I didn't think I could love this place. I didn't believe that I could enjoy a big city. I didn't know I could find beauty in a place so cramped, so dirty, and completely without mountains. I thought I would love being here for what I'd learn about the Bible, for the people, for the experiences, but not for the current, living, breathing city that surrounds me. Somehow, all those things, the millenia of historical past, the remarkable students I live with, the current situation, all combined to create a love of this place as it now is.
I get this city. I understand it in and out. I know my way around. I give directions to foreigners, I know how, not necessarily to blend in with the crowd, since everyone can still peg you as Mormon, but how to at least act like the crowd. I love the intersection of three world-wide religions, and the way the devout of each respect the others. One of my favorite things to do is to stand at the Western Wall and just feel. I really can't explain just how much I love this place and love these people. But is it hard to understand, when Christ loved these people so much himself?
I admire the clean newness of the Jewish quarter, even though the reason behind its brand new walls makes me ache. I love my Palestinian neighbors. I love having my 100 closest friends just an arm's reach away from me at all times.
I love this adventure, and I love how it's made me grow. I understand the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Christ of the New Testament, and his atonement better than I ever thought I would. I have learned how to have fun in new ways, how to travel, how to enjoy a city, and how to be myself even when everything familiar is stripped away. And those are perhaps the most important things.
Thank you, Jerusalem, for broadening my horizons, for building my testimony, and for introducing me to...me.
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