Hello again from Jerusalem. A quick update from Friday night, and then I want to share what happened yesterday.
Friday night we were able to go with our Judaism teacher to a local synagogue to see them welcome in the shabbat (sabbath). It was kind of similar to what we'd seen at the wailing wall... just a bit more toned down and organized. It was a congregation of mostly American's, but the whole service was in Hebrew. What was interesting was that after the service when everyone was mingling they spoke American English. It was a beautiful service though, with them singing Psalms in Hebrew for most of the time.
Now to yesterday's sabbath. 4 of us students went along with the Allen's, the way cool service couple, to church at the Tel-Aviv branch about an hour away. 2 of the students spoke while Carrie & I sang a duet of "Jesus, Lover of My Soul". Then afterwards we got to mingle with the branch at a luncheon they had. I love small branches like that... there's much more of a sense of unity. We spent a few hours in the afternoon at a member's home who's originally from Holland. Her name is Marietta and she's been in the branch for a while, even remembering the Jerusalem Center being built. It was so cool to listen to her stories about staying in the JC bomb shelter during the Gulf War, or having Elder Holland visit her home. Then we went to another members home where we played with their kids for a little bit while Bro. Allen did some temple recommend interviews. Then as we were getting ready to leave, they realized we hadn't eaten dinner and made something for us. We were made to feel so welcome! Finally we went to a New Beginnings fireside where Carrie & I were asked to sing another duet, this time of "Come Unto Jesus". Then we drove home thru ridiculous traffic (there was a 5 car pile-up). Bro. Allen was getting tired driving, so we started singing some upbeat hymns and songs to keep the energy going. All in all... it was a great day. The church here is small, but I got to witness their great faith.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Walk Like An...
It's been a whole entire week!!! And what a week! I'm going to do my best to give you the best possible readers digest version of our week in Egypt. The theme of this trip was ZERO downtime, so try to imagine that. Also, a secondary theme to keep in mind: terribly corny movie quotes. Anyhoo, enjoy...
Thursday morning we left bright and early, visiting several sites throughout southern Israel on the way, including the Negev wilderness, where Abraham separated from Hagar. We also visited a beautiful overlook of the Wilderness of Zin, which is also where Ben Gurion (the first prime minister of Israel) is buried. At the overlook, they had a short video about the formation of the canyon there. Remember what I said about movie quotes? "This valley took 45 billion years to form. If thats hard to comprehend, imagine a regular year, with all 12 months. Now imagine that one year, took 45 billion years." Oh yeah... they're that good. COMPLETELY put it into perspective for me. That night we slept at a Kibbutz, although it was much different than I'd imagined when listening to Nancy. We stayed in a full service hotel, played cards at night in the reception room, and noticed a fantastic looking olympic sized swimming pool! Now, a short explanation of exactly what a Kibbutz is: basically it's a little socialist commune, and they're scattered all over Israel. As we were playing cards that night, we received some bad news. You may have heard that a pretty powerful storm hit the Middle East a few days before we left, bringing as much rain to the area in a few days as is normally received in a year. So, we received word that some of the roads right within the Egyptian border had been washed out, and we might not be able to cross into the country. So, that night we all prayed for a miracle.
Friday, the miracle happened. The roads cleared up, the ridiculous back-log at the border cleared up, and we were able to cross the border almost without incident. I say almost, because someone took a picture from the bus of the no-man's land between Israel and Egypt, and so an agent boarded the bus and asked to see all of our cameras to see us delete those pictures. Right outside of the border is where we picked up our tour guide, Islam, who was AWESOME, as well as an armed escort! After a long drive across the Sinai peninsula and driving thru a tunnel underneath the Suez canal, we finally reached our hotel in Cairo. Remember our theme today? Zero downtime. We put our bags in our hotel room, got back on the bus and headed to... drumroll please... THE PYRAMIDS!!! Amazing! We watched a sound and light show that was pretty cool, and also quite humorous, although I'm pretty sure they didn't plan it that way. Favorite quotes include: "He was as handsome as a barbarian", "Now that you've beat me master, I've learned my lesson", "The world fears time, but time fears the pyramids", and "A room with a woman is room filled with evil things". But really, it was a good history lesson/story of how the pyramids were built.
Saturday morning we got up bright and early, packed up our stuff, and checked out of the hotel. Then we took a bus back to the pyramids for the more complete experience. Now, before I go any further I want you all to go back in time with me to the day I saw "The Mummy" for the first time. David was there, and might remember how I swore I would never go inside a pyramid. Well, Saturday I broke that oath!!! Also, anyone who knows how I feel about caves (claustrophobic to the max) will be SO proud of me. Why? Lemme tell you... (I'm gonna try and milk this for as much as possible and so make it sound ridiculously dramatic, which isn't too much of a stretch 'cuz it's the freaking pyramids!) So we started down a flight of stairs, and then got to the point where we were under the pyramid (we were under the middle sized one, Khafra). That's when we entered a tunnel about 4 feet high. As we got further in, the tunnel tightened a bit, with a few tunnels going off into the darkness of different directions. We finally emptied out into the main chamber, which was suprisingly not big... maybe 10 by 20 feet. It was empty except for the big stone box where the sarcophagus laid. Random fact: the acoustics inside pyramids are amazing! We sang as a group "High on a Mountain Top", then most people started filing out. However, a few us were addicted to the acoustics and kept singing. We were singing "All Creatures of Our God and King" when the next group (old people) walked in. To our surprise, they started singing! Guess what? They're LDS, from Orange County! ???!!! Small world, to be inside of an ancient Egyptian temple with all mormons! Once we left the pyramid, we were able to take lots of sweet pictures, including one of the Sphinx (which, btw, is a lot smaller than I imagined) kissing me on the cheek. When we got back on the bus, it was only 10 or 11, with the whole day ahead of us! We went to the papyrus factory, which was cool, went to Saqqara where the first kind-of pyramid was built (the step one), and also Memphis, where we went to a museum with a humongo statue of Ramses II. Then we drove to the Cairo airport for a quick flight to Luxor, which was my FAVORITE city in Egypt.
Sunday was another busy day. We went to the valley of the kings, where there are 62 tombs of Egyptian kings (which I found are not all called pharaoh's). Only 13 have been excavated, and we went inside 3. They are barren of the treasures that once were there, thanks to the STOOPID tomb robbers. Many of the hieroglyphics have been defaced by Crusaders and enemy kings wishing to erase part of history. But still, it was amazing to visit and see what I've only imagined before. We also visited the place where the scrolls containing the book of Abraham was found. Then we went back to the hotel (which just happened to be right on the Nile!!!) to catch a Felucca ride to the spot where we met for a camel safari!!! My camel's name was William Shakespeare, although the guide told me that when a girl is riding it's name is Cleopatra. It was fun, but mostly just relaxing, to ride alongside the Nile and see all of the green fields. We even passed some old houses that reminded me of southern plantation houses. When we were finished, we got back on the boats to head back to the hotel for sacrament meeting. However, there was no wind at all, so we had to wait for a motor boat to come tow us. Sacrament meeting was wonderful. We talked about keeping the commandments and the blessings that come from that. Then four of us guys sang "Our Prayer to Thee". The Spirit was way strong. That night we had free time and so took a taxi to the main market in the city. Yikes! And I thought Jerusalem had aggressive merchants! People were literally stepping in front of us to hassle us about their stuff, we had to completely avoid eye contact... and even shove a few people who wouldn't leave us alone. The girls got whistled at and cat-called every 20 to 30 seconds. I finally started pretending I was deaf. Still... it was way fun... part of the experience, I suppose!
Monday was a glorious day because it was a day without busses. We took a boat (a motor boat this time) from the hotel to the Karnak Temple, which is a huge temple plaza. Then we rode carriages across town to the Luxor Temple. Both were stunning, and it's amazing how many similarities there were between those and our modern temples today. The architectural highlight was the 65 ton red granite obelisk, all from one piece of stone. I would be blown away if someone did that today, let alone thousands of years ago! Then we had some free time, which we used to chillax. :) Then we loaded onto the bus (which I guess voids my opening statement... oh well) and headed to the train station where we boarded the night train back Cairo. They served us dinner, and for some reason I ate it! (it looked terrible) Thus began all my problems... pharaoh's revenge you might call it, or perhaps the cairo quickstep. In fact, my insides still haven't recovered, but we'll come back to that.
