the passion of Christ

Everything I came to Jerusalem for culminated in the past two days. Yesterday and today we literally followed in Jesus’ footsteps as we visited the sites dedicated to the last week of His life.
Yesterday we started the day going to Bethany where Mary, Martha and Lazarus were from. We visited the supposed tomb of Lazarus and let me tell you, it still stinketh! Ha.


From Bethany we then went to Bethphage, where Jesus sent two disciples to get him a donkey for his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This was really neat for me to learn about how the symbolism involved with Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem. It is a symbol of a king from King David’s time, but it is also a symbol of ultimate humility.


Next we went to Pater Noster. This church was associated with Jesus instructing His apostles during the last week, his ascension, and where he said the Lord’s Prayer. They had the Lord’s prayer in tons of different languages all around the church’s complex and it was really cool to read it in all the different languages people from our class knew.


From there we went to the Dominus Flevit church. This church is shaped like a teardrop to symbolize the incident when “the Lord wept” over Jerusalem. This site was on the Mount of Olives right above the Garden of Gethsemane. It had a great view of the temple mount, which gave a really good visual of the Savior overlooking Jerusalem as He wept.
After that we went to the Orson Hype Park where we read the Olivet Discourse. I’ve learned so much about that discourse and how to read it this semester. It’s been really cool.
Next we went to the Upper Room where the Last Supper is believed by many to have occurred. There we read the Lord’s Intercessory prayer which was really really neat. There’s just something about my Savior praying on my behalf that is really special. I love it.


Today we started by going to the Garden of Gethsemane. I can’t think of a better way to start any day. We read some great scriptures and had some time to just reflect. It was such a spiritual and amazing time.


Our next stop was St. Peter in Galicantu. This was actually my very first site on my very first field trip. We’ve gone full circle now. It was really weird to think back to that day when I didn’t know anything about the city or the people I was with. Anyways, this site represents Jesus’ trial by the high priest Caiaphas and when Peter denied Christ three times.


After that we went to the Church of Condemnation and the Church of Flagellation. These churches may occupy part of the site of the Antonia Fortress where Christ was perhaps tried by Pilate. At that trial He was condemned and scourged, took up His cross and began the “Way of the Cross.”
Then we went to the Pools of Bethesda, not because it was part of Christ’s last week, but because it was right by the other churches and we hadn’t been there yet. Haha. It was really cool though. This was where Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath. There was a beautiful church there that we were able to sing hymns in and I loved it!


We ended our semester of field trips at perhaps my favorite site in all of the Holy Land: The Garden Tomb. I know I’ve talked about this site before, but I don’t feel like I can really explain how much I love it. I know it may not be the actual tomb and Golgotha, but it’s the best place where I can feel the spirit of those events and ponder on their meaning to me. During our time in the Garden Tomb, Brother Harper told us that his favorite Christmas song is The Little Drummer Boy. I thought it was kind of funny at first, but then he told us why he loves it so much and then I understood. He said, “I am the little drummer boy. I have no gift to give that is fit enough for the king.” That really hit me hard. We really have nothing that we can give Christ to make up for what he gave to us, but we can do what we know to the best of our ability.


Tonight officially ended the spiritual aspect of our semester. We had our end of the semester class program. Brother and Sister Harper did a little fireside for us titled “Seek This Jesus” from Ether 12:41 and then we watched Elder Bruce R. McConkie’s final conference address. If you haven’t ever heard it, you should definitely look it up. It was powerful! As a final gift to Brother Harper for all that he has done for us this semester we decided to sing The Little Drummer Boy for him. After the first line I lost it. I seriously couldn’t believe the spirit that was in the room. Everyone was sobbing, including Brother and Sister Harper. We sang the most beautiful arrangement of the song I’ve ever heard. It has definitely become my new favorite Christmas song and I think I could say the same for everyone else in the room. I have never been a part of anything that tender and heartfelt in my life. I know that Brother Harper felt the love we were trying to convey to him. This was the love that we had for him as our guru and teacher, as well as the love we gained for our Savior Jesus Christ as we studied his life from him. I hope I will never forget that moment in my life.

