Last Update from Jerusalem
October 26th, 2010 // 12:10 pm @ Josh Nuttall
Hello again everybody!
Today was our last official tour day in Israel. The theme for today was “walking where Jesus walked.” Our journey began on the other side of the Mount of Olives in Bethphage, where Jesus obtained a donkey to ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday for his triumphal entry. We then focused on Christ’s final 24 hours. We overlooked Jerusalem and pointed out the different places he was taken (from the top of the Mount of Olives), the upper room, the Garden of Gethsemane, Caiaphas’ Palace (the palace where Pilate was), Herod’s Palace, back to Pilate, and then to Golgotha and the Garden Tomb. We went to these places along the paths most likely taken by Him, and it was very special to experience these places. Our journey ended at the Garden Tomb, where we sang many hymns, listened to a talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland, and discussed Christ’s seven statements while on the cross. Our testimony of the Savior’s life, mortal ministry, and earthly mission has been solidified. We love Him and have obtained many witnesses of His divinity on this indescribable journey.
Tonight is our final meeting together with all our new friends. Tomorrow is a free day where we plan on visiting Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb again, amongst other things. Thursday morning, it’s off to Cairo, Egypt.
Love,
Kris and Kalenn
Category : Blog
The Latest from Jerusalem
October 25th, 2010 // 2:52 pm @ Josh Nuttall
October 25, 2010
Hi everybody! Here is the latest.
Yesterday we drove out of Jerusalem east towards the Dead Sea, and then followed along the road south on the western shore. Right at the end of the Sea is the fortress of Masada. I really didn’t know anything about the place, but I sure do now! This was a place that King Herod built as a Hideaway Palace complex for himself in times of trouble. He built it on top of a mountain 900 meters above the Dead Sea. We took a gondola up and walked around the ruins. Another major thing there happened after Herod passed. In 70 A.D. or so, about 900 Jewish rebels who fought against Roman rule hid up there and made that their hiding post. The Romans got wind that that’s where they were and finally decided to stop them. They sent 15,000 men to put down the resistance. After 5 months of building a ramp up to the top of the mountain, they finally breached the wall. What they found stunned them. The Jewish men had killed their families and then themselves, preferring death by their own hands to death and torture by the Romans. The Romans found 900+ people dead, except 2 women and 5 children who had hidden in a cistern. It’s a very sobering story, and they made a movie about it, but I didn’t see it. Later, we went to Qumran and saw where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, and the ruins where the Jewish monks lived that wrote them. We also stopped at the Dead Sea for a float! That was amazing! Kris actually floated as if he weighed ½ a pound! We shot lots of footage. We stopped in Bethany at the end of the day and saw the traditional tomb of Lazarus and talked about that story. In the end, it was a very tiring day.
Today was a bit easier. This morning, we walked by Stephen’s Gate and saw the remains of the pool of Bethesda—the traditional site of the birth place of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Then we went to the Mount of Olives and to the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden, which is amazing. It is next to the current Garden of Gethsemane; but in the time of Jesus, the Orson Hyde garden was part of Gethsemane. It had a very special feeling to it, and Kris and I both felt the Spirit extremely strong there.
After that, we went to the “City of David,” not Bethlehem, but the original Jerusalem portion that King David had built. The foundations of the palace were recently discovered. There we went tromping through Hezekiah’s tunnel, which was way fun. We had free time this afternoon and went shopping. That’s the last 2 days in a nutshell.
Love,
Kris and Kalenn
Category : Blog
Jerusalem Trip Update: Double Whammy!
October 25th, 2010 // 12:04 pm @ Josh Nuttall
Today, I have two updates from Kris and Kalenn on their Jerusalem trip. It sounds like they are really having a great time out there.
