Jerusalem

At the Western Wall in Jerusalem, I asked a young adult Jewish man about his experience with the Sabbath growing up. His response inspired me.

It is hard for me to fully imagine what the women must have experienced as they came to the tomb and found it empty.

Here are 13 beautiful photos of some of the places and cities where the Savior may have walked during his mortal ministry.

After joining the Church in the US, Sahar Qumsiyeh began the difficult journey of living her faith and strengthening the Saints back in her homeland of Palestine.

Before sunrise on Sunday, Oct. 24, 1841, Elder Orson Hyde of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles exited the city walls of Jerusalem, crossed the brook Cedron and climbed the Mount of Olives.

This week's FHE lesson topic comes from the Come, Follow Me reading of Philippians and Colossians. Check out this week'sCome, Follow Me study ideas on LDS Living for additional resources and suggestions.

In 2004, workers were summoned to repair a damaged sewer pipe. The pipe lay under a small potato field in the Palestinian Arab neighborhood of Silwan, in southeastern Jerusalem just outside the Old City walls. Following standard local practice, a team of archaeological observers accompanied them, wrote Yaakov Katz in "New Discovery in Jerusalem's City of David: 2,000-year-old Pilgimage Road," published June 30 in The Jerusalem Post, online at jpost.com.

With renovations complete for the Oakland California Temple, this temple is open to the public for a limited time—from May 11 to June 1. The opportunity to enter the building typically restricted for those outside our faith prompted a press event which included Jewish journalist David A.M. Wilensky, among others. As part of the event, the group of journalists took a tour of the temple before its upcoming re-dedication on June 16.

There’s a moment in Back to the Future where Doc Brown explains to Marty McFly that the DeLorean time machine can take them anywhere, anytime, including the ability to “witness the birth of Christ.” That line of dialogue always stayed with me. What would it be like to stand and see the life of Jesus, the places He taught, and the miracles He performed? Some movies have done a decent job recreating it, but nothing actually makes you feel like you’re there. Until now.

“Go home! You can’t enter Jerusalem! Go back!” the soldier at the checkpoint screamed at me. This soldier who had invaded my country was now telling me that I was denied access to the city of my birth. I tried to form angry words to respond to his unjust act but was halted by the words of the Savior echoing in my ear: “Love your enemies.”

Sahar Qumsiyeh, a Palestinian born in Jerusalem, often faced extreme difficulties attending LDS sacrament meetings in Jerusalem, the closest services to her home in Bethlehem. Facing checkpoints, blocked roads, the possibility of arrest, and even Israeli soldiers shooting at her on numerous occasions, Qumsiyeh continued to press forward in order to partake of the sacrament on a regular basis. The following is an excerpt from her story, Peace for a Palestinian: One Woman's Story of Faith Amidst War in the Holy Land.

“Go home! You can’t enter Jerusalem! Go back!” the soldier at the checkpoint screamed at me. This soldier who had invaded my country was now telling me that I was denied access to the city of my birth. I tried to form angry words to respond to his unjust act but was halted by the words of the Savior echoing in my ear: “Love your enemies.”

One of my favorite Christmas songs is “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” whose opening lines romantically capture the image of a small, quiet town where something wondrous has just happened. Every year around Christmas, families across the world reenact the story of Joseph and Mary traveling the difficult journey to Bethlehem, only to find no room in the inn (see Luke 2). The wise men, too, are remembered for first going to Jerusalem only to learn that it is Bethlehem where the Christ child is actually to be found (see Matthew 2).

Thirty years ago, students began moving into the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. Today it is considered by members and nonmembers alike to be a stunning addition to the Holy City’s landscape, but it didn’t start out that way. In fact, plans to build the Jerusalem Center caused so much controversy that the “Mormon issue” nearly caused the collapse of the Israeli government—on more than one occasion.

Come and see! That is the great invitation of the Gospel.

Yesterday, Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland shared on Facebook the experiences they had while visiting Jersulam as part of the 175th anniversary of Orson Hyde visiting the Holy Land.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Elder Quentin L. Cook, and Elder James J. Hamula of the Seventy met with prominent Jewish leaders from the United States at the Mount of Olives on Thursday to commemorate the 175th anniversary of Apostle Orson Hyde's prayer dedicating Jerusalemas a gathering place for the Jewish people.