All of the sites we visited these past two days helped prep me for my coming future. I know that I have a lot of tough decisions and unknown trials in my future, but because of the events that transpired here in the Holy Land, I know that there is hope. So now let me go forth as a happy, grateful, and repentant person for the rest of my life!

bittersweet

Well, it's official. Finals are over and I'm a free girl. Usually this is the happiest time of the year for me, but this semester has been a lot more bittersweet. I have loved my classes here and am a little sad for them to be over. It is really nice to not have homework to worry about though. This week is going to be so nice to just soak everything up for the last time before I go home without the stress of school work.
Other than studying my head off all week, I also did some fun things. On Monday I went to a local preschool and sang songs with the little kids. They were so cute! They were all Palestinian and couldn't speak English, except to count and sing the alphabet. I loved it! It made me miss my Pre-3 classroom back at the YMCA.



Thursday I went to the International school where the kids from the center go to school for their school play. It was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Marissa Ludlow was Joseph. It was so adorable!! There wasn't enough space for everyone though so I had to share a chair with Sister Harper. It was a good thing the play was only an hour....



Last night was our Jerusalem Center Christmas concert. I was in the choir that sang at the end. We've been practicing since we got here in September, so hopefully we sounded all right. It was really fun. Now I'm all ready for Christmas!
Today I went to the Garden Tomb after church. It was wonderful as usual. A whole bunch of students from the center were there since it was our last sabbath. At the end of our visit we all got together and sang some Christmas hymns. Then we ended with singing I Know That My Redeemer Lives. I felt so much joy being there with so many people that I have grown to love, singing our testimony of the Savior. It was so powerful singing about the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the place where it may have happened. I'm really going to miss that.

salt

Well I’m exhausted. Today was a very fun, but very busy day. The day started with our bus showing up half an hour late to pick us up from the center. Our driver thought he had to make up for it by showing off his Nascar skills. He was crazy! But we made it safe to our destination: Masada. This was the third palace of King Herod that we’ve been to this semester and was by far the most impressive. It was at the top of a hill in the Judean wilderness overlooking the Dead Sea. The hill was so steep that we had to ride a cable car to get up to it. This week I have to write an essay for my final exam in my New Testament class that compares the life of the Herod’s to Jesus Christ. This site helped give some more insight into that prompt. As impressive as the structure was, it’s just a pile of rocks. This is nothing compared to the life Jesus Christ lived for mankind which reaches through all eternity.



After that we did something I’ve been looking forward to all semester. We swam in the Dead Sea! I’m not going to lie and say I can’t wait to do it again, but it was really fun to do once in my life. It is just so dang salty! My body didn’t hurt too bad, but it tasted like fertilizer and if any water splashed in your eyes you were done for. Floating in the water was such a weird sensation. You wouldn’t be able to sink if you tried. And of course I had to cover my body with the legendary Dead Sea mud. It smelled terrible. And when my hair dried it was sooo salty. It was a really cool experience though that everyone needs to try.







After that we went on a really pretty hike in Ein Gedi. Then we went to Qumran, which is where the caves are that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in. You could tell why they went unnoticed for so long. It was just in the middle of the Judean wilderness. Brother Ludlow was our guide there which was really cool because he’s a renowned expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls. We really get a quality experience here. I still can’t believe all the things I’ve seen here. I just wish everyone could see and experience the things I have. It’s been life changing.

sprinting

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned him before, but one of my most favorite people here is our Doctor Brother Chapman. Well he gave us some good advice the other day. He told us that when you run a race you don’t jog the last stretch, you sprint. So now that we have less than two weeks here we really are on our last stretch and we need to start sprinting. I’ve taken that to heart and I’ve been living it up this past week.



Wednesday we had our Christian Quarter field trip. This was a field trip in the Old City where we went to different early Christian churches. It was good to finally move on to something more familiar to us. We first went to the Franciscan monastery called Terra Sancta. It was beautiful! Then we went to the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer where we sang Lutheran hymns and loved it. We went to the Church of St. Mark next which is a Syrian Orthodox church commemorating the Last Supper. The lady who spoke to us there was a little intimidating… She got very mad at some of us for crossing our legs and taking pictures. She did sing the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic though which was really cool since that’s the language Christ is believed to have spoken. The church is believed by the Syrian Orthodox to be the home of Mark’s mother Mary, the site of the Last Supper, and the place where the apostles were filled with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. That’s some cool stuff! Next we went to a Russian church with beautiful paintings. They discovered a gate there which they believe to be the gate to the Old City which Christ would have walked through bearing His cross. Next to the gate was a smaller hole which some people think may have been what Jesus was referring to when He said that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than go through the eye of a needle. I still think he meant a literal eye of a needle, but it was still interesting to see. Our last stop for the day was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This was probably my fourth time going there but it really doesn’t get old. There is so much history and sacredness in that building. I love it. And it was nice going with the class so that Brother Ludlow could explain what everything was in there. It’s an amazing building commemorating two of the greatest events in the history of the eternities. Not a bad place to visit I’d say.







Since then I’ve been hitting up the city as often as possible. I don’t care to see all the sites as much anymore, but just to experience the city that I’ve come to love so much. Thursday afternoon I went to the Tower of David Museum. This was part of a fortress built by King Herod which now has exhibits that tells of the history of Jerusalem. It was really cool to go through all the exhibits and realize how much I have learned this semester.



Last night I went with my Judaism professor Ophir Yarden to a Friday evening service at an Orthdox synagogue. It was a really great experience to see those wonderful Jewish people worshipping and praising God while they ushered in the Sabbath. One thought I had while I was there was that I don’t think I praise God enough. I thank Him for things and I ask Him for things, but I don’t simply praise Him enough. I’ve actually been thinking about that a lot lately in the semester, but it really cultivated last night at the Jewish synagogue. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ with all my heart! They are all-powerful, all-knowing and yet they know and love even me. I know that is true. I have felt of both their power and their love in my life.

new testament jerusalem field trips

Life is busy here as usual. We’ve had a couple short field trips and I’ve spent every other spare moment in the city.

Sunday we had a field trip to the Burnt house, the Wohl Museum and Davidson Archaeological Park. The Burnt house and the Wohl Museum showed houses that were around during the time of Jesus West of the Temple Mount. They were very nice houses that belonged to priests. Seeing how nice they were and learning more about the lives of the priestly families helped me understand more why Jesus was always condemning the priests. They even had their own ramp that would take them to the Temple Mount so that they wouldn’t come in contact with anyone that could make them ritually impure. It was very interesting.

Davidson Archaeological Park consists of much of the areas South and Southwest of the Temple Mount. This is where the main public access to the Temple Mount complex was. This makes it a likely candidate for the setting of Jesus’ entrances and exits from the Temple. It was really really cool to walk on the steps where Jesus likely also walked. (These steps are in Photo 10 in the newest LDS Bibles)

Yesterday I enjoyed my free day in the Old City. We went to the Dome of the Rock, shopping in the city, lunch at the Austrian Hospice, and strolling through the Jewish Quarter. Oh how I’m going to miss this city…

Today we had a field trip through the Kotel Tunnel. This field trip took us almost the entire length of the Western Wall through tunnels that have recently been excavated. It was really cool and our guide was fabulous. She consolidated so much of what we’ve learned about the Temple into a short one-hour tour. We told Brother Ludlow he’d better watch his back or she’d take over his job J

sabbath in jerusalem

Sabbath in Jerusalem is the best! Today was the primary program and it was so sweet. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a primary program. Kids are so incredible in their faith. We have a lot we can learn from them.
After church I went to the Garden Tomb. That is one of the best places I can go to feel the spirit. The grounds are just so beautiful and the people are so nice that it’s really easy to feel close to the Savior. One cool thing I learned today while at the Garden Tomb was that the stone was not rolled away to let the Savior out, it was to let us know that He had risen. That was something I had never thought about before. You learn cool things like that when you eavesdrop on other group’s tours ☺


On our way to the Garden Tomb we were walking on a busy street and my purse was kind of behind me. It’s an ugly purse that I bought for Jerusalem because it has lots of clasps and zippers so I thought it would be a less likely target for pick-pocketers. Well I felt someone touching my purse and I thought it was my friend that was behind me, but when I looked back there was a man that had un-clasped my purse. I called him out and saw that he was holding a phone in his hand so I grabbed it and realized it wasn’t mine so I checked my purse to make sure he hadn’t taken anything and gave him his phone back. I was really proud of myself for how I reacted. You don’t mess with this girl!
I had another funny experience at the Garden Tomb today. I was sitting listening to music and writing in my journal when a man came up to me and started video taping me. It wasn’t super weird because people always video tape and take pictures of us since we’re American, but this was a little strange because he was standing there for an awkwardly long amount of time. He was right up close to my face so I asked him where he was from. He said he was from France and then finally walked away. But he just kept staring and smiling at me. He was down at the tomb for probably 15 minutes and kept taking so many pictures of me. He was way more obsessed with the American girl than the site he was at. It was just very strange. (Don’t worry Dad, I was with boys and they were keeping an eye on him for me.) Oh the things you experience when you’re a young American girl in Israel…
Elder Larry Kacher, the area authority for the Middle East and Northern Africa, gave a fireside for us tonight and it was sooo good! Him and his wife spoke and they were both so sweet. I didn’t want it to end! I love how strong the Spirit is here in Jerusalem, and even more so here in the Jerusalem Center. It’s an incredible place and I am so grateful to be here.

turkey day in the middle east

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We got back home from Galilee today and were greeted by Christmas decorations and a beautiful Thanksgiving feast. I was a little sad that I was not home for Thanksgiving this year, but when I got back to the JC I realized that I was home. I can’t believe that I only have 3 more weeks here! Time needs to SLOW DOWN!



Galilee was so busy and wonderful! It was full of girl talk and bonfires and football games and long classes and of course, amazing field trips!
Here’s the rundown on our last few field trips:

Jezreel Valley field trip (11/21): First we went to the church in Nain where Jesus raised a boy from the dead. There we had a fabulous lesson about the compassionate Christ by Brother Harper.

Our next stop was Megiddo or as most people know it, Armageddon. We had the final battle there so we’re ready for Jesus now!

Then we went to Mount Tabor which is one of the sites thought to be where Jesus was transfigured. It was sooooo beautiful! I loved it!

We ended the day right by going to a swimming lake/pool in Gan Ha-Shelosha. It was so good!

Upper Galilee field trip (11/22): We started the day by going to Hazor… I honestly don’t know what was significant about it, but there were some ruins… ha. Our next stop was the city of Dan. Can you say beautiful?!? I had been missing fall so much, but Galilee cured that for me. We hiked around Dan for about two hours and I loved every minute of it! Then we went to Caesarea Philippi, which is where Peter gave his testimony of Christ and Christ then pronounced, “thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” Right next to that site was the Banias waterfall. This is where I really got homesick for Oregon. It was absolutely gorgeous! After that we went to Nimrod’s castle. This was a sweet Muslim fortress t the foot of Mount Hermon. I was thinking about buying the lot except for the rodent infestation… Our last stop of the day was at a lookout point that used to be an Israeli army bunker. We were able to see Syria from the lookout and earlier in the day we were able to see Lebanon!

Western Galilee field trip (11/23): First we went to Chorazin. This was a Jewish community on the west of the Sea of Galilee that Christ compared to Tyre and Sidon in Luke 10. The next place we went was Sepphoris. This city was the Roman capital of Galilee before it was moved to Tiberias. There was a beautiful mosaic there that they call the Mona Lisa of the Galilee. A group of middle school Palestinian students were there too and they thought we were some sort of American celebrities and couldn’t take enough pictures of us. It was really funny. Our last stop was Akko. This was an adorable port city on the Mediterranean Sea. I loved it!



