Luckily we got there early because there was a guard at the gate who wanted to make sure we were members and who wasn't supposed to let anyone in after 9:30 (church started at 10:00). They have a strict policy based on an agreement they have with the government that only members can go to church there and no one can do any proselytizing.
So we had a few minutes to look around at the gardens surrounding the center and take in the great view of the city. We made sure to get in the chapel quickly though because we wanted to get good seats. They have the chapel set up where all of the seats face these huge windows so that everyone can see the old city while they are listening to the speakers. It was really neat. There were some great talks by some of the students who were there and it felt good after all of our travels and all of the things we were hearing from other religions and churches about Christ to listen to the gospel that was familiar to us again. Sunday school and priesthood/relief society were also really good. It looked like there were a lot of visitors like us there, maybe about half of the congregation. Then most of the other people there were students and maybe about 10% were people who lived in Jerusalem. I am guessing those families were the teachers at the BYU Jerusalem Center.
After church we walked to the southern part of the Mount of Olives to the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden. Orson Hyde was the first LDS missionary to visit Israel and while he was there he dedicated the land for sharing the gospel. Years later they purchased the spot where he dedicated the land and built a nice garden there. We found a shady spot and sat down on some rocks for a picnic lunch.
Just across the street from the Orson Hyde garden was the Garden of Gethsemane. This was small but still neat. Some of the olive trees looked very old and Rebecca read somewhere that some of them in the garden were more than 3,000 years old. In looking at the trees you could see that the main stumps was super old and gnarly, but then young new branches were grafted in that would then give the fruit. It would have been nice to be able to walk around in the garden, but only a path around the perimeter was open. I guess that is for the better though because with all the tourists that visit every year the trees probably wouldn't last very long.
On a side note about the things tourists do; one of the churches in Jerusalem claimed that they used to have the cross that Christ was crucified on. However, when tourists came to visit it they would kiss it. And then, wanting to bring a piece back home they would sneak a bite out of it while they were pretending to kiss it. Over time, with so many people taking bites, there was nothing left of the cross. I don't know if that is really true and I am sure that the church did not have the real cross in the first place, but it is an interesting story.
Then after the Garden of Gethsemane we made our way back to the conference for another talk that I had to give (again down and up the Kidron Valley so I was nice and sweaty again, just in time for my talk). This was the last talk of the whole conference so I didn't think anyone would show, but there was actually a pretty decent crowd. The talk went well and after it we went back to our hotel. We waited a few minutes and then took a walk outside to see if things really opened up after sundown when the Sabbath was over. So about 30 minutes before sundown the streets were empty, but then right after sundown people started filing out shops started opening up and it was all pretty lively again. It was pretty cool to see so many people in a country all observing the Sabbath together. In Jordan we thought the same thing. Although their religion is way different it was neat to see everyone in the whole city following the guidelines of Ramadan together.
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