Study Abroad at BYU-Jerusalem: Tombs, Churches, and Other Sacred Sites

On the last two field trips, we visited the holy sites all over Jerusalem. First, we went to Bethany (house of Lazarus, Mary, Martha, and Simon). We went to see Lazarus’s tomb from which the Christians among the thousands of years believe this is where Christ raised him from the dead. It was long and deep, but it was a really neat old tomb. I remember there were 8 of us students inside the very room in which Lazarus lay and we sang Nearer My God to Thee. It created an amazing echo and we all felt the spirit. We went to Bethphage next, to where the church commemorated Christ’s victory entrance (where the Palm Sunday walk started). We all got figs to eat (since Bethphage is Hebrew for “house of figs”). We went to Dormition Abbey and went in the Upper room where Christ had the Last Supper. There we sang four or five hymns and we attracted a lot of tourists that came close to us to listen. I will always remember singing hymns in that room and feeling the spirit so strong. It was some of the last songs we sang in a church as a class together. Down in the basement is Mary’s tomb along with 15^th century paintings lit by candles surrounded by more paintings of Mary’s perspective on Christ’s crucifixion. At one of the churches, I got to see the real steps Christ would have taken to the temple.

Probably one of my favorite churches to visit was St. Anne’s Cathedral – also known as the Pool of Bethesda). There were ruins of the pools, but a crusader church was built on top of it, so you can explore the remains. St. Anne’s Cathedral was built after the crusader church, but not on top of the ruins. It was built to the side to commemorate them. There was another Mormon group in the Cathedral singing hymns and we actually got to sing a song with them and then they sat down while we performed a couple of hymns for them. It was one of the prettiest churches I’ve been too and the music that echoed off the ceilings was nothing like I’ve ever heard. Some non-members came up to my professor after and told him it was so pretty that she was sure the angels were weeping. That is one way we can perform missionary work without talking about our religion is by singing in each church. People notice and many put everything down and come listen.

The very last place we went to on our last field trip was the garden tomb. My New Testament class reserved a spot where we sat to the side of the garden tomb and had a very spiritual testimony meeting. I will always remember the spirit that was felt. Many tears were shed as we were coming to a close of our study abroad and it was nice because we were so comfortable with each other that the students really spoke from their hearts.