Mediterranean field trip (11/24): On our way back from Galilee today we made several stops. The first was in Haifa. We stopped in the Templer cemetery where we learned about a few LDS missionaries that went to Palestine in the late 19th century. We learned some really neat things about those early missionaries and what they did there. Next we stopped at Mount Carmel where the prophet Elijh had the show-down with the priests of Ba’al. We did an awesome re-enactment of the story and I was of course cast as the fire. My only claim to fame is my hair… Next we stopped at Caesarea. This city was built by Herod right on the Mediterranean Sea. We even got our own Christian concert when we went to the amphitheater!



I miss Galilee already, but it’s good to be home. I don’t think I’ve ever been this grateful for so many things on Thanksgiving before. I am so blessed!

hold me like the river jordan

Well it’s that time of year again… my half birthday!! And what better way to celebrate than a sabbath in the Galilee?! But really, it’s been a great past few days! On Thursday I had classes in the morning and then a free afternoon. I chose to use my free afternoon to go on a hike in the Golan with a bunch of friends. We had a super sweet hippie guide that took us on the hike. It was AMAZING!! We were wet and muddy, but we were so happy. The entire hike was incredibly beautiful. It was exactly the fall hike I’d been missing. We stopped at a waterfall and a few of us got in for a swim. The water was so cold that it took my breath away! But it was really fun. I loved the hike mostly because it was just so peaceful. We go to a lot of really neat and really spiritual places here in Israel, but we don’t have very much time to just enjoy nature and be so secluded like that. It was really peaceful.
After our hike we went straight to dinner at a fish restaurant and then spent the evening in Tiberias. TIberias is one of the only bigger cities in the Galilee, but when we went there it was dead. Apparently the nightlife isn’t very big here… We did see a really cool water show on the port though. It felt like we were at the Bellagio in Vegas, but minus all the people. I felt like I was watching a fireworks show. After that we just got some ice cream and came back to our Kibbutz.
Yesterday we had another field trip. We first went to the ancient city of Gamla. It was a really cool city that was placed at the top of a super steep hill. During the First Jewish Revolt (66-70 AD), Gamla was one of the last Galilean cities taken over and destroyed by the Romans. They killed some 4,000 Jews while another 5,000 jumped off the edge of the cliff to avoid surrender. After hiking up to the top of the city you could see how jumping over the cliff would be certain death.
Our next stop was the ancient Jewish village of Qazrin. The cool part about this site was that they restored a house in the village to show what it would have looked like during its time. It was neat seeing what houses would have looked like during the time of Jesus. It made some scriptures come alive a little more. Like the one that says if you drop a coin in your house you wouldn’t be able to find it. There were hardly any windows in the house so it was really dark in there and the floor was not a smooth surface.
Our last stop of the day was Kursi, the site where Jesus cast the evil spirits into the swine. We didn’t stay too long, but long enough to get a nice pig picture!
Last night we had class for two hours (7-9 pm on a Friday night!) and then a bunch of us played capture the flag on the beach. We always have a good time!
Today we went to church in Tiberias with the Galilee branch. They meet in a converted house with a great view of the Sea of Galilee. One of the boys (well actually the only boy) said the sacrament prayer in Hebrew and it was really cool! Then during the last talk a storm came and the thunder was super loud. Guess what the closing hymn was? Master the Tempest is Raging. Crazy huh?
On our way back to Ein Gev, we stopped at Yardenit, a baptismal site on the Jordan River. It was a very commercialized site that a lot of Christians come to get baptized at. Luckily for us it was a rainy day so there weren’t actually a lot of people there. It was the perfect location for us to pay our tribute to Michael Jackson. A group of us sang “Will You Be There” right on the Jordan River! (Hold me like the River Jordan…) It was so sweet! I loved it! The days just do not disappoint here in the Galilee.

