I had the privilege of attending the Jerusalem Center during the winter semester of 2011. During our trip to Egypt, we experienced the protection and miraculous tender mercies of the Lord.
For the most part, our week in Egypt went very smoothly and according to plan- seeing the pyramids, the Karnak temple, Valley of the Kings, riding camels, and floating on the Nile was all such a dream! We had another couple of days scheduled in Cairo, so we rode an overnight train from Luxor back to Cairo. Little did we know that our train pulling into the station that morning would be one of the last ones back into Cairo for a while.
While we were in Luxor, political turmoil, riots, and violent protests which would later be known as the Egyptian Revolution and part of the greater movement called the “Arab Spring,” erupted and began spreading across the capital and the country.
The original plan that day was to head to downtown and see the Cairo museum, but due to riots and most of the city being shut down, we explored some pyramids far from downtown. For the rest of the afternoon and evening, we were in lock-down at the hotel. A group of us piled into Brother Muhlestein’s hotel room and watched CNN. It was a surreal experience to watch the riots, the burning buildings, and the violence on TV and realize that those events were taking place literally down the road. In contrast, the evening was incredibly still and peaceful outside and I remember watching the sun dip below the horizon and feel such serenity and peace
That night, we had sacrament meeting in a big meeting room at the hotel and I remember feeling so much peace despite the turmoil that was happening in the city. I wrote in my journal that night, “It was so awesome to be able to come together as members of the church and worship together- what a unifying thing. And it was so cool to have the comfort of the Gospel in a country that doesn’t have the light of the Gospel and that is currently experiencing political turmoil. Honestly, I don’t feel scared and I really have felt the prayers of many people who are aware of us-my parents, my family, and honestly the leaders of the church. I know they know we are here and I feel their love and the protection of the Lord.” I will never forget the feelings of peace I felt during that intimate sacrament meeting in our Cairo hotel. The Gospel truly can bring peace in the midst of a storm.
The next day, our tour guide limped onto the bus and told us of his sleepless night trying to protect the Cairo museum from looters and how he was shot in the leg with a several rubber bullets. Concerned that we wouldn’t get out of the country if borders were closed, we headed to the Sinai peninsula a day early. As we drove out of Cairo, with the window curtains drawn on the bus, a few of us sneaked a peek out the window. The streets were eerily empty and void of people but through the thin crack in the curtains we could see evidences of riots- broken glass, smashed pieces of cement, trash, and the shells of burned out cars twisted in huge chunks of metal littering the streets. At that moment, it became very real to me of how serious this situation was and how bad it could have been. I said a prayer of gratitude that we were on our way out and that we were all safe. We made it safely to the Sinai peninsula that night and eventually made it back to the Jerusalem Center
I felt the Lord’s protection throughout that entire experience and the amount of tender mercies and miracles that we witnessed was overwhelming. Most of the trip was uninterrupted and we were still able to see the majority of the sights safely. We did not get stuck in Luxor because our train made it into the Cairo station before public transportation was shut down. We were blessed with amazing professors and tour guides who problem solved, adjusted, and led us calmly and safely through the situation. In fact, most of us didn’t comprehend the seriousness of the situation until much later because we had complete trust in our leaders, and they gave us no reason to worry or panic. I think our parents were much more panicked than we were since many of them called the Jerusalem Center while we were away. And lastly, we all made it back across the border into Israel safely without any issues. I gained a strong testimony that the Lord is truly aware of us in every situation, watches over us, and answers our prayers- no matter how far from home we find ourselves. That night in our Cairo hotel, I felt the peace and tranquility the Gospel brings and came to know that “the peace of God” truly “passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
Story written by Sarah Griggs who was a Jerusalem Center student in the Winter 2011 semester.
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