Monday, September 17

Monday, September 17, started out with classes in the morning. First, some people had Arabic class. Then, in Old Testament we learned about the book of Exodus. We spent time going over the 10 plagues that afflicted Egypt and the patterns that can be found in them. We also discussed the instructions the Lord gave to Moses concerning the Tabernacle and Priesthood. We also had our Judaism class. Our teacher, Ophir, discussed many important Jewish rituals and beliefs and brought some interesting Jewish ‘artifacts’ to class so that we might more fully understand some of the practices of Judaism.
Following classes and lunch in the Oasis the students had free time. Some of us went to the Biblical Zoo, others to the Old City. I went with a group to the Church of St. Anne and the Pools of Bethesda. We walked to the Western Wall first to see if it was possible for us to go up to the Temple Mount and see the Dome of the Rock. Unfortunately it was closed so we will have to try again another day. We walked back through the Old City to the church and the Valley of Bethesda. I was very impressed with the Church of St. Anne, which is dedicated to Mary’s mother, Anne and the place where many believe that Mary was born. Most of the churches I have been to have been very ornately decorated on the inside. This church however was very pristine in that it had no gaudy decoration but was made entirely of Jerusalem limestone. There were some windows inside, which seems to be very rare in these kinds of churches. They let in some light which made the limestone turn all shades of yellow and gold. It was very beautiful in a simpler way. The students that attended all stood together in the center of the church and sang a hymn or two because the church is supposedly renowned for its special echo. It is always neat to hear how beautiful the churches make our singing sound. I really enjoyed just sitting back and listening to the echo of our Latter Day Saint hymns throughout this beautiful church.
In the basement of the church there was a sanctuary of sorts dedicated to Mary’s birth. It was interesting to see the shrine where many pilgrims come to pray and entrust their needs to the Virgin Mary. Just several steps just outside of the church were the ruins of the Pools of Bethesda. I was very impressed with the magnitude and the level of preservation of these ruins. It was a lot of fun to explore and take pictures- both below and on top of many of the arches!
After exploring the area for a while we came back to the Jerusalem Center for dinner and to catch up on reading and other homework. At about seven o’clock we had our orientation for Egypt. We talked a lot about being safe- especially the girls- and about staying healthy. One of the highlights of the evening was the skit put on by Brother Hayes and many of the students to convey the possible outcomes (good and bad) of our trip to Egypt. I think that most of us left a little bit more anxious than we were before the orientation started, but definitely more excited for our wonderful trip to Egypt on Sunday!