Bethany.....

This "pool" has been excavated and shows that the stairs go back over a thousand years and that they believe that this is the site where Jesus Christ was baptized by John the baptist continued to baptize many of Christs followers in the River Jordan. Though not very magnificent to look at now, they say that the river once flowed over a huge area..... The picture where I am at the waters edge is still used by both Israel and Jordan as a site to baptize pilgrims that come to the area. Directly on the other side of the river was Israel's borders...it was heavily fenced and guarded and in fact the tour guide told everyone to stay close to him and the group, to not lag behind or go ahead of the group...... I'm not sure if he meant to reassure us.....
But in walking the baths and seeing the wild olive trees and the dust that covers everything you begin to build a small picture of what it must have been like back in Christ's time and there was almost a reverent hush that came across the group. At one point the tour guide was explaining ( and you have to realize that he is an Arabic Muslim man puffing on his cigarette the whole time) what Christians believe about the sight and how the Bible teaches that Christ will one day return and that he will be preceded by Elijah.....

I can't begin to illustrate the feeling that crept over my body that left me wanting to shout and explain to all that would listen...that Elijah has returned and the key gospel elements have been restored..... It was the warm fire that explodes within you and radiates toward every tip of your being....

Though they may not be able to pinpoint the exact location that this was where Christ was baptized and the Holy Ghost's presence was witnessed with the sign of a dove, it doesn't really matter, what matters is that Christ was baptized and that there is a record of it and that we have been given the chance to follow in Christ's footsteps and emulate all that He taught. And what really matters is that we can each have a personal testimony of what the scriptures have recorded.....that we need not go on any one man's say so...we can ask and know for ourselves. And I can tell you, that that day, as surely as I knew before, I felt the reassuring presence of the Spirit testifying that Christ had lived and that I was standing on sacred ground. That Christ is my Elder brother and that He is my Savior and that the restored church is upon this earth. To quote Joseph Smith, "I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation."