Gethsemane

So yes, I am home now, but I still wanted to catch up on my blogging so I can ensure that I remember literally every second of Jerusalem and that it is documented for the entire world.

So flashback to my very first Sabbath in Jerusalem. If you are an avid blog reader, you may remember that I went with a group of people to find the Garden of Gethsemane and we could not find it at all! We found a lot of other cool places though like Dominus Flevit and all of the tombs on the Mount of Olives. However, as I was reviewing my pictures from that day, I found this gem:

This picture is of the Church of All Nations, a lovely church that is literally one inch from the Garden of Gethsemane. We walked right past it the very first day haha!

However, don't worry, after maturing and becoming a confident walker in the land of Jerusalem I returned to the Garden of Gethsemane. I was actually able to find it! It became one of my favorite places in all of Jerusalem. The church is absolutely beautiful. I had a lot of really spiritual experiences inside of that church and I got to go to a mass in English there in Jerusalem! In the middle of the Church is the Stone of Agony, believed to be the stone Jesus suffered on. It was amazing. Also, sidenote, one time I made Marissa scale a wall to get there. The Garden of Gethsemane was definitely not what I expected. There are like 8 trees fenced off that people claim were there since the time of Christ, probably not true, but it's a nice thought. Across the street there is also a private garden of olive trees that is a little more like what I pictured, but we had to get a special appointment to go inside. It was definitely worth it.

Marissa pre-wall scaling in a skirt and flats. Quite impressive.

Inside the Church of All Nations

The rock where Jesus may have prayed

From left to right: Hailee, Karlie, Brianna, Me

 

In the private garden, reading scriptures on my phone, not texting.