Seminary

Before coming to Israel, Ed and I wondered what kind of callings we would get while we were here. Excepting the transitory BYU students, we knew that the Jerusalem Branch membership was fairly small and made up almost totally of expatriates. In fact, there are only about five member families that live in the Branch outside the BYU Center, along with a handful of Hebrew U students and older, single women who primarily work as caregivers around the greater Jerusalem area. So it wasn't a complete surprise when Ed was called to be first counselor in the Branch Presidency. But I was a bit surprised to learn that they needed a Seminary teacher--and I was it!

Seminary has become one of the very most important parts of my experience here. At the beginning of the semester, after the initial thrill of living in Jerusalem began to fade, I started to wonder how I was going to get the most out of my experience here while still balancing my responsibilities to my family. It felt stifling to look out my window at the Dome of the Rock and the Old City walls and not be able to get there because someone had to nap or because someone else had a school project or because once again there were mountains of laundry and piles of dirty dishes. But teaching seminary has given a structure and purpose to my days, for three significant reasons:

1. Megan and Carrie: These are my two seminary students. They are 17 and 15, respectively, and belong to the Judd family (their dad is one of the religion professors). They are intelligent, funny, inquisitive and mature. They love the scriptures and the gospel and they have pure desires to be good and do good. I thoroughly enjoy the time I get to spend with them and they keep me on my toes. I find I have to really know my stuff with them because they ask hard questions.

2. Mackenzie: Each semester there will be a BYU student called to assist me in teaching. This semester, Mackenzie is excited and willing. She teaches one of the four classes every week, which not only reduces my load significantly but gives me a chance to talk pedagogy with someone. I got to be a mentor teacher once when we lived in Chicago, and I found that I like teaching about teaching almost as much as I like to teach other stuff.

3. Best of all: This year's course of study for seminary is the New Testament. As I study and prepare to teach my lessons, I try to incorporate into my sightseeing the places where the events in my lessons happened. Naturally that doesn't happen very often, but the day I was to teach about Christ healing the man at the Pool of Bethesda, Joe and I went to visit that archaeological site. This week we'll be talking about the life of John the Baptist so I may go visit what some believe to be his birthplace. I feel like I'm having a little of the experience the students get to have, where they study it then visit it. It makes me feel like I have a purpose in being here beyond running material support for my husband. Don't get me wrong: supporting Ed is a job I love, but it isn't the only job I need. So despite being away from my Master's Program, I still get to have something of my very own, something where I can make a difference, and which gives me the time and motive to increase my own knowledge and testimony of the Savior.

Here's Joe exploring the Pool of Bethesda. In the center of the picture you can see the remains of a Roman capital (identifiable by the carved leaf patterns), probably from the time of Christ.

The Pool of Bethesda is located on the grounds of the Church of St. Anne, a beautiful and peaceful setting inside the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, near the beginning of the Via Dolorosa (the supposed path Christ walked from his condemnation to his crucifixion and entombment). 

Here's Joe when we stopped for a snack across from the gardens pictured above. Joe has become an excellent sightseeing buddy, especially in this backpack. He is always calm and happy just to look around and be with Mom or Dad, or to eat a pretzel and watch other people make eyes at him. He's getting heavier every day, but this is still the absolute easiest way to travel with him around the Old City and on field trips. (He actually has nothing to do with Seminary, but I can't resist a cute picture of him wherever I find it.)