It has now been a week since I left Jerusalem, I feel like

it has been months.
Life seems to be back to normal except not.

I came home to a situation that wasn't ideal that I thought
would change and be fixed really quickly but
it
hasn't been.
It is weird to have had so many expectations for the
past few months and then to

realize within just a short amount of time
that those
expectations aren't going to be met.

I guess that is how life is though.

We make plans and then Heavenly Father

shakes them up and puts his own plans
into play.
While I don't really like
my plans
being upset, I know
that Heavenly Father's plans
are WAY better
than the ones I had for myself.
Something else I am learning is that after a relationship
has taken a beating, has been scarred and bruised, it takes a long time and a lot of effort
to revitalize it.
It isn't easy.
And it really isn't a ton of fun but I can choose to make it fun.
I can choose to be happy and carefree.
I can choose to let go of the wounds that my heart has received.
It is all a choice.
The question is if I am willing to make that choice.
I think I am.
I want to be happy and myself, I want to
be as silly and outgoing as I used to be.
I want to do this because I want to give the relationship a fair shot; I feel like
if I am like I used to be I can create
an environment as close to the one that used to exist which
will allow for proper evaluation of the relationship on both ends instead of an evaluation
that is skewed
I also want to do this because I know it will make me happier.
Last night at institute Bishop Basha talked about anything worth
doing requires time.
SO
I guess only TIME
will tell concerning our relationship. I think time
is a hard one because we like things
easy, quick, painless.
This process will not be so.
On a new note,
I applied for a job at the Buckle today.
I should hear back by Monday; I hope I get the job.
It would be so fun to help people pick out new clothes.
I think a new outfit can totally lift someones spirit and make them feel happy and good
about themselves; I would love to be apart of that process.
Wish me luck!!

This morning I did a little bit of blog reading on my JC friend's blogs and
it is comforting to know
that we are all suffering a bit from
post JC blues.
For me, it is finding my place in the world again.
I am not in Provo where I have my

school sanctuary

but rather I am at home where
things
are different then I planned them to be a few
months back.
I have a job to find, new friends to make, hobbies
to keep me busy.
I have to create a life from a blank canvas this summer.
Exciting yet challenging
Sad yet enabling
I like what Elder Holland said when he
chatted with us.
He said in essence to make plans loosely, allow for change.
I made pretty tight plans for the summer but those got hacked; I
am definitely learning my lesson in planning :)
Guess what?
I have woken up by 6:30
EVERY DAY
since I have been home.
Maybe that is cause I have gone to bed by 8 every night since being home?
Maybe it is because my body is used to falling into
bed completely exhausted every night around
11 and being
roused from sleep at 6:45 every morning?
Who knows.
All I know is I can't decide if I like this super early waking up thing
when I have no reason to be awake.
I think I probably do.
So in Jerusalem I always wore skirts to church that
were mid calf/ankle length so I thought
it might be hard to transition back
into my knee length church clothes.
It wasn't.
I definitely rocked my Easter dress yesterday.
It was the best. I will post a picture.
Oh hayyyyy cute clothes, I've missed you.
So I will probably start posting Jerusalem pictures soon.
I don't know when soon will be but don't worry it will happen.

Easter

Easter is my favorite holiday. It used to be because I really enjoy dying Easter eggs (which I still love, just look at my dyed finger nails) but now it is because of the significance of this precious day. Easter commemorates the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, an event which allows us to live again with our Heavenly Father. I know that Jesus Christ lives. He has risen from that tomb in Jerusalem and because of this we too will rise again. Luke 24:5-6 reads, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen." Let us seek Christ through study and prayer, let us remember that he is not dead but is very much alive in each of our lives. If we seek Him and draw near to Him then we too can know that He is risen.

Back in the U.S.

Well everyone, I am back and it feels weird. Did I really just spend a semester in the Holy Land? Did I walk the streets of Jerusalem regularly? Really?? I am not sure what to think right now. I miss Israel. I like being home. I am nervous for all that the future holds but I know that whatever it will be it will be great.

Airport

Right now I am in the Tel Aviv airport, we board the plane at 10:25 pm. It was absolutely surreal leaving the center. I didn't feel sad or anything, I think it is because we just loaded on the buses like we normally do for field trips and we left. It was just like a normal departure from the center but we will not be returning. I don't think I realize this yet. I won't wake up tomorrow to the call to prayer, I won't see Emily with her hair wet, freshly showered. I won't see Sarah kneeling on her bed to pray. I won't hear Denise's happy good morning voice or see her brush her teeth in the mirror with her hair all splayed across her head. Em won't talk to me in her silly voice, rousing me out of my pretty subdued morning mood. Life will be changed. We won't arrive back at the center in our nice charter bus to be greeted by our security guards. We won't clap for our bus driver and sing the Muhlestein song, we won't walk into the center exclaiming how good it feels to be home, and we won't be greeted by all of the staff children. My life at the Jerusalem center has officially ended, that door is closed. I will miss it. I know there will be days when all I want is to be at the center, partaking of the beauty that is Jerusalem. At least I know I can carry the lessons I have learned with me. I will always have the change that has been wrought in my heart.

