Turkey!

Two weeks ago I returned from a weeklong trip to Turkey where we visited numerous historical sites. One of the most memorable was visiting Ephesus, which is one of the places where the Apostle Paul preached the Gospel. He preached in Ephesus while returning home during his second mission and preached the gospel there for two years during his third mission. These cities are beautifully built and show a Greco-Roman architecture. In fact while on our journey along the Western coast of Turkey we could see islands that belong to Greece as they nestled themselves close to the Turkish coast in the Aegean Sea.

            Istanbul, the former Constantinople, is a very populous city with about 9 million people. As I flew into Istanbul I had a beautiful view of the city, and I could see four to five story buildings as far as the eye could see. After we arrived in the evening we went to dinner and found that there is a thriving nightlife in Istanbul. We had a guide during the trip from Istanbul and he said that like New York City, Istanbul never sleeps.

            When the Roman Emperor Constantine headed the council of Nicaea in 325 AD (we visited Nicaea, and were near Constantine’s supposed summer palace where the council of Nicaea took place), he soon thereafter made Christianity the state religion and made Constantinople the headquarters. This was the main center from which Christianity at the time became widely adopted. It was not until 1453 that the Ottoman Empire took over. We visited Topkapi Palace, a beautiful palace where the rulers of the Ottoman Empire lived with their families. In the museum at Topkapi Palace I saw an 86-carat diamond, which was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. The Ottoman Empire ended shortly after WWI, and Turkey was established as a state in the early 20’s. Since then there have been multiple coups that have tried to take over the government, the most recent one in 1997.

My visit to Jordan

This past week we were in Jordan for four days, and every tourist group that enters Jordan is required by law to have a Jordanian guide. Muhammad was our guide for the whole week and on the last day his son Odai joined us. The country of Jordan is less than thirty miles from Jerusalem, but it took us about 2 hours to get through the border into Jordan. Jordan has a population of about 6.7 million people and 10% of that population are Bedouin population. Bedouins are descendants of the nomads of the area and now live a bit more like the Amish population in America. There are also large refugee populations from the Iran Iraq war and the 1967 war where Israel took much of Jerusalem. Jordan is about 94% Muslim and about 4% Christian. They also have a king, King Abdullah, whom they love and respect very much.

Once we were in Jordan we visited Mt. Nebo, which is the site where Moses saw the promised land across the Jordan River. From this viewpoint we could also see the city of Jericho and the Dead Sea. We then went to Machaerus which is one of the palaces of King Herod. King Herod's son Herod Antipas was here according to the historian Josephus when he told Salome that he would grant her any wish. She consulted with her mom and then asked for John the Baptist's head. It is supposed that John the Baptist was also at this site when he was beheaded.

The next day we visited Petra, an ancient city that was a major crossroads for trade routes in the middle east. This city is in a mountainous area and the people who lived here anciently developed a massive water collection system for collecting  rainwater and running it through clay piping into the city. The next day we visited the Jabbok River. In Genesis chapter 32 Jacob wrestles with the Lord to obtain a blessing near the Jabbok River. This was a very spiritual experience for me and we sang my favorite hymn, "Nearer My God To Thee" while we were there.

I also have to say that I went to the King Abdullah Auto Museum and I saw a Ferrari F40, Ferrari F50, Mclaren SLR Stirling Moss, and a Bugatti Veyron. Just Wikipedia or Youtube those cars to give you a taste of what I saw!

On the last day Odai was with us! Odai is the son of our guide Muhammad and is twenty-three years old and will be graduating in a few months. I was able to get to know him throughout the day, and I learned that he is a huge Coldplay fan. What I saw in Odai was a great deal of purity and integrity. He loved his father very much, and I learned that he lives by strict standards of virtue. It was very easy for us to relate with him because he has experiences of being ridiculed for being a virgin and for standing up to the beliefs of his religion. I learned how pure many of the followers of Islam are, and that they honor chastity. My teacher Professor Harper said that meeting Odai gave him greater hope in the future for the youth in the world.

