Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives

Abu Ibrahim was telling us that before the '67 War he and his family would go to Jerusalem as a quick day trip.  It only took an hour to get there.  Unfortunately,  that is not the case today.  The border crossing was very stressful and thorough.  When we got to the Israeli side they asked me if I had another passport.  She didn't look like she believed me when I told her I didn't and must have stamped my passport with 'watch out for this one,' because when Michael got through security with no problems, they stopped me, took me into a room and searched me very thoroughly with a scanner.   Thankfully we got through it okay and quicker than some.  The whole process from leaving our house to getting to Jerusalem took about 5 hours. 

But it was worth it.  The Old City was awe-inspiring.  

The bus dropped us off just outside the old city wall near the Damascus Gate.  We walked for a little bit with a Marine that we met at the border.  He gave us a couple tips and then we picked a gate and walked in.  Did I mention that we were 'winging' this whole trip.  We had no reservations to stay anywhere or anything.  Thankfully, Michael's friend Teren is an expert on Jerusalem and he gave us an outline of things to do and places to see.  We walked around for a while till we came to a hostel we thought looked good.  We had heard of it before and it had good reviews.   We slept on the rooftop, which turned out to be pretty fun. 

This one's for Kimmel :)  There were tractors all over this maze of a city.  

Eating shawerma Jerusalem-style at a place called Michael's.  Of course we had to stop there.

Delicious fresh squeezed OJ.

This wall was built by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1538.  The larger stones underneath are remnants of Herod's wall.

Part of the Mount of Olives

This basilica built between 1919 and 1924 is named the Church of All Nations. 

These olive trees are considered what is left of the Garden of Gethsemane.  They fit the description of being outside the city of Jerusalem and at the foot of the Mount of Olives.  The Mount of Olives isn't huge, so even if this few hundred meter square garden isn't the exact location of our Savior's Atonement, it couldn't have been much more than a stone's throw away.

Scientists estimate olive trees can live from one to two thousand years old, though they have no rings to be able to determine an exact date.  Some people believe there to be '8 silent witnesses' or 8 olive trees still in this area that saw Christ's suffering, but it is unlikely because of the report that Romans chopped down all the trees in the area during their siege of Jerusalem in AD 70.

An incredible talk by Bruce R. McConkie entitled The Purifying Power of Gethsemane

At the entrance of the Garden of Gethsemane there is a quote by Eusebius of Caesarea that says, "Gethsemane, a place where the Savior prayed before the passion..."

President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) 

“We speak of the passion of Jesus Christ. A great many people have an idea that when he was on the cross, and nails were driven into his hands and feet, that was his great suffering. His great suffering was before he ever was placed upon the cross. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the blood oozed from the pores of his body: ‘Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink’ [D&C 19:18].

“That was not when he was on the cross; that was in the garden. That is where he bled from every pore in his body.

“Now I cannot comprehend that pain. I have suffered pain, you have suffered pain, and sometimes it has been quite severe; but I cannot comprehend pain, which is mental anguish more than physical, that would cause the blood, like sweat, to come out upon the body. It was something terrible, something terrific; so we can understand why he would cry unto his Father:

“‘If it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt’ [Matt. 26:39]” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 1:130).