So we slept on the train and got to Cairo at around 5:30 in the morning on Tuesday. We headed to our hotel (which is technically across the Nile in Giza), put our stuff away, had a quick breakfast, and then headed to the Egyptian Museum, which was HUGE!!! The highlight was definitely the mummy room, filled with dozens of mummified pharaoh's. Honorable mentions include the mask of King Tut and the animal mummy room. From there we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. Because of the aforementioned train incident I ate barely anything, but it was still way fun. They started blasting Queen's "We Will Rock You" and we all got up and started dancing. Then they played "YMCA" and some people got up on the bar and danced with the waiters while me and some other people did a conga line around the restaurant. SO FUN!!! We probably cemented their views of loud obnoxious American's, but oh well. ;)
Wednesday morning we checked out of the hotel and headed to the Mosque of Muhammad Ali for a tour (it's not a functioning mosque, so I was able to get some pictures to show y'all later). There our guide, Islam, talked for a few minutes about the Islamic faith, including the 5 pillars of their belief. It was very eye-opening. My perception of these people had been severely scarred by radicals within their own religion, as well as the American media. What I found instead are a people with a strong faith in God and a desire to serve Him by serving their fellow men. Afterwards, we boarded the bus for the long drive towards Mt. Sinai. So now we are all able to boast that we have driven thru the Sinai desert... without A/C. Fortunately (?!?) I had a fever (stoopid train!!!), so rather than being hot, I was chilly! Luckily Carrie had a baggie hoodie with her that she let me borrow, so that helped a bit. We got back to the hotel around 7, and I skipped dinner to go straight to sleep.
Thursday we woke up at 2:30am to prepare to hike Mt. Sinai. We ate breakfast (2 slices of cheese for me, which was the first food I was able to hold down in 24 hours). Then we boarded the bus and headed for the Mountain. We started our ascent at roughly 3:30, and at first I felt fine. Men kept on walking by offering camel rides up the mountain. The worse I felt, the more appealing they seemed, until I finally succumbed and rode a camel up the rest of the way. We made it just in time to watch the sunrise. It was gorgeous. Then we just sat there and sang hymns for 15-20 minutes. We descended just a bit to get out of the strong/freezing wind, and there had a testimony meeting. The Spirit was very present as together we bore testimony of God, of His Son Jesus Christ, and of the Gospel taught through them. That was more of a moving experience than any of the other holy sites. We had some personal reflection time atop that sacred mountain, and then we began our hike down. We took a different way down, which was pretty much all stairs (which are really just strategically placed bouldors). My guesstimate was about 2100 steps. We then boarded the bus, and started heading back to Jerusalem. We ate lunch just an hour before we left Egypt, at a place right on the Red Sea. It was beautiful... I'll show you the pictures and you'll be convinced it's Hawaii, rather than Egypt with the mountains of Saudi Arabia in the distance. Alas, back on the bus it was, and at around 11 last night we got back to Jerusalem... home sweet home.
To finish up, a short list of things I learned in Egypt:
-no matter how hungry you are, never eat questionable train food
-baby wipes can be your best friend
-Wilderness can be beautiful
-King Tut is only famous to us because he was unimportant and practically unknown to Egypt, and thus the tomb raiders
-Egyptians may pray in lanes, but they don't drive in them
-Nothing is free in Egypt. Not even the bathrooms
-The ancient Egyptians had a lot of gospel truths
Well... that's it. Thanks for bearing with me thru what I know was a long post, but I hope it was interesting as well.
Thursday morning we left bright and early, visiting several sites throughout southern Israel on the way, including the Negev wilderness, where Abraham separated from Hagar. We also visited a beautiful overlook of the Wilderness of Zin, which is also where Ben Gurion (the first prime minister of Israel) is buried. At the overlook, they had a short video about the formation of the canyon there. Remember what I said about movie quotes? "This valley took 45 billion years to form. If thats hard to comprehend, imagine a regular year, with all 12 months. Now imagine that one year, took 45 billion years." Oh yeah... they're that good. COMPLETELY put it into perspective for me. That night we slept at a Kibbutz, although it was much different than I'd imagined when listening to Nancy. We stayed in a full service hotel, played cards at night in the reception room, and noticed a fantastic looking olympic sized swimming pool! Now, a short explanation of exactly what a Kibbutz is: basically it's a little socialist commune, and they're scattered all over Israel. As we were playing cards that night, we received some bad news. You may have heard that a pretty powerful storm hit the Middle East a few days before we left, bringing as much rain to the area in a few days as is normally received in a year. So, we received word that some of the roads right within the Egyptian border had been washed out, and we might not be able to cross into the country. So, that night we all prayed for a miracle.
