Sabbath Day Garden Tomb

Today was district conference and we had all the different branches here. The branches consist of Tel Aviv, Tiberius, Galilee, Haifa, Bethlehem, and then of course the Jerusalem Branch. We sang "I need thee every hour" as a choir, and again we practiced it half an hour before we performed it. The Conference went really well. After church we walked over as a group to the Garden Tomb. It was really hot outside and I was sweating like crazy, but once we walked into the Garden I was immediately calmed and cooled. The Garden is in the middle of the crowded, smelly, and hot city. You turn off the street and go down an alley-way then you are at the garden tomb. Once you walk through the walls it is immediately shady and everyone is in the mindset of reverence and worship. We had a sweet old british lady give us a little tour of Golgotha then the empty tomb. It was a little crowded with other Christian groups, some from Africa and some from Europe and they were all singing hymns, It was neat. A running theme from the sights of the Savior is that we are not even sure that these places are the actual site, but one thing to remember is that it really doesn't matter, its what happened there that is truly the beauty and the importance. Nonetheless, the empty tomb is a great visual of what it would have looked like, and better yet, It is the feelings and the thoughts that arise when you are there that make it special. After we all had a moment going into the tomb we congregated and sang hymns. The spirit was really strong and all the other people were enjoying our singing. It was a good spirit of brotherhood and worship as we conversed with other pastors and visitors. It seemed that because we were there sharing our respect and our deep admiration for the significance of the empty tomb and all that it insinuates, our other doctrinal differences were melted away with the Love and gratitude for the Savior. It was a wonderful experience, I would however, like to go back with a smaller group and take more pictures and have more contempative time. It was a good Sabbath Day.