This Sunday's Journey

Today was an eventful and good day. We started off going to a Lutheran Mass this morning and that was very interesting. The reverend instantly knew who we were when a group of like 20 students walk in the back door all with fanny packs and waterbottles. We weren't the only tourist there though. Pretty much the entire place was tourists from different places. These people that we talked to behind us, the reason that they are here in Jerusalem really intriqued me. They go to the Palistinian neighborhoods that the Isreali soldiers kind of pester and try to make them leave their homes and just stand there and try to settle the matter peacefully by getting the soldiers to go away. I thought that was very brave of them.

Here is a picture of me at my first Lutherian service. I went and shook his hand afterwards and he said that he lives right behind us and sees us all the time.

Then we went to Domition Alley Church(where Mary's grave is supposed to be. I think this is the 3 claim to where she is buried). There we went down into the crypt and looked at all of the mosaics on the walls. They had lots of different pictures of Christ and his life and death. The had above the tomb of mary all the famous women in the old testament and that was fun to try and guess who was who. I'll post them and see if you can tell.

Oh, while we were there we met another group of kids from BYU and we sang some hymns and it was really cool to hear the sound bounce off the walls. It really sounded like we were in a big shower. We sounded so great. The priest came and other people gathered around to listen to us sing.

We then went to the Tomb of David. The Jews have turned it into a mosque and they study there. So we just put on our kippa's(little jewish hats) and went on in.

From there we went to the place where the Last Supper supposedly took place. We joined some other groups and listened into their explanations. There was this Oriental Group that came in after us that were from Korea. While we were eating lunch some of them came up to us and asked if we could be in a picture with them. Hahahah I love the orientals!! Then I said after we had taken the picture together, "2 dollar, 2 dollar please." Just kidding!!

After that we went to the Holocaust Museum that they have here and it was really small but it still amazes me how cruel the Germans were to the Jews. The pictures that they had of the starving Jews, where they literally where skin and bone, is always so sad.

This picture is from the Holocaust Museum. Some Germans would take their torah scrolls and they would make clothes out of them to disgrace the Jews. Here is a jacket that some soldier that had made from the Torah.

We asked a bunch of people and after lots of wandering we finally found the grave site of Oskar Schindler and put a rock on it. I don't know the significance of that but every one else does it so I did too.

Look at this walking back home we picked up my first falfel!!! It was interesting but really good. I haven't really ever tasted something like this before.

We came home at dinner, did some homework, and went to a little fireside. Our fireside speaker was from Poland is Jewish and born in 1917. He went through 3 or 4 different death camps and concentration camps. His story really is a miracle. Not only all the stuff that he went through and lived but that he holds not grudges or pain from that terrible period in his life. His mother and 5 sisters were taken to concentration camps and executed. His father died of starvation. He is the only surviver from his family. What a terrible situation but he didn't let it stop him. He just forgave them for all the terrible things that he went through, believed in God, and made it through alive. His story really was great and there were so many times that he escaped the concentration camps by the skin of his teeth. He felt that God spared him so that he could share his story with all of us. He was such a cute, funny, nice man. To not make the situation so serious he would always throw in jokes to make us all laugh. Once I get the picture that I have taken with him I will post it.

It was a great and busy day. It is so nice to live here and just wander around the city. Spending time where Christ lived.