October 27, 2007

Danny Sorenson
Religion 303
Professor Victor L. Ludlow
Journal for October 27, 2007
The twenty-seventh was a Shabbat, which has been my favorite day of the week since coming here to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. There has always been a special feeling about the day, and this Shabbat was no different. The talks and lessons in Church were amazing, with a lot of emphasis being placed upon how much the Lord works in our daily lives. It made me think about how much the Lord has done for me and how blessed I really am. Like the hymn promises, when we focus on our blessings our days and lives truly do become brighter.
After church, I went with a small group that was going to the Garden Tomb. In the past weeks I had been trying to visit either the Garden Tomb or Gethsemane on Shabbat because of the deep peace that I feel at those locations. When I was there we met an older woman who was quite obviously sick, but after talking to her I came to deeply admire her deep and abiding faith. She was talking to some people about how through her illness she was being taught perseverance, and that while our bodies can get sick and die, what really matters is the state of our soul. After a short conversation it became instantly clear that she had complete faith in Jesus Christ, and his role as her Friend, Redeemer, and Savior. I loved our discussion, again it reminded me of how blessed we really are.
While there I also studied about peace, and how peace in this world requires work. I spent some time studying, and the main scripture that struck me was Words of Mormon 1:18 where it discusses how King Benjamin labored “with all the might of his body and the faculty of his whole soul…[to] once more establish peace in the land.” I realized that if we were to give as mush effort as King Benjamin did that we too could help make the entire world even a little more peaceful, which is something that this part of the world could truly use.
After thinking about the main theme that I have learned from the Old Testament this semester I realized that more than anything it has reinforced my belief that God loves all of his children. Before this class the main misconception that I had about from the Old Testament was an image of a seemingly angry, vengeful God. But after seeing the love that he constantly displays throughout the book I came to realize that this is an incorrect image that I had received. Instead if truly considered we come to better realize that God loves us and wants to help us. As Psalms 118:1-6 says “his mercy endureth forever…The Lord is on my side; I will not fear” After reading and studying the Old Testament seriously for the first time in my life I truly have come to realize how true this statement is.