What a great week. It seems like as the weeks here in Jerusalem are winding down everyone keeps getting more and more depressed to leave and more and more antsy to go out and do things on their “bucket lists.” We’ve all grown so close and have had so many amazing experiences together that it’s going to be really hard to leave.
Easter Sunday was absolutely amazing!! There was a group of us that woke up around 4 am and walked to the Garden Tomb and went and participated in a born again Christian rock concert type of thing right at the Garden Tomb. It was very interesting.
Making our way in the EARLY hours of the morning to go to the Garden Tomb for the Easter Sunday program.
On our way to the Garden Tomb.
The Garden Tomb on Easter Sunday.
Natalie Stevenson and me at the Garden Tomb.
Christian rock concert on Easter Sunday.
"He is not here - for He is risen." - Entrance to the Garden Tomb itself.
Denise Griffith, Chelsi Funk, me, Natalie Stevenson, Brittney Palmer, Jonathan Arnell (tall blonde), Jonathan Riley (Bible Jon), Marie Cope, Sam Carpenter, Jason Johnson, and Marcus Griffith. The Garden Tomb.
The empty streets of Jerusalem in the early hours on Easter Sunday.
Entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Place where they prepared body of Christ.
Holy Sepulchre. People lighting candles.
Me playing the YMCA bells ("He is Risen;" "Christ the Lord is Risen Today") on Easter Sunday.
Top of YMCA Tower.
Patriarch entering Church of the Holy Sepulchre. CROWDS of people following.
Entering Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I almost got completely trampled by an old woman.
People pushing their way in to see the Holy Sepulchre.
Clearing the way for the Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Last Sabbath, we had a fireside given by our Relief Society President who lives over in Bethlehem, about how to be more charitable. It was one of my most favorite firesides I’ve ever heard. She shared her experiences about having to sneak over to church, and the times that she had to cross through the checkpoints. It was absolutely amazing what this woman had to go through in order to just make it to church. She said she “hid behind trees, climbed hills and climbed mountains, and even got shot at a few times.” The only way she could get through to church was to crawl through a hole in the wall. She said she felt like a fugitive when she came to church. She also mentioned that she prayed constantly to have Heavenly Father help her love her enemies, those that prevented her from getting out of Bethlehem and over to Jerusalem to be able to attend church. A scripture popped into her mind that we all know so well, from Matt. 5:43-44, which says: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Eventually, she didn’t hate them anymore, but it was extremely difficult for her to get over this hatred for them because they kept her from going to church. It really taught me that I need to cherish my time at church more, and that I need to love everyone as much as I can no matter what the circumstances. I loved that fireside, and she is an amazing woman.
Marissa Purser being congratulated by Jenni Perkins on her surprise mission call to the Philippines.
Another exciting thing that happened this week was a surprise mission call. One night, we were all eating dinner and talking amongst ourselves when all of a sudden President Brown got up in front of us and told us he had an announcement to make. And for those of you who don’t know, when President Brown gets up to tell us something, it means it is extremely important and you should stop whatever you’re doing to listen. He then told us that he was going to have one of the students here make the announcement for us. (Her name is Marissa Purser). She then got up on a chair and announced to us (with a letter in hand and a huge smile on her face) that she had just been called to serve in the Philippines. Everyone immediately cheered. How awesome!! No one even knew about it either. She had had her mission call in hand in Galilee the week before and she hadn’t even opened it yet because she wanted to open it with all of us there and to wait for her parents to hear her call. I was SO excited for her, and I wasn’t really able to eat much for dinner that night because of my amount of excitement. It was definitely an awesome experience, and I know Marissa’s going to be an amazing missionary to those people.
Lauren Noorda playing her violin.
Me strummin away on my violin in the streets of West Jerusalem. No big deal.
Allison Shamrell, Daniel Benson, Jeff Shirts, Carrie Warner, and Jeremy Borgia singing.
Marie Cope and Marcus Griffith dancing in the streets.
VERY flambouant man.
Jill Baker having some fun with two men that were teaching her to play other instruments. Well... She was flirting with them I guess. Haha.
