Galilee

If I had to pick one place to stay for the rest of eternity....it might be Galilee. Our first stop was Mount Arbel. From the top, you could look out at the entire Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Magdala, and Tiberias. I sat there in silence listening to my New Testament teacher, and I was slowly crept over by an all-encompassing sense of peace. I knew just looking over the waters at the land that Christ loved that this place would be a highlight of my trip and that it would probably change my heart. And it definitely did. 

When I was thinking about what to write, I thought about all the jokes I could make about how I sat on the beach while my friends and family were freezing, or telling about each and every stop. But that was honestly not what's most important to me. Looking back now that Galilee has come and gone, I know that I probably won't remember most of the places that I went to. Eventually I'll forget the facts and names, but I will never forget the feelings they gave me and what I learned. I know more than I've ever known in my life, with a constantly growing testimony, that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. He sacrificed all that I could return to my Father and become like Him. He knows me personally and perfectly. He knows you. I know with my whole heart that we can trust our wise Father. God is at the helm, and He knows how to guide and direct us to make us into everything we can be. He knows how to make so much more from us than we ever could. Galilee has stolen a piece of my heart forever. 

I'm gonna be famous!

Well start looking for me in the top archaeological journals...because I'm making my ANE teacher Brother Seely proud! My friend Sam Egbert is great at finding cool things to do, and he told me about a trip to an archaeological sifting project just a 3 minute walk from the center. I went with a group of eight not expecting anything too crazy, but oh what pleasant surprise! Turns out the dirt we sifted through was actually taken from the Temple Mount where Herod's Temple used to sit and where the Dome of the Rock currently is! They taught us some about the history of the mount, and then we went to work. We took buckets of muddy-rocky stuff and washed all the mud away. Then came the fun part...sorting through the rocks. Some of the "stuff" was just plaster and asphalt, but we found and sorted some really neat things like pottery, glass, pottery, metal, bone, pottery and more pottery. Then...drumroll please....my co-sifting-expert-partner CJ and I (admittedly with a worker prodding us just a bit) found a coin! They have to clean it to be sure, but the workers there guessed that it is like a Hasmonean coin. HASMONEAN!!! AKA the Maccabees! From 167 BC-ish. It was so cool! I have to email them in a few months to check for sure, but ya know...we're going to be front page news. :) Sam and Jamison Peterson also "eureka"-ed. They found a piece of marble tile that could have very likely been on the floor of Herod's aka the Second Temple. At the end of our sifting adventures, one of the workers took the coolest things that we found and spread them all over a timeline to show us where they came from. We found stuff from pretty much every era in Jerusalem from the neolithic age to modern day. Too much fun for one group!

Biblical Zoos and "the Old Shool House"

Usually I’m not a huge zoo person. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all, right? But when a bunch of my JC crew decided to go to a zoo here in Israel, I couldn’t resist jumping in. It doesn’t take much to twist my arm for fun. I enjoyed hanging out with a new group of people. We got to really relax and enjoy ourselves. So naturally we were utterly ridiculous. Jonathan, CJ, and I took pictures as kangaroo triplets, and we quested to find a hippo from Noah’s ark. But hands down, the best part of the day was the lemur exhibit. We walked in to see adorable little lemurs everywhere! They came right up to us, and the worker relaxed and let us touch them. Before we knew it, we had lemurs on our heads, and I had a lemur climb on my back with its tiny hands! It was so different from a zoo back at home where the animals don’t move or do anything. Granted then a real worker ran in and shooed them away. Oops! I still don’t know if the first guy was an actual worker or not. Regardless, I loved it while it lasted.

But those lemurs had NOTHING on the energy of the kids I got to teach a few days ago. I went to teach English to elementary aged children at a nearby Palestinian school. And it was so fun! Kirk, Lauren, Cali, Ross, Sheri, and I played games with them at the beginning. We played “Red light, Green light” (which turned into “Attack Cali!”) and danced to the Hokey Pokey. It was crazy, fun chaos. I made friends with a 5-ish year old girl Sahad and we danced together. She is the cutest! After we played games with them, we split into groups of two and went to teach them English. It was really intimidating because the school didn’t tell us anything about what they wanted us to teach them, and the kids didn’t know much conversational English. But Team Kirk and Megan did our best! I was so glad to have him with me. It would have been crazy trying to handle them all on my own. I worked with the girls, and he was the muscle haha! We went over numbers and clothing. I was so proud of Sahad when she said “My name is Sahad.” It was a great experience, even though I don’t know how much help we were. There is a lot that can be done to help here. Livin' the dream!

Petra!

We spent a full day in Petra, and it could have quite possibly been one of the greatest days. Ever. Petra has been voted one of the seven new wonders of the ancient world, as well it should be! I was devastated that I had forgotten my camera battery, but luckily my friends are great and took some for me. Imagine grand, Roman style buildings carved straight out of beautiful, red canyon walls. Or if your imagination is sleepy, watch Indiana Jones. Yep! I went there. We left our hotel early in the morning (yep…the one where we got serenaded and were served juice) to walk down to the opening in the canyon walls. We walked down the path that wound through the canyon until all of the sudden, it opened up to the iconic Treasury of Petra! It absolutely took my breath away. And Petra remained just as exciting for the rest of the day.

Before we came to Jordan, Brother Seely, our fantastic Ancient Near East professor, told us that we really needed to go to the Monastery, even though we’d have to book it to get there. So I power walked with Brooke, Brealynn, and Jane to get to the base of our climb. After a full 30 minutes or so of intense stairs, we finally made it to the half-way point. I wanted to DIE! But we pushed on, and oh was it worth it. For all of the treasury’s beauty, the monastery was even bigger and more spectacular. I can’t even wrap my head around how someone could have carved this out of the rock.

Check out this photosphere that CJ took in Petra of the Monastery  There are some other awesome ones here too: https://plus.google.com/photos/104141017599587335952/albums/5934643328339033937/5943596398304126194?pid=5943596398304126194&oid=104141017599587335952

Petra is full of people selling donkey and camel rides all over. After lunch, I went with some girls to go to the tombs, and a lot of my friends were taking camel rides. I was going to wait for the camel ride the center was paying for at the beginning, even though it was just a quick circle for a picture. My natural “Save all your money!” wouldn’t let me take their price. But we bargained down to 5 dinar and it hit me. I’m in Petra! So I got on a camel and rode to the tombs!! My camel, Rajah, was the crazy caboose who kept racing up front and sandwiching my legs. It was a blast! Camels are the weirdest looking creatures, but I understand now why God created them. The ride was pretty bumpy when my camel raced, but oh boy did we cover some ground. So worth 5 dinar!

At the top of the tombs, I joined up with Sam, Caralee, Stephanie, and James. We crossed the sketchy bridge and found some stairs in the back. We climbed up for another eternity up more stairs (remember my already shaky, dead legs) past the goat herd. I’ve never really rock climbed before, but I was glad that I tried it. It was a bit scary, especially when the stairs disappeared for a bit, but it was really fun. When we didn’t dare climb any more stairs, I turned around to a truly incredible view of Petra. I couldn’t have been happier with how we finished the day

book—Married to a Bedouin 

Jordan

Oh Jordan! So many sites...four full days of touring. I came back completely drained of all energy, but I guess that’s the mark of a good trip, right? I really enjoyed my time in Jordan, and I learned so much. It didn’t exactly hurt that we were treated like someone from Hollywood. When we arrived at our first hotel, I climbed off the bus to quite the welcome. There was a quartet of Jordanian men in traditional dress singing and dancing along the way. We were served divine freshly squeezed juice and bread and oil as the paparazzi caught us walking down the carpet to our hotel. Such a bizarre experience. 

Jerash was one of the biggest sites I think we've been too. It was huge!! In fact, if I remember correctly, it is one if not THE biggest and best preserved ancient Roman city in the world. Could be exaggerating. But hey! It was that big! It had so many of the typical Roman features. I was really able to picture what it would have been like to live in a city during the time of Christ. My favorite part of Jerash, though, might have been my personal tour with my guide Aaron Sharp and my friend Lee Campbell. We discovered the history behind 2000 kilo Otopus' destruction of the city streets, Phil's Awful Falafel and Waffle, and the ancient Air Temple where Avatar Aang drove his air scooter. Definitely made it a memorable experience!

