June 29,2008

“Who did this to you? Who did this to you?” These are the words a shop keeper called after me as I passed by his shop in Jerusalem’s main market today. “Did what?” I hollered back over my shoulder. His answer was short and concise, but uttered in amazement bordering confusion, “Moustache” he called out. After that I was too far away to hear anymore and luckily because I could not control my laughter. What was better was the girl next to me; she thought that was about more than she could take. Nevertheless, I suppose it is good to conclude that the moustache is causing a splash here in the Holy Land as in states. I am just excited to see what the baby looks like by the time Dani’s wedding rolls around. Another sweet experience happened today while we were shopping. You see, all of the shop keepers and a vast majority of Jerusalem knows the BYU students very well. Some of them like us, some of them don’t. I like to believe that more like us than not. Anyways, so we have a rule here in the center that anywhere you must be in groups of three. Well, we were in a large group, but me and another girl both wanted to go to a shop that had something we knew everyone would want. Therefore, we hatched a plan to sneak down to it about five stores down and make a purchase secretly before anyone else noticed it and then come back and the group would never know we left. (I know what you are thinking…and that is why the story is so funny) On the way down there as we passed a shop a man sitting outside hailed us in his ridiculously thick Palestinian accent, “Come BYU Come inside my shop!” Then he noticed there were only two of us, and immediately goes, “Wait, I will only allow three in my shop at a time. Not two, only three. These are the rules!” Imagine how we felt at this point! Um…. We tried to like walk past, but just felt so ridiculously guilty! We turned our eyes to the floor and walked back to the group. “That is right he said, what are your names?” We smiled and said, “Oh no, you are not getting us in trouble!” We all shared a good laugh at this point. We came back about 15 minutes later with a third person and he smiled and said, “Now you are three!” It was a really cool experience. We are always being told how everyone’s eyes are always on us and you know what, they are! This random guy knew our rules and was not satisfied that we were not keeping them. Let that be a lesson to all of you the next time you try and bend the envelope: There is always a random shop keeper watching.

As per adventure today, we had an amazing class on Islam. Our teacher is actually a Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem. Islam is his specialty though, and man is he cool. He makes the drive from Bethlehem every time he comes to teach us, he is the Department Chair of Humanities at Bethlehem University. I really like him. I am excited for the class. Islam fascinates me. I spent the rest of the day drawing dotted lines paralleling Islam beginnings and our faith. Very interesting. But you know what? They do not believe Christ is the Savior, and therefore I can gain no peace from their doctrine. Christ is peace. The rejection of Him is misery. It actually IS that cut and dry.

After the delightful two hour Islam lecture a group of us all went over and did the rampart walk along the Eastern wall of Jerusalem. That was amazing. We walked around half the perimeter of the city atop the wall. It was amazing. I wish they were the same walls that Nephi and his Brothers hid outside of and lowered themselves over, but they are not. The current walls surrounding the old city actually were built by I believe by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th Century. (How cool would that be to be subtitled The Magnificent). Still, I imagined Nephi and his brothers fleeing from Laban’s guards as I walked along the walls of the city and saw the streets below. I imagined the Savior walking the streets we had a bird’s eye view of, walking, healing, blessing, and teaching as he went. However, I also imagined wars and battles, crusades and riots all on those same streets. Thousands of years of war and bloodshed. I looked out the small little holes built in the side of the wall for archers to shoot through. I saw the lookout towers and the graves that adorn the hills outside the city walls. It is amazing that here, in this place of great conflict, the great supreme act of lasting peace was performed. Nevertheless, I testify that it did happen. The walls whispered that to me today. No, they didn’t see it, but they knew it. They had seen far too much in this city to not believe that. It is their only hope just as it is mine. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Pslam 122:6).

June 28, 2008

Today was Shabat. The Sabbath Day. Here it is on Saturday and that is cool. I need to explain where we meet for Church. We meet in this room on the top level of the center. It has stadium seating and faces three humongous windows that provide the most absolute beautiful view of Jerusalem I have ever seen. The big joke is that you need to be a good speaker to stand up in Sacrament meeting and keep the attention of the audience. So just think throughout the rest of this story about the view, you can see the entire city from the center’s location on Mount Scopus adjacent to the Mount of Olives. So, I get there a little early and find a seat near the front that has a good view of the Dome of the Rock. You see, I am obsessed with the Dome. I get lost in thought as I stare at its gold top and think of all the history that lies at that site. Anyways, luckily for me the best view of the Dome is also right near the sacrament table. Ben-o, Brother Seely’s 14 year-old son who lives here with him, is in charge of coordinating sacrament. As I sat staring at the Dome I noticed Ben-O asking specific people if they would like to pass the sacrament. As soon as I noticed this I secretly desired it. He asked the guy near me, and I thought that naturally I would be next, but he left walked all the way to the other side of the room and picked out another guy. I noticed that for whatever reason he was not just asking everyone he was handpicking people. As he again began to walk to my side I prayed in my heart that he would pick me. I dropped my eyes, looked at the floor so as not to drive him away with my awkward stare, and just hoped. Yes, the story ends well, he came up and asked me if I would like to help pass the sacrament. Boy would I! Remember the view? I helped pass the Sacrament my first Sabbath here, with the site of the original Last Supper in my very sight! After I sat down and said a prayer of thanksgiving to represent the Savior in such a Holy Place, I just breathed in the view. My eyes went from the Last Supper area, to the walls of the city, across the Kidron Valley and up the Mount of Olives. They rested on the Garden of Gethsemane, less than a mile away from where I sat; you can imagine the significance of the Sacrament to me on this day. It was there, right there, I could see it as I helped perform the Holy Ordinance that reminds us of the infinite and eternal event that took place there. Wow. It was there, the very place. With my own two eyes in the light of day I could see the place that Jesus Christ the Son of God, thought of me. Little old Tyler Gardner sins were heaped upon his precious and willing soul... He experienced the pain for my sins. Mine. In High School I used read the last chapters of the four gospels and imagine them during the silence of Sacrament meetings. I would play them out in my head after I read them like a movie. Well, needless to say, I imagined a lot less today, but really just saw it all happen on the land in front of me, out those huge windows that were obviously designed for no other purpose. What a privilege it is to be here and feel what I feel as I see what I see. I remember a Sacrament meeting on my mission where a little 12 year-old Indian girl was playing the Sacrament Hymn “There is a Green Hill Far Away.” She played it with just the right hand and she played it powerfully. The bread took longer to break and she ended up playing it over and over again without words, just pounding the right hand, dun dun dun dun dun dun duh dun dun dun dun dun dun duh… I felt the Spirit very strong that day in Vizak, Andhra Pradesh, India. Each note just resonated through my soul and testified the truthfulness of the songs message. I have not and will never forget the experience. I was reminded of it today when the ward choir sang the song, “There is a Green Hill Near at Hand.” And it is. After church a group of us walked to Golgotha, or Calvary (in Latin), translated as “the place of the skull.” I saw it, the place of the skull I mean. I listened as a British Tour guide described the brutal manner in which crucifixion took place. I learned. We then ventured over to what is believed to be the Garden Tomb. Wow, what a place. I got to go inside of it. Guess what I found? Yup you guessed it: Nothing. Absolutely nothing! I have never been more satisfied to find nothing in my whole life. There was a sign on the wall inside carved in wood, you know what it said? “He is not here He is risen.” I love that. Oh how grateful I am for such a place. Ohhh I just love it. He is not here, for He is risen. Ladies and gentlemen the Lord is Risen. Our protestant British Tour Guide bore his testimony outside the tomb and I loved that too. He said, “We don’t know if this is the real tomb or not, but to me it doesn’t matter. To me what matters is the fact that Jesus is not in it. My Jesus lives today, I worship a living God.” I am very thankful for that delightful British fellow. Wherever you are, Cheers Govna’. So, yeah that was my first Shabat here in the Holy Land. Not bad eh? It gets better. Before Church while chowin down in the cafeteria the District President asked me if I would meet him in his office. I consented. I must admit that I fully intended to be formally asked to shave my moustache. Despite its adherence to honor code standards, I just figured that it was too much for some of our Holy Land friends and was setting a bad example for the Church. Yes, I thought that and was prepared with a response. Well, surprisingly, I doubt the man even noticed my stache. He called me to be the Secretary in the Elder’s Quorum. Here is the cool part: It is not the student branch. It is the Branch that we students attend, but it functions as the Branch for Jerusalem. So, I officially had hands laid upon my head and was set apart as the Secretary in the Elder’s Quorum of the Jerusalem Branch, in the Israel District of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Come on! Ye Elders of Israel…quite literally! Ha ha I got a kick out of that! What a privilege huh? Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that it is not a big deal and that to be honest my only responsibility is to coordinate the Sacrament, but still, to actually have the opportunity to serve the Jerusalem Branch, what a blessing! Israel, Israel, God is Calling...and I am off to go listen to the Muslims pray.

