JERUSALEM — What was it like for a modern-day Apostle to be in the Holy Land, visiting the sacred biblical sites and thinking of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the sacred events of the Savior’s life and His Atonement?
“Amazing,” “beautiful” and “overwhelming” were words used by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as he concluded meetings during April in Jerusalem and visited significant locations throughout the Holy City, around the Sea of Galilee area and beyond.
“It is a joyful feeling beyond words that the Lord has granted me to be one of his Disciples at this time,” he said. “Of course, we all need to be disciples, and we need to live up to the covenants we’ve made.
“But to be here and to bear witness as a disciple, as the apostles did in the ancient times, is something which warms my heart and lifts me into spheres which are unimaginable. And with a great feeling of humility, I feel that the Lord trusts me to be a witness for Him and His name. What a joy to walk where our fellow apostles lived and walked and to feel their lives and feel what happened to them.”
From the site visits as well as his personal reflections and scripture study, Elder Uchtdorf remembered the realities of the Savior’s apostles and disciples. “They had challenges, they were imperfect, they had their struggles,” he said. “That gives me the strength, the hope, the enthusiasm and the courage to move forward and say, ‘The Savior trusted fishermen back then to walk His way, so He’s calling and trusting me.’ It is not from a worldly authority, it is by Jesus Christ, the Living Son of the Living God.”
Elder Uchtdorf recalled the saying from the late President Thomas S. Monson about the Lord qualifying those whom He calls. “I’m very confident that the Lord is qualifying me to testify in the way that will be pleasing unto Him and to do what He wants me to do.
“It is a very exhilarating feeling to be here now and follow the footsteps of those wonderful servants, wonderful ministers, wonderful ancient disciples — it is a feeling of deep gratitude to follow that pattern.”
The Apostle continued: “Wherever we are, we bear witness of His name — We declare as Paul, ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of [Jesus] Christ’ (Romans 1:16). It’s the way, the path to happiness in this life and the eternal life to come. In humility and with courage, we hold our heads high, and with great love for everyone, we are bearing witness of Him who is the Light to the world; and to us individually in our lives, He is our Savior and Redeemer, the one who makes life now joyful and eternal life glorious.”
The truths tied to the area
Elder Uchtdorf first visited the Holy Land in 1966 as a young Lufthansa pilot flying the globe. He has returned numerous times, first during his professional time with family and friends and later returning several times on assignment as a general authority. The most recent previous visit was 10 years ago as a counselor in the First Presidency.
This latest assignment to the Holy Land expanded his love and appreciation for the sites, the events and the truths tied to the area — and tied to the Savior and His gospel.
“I think over time we mature, and so now I have deeper feelings in some ways — perhaps less on the physical and geographical experience and more on the spiritual.
“You almost have to be strong enough to not be distracted and keep the spiritual component up front and dominating, allowing the touching of your heart and mind. So, I think that perhaps has helped me to see all of this from a higher perspective, as if like a pilot from 30,000 feet above.”
Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, who accompanied her husband on his latest assignment to Israel and Egypt, said she had a recurring thought while viewing Jerusalem’s Old City from various vantage points, such as the Mount of Olives or Brigham Young University’s Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies.
“I’ll remember just looking over Jerusalem and thinking about Jesus looking at the city and saying: ‘I have tried so many times, I have tried to help you.’”
She pointed to the Savior saying in Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
‘A special moment’
Eric Huntsman, academic director at the BYU Jerusalem Center, and his wife, Elaine, accompanied the Uchtdorfs during their time in Jerusalem, filling Elder Uchtdorf’s assignment to speak at a Friday, April 21, devotional for students attending the center and at a Saturday, April 22, Jerusalem District conference meeting.
What was it like to be with a modern-day Apostle in the Holy Land?
Said Elaine Huntsman: “I’ve had to pause and just think of the reality that I’m here in a place that Jesus and His apostles were at — with a modern-day apostle — and it’s as if those people came alive.”
Eric Huntsman spoke of the privilege to be with the Uchtdorfs, watching and witnessing the Apostle in his sacred calling.
“As much as I teach these sites and guide here, it’s a little daunting, to be honest, to have someone like him say, ‘Teach us about this,’” Huntsman said of being with Elder Uchtdorf at the Holy Land sites.
At Caesarea Philippi, Huntsman read scriptures about Peter testifying that Jesus is the Son of God, with Christ declaring that He will give the keys of the kingdom to Peter (Matthew 16:13-19). He added that the keys were given to Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, which may have been at the nearby Mount Hermon.
What Elder Uchtdorf said next was meaningful to the Huntsmans.
“A modern Apostle looked at us and said, ‘Those same keys that Peter, James and John received are part of the Restoration, and I and my Brethren hold those keys.’
“Of all the times I have been at Caesarea Philippi,” Huntsman said, “I’ve never had a witness like that. That was a special moment.”
Sacrament
Another memorable experience for the Huntsmans came sitting with the Uchtdorfs on benches across from the Church of the Last Supper, built at or near where Jesus and His apostles met as the Savior instituted the sacramental emblems of his body and blood before fulfilling the atoning acts of suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, being crucified at Golgotha and then appearing as a resurrected being at the tomb.
“He asked us to read the sacrament prayers, which we did,” Eric Huntsman said, “and we sang a sacrament hymn together, and it was beautiful. And then he paused.”
Elder Uchtdorf then explained that almost all of the ordinances of the Church — aside from the sealing of a husband and wife or of a child to parents — are done for one individual, such as baptism, confirmation and vicarious ordinances in the temple.
“But the sacrament, the Lord’s Supper, is something we do for the community, for the group,” Huntsman said, summarizing Elder Uchtdorf’s teaching at the moment. “It really helped us think about what we do week in and week out — we take the sacrament, but most of us try to focus on the Lord and His sacrament and make a communion between us and God.
“But that really underscored for me that I need to look around at my sisters and brothers and those we’re taking the sacrament with — are we like those disciples together around the table at the Last Supper? As we’re sitting in the pews, are we a family? And that was an interesting insight.”
Elaine Huntsman recalled a somewhat humorous moment just inside the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, when Elder Uchtdorf noticed a large wooden door and called Sister Uchtdorf over so they could take a closer look.
As they were talking about what could be behind it, a couple came up and asked what the door was for. The Apostle saw a teaching opportunity.
“He knocked on the door and said, ‘This is the door where you knock, and Jesus will open it,’” Elaine Huntsman said. “At first, the couple stopped and took it all in, and then walked away. And my thought was, ‘You have no idea who you were talking with, no idea who was talking about having a relationship with Jesus Christ.’”