Last day in Jeru

Hey all! I am sorry it has been a while but life has been busy busy lately with preparing to leave Israel. Last night we had our closing fireside and slideshow; they were both wonderful. I spent almost all day with Synth yesterday; she left last night and I miss her so much. Yesterday we went to the Temple Mount where the Dome of the Rock is. I sat down and just stared up at the Dome, imagining the ancient temple that once stood there and the future temple that would stand there. It was so much more meaningful to me this time around then back a few months ago when I hadn't had a lecture on the ancient temple mount yet. I love how all the sites have changed from just being words on my calendar that I had no idea what meant to places I cherish, love, and understand. I remember back in the fall when I got my tentative schedule for the semester, I stared at all the places on the calendar and felt a little overwhelmed. I asked myself, What is the tree of Zacheus? where is the Herodian? etc. I can't wait to go home and explain to my family every place on my calendar and show them pictures too! So this last weekend we had a visitor at the center. Elder Holland came to Jerusalem to round out a 2 week, 10 country tour of this area. He stayed in the center for 4 days; giving us a fireside one night and eating breakfast and dinner with us the next. It was spectacular! After the fireside we got to shake his hand but hearing his words was so much more powerful than the handshake. At breakfast we all crowded around his table and listened to him talk to us for about an hour! At dinner I actually got to sit at his table and after we ate for a bit everyone crowded around again; asking him questions and just loving hearing him. He is so funny! He emphasized how much going on a mission affected his life and how much marrying his wife affected him as well. Synthia remarked afterward that we got to sit at the feet of an apostle in Israel; a land where Christ and his apostles taught so many people. Last night at our closing fireside our teacher remarked how we all just flocked to Elder Holland when he was here and how he thought that we would be just like Peter and flock to our Savior if He were here with us. I really liked this thought because when Elder Holland was here we really did just want to be with him, we hung on his every word and loved to be in his presence. I hope this is indictive of what me reaction would be if my Savior were in the room. Elder Holland told us that after this experience we could "never go back to what we were." He also said "welcome to your future." I am slowly realizing that Jerusalem has been my reality for so long, I don't know what is the norm anymore. I like that the old norm is not ok, it can't be my norm now. I can continue living in my Jerusalem reality, I can continue feeling the way I feel here and doing the things I do here and having the commitments I have had while being here. In fact, I am obligated to make this my new reality, I have a responsibility to go forth and serve as a new person. This might be my last blog post ever in Israel, this makes me sad! I hope I can keep up with my blog in the states and that it will still be interesting! Thank you to everyone who has ever read my blog and to those who read it daily; I have loved knowing there are people who are interested in my experiences here. Oh ya, I will definitely do a long picture post or two or three or ten when I get home. Much love from the Holy Land. Oh ya, don't be annoyed if I call Israel the Holy Land. There are a few reasons why it is the most fitting name. One- it really is holy, Christ walked here and he will return to this land once again. Two- if I call it Israel I am being biased towards the Jews, if I call it Palestine I am being biased toward Palestinians, if I call it the Holy Land then I am biased towards no one! So bear with me if you think I sound sort of funny calling this place the Holy Land; it truly is holy to me and will ever be remembered that way in my eyes. I leave on a plane today at 11:35 pm; perhaps I will update in the airport? :)

Upper Room Experience

Tonight we had an “Upper Room Experience,” commemorating the last supper. This is perfect considering today is Passover Eve. For our Upper Room experience we had an introduction by Dr. Chadwick who explained the logistics of the triclinium which Jesus and His apostles sat at during their Passover dinner many, many years ago. The triclinium is Roman style of dining for festivals and the such. The table is set up as one table in the middle and then two tables on the side that go the opposite direction of the table in the middle, forming an unclosed rectangle basically. The people would have dined lying on their sides, propped up on their left elbows. This makes sense for the last supper because the scriptures say that John leans on Christ’s breast to ask him who will betray him. If John had been lying on his side he could have just leaned back into Jesus’ chest and subtly asked him his question. I love learning about how customs and traditions help make the scriptures make sense!

