Until Tomorrow

Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center, for Near Eastern Studies.

Well, I plan on updating a lot more tomorrow on all the rest of the stuff that has been going on. Also, in the near future I plan on going around and just taking pictures of the center so you can know a little bit about where I live, but for now, here is a little bit of a teaser.

Hezekiah's tunnel

How wet we all got

Inside the tunnel

Getting ready to go inside the tunnel

The view that David would have had from his palace

Okay, so in the bible, when Hezekiah was king he built a underground water system so that when the Asyrians came to lay seige upon the city of Jerusalem so in the wisdom of Hezekiah he built an underground tunnel so that the people could get water but the enemy could not. The tunnel ends in the Pool of Siloam, which is the same pool that the Savior told the blind man to go wash his face in to see again. It was such a neat place to be and neat stories to here. The steps leading to the pool, from the temple, are long short, long short. They were built that way to cause a person to think as they walked up to the temple. Think about that as the blind man walked down those stairs slowly, knowing he would be healed when he got to the bottom. We also got to stand where the old temple of David would be, seeing how it would have been so easy for him to commit the sins with Bathsheba that he did....kit's very interesting.

Deep within a gardens walls

The special gate that they let the mormon's into.

Olive Tree's in the Garden

Wow, so I actually got to go to the Garden of Gethsemene for the first time. It was incredibly awesome! I loved being there. What is really good is they have a part of the garden especially sectioned off for "the mormons" If you tell them who you are you can sit in there by yourself (they have to unlock it for you) and there are no disturbances, it's incredible. I loved every second of it and I pray that I will soon get to return.I know that Jesus Christ truly did what he ways he did. He suffered for the sins and pains and agonies of all mankind, nad for that I'm truly grateful! I will forever be in his debt.

Church of the Holy Seplucler

The ramparts walk with the center behind me.

Inside the church, see what I mean about goddy.

On the way to the Church

Okay, this is the traditional spot, founded by Helena Constantines mother, where Jesus was laid to rest and then resurrected, it is owned by the christians and is very goddy and ornate. ps sorry it has been so long since I blogged. I'm going to try to update you now as fast as possible. Also, there is a thing called the ramparts walk and you can walk around the top of the old city wall, it's awesome!

Just for Fun

giving new meaning to the "crown of thorns placed on his head" and these are the "soft"kind

Yeah!

Just for fun!

going to the traditional sight of the garden tomb

Me, Jon, Caitlin

I was going to add pictures on here from my last field trip to Hezekiah's tunnel for you all to see, but I forgot the camera downstairs in my bedroom and don't get the internet down there, so I'll tell you all about it and post pictures from it tomorrow. So, instead I'll just tell you that I took 2 finals today and they went pretty well, I'm fairly happy about it. Nothing really more exciting than that. I guess I'll just add some random pics and I'll add the field trip ones tommorrow, because they are awesome!

