Shellie Day 3 and 4: Gethsemane, Garden Tomb

Day 3 with Shellie was the Sabbath, which is Saturday here in Israel for the LDS branches.  Some of the smaller groups meet on Sundays, such as in Bethlehem.

We spent some time before church at some sites on the Mount of Olives within walking distance.  

The Church of All Nations commemorates the Savior suffering under the weight of our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane.  The church is dark, with a starry ceiling and images of olive trees and thorns.  The garden outside is lovely with centuries-old trees.  This a quiet, contemplative place.  

Up the hill is the chapel of Dominus Flevit, "The Lord Wept," commemorating the Savior looking out over the land and sorrowing for the destruction which he knew would come and for the lack of righteousness among the people.

 This area has been a place of burial for millenia.

After church we visited for a short time with Sahar Qumsiyeh, our friend who currently serves in the England London South mission.  (You can follow her adventures at http://saharqumsiyeh.blogspot.co.il/)

The olive processing equipment is a good follow-up to our visit to Gethsemane.

Carrie accompanied Shellie and I to the Garden Tomb, then to the Pool of Bethesda by St. Anne's Cathedral.

The cistern at the Pool of Bethesda still contains water.  But we didn't see anything troubling the water.
 
St. Anne's church commemorates Mary's mother.  It is cared for by a group of French priests.

We headed home by way of St. Stephen's or Lion's gate.  The walk home was quite brisk because we were trying to beat the sunset.

The next day, Sunday, we dropped off Shellie at the Bethlehem checkpoint to go to church with Sahar.  It was a small meeting and a very different experience for Shellie, but she enjoyed it and afterwards went to the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square.  We picked her up and went to straight to Galilee, passing by Jericho on the way up the Jordan Valley Road.  Again, we had to try to get most of the way there before dark.

 We enjoyed the hospitality of Ray and Bobbe Graham, and woke up the next morning ready to explore Galilee.