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.