Day 4,5,6,7

Okay, so I told everyone that I would catch you up on the rest of our Egypt trip. Here it is. I needed a little break from homework and studying for finals so this gives me the most perfect opportunity.
Day 4: Well, as you know the night of day three we jumped on a plane and headed 500miles to the city of Luxor. I loved Luxor. It's a beautiful place! Well, we woke up at 5am and headed for the Valley of the Kings. The reason we got up so early is because the valley of the kings is in the middle of the desert and it gets hot really quickly so we wanted to beat the temperature. I loved the valley of the kings. I remember studying about it in humanities so it was so cool to actually be standing there. They have the mummy of king tut still in the tomb so we got to see his mummy there where they discovered all of his treasure. So, after the valley of the kings we headed for the funerary temple of Rases the third, and let me tell you the pharoahs sure thought a lot of themselves. It was really cool to see the connection between the church and the apostate state that the egyptians were in. After that we just headed back to the hotel for free time where I took a nap, went to the BEAUTIFUL luxor museum and swam in the pools swimming pool. It was super cool, and super fun.
Day 5: This time we didn't have to get up so early but we did get up fairly early and took a horse and buggy to the Karnak Temple and then over to the Luxor Temple. Both of these are very interesting places especially with our knowledge of the church, because it is true that the knowledge was there but they just lived in an apostate state. Then we went on a Faluka ride down the Nile and that was killer cool because the driver and stuff started playing his drum thing and we all danced around and sang Arabic songs. Then we wen on our Camel ride which just adds to the list of transportations we have had on this trip. That was pretty cool and the camels were just led by some local boys, that was there job. They think American Women are beautiful here so we all got proposed to several times. After that we had more free time and I hit up the shopping center and swam around some more. We then headed for the stinky, gross, nasty train station where we would be taking an overnight train ride back to Cairo. The train wasn't actually that bad, I enjoyed it for the most part. At this point though I did just hit the point of exhaustion, where I didn't know what to do anymore. I started feeling sick, couldn't do homework, couldn't relaxing, it's a hard feeling for me to describe. After tossing and turning for a few hours I finally decided this was just not going to work so I got up and went and knocked on one of the boys bedrooms and asked them to give me a blessing, just for comfort and peace and the ability to make it through this rigirous program. They did and I'm so grateful that I knew I could just call on anybody. It was a beautiful blessing and I was able to sleep soon after that and have a better experience all together, not that it wasn't great before, this just made it better. I'm so grateful for the power of the priesthood and the faith I have in its ability to heal a person.
Day 6: We arrived in Cairo, with not even enough time to change clothes, shower, or brush our teeth, and headed for the Mohammed Ali Mosque which was super interesting and then had Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe Cairo. That was a fabulous place and it was nice to be back somewhere that felt a little more American. Then we headed to the HUGE Cairo museum where we got to see King Tut's treasures, a ton of statues, and then saw the mummy rooms where we saw some pretty famous pharoahs...as mummies. Then we went back to the hotel and had some freetime before we held our own little sacrament meeting. I had to speak at the meeting. That is my 6th talk in the last year. I'm never speaking again until I'm 60! :) It was a good meeting and I have never experienced a sacrament like that before. Well, the night ended early from exhaustion and I quickly went to bed.
Day 7:
We left early to head for the border crossing, and after we crossed we wen snorkling in the red sea! How cool is that!! It was beautiful and I thouroly enjoyed it...I would do it again for sure. We got back to the JC late but it was so good to finally get back. Well, That's the readers digest version of my Egypt Trip. I loved every second. Even though the water was dirty and we couldn't let it even touch our face let alone drink it (we had clean bottled water) and we couldn't eat anything that hadn't been cooked I still loved it!