sea of galilee field trip

Did I mention yet that I love the Galilee? Today we had our Sea of Galilee field trip and I swear we saw everything! And to make it all that much better, it was raining all day long and I felt like I was back home in Oregon ☺
We started the day by going to the Mount of Beatitudes. This is where the greatest sermon ever given, the Sermon on the Mount, was delivered by our Lord Jesus Christ. At the top of the hill is a beautiful Italian church. It was built as a domed octagon to symbolize the eight beatitudes. The grounds were absolutely gorgeous. It was a beautiful place to read and ponder the Savior’s incredible message to all of us.
The next place we went was the Basilica of the Fish and Loaves. This church honored the miracle of Jesus multiplying the fish and loaves to feed 5,000 men. The power of God is limitless. He extends His power to us in ways which may seem insignificant, but it shows to us that he truly cares about every aspect of our lives. He cares if we’re hungry, He cares if we’re sick, He cares about us in ways we don’t even care about ourselves.
Our next destination was another church in Tabgha called St. Peter’s Primacy commemorating Christ’s appearance to the Apostles, in which Jesus shared a meal with them and commanded Peter to “feed my sheep.” We were able to sing a few hymns in the church and then stand on the shores of the Sea. As I stood there I thought of the Savior asking me the same question He asked Peter, “lovest thou me more than these?” I know that I love Him, but I need to do a lot better at showing it by serving and loving my fellow men.
Capernaum was our next stop. This was an ancient town on the northwest shore of the Sea. It was the home of Peter, Andrew, and possibly Matthew. Jesus moved there at the beginning of His ministry and referred to it as “his own city.” Many of Jesus’ miracles were performed in or around Capernaum. The two major sites we saw were the remains of an ancient synagogue, and the remains of what is thought to be Peter’s house. The synagogue may be the one that Jesus taught His bread of life sermon in. There was a lot of good stuff going on in Capernaum.
Our last adventure of the day was a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee! We started the ride off right listening and dancing to Christian gospel music, praising the Lord. We had soul and we were showing it to Jesus! Half way across the lake we stopped and had a devotional. Brother Harper taught us about the Savior calming the sea, which was very fitting since the rain stopped for us right before we got on the boat. We talked about how there are times in all of our lives where we will ask the Lord “carest thou not that we perish?” and the truth is that He does. He wants to save us, but sometimes we have to suffer first. Jesus’ reply to the apostles is, “where is your faith?” This was good for me to learn about because things will always turn better for us if we have faith. Peace will return and we will be saved if we will believe Christ. We then sang Master the Tempest is Raging, which spoke more to me there than it ever has before. The line “no storm can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies” came alive to me. I realized then that as long as we are with Jesus, following Him, the adversary will have no power over us because he has no power over the Savior. I love the things that I’m learning here in Galilee! I wish I could remember every second of my time here.
(I'll put more pictures up later. The internet isn't good enough here to put them up while I'm here. Stay tuned!)

Jesus' hometown

Galilee is incredible!! We are learning and seeing way too much stuff to wait until I’m back at the JC to write about everything. Yesterday morning we left bright and early for our ten-day adventure to the Galilee. Our first stop was Bet Shean. It was another ancient Roman city, which was part of the Decapolis. Way sweet! And of course I’m a 12-year-old boy and my favorite part was the ancient toilets…
Next stop: Nazareth. First we went to the Church of the Annunciation which commemorated the angel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary and declaring that she would be the mother of Jesus. It was a really pretty church that had a very sweet spirit. Right next-door was St. Joseph’s church that was built to commemorate the annunciation to Joseph. The last place we went was a 6th century Jewish synagogue that lies above an older synagogue, which may even be the one in which Jesus declared his Messiahship in Luke 4. Brother Harper and Brother Hunstman both taught us a small lesson and we sang some beautiful hymns. The spirit was really powerful in there.
Our last stop of the day was Mount Arbel. After we parked the bus we had to hike up a little ways to get to the top where we were going to meet. When we got to the top we had our first sight of the Sea of Galilee and it was incredible!! The hillside looked just like I imagine the hill to look like where the Savior taught the multitude. (but don’t worry, I’ll be able to see the real hillside in a few days so I’ll see what it really looks like). But the view was amazing! We could see almost all of Galilee. It was a fabulous way to greet the Galilee and it made me automatically love it. I can see why Jesus spent most of his life here. It’s so beautiful. I feel like I’m not even in Israel anymore.
After we got rained out on the top of Mount Arbel we made our way as a soggy mess to En Gev, where we will be staying for the next ten days. The resort we’re staying at is converted from an old Kibbutz (immigrant jewish communities). The rooms are tiny but the setting is incredible! We are right on the beach of the Sea of Galilee. Life really just doesn’t get any better.
Today we had our New Testament class for two hours and then studied all day for our New Testament midterm. I wasn’t even sad that I was studying because I was studying all about Jesus while overlooking the Sea of Galilee! I’ve never been that happy to study in my life before. It was a good feeling. After our midterm we went and played in the water and started a game of football on the beach. Once again, the student-teacher relationship is really weird here. One minute you’re in class taking their test and the next you’re on the beach together playing football. I love it though! I love everything about Galilee because I love Jesus!