October 20, 2010
Well, we have had an amazing and eventful last two days. Brother Judd keeps us running from one thing to the next all day! Yesterday morning seems like a week ago, honestly. We left Nazareth and drove up north, almost to the Lebanon border, to the ancient city of Dan. There is a beautiful nature preserve and a nice nature walk that we took to get to the ruins. The ruins were amazing and there was also an old Canaanite gate there made of mud bricks that were still somewhat intact. They say that Abraham himself would have been at that place. He went to Dan to rescue his nephew, Lot, when he was captured. The gate would have been there then. Very cool!
After Dan, we drove to what was Cesarea Phillipi, where Jesus took his disciples and gave the famous “whom do men say that I am” talk when Peter replied, “thou art the Christ.” This place has a spring of water that flows out of the rock of a huge cliff. We really felt the Spirit there. After that, we drove near the Syrian border and down to the Sea of Galilee. We stopped at the Mount of Beatitudes, the traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount. There is a Catholic church there surrounded by beautiful gardens. We stopped for an hour and reflected and talked about what transpired there. Next, we drove down the hill to the ruins of Capernaum. This site was amazing! It was referred to as “Christ’s own city,” so we knew he actually lived there. The synagogue is still there, rebuilt a couple decades after Christ’s time, but rebuilt over the original site. We know that Christ gave the Bread of Life sermon in Capernaum, in the synagogue, so we actually stood in a space we know for SURE he was! This was so awesome!! We also saw the site that is traditionally believed to be Peter’s home.
After Capernaum, we hopped on a cute, wooden boat and went for a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee! We spent about 45 minutes on the water, sang “Master, the Tempest is Raging,” and talked about what happened there. We sailed down to Ein Gev, a city located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, where we spent the night. Kris and I took a moonlit dip in the water on the shore, which was pretty warm and very clear. We could see our feet when we were up to our waists.
Today we drove out to Mt. Tabor, the traditional site of Christ’s transfiguration. They load people up in vans to haul them to the top, but Kris and I and a few others in our group decided to hike up to the top. It took almost an hour, but was a great experience! It was very special to us to be in that sacred space. Lots of crowds go there, and it ended up taking all morning. We learned that Spencer W. Kimball, on one occasion, felt that it definitely happened there, and he felt it was in one certain area where we were. He referred to it as “the highest place on earth.”
After that, we drove to the small city of Nain, where Jesus raised the widow’s son from the dead. It says he was there the day after he was in Capernaum, which is a distance of about 23 miles! Definitely doable, but a long days’ walk for sure.
Then we went to the Jordan River, to a Christian baptismal site. Lots of people go there to get baptized and they actually have a service there where you can rent white clothes. They have clergy available to baptize you. There is one member of our group that is not a member of the Church, and she chose to do that! Kind of cool! It’s a beautiful river and very jade green.
Next, we drove down through the Judean wilderness and ended up at the ruins of Jericho: the oldest city on earth. There was a little bit of the wall left that we could see, but for the most part, it was a large mound of dirt about 1200 feet by 50 feet or so. Then we drove up to Jerusalem where we are now. It was dark by then so we haven’t seen much, but tomorrow will be our first day exploring this magnificent city. We are feeling well and are having a blast!
October 23, 2010
Two more days have gone by in Jerusalem and we have had more incredible experiences every day. Yesterday was a history lesson. We went over to the complex where the Israeli Museum is. They have a large, outdoor model of Jerusalem dated from the time of Christ (or just after; I think it was around 60 A.D. or something). It was about 40 feet by 20 feet long or so, and VERY detailed. Each 1/4″ was equal to a foot. It was neat to see where the walls were located at that time, and what the temple looked like. Next, we saw the Scroll of the Dead display, otherwise known as the Dead Sea Scrolls found near Qumran. These were amazing! Then we blitzed the Israeli Museum. Brother Judd marched us through, and I quote, with dispatch!” and saw all the highlights. We only had time to spend about an hour there instead of a couple days if we wanted to see everything. They had artifacts from Old Testament times, like weapons, jewelry, kids toys, etc. all dated from 1000 to 3000 B.C. Crazy old stuff! Also, they had things like small engraved stone “seals” in the shape of ovals used to seal letters, which had the owners’ names carved on them. One was found in the Mt. Carmel area with the name Jezebel on it! Jezebel lived in that area and it dated back to her time, so it was quite possibly hers!
