First Field Trip

Today was our first Field Trip, we basically went to 5 different places around the city that offered us awesome vantage points of the City. After the first look out we went to the Augusta Victoria Lutheran Church of Ascension on the mount of Olives. We had to wait a bit before going in so we went out back and had a devotional, we sang "Lord I would Follow Thee" there at the top of the mount of Olives, the spirit was warm and comforting. I looked around and pondered the thought of Christ ascending into Heaven somewhere in this general location. I looked to the sky and pondered the feelings of the implications of this event. We then went into the church, It is a Basilica styled church with all its dark beauty and high ceilings. We sat in the Nave and sang two hymns, the first was #68 "A mighty fortress is our God" which was written by Martin Luther. It was a tribute to him because we were in a Lutheran church. The second hymn was absolutely soul stirring and beautiful, we sand hymn # 124 be still my soul. The acoustics in this church could never be replaced by any electronic amplifying devise and were absolutely phenomenal. Almost brought to tears from the beauty and spirit of our singing this hymn will be a burned memory in my mind forever. We then went up to the top of the tower 250 or so steps...almost inducing a heart attack. The view from the tower on top of the mount of Olives was vast and beautiful. Professor Stratford pointed out places we needed to know and explained the geological layout of the land and some of the recent and ancient history. We then went to Mar Elias hill where you can see Bethlehem and we stood on fields that David was most likely on as he protected his flock from lions and mastered the sling. Professor Judd told us of all the Biblical people who would have walked past where we were on their way toward or away from Jerusalem. We sang three Christmas hymns in the heat of summer as we looked upon the City of David and the Birth place of Christ. We sang Hymn #206 "Away in a Manger" #210 "With wondering Awe" and #204 "Silent Night". For some reason, today in the heat and sweat of hiking up stairs and hills I found peace and stillness. The hymns were very emotional and spiritual to me, special moments were created today. We went to other sights, the Nabi Samwill Mosque was awesome. It was the last stop, we went in and saw the orthodox Jews praying at the supposed tomb of the Prophet Samuel. That part was a synagogue that was located in the basement of the Mosque. We had a really awesome devotional overlooking the land where Saul was found by Samuel and was anointed to be the Ruler of Jerusalem. We sang Hymns #21 "Come listen to a prophets Voice" and #19 "We thank thee O God for a Prophet". We were all sweaty and tired. We sang some songs on the bus one reggae and one folk song that were about Jerusalem. I took a nap when we got home then went to dinner, after we had Home Evening. I was sustained as a group leader. We met our group, I gave the devotional. I read the lyrics to "Beggars" by Thrice then read Mosiah 4:15-19 and spoke about humility and respecting other religions and gaining all we can from their examples of righteousness.