After the explanation of the logistics all of the married couples here at the JC; the Judd’s, Muhlesteins, Jacksons, Bentleys, and Ohmans read the John chapters which start off with Christ and his disciples in the Upper Room and end with the intercessory prayer. It was really wonderful to listen to the words being read, words that I have already read many times throughout my stay here but from which I gained even more tonight as they were read out loud. One of the main themes of John is the relationship of the Father and the Son. Christ always mentions how He came to the Earth to glorify the Father because he loves him. He then tells us how he wants us to have this relationship with the Father too, that he wants us to come unto him and the Father to be one with them. Through studying the love the Savior has for his Father it has made me want to do everything in life because of the love I have for Heavenly Father. This is something I know that I will be always trying to do for my whole life, something that isn’t just going to happen over night but I hope that little by little I can gain this motivation of love for Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for this experience! I can’t wait to come home to share the things I have learned.

Wow! That has been the beginning of every journal entry in my paper journal for the past few days haha. I am so tired, happy, full of love, grateful, excited, etc. Today we had an all day field trip. We took a bus to Bethany, then to Bethphage, went to Dominus Flevit, then we walked down the Mount of Olives to the Orson Hyde Garden, walked up the Kidron Valley, went to the Dormition Abbey, went to the Upper Room, then ended at St Peter Gallicantu. I will explain all of these at a later day because tonight we are having an upper room experience here at the center but let me just say our path today was the path of Christ as he headed into the last week of his life. It was really awesome to visit all these sites. One of my favorite which I want to talk about right now was Dominus Flevit which commemorates Christ weeping over the temple. The church has the best view of the temple mount, I could totally imagine Christ as he stood there and stared out at Jerusalem and the temple, realizing that this place he loved would be destroyed and brought down. He must have been filled with much sadness. It was really neat to stand there and think about what he must have been feeling and thinking. I am excited for tonight, I think we will have a really special experience!

BEST. LIFE. EVER.

Yesterday was an absolutely amazing Sabbath. Today was an absolutely amazing Sunday. And tomorrow is going to be an absolutely amazing Monday. The last few days here in the Holy Land have been some of the best days. I am so thankful for this amazing experience. Yesterday we had a fireside by a guest speaker, someones identity whom I will reveal at a later date. He said something to us that was so striking. He said, "We can't return to what we were." This experience has changed me; it has created new desires in my heart. Also, he said that our futures are more bright and amazing than we could ever imagine. This gives me so much hope!! I can't wait to tell you all about the fireside later on :) Also, today I did the Palm Sunday walk! We walked down the Mount of Olives, past Gethsemane, up the Kidron Valley, and through Lions gate. We were joined by thousands of other Christians celebrating Christ. There were people from all nationalities there, all rejoicing in their Lord. The walk took about 2.5 hours, we sang, we danced, I waved my palm frond, we thought of Christ, etc. I loved it and I am so thankful for this great start to a week visiting the special spots of Christs last week which will all culminate in me being home with my family for Easter. I can't wait! More to come but for now I am off to bed!! It has been a longggg day, I have been going non stop and tomorrow I have a fieldtrip alll day! I can't wait. I love the Holy Land and I love my life. Jerusalem 2011, no regrets!

Shabbat Shalom!!

