Today I raised my brother-in-law from the dead... sea? We went to Jericho, Qumran, Masada, the Dead Sea and finely to Jerusalem where we will be staying for the next few days.
I floted in the Dead Sea, saw a lot of ruins and learned some very interesting things about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Again, the places we visit are fascinating for my camera, but hold no special spirit for me in and of themselves. Learning about the live of Christ in these places is incredible though. It is amazing how enlightening it can be to learn from someone who really knows the land and the scriptures and has walked from the Mount of the Be-Attitudes to the Center of Jerusalem and from there to the Dead Sea. Many people like myself think of Christ's ministry as being in a small area in and around Jerusalem. In reality, He traveled hundreds of miles from one story to another and on foot, that's pretty huge! You realize as you learn things here that every word in the Bible has a meaning. Many things I would just pass over become profound insights as Kelly points them out here.
I have been feeling the spirit a lot. I'm just saying that it doesn't come from just walking into the tourist markets that have been built on top of these historical sites, it comes from the scriptures as we study Christ's teachings.
I think I probably said all this yesterday but it's still a profound thing to me so...

So now we're in Jerusalem! Daniel and I went out around town tonight looking for some head phones, a Laundry and some sun glasses. We were in a completely Arab area which worked out well since Daniel speaks Arabian. It was so much fun to walk around in the cool night air as most of the shops were closing down, watching them hose off their store floors washing them out into the sidewalks. It's such a different culture here. At one point Daniel wondered out load if we were in a safe area or not. We noticed that we were right in front of a police station at that point and concluded that that meant we were not in the safest area.
As Daniel later got into a long conversation with an Arab who runs the Laundry, I walked outside and sat on a chair they had there and just watched as life went on. I saw a lot of interesting driving, a lot of people who felt totally at home, one couple that looked totally scared as they walked by on the other side of road and listened to Muslim prayer calls made over laud speakers in the distance.
Daniel was wearing a BYU sweater and we got practically grabbed off the street by a man who was just closing his olive wood shop. "Come in, come in" he said. "I have many things you like! I like you guys! I love BYU students!" Well, it would be rude to just walk away so we went into his shop. The man asked Daniel something I didn't really hear and Daniel said something about being Kelly Ogden's son. The man exploded with excitement and began saying "I'm Bagdaddy! I know Pappa Ogden. He's good friend of mine. I remember you. You used to come to my shop when you were a little red headed boy just this big" he said using his hand to show how tall Daniel was at the time. He pulled an olive wood camel off the shelve and handed it to Daniel saying "this is for you because I never gave you one before when you were young." He then went on to talk about Daniel's 'Pappa' and how many of Kelly's books he had sold at his shop. He named the book and told Daniel to tell Kelly a million hellos from him.
The people here are very good. They are reserved and seam to have a tough shell, but you can see when they talk with their friends that once they have a relationship with someone, it is deep and true. A man came up to Marcia in the church on the Mount of Transfiguration, showing great surprise to see her and asked if Kelly was there. Just then Kelly came up and they had a great reunion, acknowledging how many years it had been since they've seen each other (over 12 years).
Anyway, Things are going well and we're having fun but Daniel and I both agree that it would be a great experience to be able to just go exploring all over the place without having to stick with a group and schedule. I'm sure everyone feels that way a little bit. It's hard to please everyone but I do think that everyone here sees this as a true trip of a lifetime. Everyone is very happy to be here and we have a great group full of mission presidents, temple presidents, bishops, and people who have served several missions. The spirit is strong and the people are great. We are having a great time!
Love you all,
Jarem