negev field trip

Today we went on yet another field trip to the desert! haha but really, it was neat. I just wonder sometimes why this was God's chosen land. I'm just a little spoiled Oregon girl.
We woke up bright and early to get a head start on this long day. We started by going to a Bedouin village. That was really neat. We went to an organization that was devoted entirely to helping women with literacy and other skills. It was really cool. One of the women talked to us about her story and it was really amazing. She always wanted to be a teacher, but that wasn't allowed of women at that time. She made sure that all of her children were educated though and all nine of them went to school. She has a son who is a lawyer and a daughter who is a nurse. You would be so shocked after seeing the village they live in. They are stuck in between their roots of nomadic wanderers and modern society. It's been really tough on them to make that transition. It was so fascinating to see their lifestyle. They say it's the closest to the lifestyle of father Abraham. Yet another time of my life where I am so grateful of the timing and place where I was born.





After the Bedouin adventure we went to Tel Arad. It's an ancient Canaanite city in the eastern Negev. The site consists of ruins from an ancient Canaanite city with an Israelite fortress at the top. The coolest part was a small Israelite temple at the top of the hill. I went into a Holy of Holies! I felt a little strange like I shouldn't be in there without being endowed, but it was neat.



We then went to Beersheba. This is where the Lord commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. It was really just a desert wasteland, like everywhere else. But as we stood at the top of Tel Sheva and looked around, Brother Huntsman told us to look around. He then asked how many of us had been to the Sacred Grove. Over half of us raised our hands. He then told us to think about the spirit that we felt there knowing that God had visited Joseph Smith there. Then he told us to look around again and realize that God appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in that area. Wow! So even though all I saw was an ugly desert wilderness, God loved Beersheba. So I love Beersheba!