To many pictures

I'm sorry, I wish I could share all of my photos with you, but there are just to many, and I can't access slide.com so I can only share with you some of my favorites. Egypt was so incredible, I loved it. Even the dirty parts of it I didn't mind so much. This week I have three finals, so I'm super busy. But they say after we get through this week life is much easier because then we will only have two classes. I'm excited. So, this blog will be short tonight, because the pictures took a long time to load, hopefully I will get a chanc tomorrow to tell you more.
Okay so day one on the trip to Egypt: July 6th. We left the Jerusalem Center at 6:30 in the morning to head towards egypt. On the way we were planning to stop at several biblical sights, so we knew we were in for a very long day. First we stopped at Beersheba where the children of Israel would have come through. It used to be a little city with a huge watering system underneath it, Also, it was one of the great fortresses of ancient times. Next, we stopped at the Wilderness of Zin lookout which is this huge desert that has absolutely nothing in it. This is where the children of israel wondered for 40 years. Next came Ben-Gurions Grave. Mr. Ben-Gurion and his wife help to seek freedom in Israel(I think, my notes aren't sitting right next to me) Anyways, then we headed to Advat Yotvata which is a Jewish Kubbutz. A kubbutz is kind of like a wanna be law of consecration place. Everyone helps everyone and shares everything and nobody makes money but the kubbutz pays for everything. It's weird, but it was neat to experience that. That is where we stayed the night. When we had dinner that night it kind of turned into a dance party and they taught us some hebrew songs and we sang and danced around, it was super fun.
Day Two: July 7 We left the Kubbutz at 7:30 in the morning to head for the border crossing. Let me tell you, I felt like the biggest refuge at the border crossing. We had to unload all of our stuff and carry it through secruity and the border and then into egypt and back on another bus. At least we didn't have to swim accross but it was an interesting experience to have to walk. Anyways, after we crossed the border we drove through the Sinai Desert. That is quiet the desert. There is not even a plant anywhere. It's unreal. we stopped at a rest stop and it was the nastyest place I've ever seen. We went to the bathroom in holes in the ground...men there also think American Women are just super beautiful so they sit and stare and some even ask you if you want to marry them. It's flattering, but weird. So, the boys that are with us have to be a little bit over protective and just kind of put their arms around us to make sure we are safe and stuff. It's super nice. but it will be weird to get home and not have anyone pay attention to me, becuase even though it's from creepy men on the street and the super nice men here at the center, we do get a lot of attention. We drove straight through to Cairo to our hotel ( 6 hours) where we were all very ready for a shower and bed. In Egypt we can't eat anything that hasn't been cooked or drink any of their water...imagine how showering went trying to not get it on your face so you didn't lick it or get it in your eye...yikes! you would get the runs if you did. :)We also went to the sound and light show which is played on the Giza Pyramids. It was incredible.
Day three: July 8 We got up really early this morning...5:00am and headed with our tour guide to the great pyramids. They were awesome. It was at this point that I realized the center had hired about 12 "secret service" men to protect us. It was unreal throughout the trip how they placed themselves and how you would all of a sudden notice them and wonder how long they had been there. It was kind of cool to have body gaurds and a security car that follows the bus around...I felt really spoiled. The center takes good care of us. Anyways, at the pyramids we got to go inside one. Let me tell you 170 nations of persperation inside the little holes we had to crawl through and around in is not pleasant, but it was cool to do anyways. We also got to see the sphinx which is actually where they would mummify the body to take it to the pyramid. This was just unreal let me tell you. the great pyramids are something you only see in books, you don't actually go there right? Then we headed to the old captial of Egypt which is Memphis (where they believe Moses was) and looked around there. Then we went to a Papyrus factory where we saw how they made there paper and stuff and I bought some Papyrus. We at lunch at a cute little reastaurant and then packed a smaller bag and headed for the airport to go to Luxor...that's where the incredible sunset picture is from...it's awesome i know! I'm quite the photographer. Okay, well I need to get back to my studies and this is longer then I wanted it to be. So I will fill you in on day 4-6 tomorrow. Remember me in your prays, this week is going to be a hard one, academically!

Walk like and Egyptian

kissing the Sphinx

Walk like an Egyptian

Yeah, that's me on a camel

An Egyptian Toilet

Room mates!

The beautiful Luxor Temple

our faluka ride across the Nile River!

The great pyramids of Giza

Some true desert peoples

The sunset in Egypt

Happy 4th!

crawling through a little cave

Headlights rock!

my nasty toe

Hanging out on the town

Michael, Caitlin, Abi, Gregg

This is the view of the Jerusalem Center from the old city

I love the fourth of July. It is my most favorite holiday. How sad I am that I was not able to be in the greatest country of them all this year. I'm so grateful and proud to be an American and for all the many blessings that Heavenly Father so abundantly pours upon me.
Now, for some cool stories. Since I last blogged, which was a coupld of days ago, I've been able to so some pretty amazing things. First, we got to go to the western wall last night and welcome in the sabbath. We are not allowed to take pictures because that is working on sunday so I will have to take pictures of it a different day of the week, however it won't be the same because it is not as crowded. it was awesome. That was a neat experience. The western wall is the most holy place to the jews and it was neat to go there and pray with them, dance with them, and sing, well more like hum with them because I don't know the words. I love being here and just embracing different cultures and learning from them. The biggest thing a person can learn though is that we are all not so different after all. Though they pray and worship differently it is all the same God in my eyes, and so it's just neat to see how different we can be. The curriculum here at the center has proven to be quite the challenge. It's a lot of work and it all comes so quickly. We took a midterm yesterday, can you believe that, a midterm and I've only been here a week!! AH! It's a lot of work, but it's worth it because I'm learning a lot. I'm spending as much time out in the city as possible, I just love being out there and knowing where I am and what's happening.
We leave for Egypt tomorrow, we can't take our laptops, so I'm not sure how long it will be until I can blog again. But I'll do my best. Church today was completly amazing. It was such a fabulous testimony meeting and I loved everything about it! I love being here with these 79 other students and letting them change my life is so incedible. They are all such amazing people and I hope that I can one day have just a part of the light that is in them. There testimonies are amazing, they are good students, and they are great friends. I love them. We've only been here a short while yet we all are in agreement that we have known eachother forever. That's how great it is. I know that I was supposed to be here this semester and meet the people that are here.
I love and miss you all at home! I pray for you and think of you often!