Friday, the miracle happened. The roads cleared up, the ridiculous back-log at the border cleared up, and we were able to cross the border almost without incident. I say almost, because someone took a picture from the bus of the no-man's land between Israel and Egypt, and so an agent boarded the bus and asked to see all of our cameras to see us delete those pictures. Right outside of the border is where we picked up our tour guide, Islam, who was AWESOME, as well as an armed escort! After a long drive across the Sinai peninsula and driving thru a tunnel underneath the Suez canal, we finally reached our hotel in Cairo. Remember our theme today? Zero downtime. We put our bags in our hotel room, got back on the bus and headed to... drumroll please... THE PYRAMIDS!!! Amazing! We watched a sound and light show that was pretty cool, and also quite humorous, although I'm pretty sure they didn't plan it that way. Favorite quotes include: "He was as handsome as a barbarian", "Now that you've beat me master, I've learned my lesson", "The world fears time, but time fears the pyramids", and "A room with a woman is room filled with evil things". But really, it was a good history lesson/story of how the pyramids were built.
Saturday morning we got up bright and early, packed up our stuff, and checked out of the hotel. Then we took a bus back to the pyramids for the more complete experience. Now, before I go any further I want you all to go back in time with me to the day I saw "The Mummy" for the first time. David was there, and might remember how I swore I would never go inside a pyramid. Well, Saturday I broke that oath!!! Also, anyone who knows how I feel about caves (claustrophobic to the max) will be SO proud of me. Why? Lemme tell you... (I'm gonna try and milk this for as much as possible and so make it sound ridiculously dramatic, which isn't too much of a stretch 'cuz it's the freaking pyramids!) So we started down a flight of stairs, and then got to the point where we were under the pyramid (we were under the middle sized one, Khafra). That's when we entered a tunnel about 4 feet high. As we got further in, the tunnel tightened a bit, with a few tunnels going off into the darkness of different directions. We finally emptied out into the main chamber, which was suprisingly not big... maybe 10 by 20 feet. It was empty except for the big stone box where the sarcophagus laid. Random fact: the acoustics inside pyramids are amazing! We sang as a group "High on a Mountain Top", then most people started filing out. However, a few us were addicted to the acoustics and kept singing. We were singing "All Creatures of Our God and King" when the next group (old people) walked in. To our surprise, they started singing! Guess what? They're LDS, from Orange County! ???!!! Small world, to be inside of an ancient Egyptian temple with all mormons! Once we left the pyramid, we were able to take lots of sweet pictures, including one of the Sphinx (which, btw, is a lot smaller than I imagined) kissing me on the cheek. When we got back on the bus, it was only 10 or 11, with the whole day ahead of us! We went to the papyrus factory, which was cool, went to Saqqara where the first kind-of pyramid was built (the step one), and also Memphis, where we went to a museum with a humongo statue of Ramses II. Then we drove to the Cairo airport for a quick flight to Luxor, which was my FAVORITE city in Egypt.
