1032. Garden of Gethsemane, Garden Tomb, and our Last Day in Jerusalem, plus notes.

For my last entry about my trip to Egypt, Petra, Jordan, and Israel, I will put various items in which may be unrelated, as I want to include all the notes I took!  I hope readers have enjoyed it.  Writing it has brought many inspiring memories back, and I'm writing it as much for myself as others, so I can come back and read them now and then.

The last day, a Monday, April 30th, 2018, We went first to the Mount of Olives, and the Orson Hyde Memorial Park.  

I took the above photo, With Ashlynn and Whitney Christian, but there are interesting facts on the internet:

The Church of All Nations, also known as the Church or Basilica of the Agony, is a Roman Catholic church located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, next to the Garden of Gethsemane. It enshrines a section of bedrock where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest.

Close by is the Orson Hyde Memorial Park.  It has an interesting history. 
The following is from the October 1991 Ensign:  

Orson Hyde departed Nauvoo, Illinois, on April 15, 1840, and returned to Nauvoo on December 8, 1842.

The following comes from LDS.org ----  October 1991 talk 

Orson Hyde’s 1841 Mission to the Holy Land

By David B. Galbraith

Orson Hyde was born 8 January 1805 in Oxford, Connecticut, the tenth child of Nathan and Sally Thorp Hyde. Both of Orson’s parents passed away before he was twelve. Although he was raised by loving foster parents, he hungered for an education not available on the farm and at the age of eighteen struck out on his own.

Orson was led to Kirtland, Ohio, which, like many other areas in the eastern United States, was bubbling with the spirit of religious revivalism. While working in the Newel K. Whitney store in Kirtland, Orson learned of a “golden Bible” that had been dug up in New York. Although he dismissed the report, the Spirit began to work on him. He was later to write, even before seeing the Book of Mormon, “Who knows but that this ‘golden bible’ may break up all our religion, and change its whole features and bearing?”

Orson was soon drawn to public and private meetings alike to hear the Prophet Joseph Smith preach, and on 30 October 1831, he was baptized by longtime friend Sidney Rigdon. That same day, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon ordained Orson an elder.

A few days later, Orson sought the Prophet to learn the Lord’s will for him. In a revelation to the Prophet, Orson was told to “proclaim the everlasting gospel, by the Spirit of the living God, from people to people, and from land to land … in their synagogues.” (D&C 68:1.) Orson’s missionary talents were to take him to the ends of the earth, but the uncommon use of the word synagogues, which is generally associated with the Jews, foreshadowed his particular mission.

A Mission to Palestine

Although the precise date is not known, some time after Orson’s baptism, the Prophet Joseph Smith gave Orson a most unusual blessing:

“In due time thou shalt go to Jerusalem, the land of thy fathers, and be a watchman unto the house of Israel; and by thy hands shall the Most High do a great work, which shall prepare the way and greatly facilitate the gathering together of that people.”

That mission, though at the time still in the future, was reconfirmed in 1835 when Orson was ordained as one of the original twelve Apostles of this dispensation. At his ordination, Elder Hyde was told that he would “go forth according to the commandment, both to Jew and Gentile, and to all nations, kingdoms and tongues.”

On 3 April 1836, a singular event occurred that would open the way for Orson’s mission: Moses appeared in the Kirtland Temple and delivered to the Prophet Joseph “the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth.” (D&C 110:11.) Never again would the gathering of Israel be spoken of as a future event. In a letter written by the Prophet in 1840, he noted that the Jews “have been scattered abroad among the Gentiles for a long period; and in our estimation, the time of the commencement of their return to the Holy Land has already arrived.”

Elder Hyde would figure greatly in that commencement. In March 1840, he told of an extraordinary spiritual experience he had as he lay in bed pondering where the Lord would have him serve. He later recorded parts of this experience in a letter:

“The vision of the Lord, like clouds of light, burst into my view. … The cities of London, Amsterdam, Constantinople and Jerusalem, all appeared in succession before me, and the Spirit said unto me, ‘Here are many of the children of Abraham whom I will gather to the land that I gave to their fathers; and here also is the field of your labors.’”