Oh man everyone can I just tell you how much I love Israel. I really really do.
Tonight we took a trip over to the Western Wall.
I will refresh your memory on the Western Wall, of course.
It is the retaining wall of the ancient temple mount. There are stones on the wall that date back to the time of Jesus. The Jews
often go here to pray and have Bar/Bat Mitzvahs.
There is a section for women and a section for men, the men have to pray in
groups while the women pray alone.
There are tons of little prayers that people have written down
and put in the crevices of the wall; tonight I added mine.
It was really neat!
Also, the wall is the closest things the Jews can get to the ancient temple mount
because it is controlled
by the Muslims.
The Jews believe that the Holy of Holies
is still under the temple
thus making the wall the holiest place to them because
it is the closest
they can get to the Holy of Holies.
On Friday nights tons of Jews are at the wall ringing in Shabbat.
The girls are often dancing and chanting because Shabbat is a celebration; I love the joy the Jews
have for the Sabbath.
So I was standing around chatting with Synth and I saw this woman with the
cutest diaper bag and a sweet stroller
and she was
holding the tiniest bundle of a baby.
I had to talk to her.
She put her baby in her stroller and I took another peek, actually
looking at the baby's
face which was sooo beautiful.
Synth and I inched our way towards the stroller
and I told the mom how beautiful her baby was.
We asked how old she was, etc.
We talked to Celia (the woman's name) for a good twenty minutes.
Her husband is the ambassador to Israel from London. Ya I chatted it up with an ambassadors wife, no big deal!
Her baby was 2 weeks old, her name was Rachel.
Her and her husband had been married for a year and a half.
The cutest thing she said was "I still wake up and get excited realizing that she is here." (Talking about her baby)
I thought that was the sweetest.
It was so fun and so easy to talk to her about her life! That is what being in foreign places
is about; getting to know people and their stories.
After we talked to Celia we headed over to the wall and after putting our prayers in the wall
we started chatting it up
with some girl soldiers.
Here in Israel EVERYONE has to serve
in the army.
They generally start at 18/19 and serve for 2 years although
they can extend.
The girls we talked to
said they love the army (they say it depends on your position) they are in
social work.
They are staying for 3 years and maybe longer.
At a restaurant I went to a few weeks back the server was a girl who had just gotten done with
her army service and she said that
she was so happy to be done.
She had a way different attitude then the girls at the wall.
So me and Synth just grilled the girls with questions haha
we talked to them about dating.
We asked if they could date the Israeli soldiers (who are rather attractive) and one
of the girls was like the ones
who do combat, how can I resist??
Haha it was soo funny.
I loved just talking to them about normal girl
things and realizing once again how the same us girls are
ALL
over the
world.
I love it.
So then we left the Western Wall.
I am pretty sad it was our last Shabbat experience there, it is always so great!
Our night out ended on the infamous van with the blue lights and the driver
who plays rockin music for us to dance to.
Dance parties in the van??
Any day.
Oh ya
I am
DONE
with school for the semester.
I got my two giant papers done last week so while lots of people are doing
those tonight
I am just enjoying being home free!
Now I have a week in Israel with NO pressure.
I already started a few books.
Haha
I decided I am reading Pride and Prejudice today.
I read the first two pages and was pleasantly surprised by the whit contained in it.
I also bought Sense and Sensibility, it will be a summer full of classics!
I used my Kindle for these purchases and since those books are out of copyright, they were free
to buy off the Kindle.
Kindle=my fave.
I love you dearest Kindly Windly!!
On another note we had our last day of Humanitarian.
Here at the center we make hygiene kits for
people in Israel using supplies we buy here, its really cool.
So most Fridays we spend 1-2 hours assembling the kits/dancing/singing along
to the amazing music our friend Jared plays for us while
we work.
It is such a party.
I was sad it ended today.
We had our last cold cut Friday today.
Oh how I will miss you cold cut Friday!
We had yummy pumpernickel baguettes, they were the best.
Normally we have ciabatta like bread which is amazing as well.
I wonder what it will be like when I have to make my own lunch
and think about what I will make...
Hhmmm.
I don't know if I am ready!!
Except I think I am :)
Oh ya Patrick Stewart was spotted at the Western Wall tonight.
I don't really know who he is, but I guess he is a big deal.

Pictures!

Salty face!

Floating in the Dead Sea! Notice the salt build up on the floor of the sea.

Victoria, Synth, Bethany (best visiting teacher ever), Tess, and I on top of Masada.

My salt caked back after a dip in the Dead Sea!

Country side of Jordan with my Sepia feature on my camera. I like it!

Oh hayyyy prince suite at hotel in Amman.

Victoria, Synth, and I on the floor of the King Abdullah Mosque

Main gathering area of ancient Jerash

Cave 4 at Qumran. Most of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in this cave.

Inside of Jerash, a city in Jordan

A dove at the Jordan River baptismal site

Me and my Galilee roommate, Katie at Macherus; the site where John the Baptist was
imprisoned and beheaded.

The treasury at Petra

Jumping at the Nypmheum at Jerash

Me, Tess, and Whit outside of the Shrine of the Book which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Israel Museum. You may be asking why the picture is sideways wellll I will tell you! So we asked this nice Asian couple to take our picture for us so the girl takes one with the camera at a normal angle then she is like wait and she turns the camera so it is diagonal ish and then snaps another hahaha it was sooo funny. We were definitely snickering a bit while we were standing there.

Me in front of the Russian Orthodox Church, fondly nicknamed The Gold Onion Church

Dance party on the van courtesy of our amazing driver!!! This was on the way back from dinner in west J. SOOO fun!!!

Me and the monastery at Petra

Me walking down the artist colonies at dusk

Synth, Abby, Emily, and I outside of Joffa gate at the festival of foods. So fun to go around and eat samples!

Me and Lauren inside the Russian Orthodox Church

Rockin the head scarf on a field trip where we had to wear them

This is the back of our menu from a yummy restaurant we went to in West Jerusalem, take note of what Synth is pointing to. It says Interesting hahaha with a bunch of mixed drinks under it. We thought it was pretty funny.

