Finding Peace in a Militarized Zone.

It is no secret that while Israel and Jordan are not involved in an open war with each other, there are still some tensions between the two countries as a result of the 1967 war. To travel from Israel to Jordan and from Jordan to Israel is a lot like traveling down a highway with guards carrying light machine guns and Jeeps with heavy machine guns guard the highway. There is a large section of the middle of the highway that seems to be a no man’s land. Somewhere in the middle of this no man’s land you pass through an area that seems to be a lot like going through airport security with scanners and employee’s questioning your reasons for travel. Along this road you cross over a little gully at the bottom of which is a small river, The Jordan River, the river where our Lord was baptized by his cousin, servant, prophet and friend, John the Baptist.



Today we traveled to this road and received permission from the military to go down into the gully. Among the trees and the water we saw the place where the local tradition says our Savior was baptized. At this holy spot we sang—reverently—sacred hymns. We sang: “Lord I Would Follow Thee,” “Come Follow Me,” and “Baptism” (the Primary Hymn by Crawford Gates: his granddaughter was with us today). The water was calm, peace and serenity were upon us, the music and words of one of my favorite songs/ scriptures came into my mind as I reflected upon my experience: “Peace Be With You” (by Leo A. Dean) “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)



We were not the only pilgrims there: There was a Catholic Monk in his traditional brown robes, a tourist group in red baseball hats, and another couple who asked me to take their picture. Many of these pilgrims went down to the waters edge and put their feet in the river, or washed their heads in the water. As I watched this I thought about their beliefs that the water was Holy, then I pondered on my beliefs about the place: It is obvious by The Spirit that is there that the place we were at is Holy. The place is holy, in my opinion, for two reasons. First- Our Savior obeyed the will of His Father there by being baptized, also giving us an example of what we need to do to be saved in his kingdom in Heaven. Second- People come to this place to think about our Lords life, and in doing so He sanctifies the place as he sanctifies the people who worship him. While I was at the traditional site of Bethabara, after I took the picture for the above mentioned tourists, I felt a feeling of unity and communion with them. Another scripture came to mind “not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”



In addition to singing we were instructed in the history of the area by our Muslim tour guide, Mohamed, and we were instructed from the Bible by our Old Testament professor, Brother Harper. The other class (Brother Huntsman’s class) had a testimony meeting, we arrived right at the end of their meeting to join them in their closing song and prayer; many of the students were crying for joy. Today is truly a day to be remembered.



On a less spiritual note: This past week has been amaizing! We spent much of the week in Jordan. We visited ancient roman cities, seeing colonnaded roads and pagen temples. We sang in ancient theaters and took pictures at ancient gates. We watched a local performance teaching us about Roman Soldering techniques—they had a group of men dressed in roman armor with roman weapons, following ancient roman orders for marching, placement of shields and spears. They also held a chariot race, and a choreographed gladiator fight. (to be honest I was really worried I was going to waste my time and money by attending the show, it was not a waste.)—We went to see king Hussein’s car collection, which included: several Ferrari’s, a Bugatti, about a dozen Rolls Royces, the whole gamut of Mercedes and dozens of other luxury cars, sports cars, and motor cycles. We also visited Jabbok (the place where Jacob wrested a heavenly being and his name was changed to Israel). I was able to go on Facebook for the first time since I left home (we are not allowed to use Facebook while we are in our Jerusalem Center) And we visited Petra.



Petra was AMAIZING! (In case you don’t know what Petra is, please follow this link—If nothing else at least look at the pictures) The coolest part of Petra was walking down a long narrow canyon (very reminiscent of the canyons of southern Utah) and suddenly walking in on The Treasury. The Treasury is a huge carving in a sand stone cliff face that has been featured in a variety of films, including “Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade,” and “Transformers 2.” The pictures and the movie do not do this justice: the Treasury is over 9 stories high ( it’s over 131 feet high. For my friends that know BYU well, that means this carved building is only 30 feet shorter than the Spencer W. Kimball Tower). I was wearing my adventure hat while we were there and a number of the locals would call out to me “Indiana Jones! Come, come buy a ___.” This blank could be filled by any number of things, mostly small trinkets, but it also included a camel ride and a carriage ride. Regrettably the camel ride I did take was only a few feet (for a picture)… But I did ride out of Petra on a horse! It was super cool, and I did feel like Indiana Jones. I do recommend taking the long hike up the mountain to see El Dier “The Monastery.”