fat and happy

It’s been a while since my last blog post partially because I’ve been really busy and the other part because I haven’t really done anything of huge significance that seems blog post worthy. But since I leave for Galilee tomorrow I figured that I should do a little blog update. The past two weeks have been crazy because it’s been finals. By the way, if you’re thinking about coming to the Jerusalem Center (which you should because it’s amazing) make sure you come after you’ve been accepted into your program at school. School is really great here but it does not do anything to help out your GPA. Mine is taking a pretty rough beating. My expectations for myself have lowered significantly. School is hard! Haha ok that’s all I think I need to say about finals. They’ve been rough, but I survived. Now all I have left is New Testament and Ancient Near East.
Because school is so hard, I’ve been staying in the center a lot more than I wanted to. Looking at the calendar the other day I realized that I now have less than five weeks left! So I made a commitment to myself that I was going to go out every single day. There is always a ton of schoolwork, but I will get it done. I always do. It’s not worth wasting this experience for. So I’m officially hitting the streets!
I’ve had a lot of fun little adventures lately that have made me love this city even more. When I went out last Monday the whole city was having a carnival! It was some Muslim holiday that I think marked the end of the hajj but it was so neat! And the best part? They had cotton candy!! I’ve been craving cotton candy for so long! I seriously was so so happy! And it was only 2 shekels for a HUGE stick of it! My life rocks. They also had popcorn everywhere and snakes (I have no idea why), and balloons, and all the little boys were wearing the cutest sweaters. The city was so happy! I loved it!



The other best discovery of the week: jelly filled doughnuts at the shuk (the open market in west Jerusalem). Oh my goodness they are amazing! Our Hebrew teacher told us as it got closer to December they would start selling them and so when I saw them I had to try it. Well if I come home 20 pounds heavier, I’m blaming it on those doughnuts. I now feel like my day isn’t complete unless I have one of those doughnuts. Good thing the light rail is free and we’re allowed to ride it now or I’d be calling a taxi everyday to take me to the shuk. I went again yesterday and the man at the bakery let me go in and help him make them! It was so cool. They make the jelly fresh right there with fresh strawberries and serve the doughnuts hot. Oh man I’m dying just thinking about them. Haha oh gosh I realized that the highlights of my week revolve around food. Oh the fat kid skills are kicking in… Fat and happy right?



Yesterday I went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for the first time. This is the site most of the world thinks that Jesus was crucified and resurrected. I had walked by it a ton of times but had never actually gone in. It was sweet! I really loved it. I touched the rock where they believe the cross of Jesus was placed and the stone where they think Jesus’ body was prepared for burial. It was super packed in there so I think it’ll be cooler when I can go back without it being so crazy. I’m going to research it and write a paper on it so I’ll have more cool things to say about it later.





Today I went to Zedekiah’s cave outside Damascus gate with a few friends. It was really fun. The cave is huge! It goes right under the Old City. They believe it is where the stones were quarried to build the first temple. Cool huh?





