On April 15, 1840, Apostle Orson Hyde left Commerce, Ill., on his mission to Jerusalem. This week’s site is dedicated to him and his mission there. ORSON HYDE MEMORIAL PARK/GARDEN
Orson Hyde Park
Located on the Mt of Olives, just below the BYU Center. On October 24, 1979, President Spencer W. Kimball and 2000 other Church officials and members gathered here to dedicate the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden, a 5.5 acre park developed with a $1 million gift from the Orson Hyde Foundation, headed by Apostle LeGrand Richards. The Garden was one of the largest and most prestigious parts of the Jerusalem National Park, a greenbelt of small parks and landscaped gardens around the Old City. It features a 150-seat stone amphitheater near the top of the Garden and on the north side of the amphitheater a bronze plaque was placed with excerpts of Elder Hyde’s prayer in English and Hebrew. The plaque has since been removed due to vandalism most likely caused by hurt feelings over misunderstandings from things said in the prayer. The wall that held the plaque now has an obvious empty space where the plaque was encased. Olive trees and other indigenous vegetation are growing throughout the park and a stone path winds back and forth in a gradual descent to the lower slope of the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane.
DWB p. 43.
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