The following month, during April conference 1840, the Prophet commissioned Elder Hyde to go to Palestine and there dedicate that land for the return of the Jewish people.

After a long and arduous trip fraught with suffering and personal sacrifice, Elder Hyde arrived in Jerusalem. On Sunday, 24 October 1841, Elder Hyde climbed the Mount of Olives, and just as he had seen in the vision, offered a heavenly inspired dedicatory prayer.

In one of the prayer’s opening paragraphs, Elder Hyde focused on three themes: (1) the gathering of Judah, (2) the building up of Jerusalem, and (3) the rearing of a temple. The balance of the prayer, for the most part, is a supplication that these three objectives be accomplished.

 In the prayer, he asked the Lord to inspire “kings and the powers of the earth” to help “restore the kingdom unto Israel.”1 He also prayed that the Lord would remember his promises to all the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

A sign in the garden:

I took the above picture of a small monument in the park, and below shows a large walk way, going up the mountain some.  We went after to the Garden of Gethsemane but Bishop Clark knew it would be crowded with many people and we had relative quiet there.  So we sang the lovely Primary song, "Gethsemane" together, in which I was privileged to sing into the microphone to help those who didn't know the melody.

These are olive trees, and the ones below are much older.  They were growing on the hillside there, but the Garden of Gethsemane itself is beautifully manicured, with many walks and flowers.  Pictures below.

below are several photos I took of the beautiful way the Garden is landscaped now.  Many hollyhocks were there!

This plaque was there close to the rock below.  The rock is presumed to possibly be a rock on which Jesus knelt to say His 

prayer above.

A few pictures with various scenes in and around Jerusalem.

Olive trees growing outside those walls in the background.  There are public walkways and places to sit around this area.  

This was an interesting site looking from above down into a backyard of a home.

This sign showed where various walls have been built around and in Jerusalem, different time periods.

Our last day we basically covered the last week of Jesus' life, going many places He went.  The photos above and below are of the palace of Caiaphas.

Joseph Caiaphas was the Jewish high priest, who is believed to have been involved in the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus and to have organized the plot to kill Jesus. This historical figure has been quite interesting to the historians, given that he was the longest serving high priest of the 1st century, whose priesthood outlasted Valerius Gratus and Pontius Pilate. Since the 4th century to the present day,  the location of Caiaphas' residence has been a subject of much speculation.

Once pilgrims started visiting Jerusalem, they tried to seek out all the sacred sites to feel more connected with God. One of these sacred places was the location of Jesus' trial in front of the high priest. The oldest pictorial map of Jerusalem, shows Caiaphas' palace on Mount Zion, however it is not clear enough to pinpoint the exact location of it. (From the internet)

I took the photos above and below, the one below inside of the palace.  It is believed in those days that condemned criminals were put down below into a dungeon to await their trial.  So it is thought that Jesus was sent down there.

These are pictures of the dungeon carved into rock, and now glassed off.  The plaque below tells of it.

The statue above depicts Peter denying Christ for 3 times.

This carving depicts Jesus on His way to Calvary.

As we were in these areas, a group of the women in the Israeli military walked past us!  The military is very active and keeps up to date on all happenings.  Our guide knew all that was going on each day in American politics also!

We also visited a room commemorating the Last Supper with Jesus and His disciples.  There we sang "In This Very Room", and I took a video of Bishop Clark talking.  I'm sorry I can't include it, and I didn't get another picture.  We visited this place, with this information from the internet:

The Cenacle room on Mt Zion in Jerusalem is where two major events in the early Christian Church are commemorated: The Last Supper and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.

I didn't take a photo, but I believe this is where we met.  I did find a picture of Bishop Clark there (I think) -- from a video.

The Cenacle is not universally accepted as the site of the “upper room” mentioned in Mark 14:15 and Luke 22:12.

But archaeological research shows it is constructed on top of a church-synagogue built by the first-century Jewish-Christian community of Jerusalem. Fragments of plaster have been found with Greek graffiti, one of which has been interpreted as containing the name of Jesus.  This would have been the first Christian church.

