Life Lessons I Learned in the Holy Land (so far)

1. Just going to a holy place doesn't make you feel the Spirit.  I have to put effort forth.  My favorite moments here were when I felt the Spirit, and they happened to be when I or others around me were doing actions that invite the Spirit in: reading scriptures, singing songs about God, testifying of truth, pondering, studying a General Conference talk about Jesus' stories.  Just like in other areas of life, the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.

Sitting on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the Old City.

In the Orson Hyde Garden, somewhere between

BYU Jerusalem and the Garden of Gethsemane.

2. We don't worship the place, but the person. Touching a holy site doesn't make us more holy. Becoming more like the Savior is what makes us more holy. We can do that anywhere - in our homes, serving our neighbors, loving our friends and family, studying the scriptures, connecting to God through prayer and pondering and discussing.

Inside the Garden Tomb, listening to this beautiful Irish couple read

about Christ's resurrection in the Bible. I wept.  Beautiful.

3. Some Mormon teenage girls could take a lesson in modesty from the committed Muslim and Jewish teenage girls.

Okay teenagers, aren't you glad you don't have to wear all that dark, long clothing

all summer long?  Now do our Mormon standards of modesty seem kind of easy?

4. I felt safer trusting myself to the Church than to the government.  When my passport arrived in the mail, the government agency invited me to register my trip through their website, in case of emergency should I need their help.  I started registering for the trip and got interrupted.  Later I realized if I had any emergency I would 100% choose to go straight to the church leadership there for help, and I knew they would take care of me.  That's a nice feeling in a foreign land where you don't speak the language or know all the customs.

Many people asked if I felt safe going.  Yes I did.  I checked my heart and felt no danger or foreboding feeling.  I also felt comforted knowing the BYU Jerusalem Center is open.  As long as that is still open, the church leaders think it's safe to be here.  That's good enough for me.

5. Amy taught me this lesson.  I was trying hard to imagine Christ suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, but it was difficult to focus with so many tourists in the Garden and so many honking taxi drivers outside the Garden.  Later when we discussed it Amy had an epiphany.  She said it hit her that what Christ did in that spot, He did for every person on all those big tour buses, for every honking driver outside the walls of the Garden, for everyone.  Wow.

The Garden of Gethsemane

6. Being with people who believe what you do is strengthening.

7. Love feels good. God's Spirit is there when love is freely shared. Love needs no visa, as Neal Maxwell said (see Life Lesson 13).

 8.  I know enough.  I felt troubled that I didn't have time to study before I came to learn about the sites we would see, the peoples and cultures.  I was also disappointed once we arrived to realize how unsure people are of where some holy sites really happened. Then our first Sabbath was Fast and Testimony meeting.  The new group of 80 BYU students had gotten there 12 hours after us, and a number of them bore their testimonies.  One of them reminded us of a General Conference talk that said, "You know enough."  I realized I did.  I know God lives, He sent His Son to this earth, and even if we don't know exactly where all these events happened, I KNOW THEY HAPPENED.  I know He suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane.  I know He died on a cross at Golgotha, outside the city gate.  I know He was resurrected on the third day from a tomb in that very city.  I know many people got to see His resurrected body and witness of it.  I know the Savior of the World will come again to be our ruler and leader here on the earth, and we will live with Him and with our families again forever.  I know He is the only way and name where we can be saved and have peace and joy in this life and in the next.  THAT I KNOW.

9. It's never too late to learn more. I am thirsty to know more. I have never been more curious about what other religions believe and what their customs and rituals mean to them, and how they got started.

10. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only Christian church the Israeli government won't allow to tell others about our beliefs. Not even if they ask questions and beg us. Recently Elder Holland visited and gave permission for Mormons to tell someone who asks to look at http://www.mormon.org/. That's a lot better than nothing. The lesson I learned about this is that even though the BYU Jerusalem Center tour guides can't say a word about our church or beliefs, visitors to the Center must FEEL something different there.

                                                                    

                                                                                            

BYU Jerusalem Center

Sister Whipple, our tour guide, said some people put their hand over their heart and say, "What is this feeling?" I could tell the adorable German college-age man felt it - he soaked it in and didn't want to leave. The warm farewell Sister Whipple gave a large tour group, one person at a time, as they left the BYU gate, was the warmest I had ever seen a tour guide in all of our tours of the Holy Land. The Mormons can't say it, but people still FEEL it. In other words, we're preaching without preaching, through our kindness, warmth, respect, openness, the light in our eyes, the happiness in our countenances, the modest clothing, no swearing, and so on.

The  man in the cap is the German tourist.                   Sister Whipple giving a loving, warm farewell to a tour group.

11.  All three groups of us were doing the same thing: Christians, Jews, and Muslims were all there worshipping God the way we see Him. Each of these three groups has a holy day: Friday for Muslims, Saturday for the Jews' Sabbath, and Sunday for the Christian's Sabbath. They each have different ways they dress modestly - Muslim women cover their hair and neck with a scarf and wear a dress/coat over their clothes in public, Jewish men wear some type of hat to cover the crown of their head. They each have different holy places, like the Dome of the Rock for Muslims, the Western Wall for Jews, the Garden Tomb for the Christians (and of course temples for Mormons too). We're all doing the same things - worshipping God the way we understand Him.

