A Little Humour at the Mt. of Beatitudes

I had a very spiritual, yet amusing time at the Mt. of Beatitudes. Is it even possible to be super spiritual, yet be bursting out laughing all at the same time? Like every other site, there is a church that is built wherever Christ has done something. Brother Harper sat us down in front of the church that commemorates the Sermon on the Mount. We were yards away from it though. When Bother Harper gave his devotional, a little old lady would start screaming in a microphone saying, "Be quiet! There are people praying in the church!" She had pretty good English. I could only hear a slight hint of an accent. The whole time Brother Harper was giving his devotional, every other ten seconds she would yell into the microphone. Brother Harper started feeling self-conscious after a while and thought that he was the one being too loud. He was not talking loud at all though since we had headsets to hear him clearly. I thought it was ironic that she was yelling into a microphone to tell people to be quiet. I am pretty sure she herself was disturbing those who were praying. She was a cute, well-intentioned lady though.

Megan and Rachelle then performed "Consider the Lilies" right where we were. I was freaking out because I was expecting the little lady yelling in the microphone to tell them to be quiet. Luckily, she did not say anything because that would have been super awkward. Megan played the violin and Rachelle sang. It was such a beautiful rendition. I started tearing. During the middle of the song, an African tour group were passing right behind them. They stopped to take pictures and videos of them. I could not help but laugh at this sight. They seemed so eager to get a shot of them singing. After Rachelle and Megan finished singing, the same lady that was yelling into the microphone started clapping. She even came up to take a picture of them. There was just so much going on around us while we were having such spiritual moments, that I could not help but laugh at this whole episode on the Mt. of Beatitudes.

I am pretty sure this does not sound funny at all to whoever is reading this. These are one of those moments where you have to have been there to understand. Or maybe I was just slap happy and immature at that time and I was the only one that found this all funny.

Christ's Purpose on Earth

I decided to post a writing exercise of mine that I did for Brother Harper's class. My mind was blown after writing this writing exercise. I always thought that Jesus' disciples knew during Jesus' ministry why He came on earth. The disciples had no idea that Jesus would die, that He may save all mankind.

Below is the confusingly worded prompt that led me to figure out Jesus' disciples:

This essay should reflect your accumulation of insight over the course of the semester (the passage of time/experience) relative to seeing or understanding and its relationship to memory.  Use John 12:16 in context as your guide.  In your first well-developed paragraph, explain to readers why even Jesus’ disciples did not understand everything “at the first.”  According to that verse, what transpired before the disciples could understand what they had witnessed in Jesus triumphal entry?  According to that verse, the disciples did not “remember”--a scholar of memory might prefer “recognize,” a specific component of memory—until what they already knew until “then.”  What is the “then” in John 12:16?  A combination of two things catalyzed the disciples’ ability to discover the meaning in Jesus’ triumphal entry: namely their knowledge of scripture and their personal experiences.  Comment on that combination.

With all that in mind, reflect thoughtfully and specifically in your second paragraph on what you did not understand about Jesus “at the first,” meaning, for our purposes, before you came to Jerusalem.  Then assess in a thoughtful sentence or two how little you still know and how your future experiences, combined with your Jerusalem experiences, will enable you to remember as Jesus’ disciples remembered in John 12:16. 

I wrote a pretty basic essay, but I felt like sharing what I analyzed through the scriptures:

Jesus’ disciples did not understand everything “at the first” because they did not expect the Messiah to save all mankind through the atonement. The Jews believed that the Messiah would be one that would deliver the Jews from the rule of the Romans. At first, His disciples did not perceive that the acts of Jesus riding on a donkey and going straight to the temple to preach were acts of the Messiah. However, the disciples understood that before Jesus’ triumphal entry, He was a divine being. Jesus manifested His divine nature through His miracles and words. Jesus healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, and raised the dead. In the chapter before Jesus’ triumphal entry in the Gospel of John, Jesus testifies He is the resurrection and the life. Jesus resurrects Lazarus from the dead. This last miracle in the Gospel of John foreshadows Jesus’ resurrection. Despite Jesus foreshadowing His glorification through His resurrection, Jesus’ disciples did not understand Jesus’ true purpose on earth. The disciples only understood Jesus’ true purpose after the atonement was complete. The time Jesus was resurrected was when the disciples are referred to as having “remembered” in John 12:16. Jesus was glorified after His resurrection. Jesus was glorified after the completion of the atonement. The disciples discovered the meaning of Jesus’ triumphal entry through their scripture knowledge and their personal experiences. The prophecy of Zechariah was fulfilled through Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In Zechariah 9:9, Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah be lowly and riding upon a donkey into Jerusalem. His disciples realized that their preparing a donkey for Jesus was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah. The disciples then realized that Jesus was the Messiah that came to earth to suffer that all mankind might have salvation.

