Temple Mount

On November 7 a group of us decided to try and get up on the Temple Mount to see the Dome of the Rock. Many of us had tried several times to get up there, but every time it was closed. The hours are not set, so it's lucky if you find a time it is open. Today was apparently our lucky day because we were able to get up there! All of us were really excited! In getting up on the Temple Mount we got to see the 3rd Holiest site for Muslims. The two holiest are Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, and non-Muslims are not allowed in the cities. Anyway, we were able to get up and see the outside of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the famous Dome of the Rock. It was really beautiful, and actually seeing the Dome of the Rock up close was amazing!! The designs and colors are gorgeous! When we got up there and were walking around, we discovered many people from the Jerusalem Center were up there too. There were at least 35-40 of us up there. It was a really good experience! I am glad I got the opportunity to get up there!

Jordan!

On October 29, we left to spend 4 days in Jordan. Our first stop was Mount Nebo. It is revered Holy Site by many because traditionally Moses spend his last days upon the mountain. Many believe this is where he died and was buried, but we know from latter-day revelation that this is not the case. We visited a couple other sites (mostly national park-type) and then stopped for the night in Petra. We relaxed a little and spent some time out by the pool (which turned out to be pretty cold according to the people who were thrown in ;)). After dinner a group of us went out walking, but there really was not much to see. Fortunately, a group of us followed our professors to this 5-star hotel at the end of the street. We got ice cream and enjoyed just talking and associating with one another. It was Craig's birthday, so we bought him ice cream. That night a few of us stayed up late playing games and talking. It was really a lot of fun! I got to know some people better who I don't normally associate with.

The next day we got up early so we could make our way to Petra! I was really excited to see this place! There is so much history there and so many cool things to see. Of course the highlight of the trip was seeing the ancient treasury, which many people will recognize from the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. A few of the boys in our group dressed up as Indiana Jones, and one even had a whip. We all had fun taking pictures, and even got a big group picture together in front of the treasury. The rock formations and the buildings carved into the rock are absolutely breathtaking! I marvel at how these people built them. Towards the end of our tour we hiked up to a monastery. It was beautiful! We had lunch there and then made our way back to the buses for the drive to Amman where we would be spending the rest of our time. That night a group of us (Caleb, Kendra, Lauran, Sarah J., Courtney, Nick, and Greg [and a couple I don't remember]) went to the Mecca Mall in Amman. It was cool to walk around and browse in the shops. We got amazing gelato and kind of just played around. We got back pretty late, and I had "girl-talk" with my roommate and a couple other girls. It was a lot of fun!

October 31 our first stop was the Jabbok River where Jacob wrestled with an angel. We had some pretty entertaining guys who attempted to re-create that scene. It was pretty funny! The rest of our day was spent at an ancient Roman city called Jerash. It had to be one of the coolest cities we've visited! The ruins are absolutely amazing! We stopped in the hippodrome, where the Romans held many of their athletic events. We recreated some races there and some of the guys even acted as the chariots/horses. It was very entertaining. After seeing the colonade and a couple other sites, we were left to our own devices for a little over an hour. We had a blast climbing up on rocks and also taking pictures. We even took Muse pictures on several of the pillars located there. This has to be the funnest site I've been to! It was so relaxed and I really enjoyed intermingling with the other class. We don't often get a chance to do that, so that was really nice. After we left Jerash we had lunch. Then we had the opportunity to go to the Amman Branch! It was really a neat experience to have a meeting in one of the only branches in the Middle East. We met with the branch president, his wife, and some of the members of the branch. It was cool to see a branch of the church here! Hopefully there will be the opportunity to have more in the future. That night was another free night, so a group of us decided to go to Fudruckers. We were all looking forward to having American food for a change. The food was delicious, and we all had a lot of fun! After dinner some went to the mall, while I went with another group back to the hotel. I played games and talked with people until pretty late.

Our last day in Jordan we went to some ancient ruins and then to a small museum. The coolest part about the museum was it had parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls that we got to look at! You hear so much about them, but it was surreal to actually see them. We spent some free time taking pictures and then got back on the bus for a bus tour of Amman. It is a pretty cool to see the sites, and we even got a peek at the American Embassy located there. Our final stop of the day before returning to the Jerusalem Center was the Jordan River Baptismal site. It was a really neat experience to be there and think about what happened at that site.

Jordan was amazing! I think I actually enjoyed it more than Egypt. It was much more relaxed and the associations with people were wonderful! I am having such a great time here!