Sunday was another busy day. We went to the valley of the kings, where there are 62 tombs of Egyptian kings (which I found are not all called pharaoh's). Only 13 have been excavated, and we went inside 3. They are barren of the treasures that once were there, thanks to the STOOPID tomb robbers. Many of the hieroglyphics have been defaced by Crusaders and enemy kings wishing to erase part of history. But still, it was amazing to visit and see what I've only imagined before. We also visited the place where the scrolls containing the book of Abraham was found. Then we went back to the hotel (which just happened to be right on the Nile!!!) to catch a Felucca ride to the spot where we met for a camel safari!!! My camel's name was William Shakespeare, although the guide told me that when a girl is riding it's name is Cleopatra. It was fun, but mostly just relaxing, to ride alongside the Nile and see all of the green fields. We even passed some old houses that reminded me of southern plantation houses. When we were finished, we got back on the boats to head back to the hotel for sacrament meeting. However, there was no wind at all, so we had to wait for a motor boat to come tow us. Sacrament meeting was wonderful. We talked about keeping the commandments and the blessings that come from that. Then four of us guys sang "Our Prayer to Thee". The Spirit was way strong. That night we had free time and so took a taxi to the main market in the city. Yikes! And I thought Jerusalem had aggressive merchants! People were literally stepping in front of us to hassle us about their stuff, we had to completely avoid eye contact... and even shove a few people who wouldn't leave us alone. The girls got whistled at and cat-called every 20 to 30 seconds. I finally started pretending I was deaf. Still... it was way fun... part of the experience, I suppose!
Monday was a glorious day because it was a day without busses. We took a boat (a motor boat this time) from the hotel to the Karnak Temple, which is a huge temple plaza. Then we rode carriages across town to the Luxor Temple. Both were stunning, and it's amazing how many similarities there were between those and our modern temples today. The architectural highlight was the 65 ton red granite obelisk, all from one piece of stone. I would be blown away if someone did that today, let alone thousands of years ago! Then we had some free time, which we used to chillax. :) Then we loaded onto the bus (which I guess voids my opening statement... oh well) and headed to the train station where we boarded the night train back Cairo. They served us dinner, and for some reason I ate it! (it looked terrible) Thus began all my problems... pharaoh's revenge you might call it, or perhaps the cairo quickstep. In fact, my insides still haven't recovered, but we'll come back to that.
So we slept on the train and got to Cairo at around 5:30 in the morning on Tuesday. We headed to our hotel (which is technically across the Nile in Giza), put our stuff away, had a quick breakfast, and then headed to the Egyptian Museum, which was HUGE!!! The highlight was definitely the mummy room, filled with dozens of mummified pharaoh's. Honorable mentions include the mask of King Tut and the animal mummy room. From there we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. Because of the aforementioned train incident I ate barely anything, but it was still way fun. They started blasting Queen's "We Will Rock You" and we all got up and started dancing. Then they played "YMCA" and some people got up on the bar and danced with the waiters while me and some other people did a conga line around the restaurant. SO FUN!!! We probably cemented their views of loud obnoxious American's, but oh well. ;)
Wednesday morning we checked out of the hotel and headed to the Mosque of Muhammad Ali for a tour (it's not a functioning mosque, so I was able to get some pictures to show y'all later). There our guide, Islam, talked for a few minutes about the Islamic faith, including the 5 pillars of their belief. It was very eye-opening. My perception of these people had been severely scarred by radicals within their own religion, as well as the American media. What I found instead are a people with a strong faith in God and a desire to serve Him by serving their fellow men. Afterwards, we boarded the bus for the long drive towards Mt. Sinai. So now we are all able to boast that we have driven thru the Sinai desert... without A/C. Fortunately (?!?) I had a fever (stoopid train!!!), so rather than being hot, I was chilly! Luckily Carrie had a baggie hoodie with her that she let me borrow, so that helped a bit. We got back to the hotel around 7, and I skipped dinner to go straight to sleep.
Thursday we woke up at 2:30am to prepare to hike Mt. Sinai. We ate breakfast (2 slices of cheese for me, which was the first food I was able to hold down in 24 hours). Then we boarded the bus and headed for the Mountain. We started our ascent at roughly 3:30, and at first I felt fine. Men kept on walking by offering camel rides up the mountain. The worse I felt, the more appealing they seemed, until I finally succumbed and rode a camel up the rest of the way. We made it just in time to watch the sunrise. It was gorgeous. Then we just sat there and sang hymns for 15-20 minutes. We descended just a bit to get out of the strong/freezing wind, and there had a testimony meeting. The Spirit was very present as together we bore testimony of God, of His Son Jesus Christ, and of the Gospel taught through them. That was more of a moving experience than any of the other holy sites. We had some personal reflection time atop that sacred mountain, and then we began our hike down. We took a different way down, which was pretty much all stairs (which are really just strategically placed bouldors). My guesstimate was about 2100 steps. We then boarded the bus, and started heading back to Jerusalem. We ate lunch just an hour before we left Egypt, at a place right on the Red Sea. It was beautiful... I'll show you the pictures and you'll be convinced it's Hawaii, rather than Egypt with the mountains of Saudi Arabia in the distance. Alas, back on the bus it was, and at around 11 last night we got back to Jerusalem... home sweet home.