WOW

I just took my Ancient Near Easter Studied final, the whole time I took it I was unsure of myself,
I thought I would end up with a 80% but I always just put my answer down
and left it, never changing it unless I really
thought I needed to which happened once or twice.
I ended up with a 96%, 4 questions wrong out of 100.
I can only chalk this up to having the Spirit with me while I took the test.
I have had a few experiences like this one where I just
let the Spirit guide me as a write my answers, I always write the first one the comes to mind
and I trust in myself.
I know that Heavenly Father will always help
us when we are taking tests if we have done our part
through preparation.
I am so thankful for His guidance!
Two more finals to go :)
I am gonna go shower and nap now!!!
Yes!

Procrastination

I am super tired. And I DO NOT want to study for my Ancient Near Eastern final. I feel like crawling back into bed and not waking up for a good few days. Alas, that will not be happening. Here is my plan for the day. Study for final until 9:50, take final, done with final at noon, eat lunch, go to sleep until 3, study for New Testament final, break for dinner at 6, study until midnight, go to bed, wake up around 6, study for final, breakfast, study, NT final at 8 or 9, (I don't remember) study for field trip final, take final in afternoon, go to sleep until dinner. I don't know how I will make it, probably by not procrastinating on my blog. On a positive note, I think I have let go of all of the bitterness and upset feelings I have felt over the course of the last few weeks events. I finally think that my system has purged itself of these feelings and that I have been able to forgive. I am really trying hard; I know my Heavenly Father is helping me. It just struck me so much in class yesterday how we learned that we have no right to be bitter or upset because Christ wasn't. While I am not harboring those ill feelings that doesn't mean that all is back to normal or well but I think that is to be expected. Oh man! I gotta get to work. I hope life is wonderful for everyone :)

Today, in New Testament we talked about the crucifixion of Christ and His resurrection. There were three points that really struck out to me. The first was when on the cross Christ says “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” He was being beaten, mocked, tortured yet he had no bitterness to these people who were inflicting the utmost amount of pain on Him. My teacher said to us that we have no right to ever be bitter because Christ, who suffered extreme injustices wasn’t bitter. I can’t ever be bitter about anything because my Savior wasn’t ever bitter and he is my utmost example. The next point I loved was how on the cross Jesus comforts His mother and is thinking of her. Our teacher quoted Elder Maxwell who said “Empathy during agony is a portion of divinity.” This was said in relation to mothers and women who comfort their children and others even when they are going through something even harder. I aspire to have this attribute of empathizing with others even when I am struggling. The last point in class that really stood out to me was the part where Christ, on the cross asks why his Father has abandoned him. Brother Muhlestein quoted Elder Holland who spoke about this event from Heavenly Father’s view point. He asked where our Heavenly Father would have hid when His son was suffering so immensely. He said wouldn’t his normal response have been to send angels to save him and uphold him. I can’t even fathom the feelings that our Heavenly Father felt when he had to let Jesus suffer alone for a brief time on the cross. I am so thankful for the immense love he has for the rest of his children that he was willing to let his perfect son suffer alone so that the rest of us could be saved from our imperfections.

On a different note, our class has a song we made to the tune of “Ain’t No Mountain High.” It is dedicated to our teacher Brother Muhlestein. We LOVE singing this song haha seriously. We ALL get into it. I love it. We sing it on the bus during every field trip. K Hutch always starts us off in her perfect cheer leader voice saying “5, 6, 7, 8” then we start in “Ain’t no tel too high, ain’t no valley low, aint no wadi wide enough baby. IF you need him call him no matter where you are no matter how far don’t worry baby cause baby there ain’t no scripture hard enough, aint no doctrine deep enough, aint no pharaoh dead enough to keep me from getting to Muhlestein! Every word means something important to us. Like the tel is built up hill that has different strata of all the different cities that were built on that hill. A wadi is a dried up river bed. And the pharaoh is important because Brother Muhlestein is an Egyptologist. The doctrine and scripture parts were included because he is our religion teacher and he really does give us new views on the scriptures and on doctrine; he has expanded my learning and my understanding in so many ways. I am so thankful for Brother Muhlestein and I will miss him so much when I leave this place. I can’t wait to visit him and his family when they return back to the states.