Seder Meal

On October 25th, we had a traditional Seder (Passover) meal led by our Jewish history teacher Orphir Yardin. Normally, Passover is in April, but since we aren't going to be here our teachers thought it would be a good experience for us to have. I got to sit at a table with Lauren Timmons and President Hayes. We had some really good conversation and heard some great stories. We went through the traditional rituals, with washings, readings, and eating the traditional food. Passover passages were read throughout the meal. There were groups who sang traditional Passover songs (I was in three of them), and even a couple boys in our group who put one of those songs to a rap. ;) It was a very good cultural experience. I think we all really enjoyed ourselves!

City of David and Hezekiah's Tunnel

On October 24, 2007 we went to the City of David and Hezekiah's Tunnel. The biblical City of David situated on the southern slope of Mount Moria outside today's Old City wall. Underneath the city of David is Hezekiah's Tunnel. It was built by Hezekiah in 701 BC. It was designed to get water into the city of Jerusalem as the city was preparing for war with the Assyrians. The tunnel was so much fun! There were points where the water was up to our knees. We had a couple water fights in the tunnel, which was really fun! At one point in the tunnel we all turned off our flashlights and sang "I Am A Child of God" and "Lead kindly Light". It was a really neat experience. As we got outside the tunnel there was a huge pool of water. We got into another water fight and had a lot of fun! It was a great day!

Ein Kerem--October 23

Ein Kerem-- According to Christian tradition, this is the birthplace of John the Baptist. Our first stop was Mary'sEin Kerem is a neighborhood in the hills of southwest Jerusalem. Spring. This village fresh-water spring is the traditional location where Mary and Elizabeth met. We walked up a hill from there to see the Russian Orthodox Mission, but it was closed. There was a really funny sign there, so we took pictures. Then we went to the Church of the Visitation. This is the traditional site where Mary visited Elizabeth when both of them were pregnant. There was a church there that we visited where some of us sat in on a Catholic Mass. It was a really interesting experience that I really enjoyed. Then we visited the Church of St. John the Baptist. The church supposedly houses the cave where John the Baptist was born. One of our final stops of the day was Les Soeurs de Notre-Dame de Sion Monastery buried in its garden. 13 nuns from the order of Les Soeurs de. This monastery was founded by the Jewish convert brothers Theodore and Alfonse Retisbon of France, as an orphanage. Alfonse himself lived in the monastery and is Notre-Dame de Sion (Sisters of Our Lady of Zion) now occupy the site. There is a church on the site, but we couldn't go in because a group was meeting there. We did walk the grounds and take some beautiful pictures. We couldn't leave Ein Kerem without getting ice cream. I got German Chocolate and Coconut, and it was absolutely amazing! It was a good day!

Olive Picking and Crushing in the Biblical Gardens

On Wednesday October 17th, we picked the olive trees on the grounds to prepare for the olive crushing the next week. It was very dirty, but fun work! Several people were up in trees and we got in a couple olive throwing fights! Good times!

After a couple more olive picking sessions over the next couple of days, we participated in olive crushing on October 22 using the tools in the Biblical gardens. We each took turns pushing the large wheel to crush the olives. The crushed olives were then put in large flat baskets and placed underneath a press. It was really a neat experience and we all had a lot of fun!

Update (Part 2)--Tel Aviv

Sunset over the Mediterranean

October 12

After classes Friday, a group of us decided to take a trip to Tel Aviv and go to the beach. Our group included Spencer, Tim, Annalisa, Tasha, Risa, Lynn, Holly, Erin, Nichelle, and I. It was really nice having a small, intimate group. It allowed us to really get to know each other better.

We went first to a restaurant that served American food! It was absolutely amazing! I got Chicken Parmesan on a huge bed of pasta--it was wonderful! Afterwards we went to the beach. We spent the rest of the day swimming in the Mediterranean and playing in the sand. A group of us built a sand castle and I actually got buried in the sand. There were a couple of Israeli guys who came up and started flirting with us. They were actually kind of creepy, but luckily we had people there to protect us. After watching the sunset over the Mediterranean, we went and got gelato. I had coconut and oreo in a waffle cone--it was wonderful and tasted divine! We drove back soon after the gelato and were able to get back for dinner. It really was a fun day and I got to know the people in our group a lot better.

Update That's Been Too Long Coming (Part 1)

Sorry for not posting on my blog for so long! It has been a crazy couple of weeks, and I just haven't taken the time to update on all that is happening here in the Holy Land. It would be too large a task to go into detail about everything that has been going on, but I will attempt to give some highlights.

