Stories from Israel

I was going though a Mac book we made on Israel from our visit last year and thought I should post some of our experiences and insights so they could be enjoyed by all. So enjoy!

Garden of Gethsemane

From the Mount of Olives, looking out towards Jerusalem

Red Poppies were in season, lining the fields. Our guide, Daniel Rona, pointed out that the bright red flowers were the lilies of the field that neither toil nor spin. Kings dressed in red and scarlet, but not even Solomon was arrayed as one of these. Kings also rode on donkeys. A donkey was at the other end of the garden looking on when we arrived.

Lilies of Red -by Daniel Rona

The season bursts forth in radiance,

painting the landscape in shades of green.

Flowers add their rhythm in cadence,

splashing color to brighten the scene

Most precious are the lilies of red.

They spin not, they toil not, yet in their way,

they teach of the color of Him who bled,

on Gethsemane’s most fateful day.

His glory is to lighten our load.

He heals us with joy and harmony

A landscape of love for young and old,

His radiance opened eternity.

Lilies of red, they testified

Of Him who bled and died,

Lilies of red, witness they give

He died so we could live.

He lives, He’s risen from the dead

praise God for Lilies of red.

Apostle Howard W. Hunter, on a visit to the Holy Land, requested a special sacrament service at Gethsemane. Our guide, Daniel Rona, was asked to clean up the garden before the service. However, Daniel’s wife, who was expecting, went into labor! Daniel was blessed with a new baby that night, but he had not completed his assignment. Early the next morning, on the Saturday Sabbath, Daniel and his friends cleaned the garden just in time for the meeting.

At the service, President Hunter requested Daniel Rona to give the opening prayer. Daniel was overwhelmed with feeling, being a new father, in a sacred place, and in the presence of a living apostle. He prayed that the Lord would be present with them on the mountain, because nowhere else in the world would Latter-day Saints be assembled to worship on Saturday.

The meeting progressed with the sacrament.

Following the ordinance, Elder Howard W. Hunter took the stand and spoke.

“During the sacrament prayer, all of you had your eyes closed, but mine were open. I looked over towards that rock and saw a man approach. He sat down so he could observe.”

As if in direct response to the opening prayer, Elder Hunter then testified, “I would like you all to know that the Savior was with us today.”

The Garden Tomb

In identifying truth and historical places, people can look to four things: archeology, written accounts, tradition, and feelings. In reading the accounts and noting tradition, these archeological findings are in line with the details of the burial of Jesus as written in the four gospels. The tomb is a first century weeping tomb. It was covered for 17 centuries until discovered in 1867.

An immersion font, which is required before burial, is outside the entrance. The font is filled with spring water, which a form of living water. The round entrance stone weighed 18 to 19 tons. 

Inside the tomb: a resting place, hastily carved out.

Immersion Font

Stone

But does it really feel like the right place?

“As soon as I entered, I felt like I was in the temple.”
-Greg DeVore

One can truly feel that this is the place Christ was laid and resurrected. What a holy site!


Upon visiting the Garden Tomb for the first time, President Spencer W. Kimball was met by a guide, the tomb’s caretaker, who did not care for Mormons.

When they entered the tomb, the guide said, “This is the place many believe Jesus was buried.”

President Kimball said, “Oh, I can see it! I can just imagine his head, resting against the stone; and his feet here. His body lying so peaceful.”

The guide snapped, “There is no way you can know that."

President Kimball turned to the guide, and responded softly, but with conviction, “We’ve been to hallowed places before.”

-as shared by Daniel Rona


"Of all the places visited on [President Kimball’s] travels, the tomb where the body of Jesus was laid moved [him] the most. … 'There was such a holy influence here that we stayed and stayed ... knelt together and each had a solemn prayer - a prayer of gratitude that we know the Lord and know our Heavenly Father, and know that Jesus Christ lived and died and resurrected and rose and ascended and lives."

-Spencer W. Kimball
Biography, 1978, p. 331

Bethlehem

As we spoke of Christ’s birth overlooking Judea’s plains, Dorothy said, “I just know I was one of the angels who sang at Jesus’ birth.” We sang hymns, so she could relive the experience again.

As we finished our song, shepherds emerged from the fields below, ascending up the mount with their flocks. They must have heard the angelic singing, and responded, as they did of old, with a special visit.

When the Savior was born, the people remembered the signs. Shepherds noised abroad the story of angles and the Savior again and again.

