Sabbath + Garden Tomb= Spiritual Dream Come True

What a wonderful day this has been!  I love Sabbath days in Jerusalem!  Everyone in the ward is so great.  The talks in sacrament and the lessons in Sunday School and Relief Society are always out of this world.  Also, being in Relief Society in a family ward has its perks.  Since it's Mother's Day weekend, the elder's quorum came and gave all the mothers galaxy chocolate bars.  (Which are divine by the way.)  And to avoid excluding 80% of the relief society members, they gave we single, childless students chocolate bars as well.  Ya that's right!  I got the benefits without all the work!  I knew there was a reason I wanted to be a mother!  Haha jk ;)

If that wasn't enough to make my day, a bunch of us then walked over to the Garden Tomb!  Holy guacamole I love that place!  It's probably my favorite location here in Jerusalem.  The site is privately owned, and is run and maintained by Christian volunteers from all over the world.  Our tour guide from when we went last week for a field trip was from London, England.  He was a very comical human being.  He had the absolute, bushiest eyebrows I have ever seen!  But he had a very strong testimony that he was not shy about.  (Which is always appreciated.)  

This week, we just wandered through the garden ourselves, and found a quiet place to sit, ponder, and write in our journals.  The gardens are so beautiful. They do a really good job of creating an environment that invites the spirit.  They encourage all the different groups to sing hymns to help others feel the spirit.  I love it.  There was a tourist group that was singing hymns in a different language, but the hymns still felt familiar.  It helped me to recognize how alike and similar we really are.  Even with all of our differences, we all have the same core purpose: to worship and become more like Jesus Christ.  He lives!

This tomb or somewhere nearby is where Christ was resurrected.

Close up of me by the possible tomb where Christ was resurrected.  Strong side point:  we don't know for sure where it actually occurred.  But in the words of President Gordon B. Hinckley, "Here, or somewhere nearby, is where Christ rose from the dead."