            Before I came to the Jerusalem Center, I did not understand that Jesus had a different will from Heavenly Father. If there were any other way to save all mankind, Jesus would choose the other. I did not take into account that Jesus had His agency while He was entering Jerusalem for the last time. He could have easily chosen not to go to Jerusalem. He was aware that the leaders of the Jews in Jerusalem were out to kill Him. Instead, He chose to follow God’s will and enter into Jerusalem to die for all mankind. I realized being here that I know very little of the nature of Jesus. I hope that my future experiences combined with my Jerusalem experiences will enable me to remember that the word of God is being fulfilled.

 

  

Get Some in Galilee (GSG)

So the students of the Jerusalem Center Spring/Summer 2012 chose "Get Some in Galilee" as our motto. Super inappropriate, but whatever floats their boat.

Here's a little briefing of how Galilee is. I'll go into more depth with my experiences in future posts. I have not emailed anybody about how I am doing, so I am writing this so people won't think I died.

Galilee reminds me of Waianae on Oahu. It is a tropical countryside, but not the prettiest tropical place I have been to. It is super hot and moist. There's dead shrubbery on the mountains. There is the Sea of Galilee against the mountains. I hear that during the winter time Galilee is a lot prettier.

We are staying at a beachfront resort. The water at the beach is not the greatest I have been in. The water is like warm bath water. It is nice though that we can go swimming everyday while we are here.

Galilee is crazy hot! At least last week was intense. The temperature was in the 100s and possibly in the 110s. What made it worse is that it was way humid here. All at the same time, my apartment was a freezer. I felt bad for turning off or turning down the temperature in our apartment, so I would alternate going inside and out.

We still had class while we were here. We had 3 hours of New Testament for 3 days. We had 2 hours of Ancient Near Eastern Studies for 2 nights. We were all pretty wiped out in Ancient Near Eastern Studies because we had it from 7-9 p.m. There was one night I could not stop giggling in class because I was so tired that I was slap happy. There was another night that I had a throbbing headache because I was doing back flips into the water at the beach.

The field trips have been way fun. I think some of my favorite field trips have been up here in Galilee: Boating on the Sea of Galilee, Mt. of Beatitudes, Golan Heights, Megiddo, Gan Ha-Shelosha, Dan, etc.

We have been in Galilee since July 16 and we will be leaving July 26. The end of Galilee marks two weeks before the end of the Jerusalem Center experience. Sad.

Best place in Jerusalem...

This is going to seem ironic, but if there is only one site you could go to in Jerusalem, I would say go to the BYU Jerusalem Center. You probably think I'm crazy because why go to the BYU Jerusalem Center while you could go to "the original sites" of where Christ was? You also probably think I'm extremely biased since I live here. When I first arrived in the BYU Jerusalem Center, I felt like I entered the temple. The BYU Jerusalem Center is the most peaceful place I have been to in Jerusalem. I felt the Spirit strongest in the Jerusalem Center. I felt like the Spirit is naturally here. In other sites, I had to bring the Spirit there (maybe with the exception of the Garden Tomb). I know that the Spirit of God dwells in the Jerusalem Center.

Elder Holland's Remarks

Here are the notes of Elder Holland's remarks in sacrament meeting that I promised from the post before. What he said was more applicable to those who have gone to Jerusalem; however, I feel like this talk can be stretched to apply to anyone who is LDS.

- Everyone doesn't get the chance [to be in Jerusalem].
- Savor, cherish, and be grateful for every moment here [in Jerusalem].
- We have an obligation to those who do not have the opportunity [to be in Jerusalem].
- The investment of this experience should touch lives.
- Our children's children's children will not have the chance to come here.
- There will be points in our life and the Church when life will not be so great (we are currently enjoying good times).
- Cloudy days will come in our lives and the Church.
- Individuals have to say they are here to stay.
- We are counted on being in the meeting of 120: the first church meeting mentioned in the book of Acts.
- The Church and the Savior needs to count on you.
- If there is a favorite place here, it would be the Garden Tomb.
- Everyone loves a happy ending.
- We can have a happy ending if we wanted to.
- We will have no one to blame in time and eternity.
- We have nobody to blame but ourselves.
- All has been done for us to gain eternity.
- We could not do this all by ourselves without grace.
- Every concern has been addressed in heaven.
- Be your best; be strong.
- If can all be done with grace - it has all been provided.
- It is up to us to embrace and receive all that we have been given.
- We are free and gifted and blessed people.
- Bare witness of the Son of God.
- Realize what it means to have the restored priesthood.
- Men have come to the Gospel because of the women in their lives.
- A missionary asks Elder Holland, "Would you give your life for the Church?" Elder Holland replies, "I am giving my life to the Church."

Throughout this talk, I felt like Elder Holland could see the future as he was speaking. It was interesting how Elder Holland said that in a couple generations, they won't have the chance to come to Jerusalem. It was also interesting how Elder Holland said that there will be a time of cloudiness in the Church. I might be completely misinterpreting what he said, but I think he made a reference to the fall of the Church. I have never really heard talks refer to the fall of the Church (or maybe I haven't been paying enough attention to talks to notice). We need to stay strong, while the Church is in this state. Even in our lives, we are in it to stay.

I am hoping that you guys were inspired to go to Jerusalem. If it is at all possible for you to come here, definitely do. And if you do go to Jerusalem, have the willingness to grow. While being in Jerusalem I had to make the effort to spiritually grow. For a bit, I thought that my growth would be handed to me on a silver platter because I thought the Jerusalem Center would just give it to me. I thought just being in Jerusalem would be enough for me to grow. I thought that hearing the things that were taught was enough. I learned that I need to fully embrace and take to heart the experiences and teachings that are offered here.

A Game-changing Experience

 I typically write about lighthearted things in my blogs. This is not one of them. Actually, my next couple posts will be serious and probably personal (this post will be personal). I'm going to try my best to write about what I am prompted by the Spirit to write.

The title of this post is taken from a topic that Bother Crockett mentioned in his talk today in sacrament meeting. A game-changer is one who brings innovative ideas to a business. He pointed out that the game-changer represented Heavenly Father and that the business is us. Brother Crockett gave an example of a man who had a game-changing experience that brought him to dedicate his life to the Lord. I believe that Heavenly Father blessed me with a game-changing experience these past two days that, like this man, had brought me to dedicate my life to the Lord. My life gradually changed these past two days. It was not until Elder Holland's remarks at sacrament meeting that I realized that I will never be the same.

A lot that that has gone yesterday prepared me for today. I talked to Sister Ludlow about serving a mission during the service project. Something that stuck out to me was that she wanted to serve a mission so that she could share all that she has learned about the Gospel. She also pointed out that she wanted to serve a mission because she loved the Lord. What she said reminded me of why I wanted to serve a mission. I forgot about those motives. I feel like that is a part of why I lost the fire to serve a mission.

After the service project, Alicia and I talked about serving a mission as we were walking to the Old City. As I was rambling on trying to figure out the numerous reasons to why I was unsure about serving a mission, I realized that a huge reason was that I was afraid of going on a mission. She told me that I should not pass the opportunity to serve a full-time mission because of fear. She asked me, "do you know where fear comes from?" I knew exactly where fear came from.