Today marks a unique 175th anniversary in Church history. On October 24, 1841, Elder Orson Hyde traveled to Jerusalem, climbed the Mount of Olives, and dedicated the land for the return of the Jewish people. He offered a dedicatory prayer that focused on the gathering of Judah, the building up of Jerusalem, and the building of a temple.

What does a Jew who has spent eight years living in the Holy Land see in the Book of Mormon? Check out these incredible insights from this Jewish convert.

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Kathy Andersen, were in Jerusalem last week to attend the 2015 International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Conference. During the trip, Elder Andersen visited Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. They were joined by Sister Andersen; Stephen Rockwood, the newly announced managing director of the Church's Family History Department; and Eran Hayet, director of the Brigham Young University (BYU) Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. They discussed the BYU Jerusalem Center, a Church-owned landmark for the past 27 years, and the Church’s work to preserve family history.

Buried beneath an old prison site in Jerusalem may be the spot where Jesus appeared for trial before Pontius Pilate, an Israeli archaeologist said.

With all this talk of Mormonism back home, and the state of Mormon-Jewish relations, I decided to go Mormon-hunting here in Jerusalem. Didn’t need to look far. Just up the hill there. On the slopes of Mt. Scopus.

Five years removed from his controversial "Jesus Tomb" documentary, UNC Charlotte archaeologist James Tabor announced Tuesday that he has helped uncover perhaps the earliest Christian image ever found. The discovery, in Jerusalem, took place in 2010, Tabor told The Charlotte Observer.

Scientists have reconstructed what the biblical Kingdom of Judah would have looked like 2,500 years ago. The reconstruction shows a royal garden in Judah to have been an exotic paradise and is based on analyses of pollen grains found preserved at the gardens at Ramat Rahel, an ancient archaeological site located high above Israel, overlooking the modern cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

With more than 1.5 million video minutes viewed at the website biblevideos.lds.org, The Life of Jesus Christ Bible videos given to the world by the Church last Christmas have been viewed in 194 different countries. Last week, a new video based on the parable of the Widow's Mites became available for the first time. The website states the videos were created "solely for the purpose of helping more people understand and appreciate the matchless life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world."

Matti Friedman of the Associated Press published news about a recent excavation in the City of David in Jerusalem, near the Gihon Spring. The excavation revealed an interesting set of markings carved into the stone floor of a room, and expert archeologists cannot determine what their meaning or use was. The markings consist of three “V” marks, or perhaps gammadia “Γ,” although one is inverted from the other two, plus a straight line mark. They date to about 800 B.C.

During the December 4, 2011, First Presidency Christmas Devotional, Church leaders presented The Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos website, a “gift” to the world for the coming holiday season. BibleVideos.lds.org is a repository for original short videos that depict scenes from Christ’s life, ranging from the angel foretelling Christ’s birth to the Savior's Resurrection.

Some critics argue that Biblical scholars have created the historical Jesus in their own image. A small number of scholars believe the gospel accounts are so mythical in nature that nothing, including the very existence of Jesus, can be determined from them.

To read the original Salon story, click here.

When it comes to BYU's Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, no news is good news, and right now the going is great. That's essentially the message program director Eran Hayet conveyed during an interview in his office at the Jerusalem Center, which is situated atop Mount Scopus and endowed with an idyllic view of the Old City.

A discovery in the Middle East of more than 20 ancient lead plate "books" — each with five to 15 pages — is being hailed by some as one of the most important religious discoveries of the past. Others are calling it ridiculous. The director of the country of Jordan's Department of Antiquities, Ziad al-Saad, told BBC that the books might have been made by followers of Jesus in the few decades immediately following his crucifixion. "They will really match, and perhaps be more significant than, the Dead Sea Scrolls," Saad said. "It seems that we are looking at a very important and significant discovery, maybe the most important discovery in the history of archaeology."

There's a little piece of the Holy Land in Utah County. It's not because county commissioners have negotiated a land swap with Israel. Technically speaking, all of the dusty paths or grassy hillsides where Jesus Christ is believed to have walked among the Jews during his mortal ministry are still thousands of miles away. Starting in June, however, the distance will be swept away in the blink of a camera lens.