My Old Testament teacher, Brother Judd is equally amazing. I never really appreciated or loved the Old Testmanet until I was in his class. He brought the Old Testament and the teachings therein to life, he made me excited to continue to study and expand my understanding of the Old Testament. Brother Judd is so humble and so funny. We had a song for him too! It was to the tune of “Eye of the Tiger” It goes “Judd Judd Judd Judd Judd Judd Judd Judd Judddddd it’s the bus of the Judd the thrill of the fight rising up against the challenge of the Muhlesteins. (we were Judd’s back then but now we are Muhlesteiners since we switched teachers when we stopped studying OT and started studying NT) Were the best JC crew you got nothing on us…. (forgot this part) we’ll fight to the endddd Brother Judddddd.” We are very spirited I guess you could say. And maybe a little crazy. But I love it.

Remember yesterday how I was tired?? Well last night I went to bed at 7:30 pm haha it was fabulous. I woke up to a sweet note from Synthia and one from Victoria on my bedside table and an email from Synth with our final review notes. I am so lucky to have such great friends :) I will miss all of the amazing people here when I leave, they have affected my life in more ways than they can ever imagine. Love you all! Oh ya, today is the last day of classes! I am more than happy, although I will miss New Testament. I have gained such an appreciation for religion classes, I love them so much and I want to take more at BYU when I get back although I don't know if I will be able to fit them in. If I take one I think I will do Pearl of Great Price with my current NT teacher!

Tired

Today wore me out. I had class for 3 hours then tramped around the Old City for 3.5 hours and I am sleepy. I think my body is done with walking so much. Today during all of my classes my hip flexers were killing me. I was like moving around all weird in my seat trying to stretch haha I could not sit still. Lifeis good though. I have learned in the past few days how many people have it worse than me. We all have our trials and our burdens and I think Heavenly Father has showed me in the last few days that there are others who are hurting way more than I am and who struggle with things that are so hard. I am grateful for this new perspective that I have received. I love the gospel so much and I am so thankful for the atonement. We discussed the atonement in class today and it was amazing. My teacher bore such a strong testimony of the atonement, I was so moved. I love learning about the New Testament in the land where it all took place. Our Savior has felt every thing that we have; He is our best friend and He always will be. I am so thankful for this knowledge.

Love Surge

Here at the JC we have a term for this unexplainable wave of
spontaneous love we feel for everyone.
It is called a surge.
Tonight we had a informal talent show complete with girls
dressed as grannies doing a dance to All My Single Ladies, fiddles, homemade songs about
Jerusalem and our professor,
family skit, T Swift, etc.
It was the best.
And it ended in a video a girl made of
a bunch of clips of various people
dancing at different events and times through out the
semester.
The best part was when the video ended but the music kept rolling.
Heidi jumped on the stage and waved us all over; we of course joined her
in a massive dance party on the stage of the forum.
It was sooo funnn!!!
My heart was pounding wildly and I felt so much love
for every single person in that room.
We were all jumping around and screaming and it was absolutely amazing.
Seriously,
I love the JC.

Field Trip

Today was a GREAT day!!
I love the people I am with here in Israel; I have never
been with such an amazing group of people before.
I love them all.
I love their testimonies, their zest for life, their purity,
their genuine concern for others, and their examples.
I will sincerely miss them all when I leave here and will look forward to the day
when I am in Utah for a JC reunion :)
So today we went to Qumran where the dead sea scrolls were found; I actually got to
see the caves where these significant scrolls were.
One of the caves, number 4, housed thousands of scrolls.
All of the books of the Bible were found in the caves
except Esther.
The dead sea scrolls are so valuable
because they are reasons why we have the Bible today.
Those ancient people took time to copy Bible passages which led to us
having access to the Bible in modern times.
We went to Masada after this where the last of the Jewish Zealots were.
So Rome conquered all of Israel and the last standing peoples were those
of Masada. These people didn't want to
be taken captive so they
drew ten names; the pot sherds with mens names have actually been found in Masada, and these ten men killed everyone including their families.
Tonight at dinner my table talked about what we would do in this situation and after discussion we decided that we would
have faith in God, we wouldn't take other peoples lives into our own hands
but rather we would trust in Him and fight for our lives
but in the end let His will be done.
This of course is the best case scenario
but I hope that I am striving to be this person who can put my life in Heavenly
Father's hands and do my part but in
the end let His will be done.
It was a powerful lesson to me and I really enjoyed the insight
we received while chatting at our table tonight.
After Masada we went to a nature reserve, Ein Gedi, and walked around, saw a waterfall, Ibex, Harax, and a giant dead dragon fly!
I took a picture of the dragon fly and me, he was newly dead I could tell because his eyes were still all glassy and in tact; it was really neat.
After this we went to the Dead Sea.
Yes.
I floated in the Dead Sea.
Yes,
the water stung at all my little scabs and any other open part of my body.
Yes,
that didn't stop me from staying in for 45 minutes.
Yes,
I glided effortlessly and gracefully through the water.
Yes,
you really can read a book and just sit in the dead sea
Yes,
I can't stop gushing about the Dead Sea!!
Yes,
it was the most glorious thing ever!!
No more yes comments haha. I will just tell you straight up I wish
I could have a dead sea like pool in my backyard with out the gross
taste (like a chemical, not even like salt)
and without the stinging on the skin.
I really liked the soft slightly slimy but pleasant feel the water left on your skin and I loved how you could float in it!!
It is amazing!!
Humans never get to float in anything, so floating in
Dead Sea water
was pretty exhilarating.
One other thing, the water is so clear!!
I could see my feet and further down in the water, it was a glorious blue color,
and at the beginning there were tons of salt deposit build ups lining the floor, then it got
too deep and I couldn't see anything.
Seriously one of my favorite things ever!!
I wanna go backkkk!!!
I heart Israel.
Muah.
One more funny thing.
So normally we can't wear shorts on field trips or like ever and so
today we got the ok to wear shorts so like half of us
left in our knee length basket ball shorts and T's.
It was sooo funny.
Instead of shorts day I felt like it was ghetto chill clothes day hahah.
And the people without shorts on wore like their pants rolled up
just because they could.
It made me giggle.
ps- I am so grateful for my life.
I love it.