Ok well now that I’m drooling thinking about jelly filled doughnuts, I think it’s time for me to get ready to head to Galilee tomorrow! We’ll be there for almost two weeks on an intensive New Testament outing. I’m really excited, but I think classes there are going to be really difficult. We have it for three hours at a time some days! But I’m going to be learning so much cool stuff. It’s going to be so great!
And Happy Birthday Melinda!! And Happy Birthday tomorrow Eliesa!! I love you both soooooooo much!!!

tis the season

Christmas will never be the same. Today we had our field trip to Bethlehem and it was so great. Bethlehem is in the West Bank so this was our only chance we have to go there even though it’s only 5 miles south of Jerusalem. But it was a great way to kick off our New Testament class! We’re just finishing the Old Testament and finally moving onto Jesus! I’m sure going to miss Papa Hunts though…
We started the day by going to the Herodian. This is one of King Herod’s many palaces he had built on a hill overlooking Bethlehem and it was elaborate! He even had a pool that was bigger than any swimming pool I’ve ever seen. Not the humblest man… The thing I found interesting about it though was that Mary and Joseph would have seen the palace on their way to Bethlehem. And then when you compare that to the humble circumstances Christ, the true king, was born in, it’s very enlightening.
After that we went to Bethlehem University which was really interesting. We got to talk with students and learn more about them and what it’s like to live in the West Bank. Bethlehem University is a Christian school, but 70% of the students are Muslim and all of them are Palestinian. So when I’ve thought about the separation wall before I usually think about it in broad, political ways. You hear the reasoning of why it exists to keep suicide bombers out of Israel and other things like that, but you don’t think much about how it affects people’s daily lives. Many of the students at Bethlehem University live outside the separation wall so they have to go through checkpoints everyday to get to school. They may live just a few miles away from the campus, but they have to leave 2 hours early to make it through the checkpoint and get to class on time. They told us that some students have to wake up at 4:00 in the morning to make it on time to class. And all I have to do is walk up two flights of stairs… Another thing that was interesting was how difficult it is for Palestinians to travel. There are so many steps they have to take and lots of planning for them to be able to leave the West Bank. The West Bank is TINY and it all pretty much looks the same. I just think about how easily I can get in a car and drive all the way across America and see so many different landscapes without any issues. I can’t imagine being stuck like that. Anyways, it was a very enlightening experience and it helped me gain an even greater love for the Palestinians.




Finally we got to go to Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity! We stood in line for 45 minutes to get to see the supposed place of Jesus’ birth and manger. But hey, if I can stand in line that long to get on a ride in Disneyland, I can definitely do it for Jesus. And whether or not that was the actual spot of Christ’s birth, it was really neat to see all the people that had come from all over the world to worship the same Jesus Christ.



We ended the trip on a definite high. We drove to a shepherd’s field overlooking the town of Bethlehem right at dusk and had a devotional there. Brother Harper and Brother Huntsman both said a few words and read a few scriptures and then we all sang Christmas songs. After ending on Silent Night, no one said a word and we all split up and contemplated the birth of our Savior as we looked at the site where it occurred. I tried to memorize everything I saw so that every Christmas for the rest of my life, I can picture that beautiful site. I thought about Mary and Joseph coming into Bethlehem and finding no room in the inn and how devastating that must have been to them. I don’t know this, but I would think that Mary and Joseph probably felt really bad that they could not provide a better situation for the Son of God to be born into. They might have even felt that they were failing in their calling as Christ’s caregivers. But as I thought about it right there, I realized how important and inspiring it is that Jesus Christ, the only God to ever be born on this earth, should be born in such lowly and humble circumstances. I thought of the words, “fall on your knees, and hear the angel voices.” I love the imagery of that line. So even though Christ was born in such a simple way, He is still the king of kings and we must fall to our knees and worship Him. It was such an incredible and sacred time for me their on that shepherd’s hill. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I know that He was born in Bethlehem and came to fulfill all righteousness. He is the Savior of my soul and my best friend.