Ashley - Week 2

Sunday Sept 2]

Today was Saturday for us. It was the first whole day we had

opportunity to spend the whole day exploring the Holy City. And what

did I do? I studied the whole day. Which sounds kind of lame, except

that I tried to keep in mind that I am reading in the Old Testament

and am sitting in the same area that so many of those stories and

events took place. With that mindset, I quite enjoyed my readings. I

got ahead in my reading for that class, which is a good things because

we start 3 new classes this week and HW already seems like a lot. I

have a test on Friday in NES. Wowza!

I have been hit by jetlag the last couple of days. I have thought

that I had been doing so well. But apparently not. Yesterday around

3:00 pm I was so tired that I feel asleep while reading. When I

awoke, I felt like I needed a nap for just a half hour. So I asked

Annie to wake me. But she ended up falling asleep and I ended up

sleeping for 3 hours. We have been studying a lot. The schedule is very top heavy; by

mid-October we will have finished 4 classes and will only be doing 2

the rest of the time so there is a lot going on. I'm enjoying classes for the most part, especially the religion

classes. My ancient history class isn't my favorite, but every class

can't be your favorite. At first it was hard studying because all I

wanted to do was explore but as soon as I 'resigned' myself to the

understanding that this is an intensive study semester, it's been OK.

Plus, I realized that it won't be like that the whole 4 months.

Exercise has gone well. I have been at the gym by 5:30 every morning.

We usually work out for about 1:15 and I try to make sure that to

maximize the time we have. My two workout buddies are Annie and

Steisha. They are pretty good workout buddies. I think I've been

working them pretty hard:) Annie is doing well. I think she feels

about the same way I do about the school and people stressing. Neil

is doing well too. He is making friends and keeping people laughing. Shawn is doing

well too. He studies lots and lots and lots. H e's doing great. Since he studies so

hard, he makes good comments in class.

Monday Sept 3

Today we went on the Jerusalem overlook field trip. I need to recount

the different places we went, probably with the aid of my notes, but I

feel so tired now that I’m afraid that I’m going to fall asleep like

I did last night and not write anything of quality. So I’ll wait

until tomorrow to ensure quality. Yeah, I think I’d better turn in.

Tuesday Sept. 4

For the first half of this semester, we are studying the Old

Testament. There are some crazy stories that seem to make no sense.

Sometimes when I read the Old Testament, I wonder why we count it as

scripture seeing as there are many stories and happenings which don’t

seem particularly inspiring. Usually, as I study and listen to my

teachers, that seems to lessen, as appears to be the case with some of

the stories we have been talking about lately.

Much is taught and discussed about the Abrahamic Covenant and its 3

main promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I don’t think I have the

greatest understanding of the implications of this Covenant between

God and these ancient Patriarchs. But I’ve learned a few things.

First off, it is important to remember what a covenant is: an

agreement between an individual and God in which God sets the terms.

Abraham is promised that if he obeys God’s commands he will be blessed

with: 1) Priesthood, 2) Posterity, and 3) Lands of Inheritance.

Sometimes I wonder what the big deal is about specific land. But in

reality, these blessing extend far beyond the physical and into the

spiritual in the eternities. Abraham himself even wondered how he was

going to inherit the land that was already occupied by another people

(JST Genesis 15: 9-12) but the Lord teaches him that the promise

extends beyond death. We have been taught that the earth will

eventually become the Celestial Kingdom. But the most important

realization about this Covenant for me is that it is a covenant of

family, of the celestial marriage. It is the covenant of exaltation.

So when reading these odd stories in the OT, it helps me to remember

that these stories are about families, eternal families. And oft

times they are about struggles and challenges facing families in

ancient times.

One such story is the casting away of Hagar and her son Ishmael.

Here are the essentials of the story. (Full story can be picked up in

Genesis 16.) Sarah and Abraham had been married for a while and Sarah

hadn’t born any children. This was distressing to both of them

because of the promise made in the covenant of seed as numerous as the

sands of the sea. How could that be when you didn’t even have

children? Sarah offers her maid Hagar, who was an Egyptian (that will

be important later) and gave her to her husband to be his wife. Hagar

conceives and has a son, Ishmael. Fourteen years pass and Sarah

miraculously conceives and has a son, Isaac. When Isaac is weaned

they have a great feast. Oft times in antiquity, great feast

commemorate a sacred event, like a baptism, so this was a big deal.

Well, during this feast, Sarah sees Ishmael “mocking.” Although we

don’t know exactly what this entails, we do know that this was so

offensive in the sight of Sarah that she says for Hagar and Ishmael to

be cast out. From another confrontation with Hagar, there is a sense

of some tension between these two wives of Abraham. However, Josephus

recorded that Sarah loves Ishmael as her own son. Needless to say,

they get sent away from the clan and almost starve but end up making

it to safety and eventually heading to the land of Egypt.

Don’t you find it semi-troubling that one of the greatest prophets

cast away one of his wives? And that Sarah, one of the greatest

matriarchs, would be so heartless as to send away one of her sisters

and her step-son. It doesn’t seem to fit. But the connection that

seems to make sense in my brain has to do with the covenant. This

covenant of eternal marriage. First off, D&C 132 lends to the thought

that Hagar had entered into this covenant; she was sealed to Abraham.