Field Trip!

Me being Daivid

A group photo in the chalk caves

coming through a little cave

In an underground storage thing, they mostly used them to grow pigeons.

This is us eating ice cream on the town. L to R Danenon, Caitlin, Tanner, Kristy

All is Well

I don't know if you have heard from the news yet about the terrorist attack here, right in downtown, but you should know that we are all perfectly fine. Nobody was down there because we were all gone to a field trip today. So just know that I and everyone else is okay. We did have a really fun, and long day today. We went to the lower valleys, between here and the beach and saw so many places in the old testemant. We saw where the story of samson and delilah happened and we also saw where the battle of David and Goliath would have happened. As well as where both of them lived and would have come from for this battle. Also we saw a bunch of under ground watering systems and got to wonder around some of those caves and such. It was pretty awesome. We are seeing so many cool things and sometimes it is so hard to soak it all in because there is just so much information. It's crazy. I'm loving the people that I am here with. I'm just so impressed with the respect level that everyone has already established for everyone else. My toe is healing okay, it was doing fine all day in the dust and crawling around and stuff until caitlin accidently stepped on it and ripped a new layer of skin off. Gross, I know. But what can you do right? I'm trying to catch up on all the pictures I've taken to remember what they are and stuff so that I'll have a record of them, but it's hard with all the other stuff I have to do, but that's okay.
I'm sorry I don't have much to say today. We've been gone all day, and it's been a very fun and eventful day but I'm just so tired. Oh, we did go out last night and experience some of the night life. It was so fun! We went to west jerusalem, where we are a loud to go after dark and just walked around the shops and stuff. I felt like a true college kid again, it was so fun! Well, I love you all. This will have to be a short one, my brain is kind of fried and I still have a lot of homework to do!

Okay, these images, one if of me being a true tourist. One is us singing hymns in the augusta victoria church, the other is the steps leading to the temple from the City of David, christ actually walked on these steps. Bethlehem is behind me. The one of just a field view is where the battle with the prophet Joshua happened, those are also the hills of Ephraim promised to his tribe. (cool huh?)This is the temple mount where solomons temple was and where christ will return to. It is now owned by the muslims and that behind us is the Dome of the Rock. More to come!

This is the view from my bedroom.

Blog Works!

Okay, so as you know. I first go here and the blogger wouldn't work. It was blocked, but appearantly it is now fixed!! Yes I'm so excited. Okay, well I have a lot to catch you all up on. I see mom let you all know about my toe nail, well, it's healing nicely. it still has it's occasional pain but it's almost done being red now and almost just skin. It is rather weird. I got the biggest blister on the side of my foot yesterday. "yes, I would like no toe nail with a side of blister please" and, it was on my left foot, just like me left toe. Poor thing.
I am absolutely loving life in Jerusalem! It is so fabulous!!! This is a once in a lifetime experience and sometimes as we are sitting in class and the teacher says...and we're going to go there....I always think to myself, no way. You can't go there, that's just a story in the scriptures. It makes me laugh. I love it. I have had the most amazing first week. It's just like the stories. for instance, when I was walking on the Mt. of Olives the other day, or when I was walking through the old city and thinking to myself the story of the women who touched the savior and he said who touched me and they were in this crowded area it's just so real. I love it.
The center is absolutely beautiful. It's incredible. I know, I've said incredible, awesome, wonderful etc. about seven times already this blog, but just continue to count on it. because those are the only words I can find to express my love for this place right now. It's fabulous!
I'm just so overwhelmed with all that their is to tell you since I've been blog less for a week, but now that I have it back you will hear from me more often. We will just start from here on out. I love you all. Thanks for all of your love and support. and remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.