The Dome of the Rock, behind the trees, is a Muslim mosque.

It's built on the Temple Mount where the temple stood during Solomon's

and then Christ's time.  It's also where Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac. 

A very holy place for all three religions.

12. There are so many good people in the world. It's better to focus on the many good people and on the similarities than on the bad people and on the differences. President Hinckley said to cultivate a spirit of affirmative gratitude for those of differing religious persuasions, saying, "Be respectful of the opinions and feelings of other people. Recognize their virtues; don't look for their faults. Look for their strengths and virtues, and you will find strength and virtues that will be helpful in your own life." Joseph Smith said we need to remain open to all available sources of divine light and knowledge. He said, "One of the grand fundamental principles of 'Mormonism' is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may." He exhorted Church members to "gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them." Elder Bruce R. McKonkie said, "Every truth found in every church in all the world we believe. But we also say this to all men - Come and take the added light and truth that God has restored in our day. The more truth we have, the greater is our joy..." President Howard W. Hunter said, "We seek to bring all truth together."

13. Other great leaders besides those in our faith were also called of God. Elder George A. Smith said that Muhammad (the founder of Islam, the Muslim religion) was "descended from Abraham and was no doubt raised by God on purpose... Elder Parley P. Pratt then expressed his admiration from Muhammad's teachings and said, "upon the whole...[Muslims] have better morals and better institutions that many Christian nations." Elder Orson F. Whitney said that God "is using not only his covenant people, but other peoples as well, to consummate a work, stupendous, magnificent, and altogether too arduous for this little handful of Saints to accomplish by and of themselves."

Elder B.H. Robers said, "God raises up wise men and prophets here and there among all the children of men, of their own tongue and nationality, speaking to them through means that they can comprehend...All the great teachers are servants of God, among all nations and in all ages. They are inspired men, appointed to instruct God's children according to the conditions in the midst of which he finds them." In 1978, the First Presidency statement was released regarding God's love for all mankind. It specifically mentioned Muhammad as one of the "great religious leaders of the world" who received "a portion of God's light: and affirms that "moral truths were given to [these leaders] by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher level of understanding to individuals."

Muhammad and Joseph Smith had similar beginnings. Both were very poor growing up, both had divine messengers tell them of their divine call as a prophet, both received scripture through revelation, both established a community of believers that developed into major world religions. Mohammad's main teachings are exactly what we teach - faith, prayer, fasting, repentance, alms giving, modesty, compassion, and strong families.

While meeting with Muslim dignitaries, Elder Neal A. Maxwell focused on the common heritage of Mormons and Muslims. After quoting a verse from the Curran, he said, "God is the source of light in heaven and on earth. We share the belief with you. We resist the secular world. We believe with you that life has meaning and purpose...We revere the institution of the family...Mutual respect, friendship, and love are precious things in today's world. We feel these emotions for our Islamic brothers and sisters. Love never needs a visa. It crosses all borders and links generations and cultures."

A cabinet minister in Egypt, aware of the common ground shared by Muslims and Mormons, once remarked to Howard W. Hunter, "If a bridge is ever built between Christianity and Islam it must be built by the Mormon Church."

14. When visiting a foreign land, it's fun to try everything new that you can.  Walk the local streets, ride the local buses and taxis, chat with local people, eat the local foods, shop the local shops, visit sites that are meaningful to various religions and cultures.  Ride a camel just for fun.  Buy some clothes and jewelry you can wear at home to dress yourself in the memories you made there.  Journal or blog it to process and remember it better.  Suck all the juice out of the experience that you possibly can.

15. A smile is a universal language.  With the political tension in Jerusalem between the Muslims and Jews many people treated us as invisible.   Being the friendly person I am, it took me off guard.  Amy's used to it.  But by the end of the trip, I started offering a smile to some people, especially those who seemed to need it the most.  The ones who responded the most were children and old ladies.  It reminded me of a recent General Conference talk about no matter what the economy, we can all afford to give the gift of more smiles.  Smiles are a gift.  They melt barriers.  It made me want to smile at people more often.  Again as Neal Maxwell said, "Love never needs a visa."

16. The United States is a wonderful country.  Not perfect.  But wonderful.

17. God loves ALL his children.  All colors, all races, all cultures, all sizes and shapes, good and bad and in between.  The parable of the good Samaritan taught us that to be like God we must treat others with compassion and kindness regardless of religious, political, or racial differences.  

18.  Anything special is more special when you're with someone you love.  I can't imagine trying to tour a place like this all by myself.  I heard it's common for Europeans to do that.  Not only would I feel much more anxiety about it, but I wouldn't enjoy it nearly as much.  Beautiful is more beautiful, fun is more fun, special is more special, yummy is more yummy with someone you love.

19. Snuggle up my kids.  I missed my kids being gone for two weeks!  When I saw Amy snuggling up her kids, my heart longed to snuggle up my own kiddos at home. I want to do more of that, and less of busily rushing around like we American families tend to do.  I want to de-junk our schedules for more snuggling and chatting time, and less hurried time.