October 7, 2007

Nichelle Tagg
October 20, 2007
Bro. Ludlow
I went to the garden Tomb today. It is amazing to me that I have the opportunity to live in Jerusalem and to be able to walk to sites like The Garden of Gethsemane and the Garden tomb. There are tour groups continuously going in and out of the tomb. Many different churches are represented here. I love to hear people from other religions sing hymns. It is amazing to me that, even though other people don't have the complete restored gospel, when they worship Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ I can feel the spirit. Brother and Sister Lee spoke about Joseph Smith in a fireside tonight. They gave a general overview of what happened to the saints throughout all of their travels, how the church progressed in the time of Joseph Smith. After that Courtney and I went down to the Lee's room to pop some popcorn. We talked to them for about an hour and a half. Brother and Sister Lee are really fun to talk to. They don't like the idea of always telling us to obey the rules. We discovered that Sister Lee sort of stole a car once, well she actually "borrowed" it, and she returned it eventually.
I have been thinking a lot lately about God as the divine kinsman and Christ who has become the divine kinsmen through his atonement, his sacrifice for us.
In tribal cultures, if someone needed protection from the divine kinsman he would open his home and encircle him or her in the arms of his love, wrap us in his cloak, protect us. We make covenants like baptism and temple covenants that bring us the blessings of becoming part of his clan. Greg mentioned to me how when you crush an olive, immense pressure is necessary to be able to bring forth oil. When Christ talks about how he trod the winepress alone, he felt the pressure and hurt of the entire world and he bled from every pore for me and everyone else. He suffered immense pain because he loves us. He wants us to come unto him so he can wrap his robe around us and bring us into the celestial kingdom for eternity. I was also thinking about Asa one of the kings of Judah who was righteous for a time then instead of trusting in the Lord he made an alliance with Syria. Everything that happens is in God's hands. He is all powerful and if we trust in him he will protect us. Even if it seems like things are not working out exactly right, the Lord is in control and nothing will happen to us that is not part of his plan.