Thanks for reading and I’ll keep you posted.



Your friend,

Jared

Not a weak week.

 And it came to pass that in the last seven days I Jared successfully: passed my last midterm, went snorkeling at a coral reef in the Gulf of Aqaba (the north east appendage the Red Sea with coastlines along Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia), waded through thigh high water in Hezekiah’s Tunnel and walked through an ancient sewage tunnel (that tunnel was dry, thankfully), had my first Sweet Date Ice-cream (not that I haven’t had ice-cream durring a sweet date), and taught primary to two amazing Valliant Boys. What a fantastic week!

With Love,

Jared

A special day, Gethsemane.

A Special day, Gethsemane.

Today was a special day, a holiday in fact. Today is Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays. Another name for Yom Kippur is “The Day of Atonement.” Not only is today the day celebrated as a day to repent and put your sins behind you, but today is also Shabbat, or the Sabbath-this makes it a special Yom Kippur.

 In Israel we observe the Sabbath on Saturday just like the Jews do: So we had sacrament meeting as usual, then we had a special meeting were we watched the Saturday afternoon session of general conference. We did not watch all of conference last week because of the time difference and other reasons. So my day today consisted of both having the sacrament and then watching General conference: it was to say the least a spiritual feast. But there is more…

After conference I grabbed a few friends and we decided that we wanted to go to The Garden of Gethsemane, the place where our Savior suffered for my sins. I brought my journal with me and I will share with you an edited version of my Journal entry:

8 Oct. 2011  Gethsemane

Today I write from a special place. Today I write from The Garden of Gethsemane. As I sit here, in The Garden where our Lord suffered for my sins, I can’t help but wonder what is was like… What it was like to be one of the ancient Apostles to see this greatest of all sacrifices followed by the coming of the guards. What it was like to be Melvin J. Ballard and see the atonement taking place in a vision. What it was like to be the Angle sent to comfort our Lord in his greatest hour of need, and the greatest hour of need for all mankind. I struggle to wonder what it was like for our Lord to suffer here, in THIS spot, for Jared Maxfield. I wonder what his seasons were for doing such a great thing for me.

  I can hear church bells ringing across the city, their echoing cry’s remind me of the countless s pilgrims who have come here before me, who also loved The Lord, and wanted to get to know him better. We are all strangers and pilgrims HERE, but blessed to be on the earth. While we are pilgrims we are not comfortless. I think of my companions and the strength and faith they give me. I am here with Cassie, Nick, Izak, Melisa and Whitney. They are examples to me of faith and service. They are also examples to me of diligence and humility and a spirit of prayer.

  This garden is just east of “the Temple Mount” near the ancient city of David, within the greater modern city of Jerusalem. I wonder if the residents of this city realize the great blessing they have, to have such a sacred place in their own yard. At the same time this humbles me to think if I realize the great blessing it has been to me to have the gospel in my own room my whole life. I have no memory of a time when I didn’t own a copy of The Book of Mormon, which testifies so strongly of Christ and his Atonement. I do not remember a time when my Mother and Father didn’t pray for, and with, me. I am grateful to know that I didn’t need to come to this place to know that Jesus is The Christ my Redeemer and Savior, that I knew it (and know it) before I came here. I am grateful to be here, to worship him, and I will always remember my visits to gethsemane, but I will remember more and be equally grateful for the many days and nights at home, in my own room or living room when The Holy Spirit testified to me that Jesus IS the Christ, my redeemer, Savior, and Friend. I am grateful for my testimony of His love and the love of The Father for me, and the abiding witness of The Holy Ghost. I am grateful that my parents raised me to believe and My God verified their teachings to me. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen. - Jared J. Maxfield 

As you can tell it has been quite a Spirit filled day, and I expect that it will only get better because I am going to watch another session of General conference in just a few minutes.

All the best to you and yours.

 Adieu from Jerusalem.