After the Israeli Museum, we went to the Holocaust Memorial, which is similar to the one in Washington D.C. It was a very, very sad place, and we came away with a sick, depressed feeling; but with a feeling of gratitude for our lives and our families.
Then we drove out to Bethlehem to visit a shop that is owned by a member of the Church out here. That’s all we did in Bethlehem. We went back to the Western Wall (by this time, it was about sunset) to watch the Jews bring in the Sabbath. This was unbelievable! Jewish families all gather at the WALL to celebrate. They sing, dance, chant, and pray together, sometimes in large circles, dancing in a circle. Even the Israeli soldiers holding their guns were singing and dancing. We saw all sorts of Jews of the different sects: Jews with long curls by their ears (including little boys with them!) and fedoras, Jews with tall, fur hats, and “regular” Jews wearing their yamikas. It was so fascinating. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures because Jews believe that operating machinery is breaking the Sabbath, and operating a camera qualifies. Also, we couldn’t take notes because operating a ball point pen is also breaking the Sabbath!
Today we slept in!! We didn’t have to report at the bus until 9:15 am! We drove up to the BYU Jerusalem Center for our Church service. Here in Israel, members of the Church meet on Saturdays because it is very difficult for them to get work off on Sundays, since Sunday is a work day. So we had Church on Saturday! BTW, they call them “Fast Sabbaths”, not fast Sundays! The BYU JS has its Sacrament Meetings in the auditorium, which overlooks the old city from the Mount of Olives. The organ is in the back of the room, so as you look at the speaker, you are also looking at a full glass window of Jerusalem! Absolutely amazing. We got very emotional when we sang, “There is a Green Hill Far Away” during the sacrament, because the “hill” we were in fact on the hill we were singing about. It wasn’t far away. Gethsemane is also on the Mount of Olives. Double amazing!
After Church, we went back to change and headed out to Bethlehem again. We went to the Church of the Nativity, the Greek Orthodox Church on the traditional site of the cave where Jesus was born. The Church dates back to the 5th century A.D. and is the oldest Christian church in Israel. We felt the Spirit there, and felt it was a sacred place.
Afterwards, we had a spiritual program on the bus as we headed out of Bethlehem. We stopped at an overlook to see the shepherd’s fields, and we sang Christmas Carols. It was neat, and I am so excited to come home and get ready for Christmas!
Our experience here is affecting us permanently in how we feel about the Savior. We feel so close to Him and to His life, having actually been here and seen where He lived. We love him!
Category : Blog
Welcome to the Passion Factory!
August 10th, 2010 // 3:34 pm @ bradyu3
I’ve done some pretty cool things in the past couple of weeks. Week before last I competed in my first Olympic triathlon with fellow REIC people, Steve Earl and Tyler Bennett. Just for the record, I beat Tyler by a whopping 20 minutes and Steve Earl by 5 minutes! Both are fitness gurus – Tyler goes to the gym about 7 times a day and Steve runs marathons. 
And last week I had a family reunion, and had some time to get clear on things. I went running with my brothers, Mike and John (they are twins and the oldest in our family). I noticed that on our run and during our vacation time, away from the office, all I talked about with Mike (who happens to be our CFO) was work! Poor John felt a little left out, but we kept talking about work anyway! Our conversations were fun and we spent hours talking about everything REIC. And I realized that this isn’t “work” for me, it’s a choice that I make everyday and it’s something that I have found a lot of passion in! I truly love what I do and I love that I get to come to, not work, but my passion factory.
When was the last time you sat down and contemplated your goals, and the things you want to accomplish in life? Are you feeling stuck? What are some ways you can get unstuck?
Category : Blog