Now about the BYU Jerusalem Center: 

 The property consists of 16 acres in very choice land, in a remarkable location!  In order to acquire the land, the Church made an agreement with the Israeli government that we would do no missionary work in the country.  Our Jewish guide said he wished that that agreement hadn't been made, as he liked us Mormons! 

Something that was very interesting:  Bishop Clark told us that during the construction of the Center, it was understood that if any artifacts were found there, a grave, etc., that construction would stop immediately, and not resume, as it would be considered sacred ground.  It was truly a miracle that not one item was found on those 16 acres!  But closely outside that area, some were found!  

 If you have time to read some history, go to this URL, for a talk by David Whitchurch:

Orson Hyde, the Holy Land, and Brigham Young University

DAVID M. WHITCHURCHAssociate Professor of Ancient Scripture, BYU                               Oct. 4, 2016 • Devotional

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/david-m-whitchurch_orson-hyde-holy-land-byu/?M=V

The information below comes from part of that talk:

In 1968, under the direction of Daniel H. Ludlow, dean of Religious Education, twenty students and two faculty members (Professors LaMar C. Berrett and T. Ellis Rasmussen) inaugurated the Jerusalem study abroad program. Throughout the following years, Church leaders continued coming to the Holy Land: N. Eldon Tanner (1971), Hugh B. Brown (1971), Harold B. Lee (1972), Gordon B. Hinckley (1972), Howard W. Hunter (1972), Neal A. Maxwell (1972), and James E. Faust (early 1980s).

With an expanding Church presence, the mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek, was introduced to members of the Church. During the mid-1970s he contacted Church leaders in Salt Lake City to see if they were interested in developing a five-acre property on the Mount of Olives. He recommended it be named after Orson Hyde. President Kimball took immediate action. The needed funds were raised through donations, and the garden was dedicated by President Kimball on October 24, 1979. Six apostles also attended the dedication, along with nearly two thousand members of the Church.

THE CONSTRUCTION AND DEDICATION OF THE BYU JERUSALEM CENTER FOR NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

A search for property for BYU was approved as the Jersualem study abroad program continued to grow. Elder Howard W. Hunter made six trips to the Holy Land in 1979. The day before the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden dedication, President N. Eldon Tanner went to see some twenty-six possible land sites. From those he selected seven or eight to show President Kimball. The eventual site of the center on Mount Scopus was not on the list.

The story is told that a party of twelve people went to look at potential properties. The group included Spencer W. Kimball, N. Eldon Tanner, their wives, six members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and others. The last stop of the day was a site slightly south and east of where the current Jerusalem Center building is now located. At some point President Kimball broke off from the others and began to walk northward along the hillside, looking down toward the Kidron Valley. After he had walked a hundred yards or so to a spot overlooking an empty field, he stopped and said, “This is the place.”

President Tanner, who had been following close behind and was accompanied by the other members of the party, then said, “All in favor raise your right hand.” When a prophet asks you to raise your hand, it is hard to refuse.

Suffice it to say that the land President Kimball chose was not for sale. It was disputed land located on property designated as green space. The acquisition of the property and the subsequent building of the Jerusalem Center is, in its own right, as miraculous as were Elder Hyde’s travels to dedicate the Holy Land. The project would come directly under the office of the First Presidency, with the university as the chief beneficiary. The First Presidency appointed Elder Howard W. Hunter, assisted by Elder James E. Faust, to represent the Church in this building project. The executive oversight committee was chaired by BYU president Jeffrey R. Holland. Many others—too many to name—played significant roles in the successful completion of the Jerusalem Center.

One whom I will mention is Robert P. Thorn. Brother Thorn, who had considerable real estate experience, was asked by the Church if he would go to Jerusalem to oversee the acquisition of the property on Mount Scopus. He anticipated being there for a few weeks. It turned out that navigating and getting approval from various politicians and numerous agencies kept him there for one and a half years.

Construction on the Jerusalem Center started in August 1984 and continued nonstop until 1988. An effort to halt the project began as soon as construction on Mount Scopus began and people found out that the Mormons were the ones doing the building. The Haredi Jewish community, a sect of Orthodox Judaism, feared that the center would provide a foothold for the Church to do missionary activities in the Holy Land. Every sort of pressure possible was brought to bear against the Church and the university. It became an international news item. The Knesset and various government officials and offices were involved. Israelis took both sides of the issue, some supporting cultural and religious diversity and others seeing Mormon proselyting and conversion of any Jew as a loss of Jewish identity.

After a thorough investigation, the attorney general of the State of Israel determined that everything the Mormons had done had been done correctly. In the meantime, the work on the building continued.

As already mentioned, BYU students moved into the Jerusalem Center on March 8, 1987, prior to its completion. The center was dedicated in a quiet ceremony on May 16, 1989, by President Howard W. Hunter. There was no press. Those present included President Hunter, Thomas S. Monson, Boyd K. Packer, Jeffrey R. Holland, personnel of the Jerusalem Center, and a few BYU faculty and Arabic-speaking students who happened to be at the Jerusalem Center on the day it was dedicated.

The impact of the Jerusalem Center has been profound. When the Jerusalem Center was finished, Jeffrey R. Holland (then president of BYU) took Mayor Kollek on a tour of the building. Mayor Kollek hardly said anything until the end of the tour, when he said:

You have taken the most beautiful piece of property we could have given you and have done more with it than I thought possible. I consider it the most beautiful building built in Jerusalem in recent years.

Church leaders had close ties with the former Jerusalem Major Teddy Kollek, who died in 2007 at the age of 95. Mayor Kollek visited Utah and even received an honorary degree from BYU in 1995.

The former mayor was instrumental in BYU building the 125-thousand-square-foot Jerusalem Center on Mount Scopus, which overlooks the Mount of Olives, the Kidron Valley and the Old City of Jerusalem. People of many faiths visit the center for scholarly conferences and concerts.

The concerts are held each Saturday evening, free to the public, and are quite popular there.  Saturday is their Sabbath, and when they enter the building they go through security, and have to leave any weapons.  Bishop Clark said it was interesting that all the guns people had were in security, and then picked up after the concert!  Our tour guide, Bishop Clark Christian, who also has his Doctorate, spent several months teaching Institute there at the BYU Jerusalem Center years ago, and was very familiar with all the sites we visited.

The magnificent organ in the chapel at the BYU Jerusalem Center.

I was privileged to play on that organ, and I tell about it in Blog # 1024.

Part of the agreement was that they use a local architect and also local workmen to build it.  When they were telling the architect about what they wanted built, he thought it would mostly be a church.  When he heard that it also would be a branch of a University, he said that because of the learning that would take place there, he would design it with light in every room from every angle!  It truly is full of light, temporal and spiritual.  

  The Jerusalem Center is Brigham Young University’s center for study in Jerusalem. Students enroll through the BYU campus in Provo, Utah, travel to the Holy Land, and live in the Center for programs that last approximately four months. Students study a core curriculum that focuses on Old and New Testament, ancient and modern Near Eastern studies, and language (Hebrew and Arabic). Classroom study is built around field trips that cover the length and breadth of the Holy Land, as well as travel to Jordan and to either Egypt or Greece.

The Center itself is a beautiful building on Mount Scopus overlooking the Mount of Olives, the Kidron Valley, and the Old City. The 125,000-square-foot, eight-level structure is set amid five acres of beautifully landscaped gardens. The first five levels (moving up from the lowest level) provide dormitory and apartment space for up to 160 students. Dormitory rooms accommodate four people with ample study space and a private bath. Each of these rooms has a patio overlooking the Old City. The sixth level houses a cafeteria, classrooms, computer facilities, and a gymnasium. Administrative and faculty offices are located on the seventh level, as is a 250-seat auditorium. The main entry is on the eighth level, which also contains a spectacular recital and special events auditorium with organ, lecture rooms, general and reserve libraries, offices, a domed theater, and a learning resource area. The facilities at the Jerusalem Center are available only to full-time students formally enrolled in a BYU Jerusalem Center program.  (https://jerusalemcenter.ce.byu.edu/)

In Israel the government owns all property, and any piece of ground, or dwelling, is leased for up to 49 years.  (Then the lease can be renewed.)  The BYU Center can house up to 160 students, and has 4 religion professors.  They hire other professors, some from Israel, to teach other classes, and while there you are immersed in religion and history.  It was closed from 2001 to 2006 while there were internal problems in Israel,  but has been open since then.

Here below now, I will mention various things about the whole trip that I probably missed, and want to include, just for my memory!

I brought 2 Books of Mormon with me, hopefully to give away to someone.  I knew I couldn't give any in Israel or Jordan, and probably not Egypt either.  I put my testimony and contact information in the front of them.  I gave the first one to a man who had left Salt Lake with us, and was flying back to his home in Croatia.  He had been at the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, and when I offered him the book, he didn't want to take it without paying for it, and I had to convince him I had brought it to give away.

The other one I still had, and it was the last morning in Israel before we were to board an airplane at 12:50 p.m. that night in Tel Aviv.  I was up early, and about 15 to 6 a.m. went down in the lobby of our hotel to use their computer and make sure my airline ticket was ordered.  The only person down there was a lady on our tour, from the United States, the only one who wasn't a member of our Church.  She was also getting her ticket ready, and offered to help me, which she did.  They I said a quick prayer, and told her I had brought a Book of Mormon to give to someone, and asked her if she would like it.  She said "Yes!  I love to study about other religions."  So I felt so good about that!  I hope someday she will read it and feel its message.  She was in on all the different very LDS talks Bishop Clark gave, and heard much about the Church during the tour.

Bishop Clark mentioned several times how Egypt was a refuge to Biblical people, from Joseph of Egypt, to Moses, and even to Jesus Christ and his parents, when Herod killed all babies under the age of two years.  

Jews don't eat milk and meat in the same meal.  It needs to be 2 hours between them, -- traditional.  Israel is known for it's expert cutting of diamonds.  

We were advised to hold our purses and wallets carefully, to protect them against pick-pockets! Sometimes the police protect the pick-pockets as long as there is no shooting, because they give police information! 

The place Jesus was tempted was near the place he was baptized.  He answered each temptation with scripture.  When we are tempted, we can be protected if we think of, and read scriptures!  

The Book of Mormon has the earliest version of the Book of Isaiah, as Lehi took it in 600 BC.  The versions we now have of the Book of Isaiah, and those in the Dead Sea Scrolls were copied at later dates!

We had devices, as did every other tour we encountered, which we put in our ears, and could hear the speaker, either our guide, or Bishop Clark.  There was a little battery thing that fit in a pocket.  We had different ones in each country, supplied by the tour guide, but must be returned to them at the end. 

I truly enjoyed this tour, and I felt so taken care of!  The Christians counted people every time we got on and off the bus, to be sure we didn't leave anyone behind. 

I told about my experiences on the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday April 28th in a prior blog, #1024 .  I mentioned I would tell about some talks I heard that day, but I will write about them in some future blog.  This blog is already too long!

Our last day, Monday, going to the Garden Tomb once more.  This time the weather was beautiful.  We met privately in a small place in the area, and sang "He Is Risen".  We also had a short meeting wherein some told of their feelings about the tour.  I mentioned briefly that in the past I had really studied Church History, and the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith a lot, and taken classes in Institute, but I wanted to study more of the life of Jesus Christ, as now it will mean so much more to me.  

I have noticed each Sunday, when we sing the Sacrament hymn, I feel it so much more deeply, and a time or two felt so choked up I could hardly sing. 

The life and places of Jesus are more real to me now!

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Example of a stone that could be rolled away in front of the tomb.  

These blogs are in entries #1022 to 1032, excepting #'s 1027 about my mother's 110th birthday and her poetry, and # 1028, about my daughter Delsy turning 60 years old.

WE HAD GREAT LEADERS, AND I LEARNED SO MUCH!