Shalom #26

We are thankful for our wonderful family who are living the teachings of the Savior, Jesus Christ and by their great example teaching our grandchildren to follow Him....

 ....we are thankful for the opportunity to visit the Wailing Wall...the most sacred site to the Jewish people.....

...... we are thankful for our apartment at the Jerusalem Center that gives us the glorious view of the city of Jerusalem......knowing that the Savior walked these streets so close to where we live.......

.....we are thankful that Temples dot the earth in these latter-days that unite families

for Time and all Eternity.....and that all our 9 children have been married and sealed to their wonderful spouses in the Holy Temples of our God......  

....we are thankful that a miraculous event occurred because a young 14 year old boy was searching for truth... 

....we are thankful we were able to watch the rising moon over Bethlehem....but imagining the night the Shepards saw a new star in the sky......

....we are thankful we made it to the top of Mt. Sinai to see the sunrise where Moses received the 10 commandments....10 rules for personal happiness and now centuries later will still bring us great joy as we obey!......
......we are thankful for God's beautiful creations: dark nights that show the glorious heavens....worlds without numbers.....mountains, streams, lakes, snow, rain, wind, blue skies, clouds, trees, plants, animals, birds, fish.............

.....majestic rocks.....

......we are thankful for special places to gather family and friends..........

THANKFUL: adj 1: conscious of benefit received

THANKSGIVING: n 1: the act of giving thanks

Thanksgiving 2008 finds us in the full-time service of our Heavenly Father and 

His beloved Son.  Living in Jerusalem and serving at the Jerusalem Center for

Near Eastern Studies these past four months has been an amazing experience filled

with opportunities to come closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ,  in the land of His Birth, life, death and resurrection.  We could serve to the end of our days here on this earth and never ever be able to repay our Savior for His Atoning Sacrifice in our behalf.  Because of our love for our Savior we are willing to leave our wonderful family and dear friends, our home and all the family activities that mean so much to us for 18 months.  Even though there are times of  missing home and family, this service opportunity has brought so many wonderful people into our lives.  The students, full-time staff and management, Professors and Branch members are such good people.  Having never lived abroad we have enjoyed learning and experiencing the culture, customs and diversity of the peoples of the Holy Lands. 

Being Thankful means so much to us......

Shalom #25

We visited the Baha'i Gardens this past week with the service couples.  One of the couples had visitors and had wanted to take them to this spectacular site. We were invited to join them....and are we ever glad we did.  The Baha'i Shrine and Gardens are the most beautiful grounds and are at the top of our list of "must see" in Israel. It is the international headquarters for the Baha'i faith.  In Frommer's Israel guidebook the Gardens & Shrine are listed in the "Most Important Holy Places" to visit. Haifa is the international headquarters for the gentle Bahai faith, which began in Persia in the mid-19th century in a blood bath of persecution. The book states, "the shrine was built to memorialize the remains of one of the Baha'i faith's martyrs, Bab Mirza Ali Muhammad, who was executed by Persian authorities in 1850.  It is built in the port town of Haifa  and has the most breathtaking views of the city and harbor.

   

This is the shrine of the Bab's remains, incidentally, which were hidden for years after he died a martyrs death in front of a firing squad.  Eventually, however, his followers secretly carried his remains to the Holy Land.

In Frommer's, it states, "Baha'is believe in the unity of all religions and see all religious leaders-Christ, Buddha, Muhammand, Moses-as messengers of God, sent at different times in history with doctrines varying to fit changing social needs, but bringing substantially the same message.  The most recent of these heavenly teachers, according to Baha'is, was Baha' Allah.  He was exiled by the Turkish authorities to Acre (across the bay from Haifa) where he wrote his doctrines, and died a peaceful death.....the shrine entombs the remains of the Bab, the Baha' Allah's herald who died a martyr's death in front of a firing squad."  It was so interesting to us to learn about this religion.   Many things in their history parallel the story of the

Prophet Joseph Smith and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

This picture does not do justice to the gardens. Imagine this whole mountain side with immaculate gardens, hedges, fountains, beautiful flowering plants, etc.... 9 levels above the Tomb and 9 levels below the tomb.  We are looking down on the tomb probably from level 5.  