Another one of our stops was at the Jabbok River where Jacob wrestles with an angel in order to receive the blessings and right of the Abrahamic covenant. His obvious determination reminded me of Alma's and Enos' prayers where they labored with forgiveness. It made me reflect on the times when I've really wrestled with God in my life. I can honestly say that I'm so grateful for those moments. They are the greatest teaching moments. We finished off our trip to Jordan by stopping for a little while at the Jordan River. I can't even describe the feelings in my heart as I sat near the river where Jesus was baptized. I know that He is my Redeemer and that He lives again!

Here's the Jordan River:  https://plus.google.com/photos/104141017599587335952/albums/5934643328339033937/5943615987054419154?pid=5943615987054419154&oid=104141017599587335952

Bethlehem

Because Bethlehem is in the West Bank, we are only allowed to come here as a group once. So I can't emphasize enough that this was a pretty big day. Interestingly enough, we started off the day not by going to Bethlehem, but by visiting the Herodian. Herod the Great built an enormous palace on a hill you can see from Jerusalem. It was so interesting to be in one of the lavish pleasure palaces and burial place of the King of Judea who was both great and terrible. This man was ruthless and did his best to make everyone dislike him. Then we got to leave the palace behind and travel to Bethlehem. The place where the Savior, the King of Kings, was born in absolute humility.

Next we visited the Church of the Nativity, a church built by the Byzantine Empire on the spot where tradition says that Christ was born of the virgin Mary. The church is extravagantly decorated to worship Him. Everything seems to be plated with gold and deeply perfumed by incense. The church was, as it always is, packed full of people. Our group waited in line for an hour or so to get to the basement where the grotto is where the nativity scene supposedly took place. We waited and squeezed through the crowds for a split-second glance and picture where the manger supposedly stood. Then the anxious crowds pushed me on through. I was struck by two thoughts: (1) I'm impressed by the sheer number of people who traveled from all over the world to come to the Nativity site, and (2) I'm incredibly grateful for quiet, simply beautiful, and beautifully simple chapels where I worship. I appreciated all that the priests there now and in the past were doing to make this a special place, but it was so hard to feel the Spirit when you had elbows in your face, your toes were squashed more than bread dough, and you could practically inhale the anxiety around you. I'm still very glad that we went, but I'm so grateful for the peace found in still moments.

By far, my favorite part was when we all went to a shepherd's field at early twilight. We sat together and had our own Christmas program. We sang Christmas hymns together and read the story of Christ's birth. Angela and I sang "What Child is This?" together. It's one of my favorite songs! The night was was so quiet and calm, in stark contrast to the Church of the Nativity. I loved singing and watching the shepherd tend to his flock below us on the hill with the first, bright star shining brightly above the city of Bethlehem. I was filled with such peace and love for my Redeemer. There is no better way to start off the Christmas season.

https://plus.google.com/photos/104141017599587335952/albums/5934643328339033937/5945075037813670706?pid=5945075037813670706&oid=104141017599587335952

The biggest lesson I learned from Bethlehem is that the Nativity is a beautiful story, but really it is a beginning. It is the start of the Lamb's perfect life that, if followed, will make a world of difference. I look to the birth of Christ and rejoice! And now it's time to smile and start living as he would. I have a mission to perform.

Making bitter into sweet

What a day! The Jerusalem Center has students go through the experience of making olive oil. This has really been a special morning. Our Ancient Near East professor, Brother Seely (who happens to be a celebrity here--so funny), gave a wonderful mini devotional about olive trees and how they represent the Atonement. It really got me thinking. The Atonement was such a priceless, precious gift. It is really incomprehensible what our Redeemer went through, but the result is beautiful.  Olive oil has so many important uses, especially in ancient days or in the time of Jesus Christ. The process to make olive oil is worth studying, and it's so much harder than squeezing an olive between your fingers. On Thursday, we picked olives from the trees at the Center. They have to soak in a brine for a few days. Today we crushed them in a huge, rolling millstone to create a paste. The paste was put in baskets and placed in the press. Using levers and enormous rocks, the olives are pressed under immense pressure to get the oil out. I tasted an olive and some of the oil. That olive was the most bitter thing I've ever tasted in my life. Hours later, the taste still lingers in my mouth. I was amazed that such a bitter fruit could produces such an important, useful, good thing. It was so neat to compare this to the gift of the Atonement. "Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me!"