To finish up, a short list of things I learned in Egypt:
-no matter how hungry you are, never eat questionable train food
-baby wipes can be your best friend
-Wilderness can be beautiful
-King Tut is only famous to us because he was unimportant and practically unknown to Egypt, and thus the tomb raiders
-Egyptians may pray in lanes, but they don't drive in them
-Nothing is free in Egypt. Not even the bathrooms
-The ancient Egyptians had a lot of gospel truths
Well... that's it. Thanks for bearing with me thru what I know was a long post, but I hope it was interesting as well.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
On the road again...
Sorry it's been a few days... busy busy busy! Last night I spent 5 hours finishing an 8 page paper on Islam. It's not due until Feb 2nd, but I figure this way I won't have to think about it while I'm in Egypt. (More on that later) I also read 29 chapters of the old testament this week! The reading here is like a raging mad bull that is chasing me. Right now I'm in front of it, and I'm really afraid to see what will happen if I slow down!
On a more interesting and exciting note, we went on another field trip this past Monday to Jericho, as in "and the walls came tumblin' down!" In fact, we saw some walls that might have been the one's to tumble! The most exciting thing about that trip was the monastery we visited, which was built into the cliffs overlooking Jericho. How they were ever able to build something like that, I have no clue. It was a heckuva hike to even get to it! It commemorates the traditional spot where Jesus was tempted in the wilderness.
Tomorrow morning at 6am we get on a bus and head for Bersheeba, which is one of the stops on our way to EGYPT!!! We'll be there for an entire week, visiting Cairo and Luxor. We're going to see the pyramids, the sphinx, the Nile... the whole 9 yards! Expect ridiculous amounts of pictures!!! We had our orientation yesterday, and although I'm still way stoked to go, I'm not slightly anxious. Basically, I should plan on not eating almost anything unless it's wrapped or boiled. Bottled water is to be used for everything from drinking to brushing my teeth. Last semester 60% got sick, with a few students even getting dysentery! So... I could very possibly be living off of Snickers and Mountain Dew for the next week! Also, on that same note, theft is a problem in Egypt, so I will be leaving my laptop in my apt here in Jerusalem. Consequently, I don't plan on being able to post anything, although I might find a way. Still, even with the anxiety, I am SO STOKED!!! Next week I'll be hiking Mt. Sinai to watch the sunrise! How completely awesome is that?!?!?!
On a stateside note... I found out where I'll be going this summer with APX... Montana! It's the first time APX is sending guys there, so we're expecting to be very successful. And..... it's only 6 hours away from Rexburg *wink*. Anyhoo... that's about it! Love ya, and talk to you later!!!
On a more interesting and exciting note, we went on another field trip this past Monday to Jericho, as in "and the walls came tumblin' down!" In fact, we saw some walls that might have been the one's to tumble! The most exciting thing about that trip was the monastery we visited, which was built into the cliffs overlooking Jericho. How they were ever able to build something like that, I have no clue. It was a heckuva hike to even get to it! It commemorates the traditional spot where Jesus was tempted in the wilderness.
Tomorrow morning at 6am we get on a bus and head for Bersheeba, which is one of the stops on our way to EGYPT!!! We'll be there for an entire week, visiting Cairo and Luxor. We're going to see the pyramids, the sphinx, the Nile... the whole 9 yards! Expect ridiculous amounts of pictures!!! We had our orientation yesterday, and although I'm still way stoked to go, I'm not slightly anxious. Basically, I should plan on not eating almost anything unless it's wrapped or boiled. Bottled water is to be used for everything from drinking to brushing my teeth. Last semester 60% got sick, with a few students even getting dysentery! So... I could very possibly be living off of Snickers and Mountain Dew for the next week! Also, on that same note, theft is a problem in Egypt, so I will be leaving my laptop in my apt here in Jerusalem. Consequently, I don't plan on being able to post anything, although I might find a way. Still, even with the anxiety, I am SO STOKED!!! Next week I'll be hiking Mt. Sinai to watch the sunrise! How completely awesome is that?!?!?!
