Today was my first Sabbath here. All in all, I'm kind of surprised it wasn't that much different than most church meetings I attend. Now that I think about it, I don't see any reason why it should be different--I guess I just thought it would be more special or something. Interestingly enough there are a few hispanic members here, so I went to the Spanish Gospel Doctrine class today and we talked about Job. My spanish is pretty rusty lol. We held a testimony meeting for 3rd hour (because we just barely got a new Elders Quorum president). I was struck by a few different impressions, some of which were repeated by other students as they bore their testimonies: God loves Jerusalem and Jerusalem loves Him back (I had that thought the first day--see my blog entry); Joseph mentioned that he doesn't know why he came here or what purpose it'll serve (only that God told him to come)--since this is why I came, I sympathized with him as well; Jerusalem is a...distracted land: the dominion of the one true God is small because it's lost in the ancient traditions of the Hebrews and the Arabs; the Jerusalem Center could be the holiest place in Jerusalem because of its purpose and the spirit that resides here; God sanctioned our sacrament meeting today even though it's only saturday instead of sunday; AND, I would VERY much like to play the organ regularly. Brother Ohman (the current organist) just got called as the branch president. I'd very much like to take his place. I've been asked to be an FHE group leader, so we'll see what happens.
This afternoon I was sooo beat (it was fast sunday today--I fasted that Obama and the leaders of Israel and Co. can figure out their peace talks smoothly), so I didn't go with the group that left to visit the Garden of Gethsemane. I will go back there soon though, and hopefully when I'm not so tired.
Randomly, I had a thought last night--I'd like to write a piano accompaniment for "Written in the Stars" from Aida, and sing that duet with somebody here. I think it would be neat! Now to figure out who has a voice with as much personality as the original vocalist...
Another random note--I read the most boring textbook ever written today, Carta's Handbook and Atlas of the Bible. It's super detailed and not of any interest to me at all anymore (already haha...). I'm going to go finish up my other homework so I can go with the group to Jerusalem tomorrow at 8:30. Peace out
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