Shalom#24

Our Jerusalem Branch had a service project at the Augusta Victoria Hospital olive groves.

The hospital is owned and operated by the World Lutheran Federation.  We are neighbors with them here on the Mt. of Olives.  In past years the students have helped out but this year our Branch had the opportunity.  One of their objects is to help the poor and needy Palestinians.  The olives are taken and pressed for olive oil which the hospital then sells to help their special patients who can't afford to pay their bills.

Shalom #23

Whoever said doing laundry was boring hasn't

visited our Linen Exchange! Once a week (usually

Wednesday night) the students come into the

laundry room for clean linens.  We have these

four great students - Angela, Mikael, Julie, and

Andrew who take a "job" like this and turn it to a "party"!

Notice our supplies of TP! - Very important.......

 

This is 1/2 of the pile of linen that comes

in.  We only hand it out....we don't have to wash 

or fold it.   Housekeeping sends it out to be cleaned.

It usually takes us less than an hour if all the

students show up on time.

Shalom #22

As we were exploring the Old City we came

upon a "smelly" area.  We had found the

meat market section.  There are several

dozen little shops with fresh meat, fish

and a kitty enjoying all the scraps.

Notice the Tail still attached.  That is

one of the yummy parts!

Tongues

Lungs, etc.

Shalom #21

So we decided to take a walk into the Old City and

it was very warm that morning.  We were thirsty

and stopped at this little stand for some fresh

orange juice.  These pictures speak for themselves.

*notice fingernails!  We did drink it and it

was really refreshing....I just couldn't look at

his hands, table or washcloth.

Shalom#20

Bethabara was revered by the early Christians as the site associated with Jesus' baptism.  It is located beyond the Jordan River in the modern country of Jordan.  The Hebrew word, beth means house or place, while abara means to cross or ford, suggesting a place where travelers forded a river.  In the gospel of Matthew it says that John the Baptist baptized "in Jordan" (3:6), the gospel of John says that he did so "beyond Jordan" (1:28; 10:40).  the Apostle John may have meant the  east bank of the Jordan River.  At a very early date, Christians began honoring this site we visited.

The Greek Orthodox Church has recently built this new church on property close to the baptismal site as are several other Christian denominations building new churches in the area. 

This is an area where possibly Jesus' baptism took place.

Today, the Jordan River is a small river compared to 

what they believe it was at the time of the Savior.

We felt a very reverent and sacred feeling here.  

Shalom #19

Large pictures of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein and his father (now deceased) 

King Hussein.  These pictures are posted on buildings, roadways, billboards, etc.

His Majest King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein is the 43rd generation direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammand (Peace Be Upon Him).  He assumed his constitutional power as a Monarch of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordon on Feb 7, 1999 the day his father, King Hussein passed away. 

The King Abdullah I Mosque in Amman, Jordan, is an example of Islamic architecture.

Islam is Jordan's state religion and about 9/10th of the population are Sunni Muslims.

This Mosque is capped by a magnificent blue mosaic dome.

This tower is called a Minaret.  Minarets are generally tall spires with onion shaped crowns and are  lighted with green lights.  The call to prayer is broadcast from the Minarets.    If you stand in our patio in the evening, you can see green lights all over Jerusalem.  We have many mosques in the Jerusalem area. 

Electronic board showing times of prayer

Inside mosque listening to lecture on Islam.

We were asked to put on robe before entering the mosque.

Group picture before we left the mosque

Shalom #18

Two modes of transportation in Petra

In side a cave, waiting in line for the WC (bathroom).

 

.

An archeological dig at Petra
Little Bedouin girl selling rocks to the students 

The Cathedral and Royal tombs
On his trusty mule heading up the canyon.
Out for a "joy" ride up the canyon.

Posing in front of a group of  tombs with one of the

 Professors, Roy Huff and his wife Jeana.
More tombs
Obelisk Tomb -Egyptian influence