Shalom!

Two Jerusalem domes — The Dome of the Rock, with the gray dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the background
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

An interesting meeting:

“First Presidency Welcomes Delegation from Vietnam’s Committee for Religious Affairs”

He’s gone from Israel now, but, for two days or so, we seemed to be about twenty-four hours behind him:

“In Jerusalem, Apostle Encourages Interfaith Listening and Learning: Elder Cook speaks at semiannual Jewish-Latter-day Saint Dialogue”

I’m inclined to agree with this:

“Mormonism is pro-environment”

***

O. H. M. G. in J'lem — A view from the southwestern corner of the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden toward Jerusalem’s Old City (specifically, the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock). (Wikimedia Commons public domain)

Today represented the culmination of this Israel tour that we’ve been accompanying. We attended sacrament meeting in the main hall of the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, and then, after lunch, we met in the Orson Hyde Garden, which is located just above and slightly to the north of the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. There, I discussed the atonement of Christ. After walking down through the Orson Hyde Garden and descending a bit of the road that links the Kidron Valley and the Temple Mount to Bethany, we visited the Garden of Gethsemane itself and the Church of All Nations.

The church at Gethsemane — The Roman Catholic Church of All Nations, in Jerusalem’s Garden of Gethsemane
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)

From there we drove to the Garden Tomb, where we spent considerable time. I spoke about the New Testament resurrection narratives, concentrating on Luke and John and then, also, on the first verses of 1 Corinthians 15. Then there was a brief time for the bearing of testimonies.

We closed out the day, and our tour together, with a really superb dinner in the Rooftop Wine & Cheese Restaurant of the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center. Most of the group are going on for a few days in Jordan, but perhaps a quarter — including me and my wife — are not.

I always find such partings rather sad and wistful. We’ve just begun to make many new friends, and then, suddenly, they’re gone. In many if not most cases, we’ll probably never again have significant contact with them — if, indeed, we ever have any further contact with them at all.

On the other hand, we’re frankly rather tired. These tours — to Israel and Egypt and then Israel again — have been hard work. England was a nice break, but even that was a bit exhausting.

Posted from Jerusalem, Israel