June 27, 2008

Yesterday I fell asleep in my clothes at 9:00 pm reading my Near Eastern Studies book. Luckily I was in bed already and slept through the entire night, that is until the 3:00 am Muslim Prayer Call woke me up (which is beautiful), followed by the incredible snores of our new roommate (not so beautiful). Rusty, me and Michael Anderson all were on the same flight and made it here without delay and we all get along fine. 20 of fellow mates actually missed their flight in Chicago and had to stay overnight, so we spent an evening without them. Our new roommate Nathaniel snores like a lion. It is seriously the loudest thing I have ever experienced. By the time I had woken up, Michael who sleeps right next to him was flipping out with his pillow over his head and his ipod in. It was so ridiculous it was hilarious. Michael finally solved the problem when he turned the air up really high and though we froze, he overpowered the lion's roar. Anyways, so today was our first real field trip. Yesterday we took a remarkable walk through the city, which was fantastic, but today was our geography field trip and we visited high places on each direction of the city and it was absolutely incredible. From the North, East, South and West, we saw Jerusalem and learned ... well just some amazing things. We saw the places the Crusaders built camp, Samuel's alleged burial ground, a really old German church, and the hill that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem. Wow that was a sweet experience to stand on that hill and see Jerusalem on one side, Bethlehem on the the other and ME right in the middle. (I will refrain from a nener nener nener [yeah that's how you spell it!]). My favorite part was when we saw the place where Abraham would have travelled on his way to sacrifice Isaac. Brother Draper delivered an awesome lesson from that place. He spoke of what it must have felt like for Abraham to come over the hill and for the first time see Mt. Moria (the current site of the Dome of the Rock) where he was destined to sacrifice the son he had awaited for so long. He helped us understand the story and brought out the insight that Abraham trusted God, and knew that God would not go back on the covenant that he had made with him regarding his posterity. The test was a test to see if Abraham trusted God's covenants. He then explained that each of us would at some time or another find ourselves facing our very own Mt. Moria. Our trials are equal to our faith he said, and I believe that. I wish I could explain what it was like to sit on that hill and see that. It is so very very different now than it was in Abraham's day, but it sure was very very similar. Again, it had a certain feeling about it. I love that feeling and have come to desire it. Abraham, FATHER ABRAHAM walked up this hill with Isaac behind him carrying wood upon his back. Wow ... what is the significance of being at all these sites in person? I am not sure yet, I will attempt to find out. Right now, all I can come up with is the feeling. This feels like a very sacred place. And I love it.

June 25, 2008

When I told President Carter that I was planning on doing a study abroad in Jerusalem, her said, "Really? Why? If I were you, I think I would do something like Europe." Well, for the second time ever (the first involving teachers quorum, Aaron the brother of Moses, and a golden calf) President Carter, you are mistaken. I am sorry. You see, despite the absolutely horrible array of flights we embarked upon, with the 10 hour leg peaking with a score of about 8.75 on the ridiculous scale when they played a video of a woman doing stretches in her airline seat to give the passengers ideas on how to stay loose during the flight. Why so ridiculous? Besides the obvious, the woman was a midget. Her feet did not even touch the ground of her seat and she was demonstrating stretches that required about 4 feet less of body mass than I actually possess. Anyways, the reason for President Carter's err, wait! ... One more killer story: During the Chicago Airport 4-hour layover, I went numero deuce in a women's restroom on accident. I must have been delirious from the lack of sleep, but I walked right in, took care of business, walked out and while washing my hands, noticed the cleaning lady and thought —odd that they would have a woman cleaning the men's room. I casually smiled at her, noticed the lack of urinals on the way out, then the classic women in a dress symbol and smiled to myself as I walked toward the group not far away thinking, well, I suppose that could have gone worse. Anyways, the point, the reason for the glory of this study abroad: There is a feeling in this land that I just cannot explain. When you see it, it overwhelms you like saran wrap to the face. Seriously, we arrived and we were all just in absolute awe ... we gathered on the main patio overlooking the city right when we arrived and just looked at that city ... it about drove me to tears. You could feel Him. You honestly could. It was like Obi Wan to Han Solo dialogue inside of me, but instead of thinking, "That's not a moon, it's a space station," my insides announced within me, "This is no ordinary place." We all just stared forever until they called us in for dinner. I stayed longer; they had to call me twice. An immense feeling of gratitude and privilege overwhelmed me as I took it all in. In that first instant, things became a little more real for me. All I could do was just stare and in simple and naive childlike wonder, exactly like Macady does, whisper quietly —wow. Ladies and gentleman, fasten your seat belts puhlease, this is gonna be a good one.