Shepherds today don’t know what happened in the fields where they tend their flocks.

Lilies of Red

Tiffany & I said goodbye to our guide Daniel Rona. I sincerely thanked him for his testimony. As I spoke, I was emotional and was able to convey my feelings. I could tell he received the message.

Most special to me was his testimony of Christ at the Garden Tomb. He turned to us, smiling, and said, “I know that He lives. He spoke to His apostles. He ate with them. I know He lives.” Also, at Gethsemane, he taught about Christ falling on his face- without anything supporting him, bleeding from every pour. His garments must have been soaked red.

As Tiffany and I prepared to leave, I felt very sad. In Gethsemane, and throughout Jerusalem, are the lilies of the field. They are bright red. When cut and dried, they turn blood red. They grow where the Savior made the sacrifice for all. I had wanted to take some home as a souvenir, but was instructed not to. Later in the trip, our guide said it was okay to pick the flowers. So we looked but could not find any. Now, it seemed too late.


We left for the airport the next morning at 4:15 a.m. Our driver, a Palestinian, who didn’t understand much English, seemed accommodating, so I asked him if he knew where the red lilies grow. After five minutes of trying to explain what we were looking for, he said: “A Cantona! They are everywhere in my village.” He pulled off the road at the next exit. We looked out the window, but found nothing. It was too dark. Undeterred, he pulled over near a field. We all got out of the car. I took a flashlight and walked over rocks, hills, and through thorns.

We even looked by the way side, but still no lilies to be found. Time passed quickly, and we needed to get to the airport. The driver was still confident and indicated he knew one more spot. The ground looked right. I could see yellow flowers as we approached. We had seen the red lilies among these before. Tiffany and I were both praying fervently with faith. After 10 minutes of looking, we stopped, empty handed. We got back on the highway, disappointed.

We needed to go to the airport. Our driver seemed to be done with the adventure, and even Tiffany and I knew we had to leave. To say thank you, I dipped into my wallet and handed the driver a $10 bill for his troubles. The money invigorated him. He put up his finger, to indicate, “One more try.” He pulled off the next exit. We approached a green patch in the center of a roundabout. Streetlights illuminated the area. I jumped over the guardrail and looked. Amidst the green I saw it: a red lily. And another! More then I had hoped for. This was the good ground. To celebrate, we took a picture with the driver.


The rest of the drive, I was smiling. Tiffany held my hand and smiled back. Our prayers were answered. We searched diligently in darkness, in an unknown land, aided by a Arab, Muslim, Palestinian man, helping White, Mormon, Westerners find flowers that grow, only one month out of the year.

Praying in faith yet pressed by time, we tested the Savior’s words: Ask and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find.

Weekend in New York City

Our drive was great… until we got to the Lincoln tunnel and 6 toll roads merged into 2 lanes...I don't know how people do that commute. We did finally reach our hotel, right in the heart of Times Square, the Marriott Marquee.

Inside, the elevators looked like giant tubes for transporting mail. It was like something from the Jetson’s or Willy Wonka’s Glass Elevator. We had a lovely view of the city.

We went to a wonderful dinner at a quaint little Italian restaurant. They had great onion soup, steak, and fish.

We then walked to the play called “The 39 Steps.” The show had very interesting humor. Four people played over 100 characters. We are not sure we can recommend it to people because it's for the quirky sense of humor type. But there were definitely some creative and funny things. It’s like Napoleon Dynamite- when you reminisce about it, then it’s funnier and you almost want to go see it again so you can really appreciate it.

We had dessert at Junior's (famous for their cheesecake) after the show- strawberry shortcake, cheesecake, and hot chocolate. Yum! And yes, it was our second dessert for the evening.

The next day we drove out to Mary Payne’s in Connecticut. We first saw the house where we lived and hospital where I was born. My mom told stories about Trevor running up the street naked and Nathan disappearing until a stranger brought him home.

Mary was so excited to see us and to meet Jeff & Laura. She feels like she is our second mom so she was happy to see our spouses. She told Jeff that he was a hottie and was happy to know he makes me laugh constantly.

We ate lots of junk food to celebrate her birthday. In fact, we ate lots of junk food the entire weekend. In fact, I'm still full off all the junk food we ate.

Jeff played with my/Mary’s old turtle Jewel. Jewel still has marks in his shell from when our dog Foxy tried to eat him and bury him in the dirt (See the hole in the picture- teeth puncture marks). We really had a wonderful visit.