Sabbath

It was such a fulfilling sabbath today, I always love my Jerusalem sabbaths. Today was district conference. The theme of the main meeting was gratitude. I was so thankful for this theme, I have so much to be grateful for. Our speakers talked about being thankful for our trials and I think I have come to a spot where I can say that I am thankful for the trials I have had while in Jerusalem; they are bringing me closer to my Savior and they are helping me mold to His will. I am so thankful for the perspective and the peace that I have been able to have through my trials. I know that I have grown while being in Jerusalem simply because of the way I have handled the things that have happened to me while I have been here. I feel so happy and good, I know that the gospel is true and that my Heavenly Father loves me and is aware of me. Our relief society meeting was on motherhood and even though I am not a mother yet we talked about how being a mother is the very essence of women. The speakers gave me some great ideas and great perspective that I hope I can remember when I have children. We talked about how we should make our houses places of love, where our children want to be. That is my goal; I want to create a home where love abides, where my children feel their Savior and can hear the spirit, where they feel safe from the world. I know this will be a challenge but I also know how beneficial it will be to my children to establish a place for them where they can always feel the love of their parents and Savior. I missed partaking of the sacrament today (because it was district conference) and I am really excited to be able to partake of the sacrament next week for my last sabbath in Jerusalem. Oh ya, next Sunday I get to do the palm Sunday walk where everyone has palm fronds and walks down the mount of olives to where Jesus walked in the Old City. I am really excited. Then we study the last week of Jesus' life then I go home and its Easter. I have a feeling this will be the best Easter of my life :)

Jordan!

So we spent four fun filled, tiring, educating days in Jordan last week.
A few particulars about Jordan:
-It is about 95% Muslim
-It is ruled by King Abdullah, his picture is all over
Jordan
-Amman, the capital, is the cleanest capital in the world we were told, also
it is the center for trade and business in the Middle East since Jordan