Alicia also mentioned that the mission will be the worst of times and the best of times in your life. That reminded me of a concept that a forum speaker mentioned to us this past Wednesday night: With high risks come high returns. I have been taught this concept before, but I felt like I most needed it now in regards to serving a mission. It is kind of a stretch applying the risk-return concept to serving a mission because if one deals with a high risk situation, there is no guarantee one will get high returns out of hit. I do believe that serving a mission is a high risk, but I know that through diligence and faith on the Lord one is guaranteed high spiritual returns from serving a mission.

Also watching "Life is Beautiful" for the first time last night helped me gain a better perspective on life. Even in the worst of times, you can make life beautiful through joy. It is a very touching movie that I would recommend everyone to watch.

As I took the sacrament today, I truly comprehended how much the Lord loves me and how much I needed to return that love. Jesus Christ is a completely righteous man, yet He took upon Himself all of the sins of the world. He died for me. I fully comprehended today that Christ's love for me is the purest and the most sincere love that could ever be shown to me. It made me realize how much more I needed to show my love and devotion to Christ.

After the Crockett family spoke before leaving Jerusalem after living here for 3 years, Elder Holland gave us the last remarks. He has been here on vacation, so he has been staying in the Jerusalem Center these past couple days. What he said changed my life. What he said was like no other talk I have ever heard. His talk was on a plane of its own. The Spirit was unbelievably strong. Maybe I felt this way because his remarks were directed to the Jerusalem Center students. It felt like God was talking directly to me. As he was speaking, my future life flashed before my eyes. I could see the next generations that would come after me. I could feel eternity. I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience the whole time. I will be posting the notes that I took of Elder Holland. All though I took notes on quite a bit of what he said, I know that they won't do his talk any justice. His talk is one of those you have to have been there to understand.

After his talk, I realized that I need to devote my life to the Lord from now on. Only now do I have the heart and willingness to serve the Lord. I need to be a disciple of Christ 24/7 and not just on Sundays (or in Israel's case, Saturdays).

As a result, I feel more content with the idea of serving a full-time mission. We even had a lesson on missionary work in Relief Society right after sacrament meeting. I think God has been trying to tell me that I should serve a full-time mission. I determined that I am going to start filling out my mission papers this Fall semester.

The First Lady Pagent

So our Jerusalem Center President needed a lady companion to help him fulfill his presidential duties, so the newly found matchmaking committee established the first annual First Lady Pageant. This has to have been THE BEST in-center/FHE activity ever! I could not stop cracking up! The contestants were hilarious and the rounds that the contestants had to go through were creative.

When the ladies introduced themselves, they all had a witty remark to say why they would be the best first lady for Ian.

They then had a trivia round. The ladies had to answer questions about Ian before he became  president. The questions about him were hilarious and random. There was a question where the girls had to guess who Ian's man-crush is in the Jerusalem Center. One of the choices was Brother Jackson.

They then had dodge ball competition right on the stage of the forum. It was funny seeing girls in dresses on the stage in the forum trying to get each other out. The MVP was picked among the judges.

The top five then had a bed making competition. Brother and Sister Peterson had their clipboards in hand to judge who had the best made bed. This is an inside joke. Nobody on the first cleaning check of the semester knew how to properly make their beds. The bad has to be made where the blue cover and the comforter have to be tucked under the bed tightly.

The last round was the questioning round. The first question was a Bashir Bashir question (his first name is the same as his last). His favorite words "vis-a-vis," "i.e.," "homogeneity," "exoticism," "contextualize," and many more were used to ask the question of how the contestant would handle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The second question that was asked was another inside joke. The Colombian student in the Jerusalem Center asked, "In theory, if Ian breaks your feelings what would you do to make sure he doesn't reject you?" In Ancient Near Eastern Studies, there was a day when our family home evening groups got together to form a skit to describe a king in biblical times. In her amazing accent she yelled, "do not reject me!!!" The last question was, "If Ian was any food, what would he be and how would you eat him." Rachel made up a super awesome answer and said that he would be a Turkish Baklava. She then gave a super funny, but appropriate response to how she would eat him. She ended up being the First Lady.

This event was not even awkward at all. The funniness of it flowed pretty well. This was the greatest pageant I have ever seen!