Conquest Fieldtrip--October 3, 2007:

We went on what was called our "Conquest Fieldtrip", since we are studying the conquest of the land of Israel by Joshua and the Israelites. We first visited the tels (archaelogical sites) of Old and New Testament Jericho. While at the Old Testament Jericho, we talked about Joshua and the famous battle that occured there. Being in that place made the story all the more real to me. We also went to the Quruntul Monastery, which is carved into what is called the Mount of Temptations. It is traditionally where Satan tempted Christ to turn stone into bread. The view from the Monestary was gorgeous! It was a very interesting and enlightening field trip! Pictures--Right: Meg and I at O.T. Jericho; Left: Me at Mt. of Temptations overlooking Jericho.

Judges Fieldtrip--October 5, 2007

We moved on in Old Testament to studying the Book of Judges. So naturally, we went on a "Judges Fieldtrip". Our first stop was Beth Shemesh, one of the residences of the Ark of the Covenant for a time. We also went to Azekah, which has a beautiful overlook of the Elah Valley where David slew Goliath. We then went to a place called Bet Guvrin, and explored some ancient Greek caves and ruins. Close to that area, we visited the Bell Caves. These caves have great acoustics, and we sang several hymns. When we sang "I Am A Child of God", we actually had an audience. We all felt it was a great way to share the gospel (indirectly of course;)). Tel Lachish was our next stop, which was a major defensive city during the time of the Judges. Then we made our way to Micha's Cave, where many people would live for a time to escape from foreign invaders. I tried going into the caves (which were extremely narrow and tiny), but my claustrophobia got the best of me, so I didn't actually explore them. I was told they were pretty cool though. Our final stop of the day was the Valley of Elah, where David slew Goliath. Members of our class did a re-enactment of the battle, which was extremely entertaining. We also collected stones from the now dry riverbed where David selected 5 smooth stones for his sling. Brother Ludlow helped us find ones that would be similar to the ones David used. We were able to practice throwing our stones with actual slings. Many people got pretty good at it (needless to say, I was not one of them). It was a very fun and informative day! Pictures--Top Right: Laura and I overlooking Beth Shemesh; Bottom Right: Me at Azekah, overlooking Elah Valley; Top Left: Me at Bet Guvrin; Middle Left: (L to R) Jocelyn, Archie, Spencer, Tasha, Tuni, and I at the Bell Caves; Bottom Left: My attempt at slinging a stone in the Valley of Elah. It may look professional ;), but the stone actually only went about 10 yards. :)

1st Galilee Field Trip--October 7 and 8, 2007
We left early on October 7 for our first Galilee fieldtrip. We will be going there again for a longer fieldtrip in November. Our first stop on the 7th was Megiddo. This is the traditional site for the future Battle of Armageddon. There were really neat ruins there, including a really neat underground water system. Following Megiddo, we stopped in Nazareth and went to the Church of the Annunciation and the Church of St. Joseph. The Church of the Annunciation is the traditional site where Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she was to be the mother of Jesus. The Church of St. Joseph is supposedly built over the site where Joseph had his carpenter's shop. We then went to some Roman ruins at Sepphoris, where we ate lunch and explored. After Sepphoris, we went to Mt. Arbel, where we got our first look at the Sea of Galilee. It is so beautiful! That night we stayed at Ein Gev, a large Kibbutz on the edge of the Sea of Galilee. Due to some negotiating, we were able to go swimming in the Sea of Galilee. This was so much fun, and we got to see a beautiful sunset. That night after dinner, I walked along the edge of the Sea of Galilee. It was so peaceful and beautiful! There is such a spirit about the place that is hard to describe. While I was walking, the image of the Savior walking upon the waters came into my mind. It was a wonderful experience! Pictures--Top Left: Kendra and I at Megiddo; Top Right: Me at the Church of the Annunciation; Bottom Right: (L to R) Laura, Amy, Me, Lauran, Kendra, and Nichelle at Sepphoris; Middle Left: Karey and I at Mt. Arbel, overlooking the Sea of Galilee; Bottom Left: Nichelle and I at the Sea of Galilee.

We left early on October 8th for another long, but wonderful day! Our first stop was the Fortress/City of Acco. It was a major fortress during the time of the Crusaders and had a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea. We then went to Mt. Carmel, where Elijah had the conflict with the priests of Baal. Brother Ludlow recounted the story and gave some really amazing insights into the story. Our final stop of the day was Caesarea Maritime. It was absolutely beautiful! We walked along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the wind was blowing really hard. I love the wind coming off the ocean--it was amazing!! This field trip has to be my favorite so far! Pictures--Top Right: (L to R) Carlee, Me, Kendra, and Emily at Akko overlooking the Mediterranean Sea; Left: Me at Mt. Carmel; Bottom Right: Liz, Kayla, Jessica, and Me at Caesarea Meritime.

Since this is a major undertaking to update on recent happenings, I'll be splitting it into a couple sections. Stay tuned for more updates!