Another experience I had this past week was when a whole group of us got together for Carrie Warner’s (a student here at the JC) birthday one night and took taxis out to West Jerusalem. There was a huge group of us (some that took their violins, some that took their guitars and even their ukuleles), and just went out onto a street in West Jerusalem and put out empty violin and guitar and ukulele cases and tried to make as much money as we could in order to buy gelato for everyone that night. I really wasn’t expecting for us to make much, at the most 20 shekels.
Counting up our money.
Jill Baker and feasting on our gelato.
Me, Carrie Warner, DaLynn Brown, Denise Griffith, and Jill Baker after feasting on our gelato.
By the end of the night, we made 125 shekels!! All of us then headed over to the gelato shop down the street and bought TWO whole tubs of gelato and then sat down in a big circle and passed both of the tubs around our group of people and ended up eating it all in one sitting. I thought it was one of the best nights of my life. It was completely random, but we all had so much fun doing it. I’ll never forget that experience.
Church of the Redeemer views
Where the remains of Adam are.
Cross location; Where Jesus body was prepared to be laid in the Tomb.
ALL of the ones above are from Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the more likely place where Jesus' tomb is located.
This is inside Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They believe this is the center of the world, if I remember correctly.
Terra Sancta church.
Organ in Terra Sancta.
Father Angelo. Awesome guy!
Orson Hyde carved his name at Terra Sancta church. Found it!
Great view of outside of Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Remember "eye of the needle?" This is what it's based off of.
One other cool thing we did this week was our Christian Quarter field trip in the Old City. It was pretty cool to see so many churches in one day. We’ve definitely seen a LOT already on this entire trip, but it was cool to see different types of Christian churches. The ones that we saw and were given a tour in were: Church of the Holy Sepulchre, St. Mark’s Terra Sancta (and a priest named Father Angelo gave us a really funny and informative tour at this one). He definitely was not like all the other priests we’ve met here that are super serious and not the friendliest men to us.
Anyway, we also went to the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer cloister and sang some hymns in the Russian church. We then went to a church called Alexander Nevsky. It was so amazing to go to so many different churches that day and learn about each one of them.
It was also another one of my friends’ birthdays, named Jill Baker. We’ve grown to be pretty close friends, and lots of people here call her “Chelsi’s Jill” and lots of people call me “Marie’s Jill.” (Marie is my friend that came here with me, and she’s from our home ward). It’s pretty funny. Anyway, on her birthday, there was a group of us that went out to West Jerusalem to celebrate. 
Upper Room
Anyway, we also went to the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer cloister and sang some hymns in the Russian church. We then went to a church called Alexander Nevsky. It was so amazing to go to so many different churches that day and learn about each one of them.
Next thing I thought was really interesting that we did as a group was go on our Separation Wall tour. It’s the wall that divides Palestinian territory from Israeli territory. I thought it was so sad how they told us that some kids used to be able to go to school really close to them and now they’re not able to at all because of this barrier that prevents them from doing so. It really hit me that I am so blessed to live in a country without something like that. I am able to go to school and do the things that I would like to do. It made me feel spoiled compared to all these people that have to fight so hard for what they want. It really changed my perspective.
Mormon University sign right outside the center.
Another experience that really stuck out in my mind from this week was our informal talent show that was put on by all the students here at the JC. It was absolutely amazing. I wish I could describe to you how fun it was but I don’t think I would be able to do it justice. There are so many talented people here, and we had so many amazing acts.
Lauren Noorda playing her violin for the informal talent show.
Jeremy Borgia, Allison Shamrell, Jeff Shirts, Carrie Warner, Daniel Benson singing their hearts out. (pb and j song)
Short girls skit. Hahahahaha.
Brooke Ford, Kelsea Kalkadelas, Sam Carpenter, Jon Arnell (tall blonde), Natalie Stevenson, Dan Jones doing their date skit.
Bentley Snow, Daniel Benson, Dan Jones, Steve Shelley, Gage Robison, Lindsay Irion, Dan King, and Emma Richey. Gage is getting his hair cut on stage for the informal talent show.
There were some who played their violins, some who played the piano, some who spoke “Furbish” (like the little creepy doll I had when I was little who talked in this language), and some who even did sign language and danced to a Hannah Montana song (a very popular superstar these days).