is pretty peaceful.
So our first stop in Jordan was Mt Nebo. On Mt Nebo there were
tons of school girls on a field trip!
They all crowded around us and loved us.
This one girl, Renat, especially became fond of me. She talked to me like crazy, her english was better than any Arab girl I have met here in Jerusalem. In fact, all
of the girls English were better than any teenager I have met here in Jerusalem.
I wonder why?
You could tell how happy these girls were, they were all smiling
and joking around with each other, so full
of life and love for one another.
I don't see as much zest for life in the children and teenagers here.
One reason could be because of the underlying tension due to the Israel/Palestine
conflict.
After Mt. Nebo we went to Madaba and then to lunch.
After this we went to Macherus which is where John the Baptist
was imprisoned by Herod Antipas and subsequently beheaded.
At Macherus we had an amazing view of the Dead Sea and the Judean wilderness. We drove on our bus that night to Petra where we were met with a slew of men dressed in armor and holding swords to greet us. They were all playing music and going crazy, it was
pretty special. When we went inside to eat dinner
the craziness didn't stop!
We had live music all of dinner; we all kept commenting on how
we felt like we needed to eat to a beat or something haha.
The next day we went to Petra!! Petra is a city built by the Nabateans before the time of Christ. Now all that is left is a series of tombs and the such. The two main attractions
in Petra are the treasury and the monastery, which are these huge ornate buildings serving as tombs carved into the sandstone. Have you seen Indiana Jones? The treasury is in it.
The thing that gets me the most about these
ancient buildings is how
people have always had amazing ingenuity. They built with no modern technology yet they still created something magnificant. Also, it has taught me how long rock lasts haha
We are not going to have any ruins from our day!
The next day we went to Jerash which may be Jershon from the scriptures.
Jerash was a really cool city with a great cardo (main street) and my favorite part
was the big Roman theater! At the theater there were tons of school girls again.
We all stood in the middle of the theater and danced and sang with them, it was soo fun!
They had these drums they were carrying around and
we all danced to the beat with them. It was such a good time.
I love that we have these awesome interactions with local people.
That night we went out in Amman for some free time.
I love Amman.
It is a really modern city with a really posh downtown and a posh suburbia with huge mansion houses. Our hotel was downtown, it was called Bella Vue and guess what?? We had the most amazing rooms. There are 3 royal apartments in the whole hotel, our group got them. So there were 4 people in this legitimate apartment with kitchen, washer machine,
dining table, 4 rooms, 2.5 bathrooms, jacuzzi tubs, entertainment center, etc. Haha so funny.
Me and my roommates didn't get the royal apartment but we did get the Prince Suite!
We had 2 bedrooms, living room, bathroom. It was pretty fun.
The next day we went to king Abdullah mosque which is absolutely beautiful. We then drove to the baptismal site of Jesus where Israel is on one side and Jordan is on the other side.
Guess what? I saw a dove while I was there which I
thought was neat.
We then ate KFC haha it was soo good. I love chicken tenders.
A lot of people were complaining and so I felt like
the kid in elementary school who was so excited for mashed potatoes and gravy day
while everyone else is like yuck gross!
I am not gonna lie though
those chicken tenders, and soggy fries hit the spot.
Mmmm.
Come backkkkk chicken tenders!!!
Only like 12 more days then I am going out to eat in America!!
I have no idea what I will eat first but I am excited none the less.
After this we had our 4 hour border crossing.
Ya NOT FUN!
I was in a delirium at one point and said
I am getting granky!!
(grumpy + cranky)
I said it on accident haha
So then we got home and ate and that was my trip.
I think we all decided that Jordan was to make us
excited to go home, we are done field tripping.
I feel emotionally, physically, spiritually exhausted.
It is a great feeling to know that I have exhausted myself while being here; I think
it means that I have gotten everything I could have out of this program and that
is a comforting thought.
Jerusalem is beautiful but I love my home and my family.
I cannot wait to get back to them and share with them
the things I have learned here.
I am excited to see what life holds for me next,
there are lots of unknowns in the future which is really
exciting.
I feel like Jerusalem has
given me a clean slate on which to build my life
and for that I will be forever grateful.

Jordan

Hey all!
I just got back from a four day hiatus to Jordan.
The country.
Update to come.
Scripture study with the girls now :)

A Fabulous Sabbath

Today was a really fulfilling day of church! I felt like my heart was full of love for the gospel and for my Savior. We had our last fast and testimony meeting in Jerusalem today, something I will greatly miss. I love hearing the testimonies of the strong people here in this ward and program. I love hearing testimonies. Two things that I have really gained a testimony about while being here is the power of others testimonies and the power of music; something a fast and testimony meeting employs!! I love how music brings the sprit and how after we sing hymns and open our hearts to the spirit we are able to be even more touched by the words that we hear spoken by people at the pulpit. I got to bear my testimony here in Jerusalem for the second time during sacrament meeting. The first time I had given a talk and added my testimony at the end and today was for testimony meeting. It made me sad to realize that that was my last opportunity to do so in our sacrament meeting but I know that I will have more testimony bearing opportunities here in Jerusalem before I leave. Temple prep was wonderful and relief society was amazing. In relief society we discussed God’s love for us; the tears were flowing during the whole meeting and my heart was touched. I know that our Heavenly Father loves me and loves the entire human population. Tonight I watched the first general conference and was very grateful for the words of the prophets. I remember when I was younger and didn’t completely appreciate conference or care to watch all the talks but now I can’t wait to hear the words of the prophets, I love to be fed by them in their wisdom. I know that prophets won’t lead us astray. While the majority of my day was amazing one thing was said tonight and I immediately felt sad, my heart became anxious and I allowed the peace I had been feeling all day to leave me. I have to focus on not letting anxiety seize my heart; I must always trust in the Lord. When worries or anxiety press upon me I have to immediately turn to my Father and pray for those feelings to go away. Anyway I hope you are all having an amazing day.