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.