It was a nice experience though to see the families together, walking and visiting in all their Sabbath clothes. I felt bad for Jeff, traipsing him all over the city just to take us home, but thank him for his patience and kindness in doing so.

    We had been given free concert tickets to a concert at BYU. (All concerts are by people and groups not affiliated with the church or university). I had intended to go, but was so completely wiped out by the days experiences that all I could do was go to bed.

RELIGION

NON-REV INFO

    In Tel Aviv, non revs can only check in with the supervisor and only two hours before flight time. I found out when I inquired about buying passes on other airlines that you can only buy them from the ticket office downtown, which is a two hour roundtrip ride at a cost of $20 pp.

EXPENSE REPORT

Cost breakdown:
 

Bus tickets child and adult.	$12 apiece. TTL $24.00
Sherut from airport.	40.00
Bread	3.50
Tony guide in old city	60.00
Tower entrance	($25 per family) we paid for 3. 18.00
David tomb donation	1.25
Orange juice 3 glasses	1.25 Each, 3.75 Total
Apartment six nights	600.00
Tony guide excursion	180.00
Souvenirs	128.00
Dead Sea entrance fees .Shannon free	22.50
Masada entrance fee and cable car	50 nis adult 28 nis child 190 total nis. TTL $49.00
Camel rides	5.00 (price is voluntary donation)
Camera film at Masada	5.00
Sherut to airport	50.00
Money exchange fee	2.50
Jeff's pizza (he paid for ours)	3.00
TOTAL  (we may have forgotten something, but this is pretty close)	$1205.50

EPILOGUE

    I feel that I accomplished all I needed to do in Israel, that I had learned and done what I needed to learn and do. I felt that it was all very fulfilling, very educational, very spiritual and that I came home knowing how I would appreciate reading the scriptures after having known the place and would look at the people there in a new light of understanding, having known them and lived with them, if only for a short time.

The land is a special land. I know that. I'm glad that I was able to experience it. I know I will never forget it.

The REGRETS