Reading these chapters closely reveals an interesting change in the

words used to describe Hagar. Initially she is described as a maid.

Once this mocking incident has occurred, she is referred to as a

bondswoman. This could denote a change of status of Hagar. Further,

Sarah refers to the covenant as a reason for why it was not longer

acceptable for Ishmael to remain with the family. She did not think

him fit to be an heir with Isaac. And it isn’t because he was a

second rate son or wasn’t truly born into the covenant. The covenant

is open to anyone willing to enter and keep the Lord’s commands, this

adoption into the covenant is very real. Quite possibly, Ishmael was

no longer living in accord with the laws of the Lord. The change in

Hagar’s status may also indicate that she too was no longer living the

law, and that possibly she wasn’t living the law of eternal marriage

anymore. After she is cast out, she returns to her people, the

Egyptians, to find a wife for her son. This could possibly reflect a

returning to her prior beliefs, habits, etc.

The thing is, we don’t know. The story as we have it now, is

incomplete and lacking details that would clarify. And while this

provides a great example as to why we believe the Bible to be the word

of God as far as it is translated correctly, we can still find

relevant examples and thoughts applicable to us now.

• While Abraham and Sarah were eventually exalted, they were very real

people living life. They had hard choices to make. They had an

interesting family life. Their family didn’t fit into the

‘traditional family’ mode.

• God loves all of his children. He doesn’t leave them out to perish of thirst.

• Pay attention to the little details.

Wednesday 5 Sept.

Today marks one whole week in the city. It is interesting the

difference one week makes on the way I perceive the city. Upon first

arriving here, it felt like the buildings were made of cardboard.

Now, that doesn’t seem to be the case and the city is becoming more

defined in my mind. It is very interesting the change that

acclimation and a little bit of knowledge add to perspective.

Sabbath 8 Sept

Today is Disctric Conference instead of our regular branch meeting.

I really thought there would be more people than there were, we didn’t

fill up the nice forum but I suppose I overestimated who were going to

be here. Apparently, 2 members of the Seventy are going to be here

this week. Maybe we will get to hear from them! I learned that Elder

Holland made a surprise visit last semester. How crazy, to walk into

the cafeteria and see Elder Holland eating breakfast in his street

clothes with his family!

This week we had some fun things amongst some serious studying. We

had a tour of the under the JC. I’m not sure the technical words to

describe what it is, but the JC wasn’t built directly into the ground;

essentially there is a level beneath each level used for pipes, wires,

expansion capabilities, storage. We had a tour of that and they

explained to us a bit of the forsight that went into building the

Center. It was neat. There is a place where students can write their

names. I think everyone likes being able to do a little bit of

graffiti

On Thursday, in order to avoid head explosion from too much studying

Annie and I went exploring for a few hours in between classes. We stopped

for lunch and I ate a Shrak-a variation of a shoarma or shawarma as

they write it here-and stopped at Omar the Olive Wood carver’s shop.

People are so excited to get their souvenirs and he was fueling the

fire by informing all the students to get their nativities now because

tour groups will come through and buy him out because it is nearing

the Christmas season. He is probably right to a point but I laughed

on the inside as I watched his sales tactics work on so many buy-happy

students. He has met four prophets and numerous apostles. Maybe you

met him, Mom.:) Anyways, I remember you saying something about

nativities before I left but I can’t seem to remember what . . . maybe

you could refresh my memory. After we left Omar’s we went to the Old

City and I stopped at a shop to see if I could get a battery for my

watch. After a long search, the shop owner found one! But, as he

snapped the back of the watch back on, another part broke and the band

part became disconnected. A small part had broken. So after another

long search, which was futile, we had to run back to the center so

Annie could make her class. So now I’m looking for a cheap watch the

new time I go into the center.

Yesterday, Friday, was the Muslim holy day. Because we live on the

East side of the city which is the Muslim quarters, we need to stay in

the center until after 3:00pm because Friday after prayers is when

conflict would break out if it were going to. We finished classes by

noon, and I was relieved that our test was over so people would stop

having stress attacks because of it. I had a meeting with the Branch

President to receive a calling. Relief Society Greeter. After dinner

though, we went to the Friday night prayers at the Western Wall. This

is how many of the Jews welcome in the Sabbath. It is a party! The

men chant their prayers and sometimes form dance circles. People are

pretty happy and excited, well, except for the people immediately at

the wall who are crying while they slip their prayers in cracks in the

wall (like they do at Juliet’s balcony in Letters to Juliet). A group

of us talked to a lady from New York who has moved here to Jerusalem

and she told us that Shabbat dinner is a nice meal (like in courses)

and the hosts are always very welcoming of guests, people who might

not have a nice Sabbath meal. That reminded me of you home; we so

often invite others to Sabbath meal who might not have a nice meal

otherwise. I found the atmosphere really neat.

Today, we are going to the Garden Tomb. That is the place that you

see President Hinckley in front of as he shares his testimony of the

resurrection of Christ. Although it isn’t too much in agreement

archeologically that it is actually the place where Christ was laid,

it still has a special feeling to it that many don’t find at the

church of the Holy Sepulcher, a place that has greater possibility of

being “the place.”

Ashley