The drive back was great until we were 0.9 miles away from the hotel. From there it took one hour to get back. Now we understand why people in movies are always jumping out of their cab to run the remainder of the distance...much faster.

We stopped by my Dad’s booth to visit. Ja relayed that other doctors had said that Dr. DeVore is their hero and a very intelligent man. I am interested in knowing how many doctors start wearing bow ties at the next conference...then we'll be able to gauge how much influence he really has.

We walked a few blocks to dinner at Benjamin’s Steak House. We had three or four waiters for our table. Once again, we had great food.

After dinner, we enjoyed strolling around 42nd street on our walk to see “Guys and Dolls” with Lauren Graham from Gilmore Girls and Oliver Platt. We loved it! We laughed, enjoyed the good music, and funny one-liners. It was very entertaining. However, I kept waiting for the song "Guys and Dolls" that was sung in the Simpsons, but apparently it was written special for the cartoon and not in the original score.

Before we went home, we had dessert again- great devil’s food cheesecake. And yes, I am still full.

The next morning we had breakfast at Junior’s and then heard my Dad's lecture. This reminded me of why I want him to do my ultrasounds. I'm pretty sure a lot of people there had no idea what he was talking about.

We had a fabulous trip and a wonderful time with family...until next time :)

Basketball: McLean vs. Langley

Coming into the semi-finals game, I had no confidence that we could win. Langley, the single’s ward team, appeared unbeatable.

We had already lost to them in our worst basketball game of the regular season. They have a big guy who dunked on us and other players who seemed to hit all of their outside shots. I was really heated up over that game. One guy swung his elbows near my face and then swore at me! I got really upset. A loss is a loss, but when you lose to people who make you angry like that, it’s a hard thing to deal with.

Fitting, we’d all have a chance for retribution as we faced off again in the tournament semi-finals game.

Something neat happened before the game even started. As we circled up, someone said, “It doesn’t matter who takes the shot. We have got to be looking out for each other. Keep the ball moving. Try to get others the open shot and don’t force things.” I could feel we were peaking as a team and everyone seemed willing to be unselfish. Our team came together in unity.

We came out of the first quarter on top by two points. I was surprised, but felt hope.

At the half, we were only down by two points!

In the third quarter, things started coming together for us. We ran the floor hard. We got fouled and made our free throws. We even made contested 3-point shots. We went on a nine point run. But Langley was always just a shot away from coming back.

In the closing minutes of the 4th quarter, Langley scored, putting them up by one point. On the following inbounds play, I got the ball and sprinted down the right sideline. One defender was on my left hip and two others were closing fast to the basket. The defense collapsed on me as I got near the hoop. As I let go of the ball, one guy grabbed my shoulder. The referee’s whistle blew indicating a foul. With the ball in the air, things slowed down for me. I looked up through the hoop as the ball hit the top of the backboard and dropped through the bottom of the net.

Clutch!

I let out a roar “YES!” and punched the air with clenched fist as teammates stormed me and game me high fives and chest bumps. I have never felt so excited about making a shot in my life.

At this point I felt like we were going to win. Even though the game wasn’t over, I knew we were going to come out on top. I was celebrating every made basket, every steal. Everyone was coming up with clutch plays.

How fitting, that the bucket that sealed the deal came from Reed, who hadn’t taken an outside shot all game. He found himself open for a three-pointer, found confidence, stepped into it, and drained it.

Jason Johnson said it best. “It was an awesome effort all the way from Reed's 99% field goal percentage, Trevor's ice in the vein free throws, Jeff's slashing and 1's, Greg's clutch 3's, Robbie's solo bucket, and Ron shutting down the big man. Awesome team play.”

Langley was in it until the final seconds. They had two shots at a three to tie the game, but both rimmed out. We came together as a team in unity and slew the mighty Langley.

Tiffany watched from the sideline and said later, “That was the most dramatic game I’ve ever seen.” I was glad she could be there to witness my personal best game ever.

Even Brad Castle in the ward said, “That was the best game I’ve seen. Great teamwork.”

While I had come in with no individual confidence of a win, our team believed. As someone said, “We were older, fatter, and balder, but play well together.” Unity trumps individual talent. It was true, as we then went on to defeat the number one team in the championship game. Everyone had his own clutch moment. When the moment to do something special arises, having a team around you that believes makes it easier to perform. They had the talent and firepower, but we picked them apart collectively.