My First Sabbath in Jerusalem!!!

Today is Saturday. Here in the Jerusalem Center, it is the Sabbath. Muslims worship on Friday, Jews worship on Saturday, Christians worships on Sunday. However, due to the convenience for the students and the faculty we worship on Saturday as well because the entire city shuts down from sunset on Friday afternoon to sunset on Saturday.  It is also required by the students to stay in the center on Friday until 3 for protection purposes because of the large masses of Muslims that come to worship.
Yesterday, I went with a group of my friends to The Old City.  I am trying to tone down the friendliness and restrain from making eye contact. However, my excitement only provokes pure joy and I can't help but smile.  While walking up to the Old City, I passed boys riding horses and donkeys, cars zooming by with no sense of hesitation as they pass pedestrians, many elderly women periodically placed selling various fruits and vegetables, young boys equipped with massive machine-guns,  horrendous smelling sewers, little boys playing soccer, and Jewish men with long curls dangling by their ears as they briskly walk to somewhere important.  The thing that touches me is when I brush shoulders of girls who are around my age, completely veiled, revert from any form of attention. We live drastically different lives. While in the city I see a variety of people, cultures, and religions. It is simply amazing to witness people devoutly worshiping.  At one point, I somehow became immersed into a sea of solemn individuals singing, praising God in Portuguese as they walked through the narrow paths. We all worship and live how we choose but ultimately, we are all children of God.  As Sister Hinckley said, "The people make the places beautiful."  Growing up, we learn of various peoples, religions, and opinions on the morality of the human race.  Despite the differences, people are generally good-hearted. It is apparent to me as I see a young boy caring for his warped and disabled grandfather, I see it in the eyes of the girls that sacrifice their lives for their beliefs, I feel it when I hear the call of prayer at 4am as thousands of individuals get up and worship (it happen five times a day), people are all different and choose to live the ways in which they believe are most fulfilling.  As we walk on the streets, different men will say, "Are you Mormons? We love Mormons.  Mormons are the best!"  In one of my classes on Friday, my teacher expressed, that yes these people here disagree and don't get along but they are good people. We should love a little more and judge a little less.  It is very eye-opening to be here. We purchased Israeli candy (not so good..much of it tasted like year-old Valentines Day Candy). Then it started pouring rain. We all ran home in the rain and were soaked when we got back. My white flowing skirt was covered in mud.  I enjoyed every second of it! The experience was surreal, I felt I was in a movie!
The chapel in the BYU Jerusalem Center has large spacious windows that look out onto Jerusalem.  The students meet with a local branch here. We greatly increase their numbers. I love this because it enables me to associate and meet with the natives here.  The church is true wherever you go! When I partook of the sacrament, I was able to look out onto the city and see the place where Our loving Savior atoned for our sins, carried the cross and was crucified, and buried.  The spirit shot through my body like lightening, it just testified to me of the reality of His life and this sacred ordinance. We need to always remember Him.
After church, I had the opportunity to go with a group of students to......the Garden of Gethsemane. How many people have the opportunity to go to the Garden of Gethsemane after church?!! I DID! I walked around the corner through a gate, and immediately stopped.  I could not fathom the concept that this is where the Savior atoned and suffered that I might live again. As I leaned up against a metal gate, I reflected on my life and the direct influence the Savior has had in my life. Throughout my 20 years of living, the Savior has healed all of my deepest pains, comforted and rejoiced with me, and endured some of my darkest hours with me.  I witnessed for the first time in my life the place it all became possible, the place where The Savior of all the world atoned for me, and all of us individually. There was a church right next to it. In this church lays the Stone of Agony. People flooded into this immaculate Cathedral, to this stone.  This stone is believed to have been the place where Christ prayed to the Father for strength prior to his suffering in Gethsemane. I sat on a pew in awe as I watched numerous individuals kneel down to kiss the stone and offer up a prayer. I watched as people humbly worshiped and wept.  THE SAVIOR LIVES! I HAVE NOW WALKED WHERE HE HAS ONCE WALKED!