Name Twinz Skit:
Dan Jones, Dan Benson, Jill Wood, Jill Baker, Carrie Van Deusen, Carrie Warner, Jonathan Riley (Bible Jon), John Wiest, Jon Arnell (tall blonde), Jonathan Robinson (snarky Jon), Eric Bushman, Eric Cook, Eric Torrie, Allison Shamrell, Allison Brown, Allie Goodfellow, Ali Huish.
I was in a number called the “JC Twinz.” There are a lot of people with the same first names here: Eric Torrie, Eric Cook, and Eric Bushman; Alex Thomas and Alex Wheatley; John Wiest, Jon Arnell, Jonathan Riley, and Jonathan Robinson; Dan King, Dan Benson, and Dan Jones; Ali Huish and Alli Goodfellow, and last but not least Jill Wood and Jill Baker. It was kind of an interesting skit filled with inside jokes and I will have to show you the video of it because I can’t really describe it to you. It was so hilarious though, and the talent show was so much fun.
Anyway, yesterday (Good Friday) there was a group of us that went out into the city and on our way into the city, we saw a man pretending to be raised up on a cross and they put fake blood on him in order to stage Christ on the cross. It was hard to look at. We just kept walking and then had crepes at a really nice crepe shop there in the city. It was really good. It definitely wasn’t as good as the ones that dad makes all the time (and it really made me miss those), but it was still pretty good.
Dormition Abbey. Where the remains of Mary are located.
Doing the Via Dolorosa Walk.
Via Dolorosa Walk in Jerusalem.
West Jerusalem.
Israeli soldiers at the Western Wall.
We then went and bought souvenirs and went over to the Western wall. I think this was the fifth or sixth time I had been over to the Western Wall. It was really cool to watch a bunch of Jewish people bring in the Sabbath. They had the men and the women separated, and as I got closer to the wall (on the women’s side) I could hear more and more women praying and I could see them rocking back and forth. Some had wigs on to show their piousness and others were less orthodox. It was so interesting. I also felt really weird because earlier that day I had had stopped off to get a couple of snacks like cereal and pretzels. So as I was making my way up to the Wall, I was getting some really strange looks from the women as they looked at my grocery bag with Trix cereal in it. Haha. Yeah, it was a little uncomfortable.
I also thought it was quite interesting how earlier that day, there were two people (just tourists) that stopped us and asked us how to get somewhere. I thought that was pretty funny. I guess we kind of look like we know where we’re going now. Perhaps it’s because we’ve been here for three months and we should know where we’re going by now? Ha.
Tonight, we also got to watch the first session of General Conference. From Jerusalem. How AMAZING. It made conference so much more meaningful for me. I loved it.
Anyway, I just felt like I really wanted to share those few experiences with you all in order to give you a little glimpse into this amazing trip. I wish I could just bring you all here with me and somehow get you to experience all the things I’ve been able to experience. I know I’m here for a reason and I’m so excited to be able to share more of these experiences in the few weeks we have left here in this beautiful land.
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and then the next day we leave for Jordan for four days. I cannot wait! It’s going to be awesome!!
Hope you all are keeping up with my e-mails. I know they’ve been kind of massive lately, but that’s just because I can’t help but want to share every single amazing experience with you as I can. I hope and pray for you all to have a great week. I love you all.
Jill
-Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely; though we are imperfect, He loves us perfect; though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.
-“And in mercy, the Father sometimes delays the granting that the asking may be more fervent” -Jesus the Christ
-“When obedience ceases to be a burden and it becomes a QUEST, God will endow us with power.” –Ezra Taft Benson
-Give ‘til it hurts; Give ‘til it feels better. – Carrie Van Dusen, a student here at the JC
-There is no shortage of room in the celestial kingdom. There is room for ALL. – Boyd K. Packer
-Though the memories here in the Holy Land will fade a bit, your testimony doesn’t have to… Your experiences here and the stronger testimony you’ve gained here can bring COLOR to the black and white pages of the scriptures – Anna Gordon’s sister, former student here at the JC
-A lot of us have come here with the expectation to grow into a TREE; but really, this experience has deepened our roots.
-“And in mercy, the Father sometimes delays the granting that the asking may be more fervent” - I absolutely LOVE this quote Jill. Very positive. Loved all of your stories!
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