My Welcome to Jerusalem!

My thoughts in contemplating my trip to Jerusalem were varied. I had spoken with numerous students about their experiences in Jerusalem, yet I was never quite capable of grasping an idea of what it would be like to enter the Holy Land. I had been told that it is desert kind of like Utah and Wyoming. I imagined little vegetation and thriving desert. My mind wanted to grasp every ounce of information I could, and if you know me, I am just as interested in the contemporary events in Israel as with the historical. I never realized how distant my vision was from the reality.

We flew from the Salt Lake City airport to JFK airport. The JFK airport is old and next May they will be demolishing at least one entire terminal after they complete construction on an existing one. I thought that was impressive until I entered the Tel Aviv airport fifteen hours later. In the Tel Aviv airport I walked into an impressive, glass decorated structure filled with gardens and spacious walkways. I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the sight. On the forty-five minute bus drive to the city of Jerusalem I was again amazed at the verdant beauty of the land. I imagined brown desert with little vegetation, but what I was seeing was an impressive array of trees and green farmland filling the land of Canaan.

Not only was I impressed with the state of the vegetation, but the construction that is being done in the area took me by great surprise. The last few years, the states have been deadened by the recession, and I have not seen many large construction projects for years. The entire trip from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem I looked upon many construction sites. To give you the best image though, I will describe what I see happening in west Jerusalem, with having been here for merely four days. There is a brand new light rail system in Jerusalem that opened about three months ago. This is a strong sign of economic development in the area. What surprised me more than this was my view of the city of Jerusalem from the Jerusalem Center. As I look upon the city I look westward on the old and into the first part of West Jerusalem up a hill. After the hill the city recedes again from my view and much of the city is left unseen. Still, I look and I see over a dozen large cranes filling that part of West Jerusalem. These cranes are built over small skyscrapers, each one of them signaling to me that there is a large construction project in that area. I have never seen anything like it in all of my life. Every time I look at it, I think, "The land is again becoming fruitful. I am watching the fulfillment of prophecies both ancient and modern."

I have much to learn about this area, and I have seen very little, but I do see the land, economically and agriculturally, becoming fruitful, but I have had little opportunity to visit with the people and I cannot say much yet about the situation among them. I am uneducated and hope to learn more about the circumstances they face. If I spoke now on the matter I would speak too quickly. What I do see are many good families trying to support their children. Nassif, one of the security workers here, told me that in his estimation an average family has about four to five children. He was not surprised that I have eleven brothers and sisters. He acknowledged that it was large, but he said that there are large families here in Israel. He said his Dad comes from a large family.

I know that this will be a great growing experience for me. In fact, before I finish this blog I must write one more story. We are not to talk about any church doctrines or beliefs while we are here, for good reason. In the airport before we can leave the airport they screen every person individually. I walked up with my passport in hand to an Israeli in a booth, I believe from his accent he was of Jewish decent. I handed him my passport, he looked at it and then asked me my name. I told him confidently, "Kyler Harmon." 

"Alma?" He responded.

"Yes, Kyler Alma Harmon," I knew my name, oh wait, he recognizes that Alma is unusual I thought.

"Where does Alma come from?"

"My Father. It's my Father's name." Where does Alma come from? I'd like to tell him, but I can't. I imagined explaining to him how Alma was a great prophet many years ago who read extensively from the Torah and taught the things Moses taught. Haha, what a humorous thing to happen right as I enter Israel. Have a golden opportunity to introduce somebody to the Book of Mormon and I can't. What a great experience! He inquired further where the name Alma comes from. I raced in my mind to give him a decent answer that would help him and not leave me in a mess. "It's a religious name." A few moments passed by.

"Are you Christian?"

"Yes, I am." He must know that the name Alma is Hebraic. Of course he does. I wonder what he's thinking. He probably thinks it quite the oddity that I'm a Christian with such a Hebraic name. He inquired further. "The name is in our scriptures that we use." What was I to do? I would love to tell him about The Book of Mormon, but I can't. Finally he let me through, and I would now enter the land of my fathers.