On a stateside note... I found out where I'll be going this summer with APX... Montana! It's the first time APX is sending guys there, so we're expecting to be very successful. And..... it's only 6 hours away from Rexburg *wink*. Anyhoo... that's about it! Love ya, and talk to you later!!!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
I heard the bells...
Hello again and welcome to the blog! Sooo... this morning I totally slept thru breakfast. True true. Luckily they gave us sack lunches for our free day, so I just had it for breakfast (btw mom... I've developed a like for pears!) Anyhoo... so this morning Carrie, a friend named Jonathan, and I all left for the YMCA here in Jerusalem. I know what you're thinking... Yes, there's a YMCA in Jerusalem, and it's amazing! It was designed by the same architect that designed the Empire State Building, and looks more like a cathedral. Brother Whipple, the organist here at the center, plays the bells in it's tower every Sunday morning. We went with him, listened to him play, and then got to play ourselves! I got to play "He is Risen" on something that looked like an organ, except that it played the bells that rang all across western Jerusalem. How totally awesome is that?!?!?!
From there we went to the old city for lunch. Mmmm felafel's. We also spent a few minutes in the Rockefeller museum, which I'm sure is cool for people who know about the stuff in it... which for now is not me.
The definite highlight of the day thus far was about 2 hours ago. We got to spend roughly an hour at Gethsemane. First we went to the touristy side, took some pictures, and went into the Church of All Nations. But once the people working there figured out we were Mormon's, they asked us to follow them and let us into a private portion of the garden where we were able to sit, pray, read, and ponder without the noise and chaos the other side had. There's one thing I realized; I was expecting to have a ridiculously amazing spiritual experience for every sacred site we go to, but that hasn't been the case. Places don't do that. Places can be a powerful reminder of eternal truths, but they by themselves cannot testify. I am very grateful for experiences I have had in my life which have allowed the Spirit to testify of truth, and I'm grateful for these places that simply add validity to what I already knew was true.
From there we went to the old city for lunch. Mmmm felafel's. We also spent a few minutes in the Rockefeller museum, which I'm sure is cool for people who know about the stuff in it... which for now is not me.
The definite highlight of the day thus far was about 2 hours ago. We got to spend roughly an hour at Gethsemane. First we went to the touristy side, took some pictures, and went into the Church of All Nations. But once the people working there figured out we were Mormon's, they asked us to follow them and let us into a private portion of the garden where we were able to sit, pray, read, and ponder without the noise and chaos the other side had. There's one thing I realized; I was expecting to have a ridiculously amazing spiritual experience for every sacred site we go to, but that hasn't been the case. Places don't do that. Places can be a powerful reminder of eternal truths, but they by themselves cannot testify. I am very grateful for experiences I have had in my life which have allowed the Spirit to testify of truth, and I'm grateful for these places that simply add validity to what I already knew was true.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
I Stand All Amazed...
Wow... last night and today were both amazing!!! Last night, as I mentioned previously, we went down to the wailing wall to be with the Jews as they welcomed in the Sabbath Day. For them, it's more like a party; joyfully celebrating the coming of the Sabbath Day. I didn't take any pictures (it's offensive to them because it's considered work), but I was able to participate. So much fun! There were literally thousands upon thousands of people crammed into the plaza by the wall. A few of us were watching a group of young men dancing and singing, and when they noticed us they quickly invites us to join. It was a Jewish kanga line!!! As some danced, others beautifully sang and chanted the Hebrew script of the Old Testament. Although I don't share their beliefs, it was still very touching to watch as they joyfully welcomed the Sabbath, honoring the God whom they love.
After we got home last night, we played a massive game of Sardines (the center is 8 stories with dorms, a gym, a few theatres and lecture halls, some classrooms, and of course a few secret closet doors, so there were PLENTY of hiding spots) WAY fun! Then we all watched "The Prince of Egypt". Sigh.
Today has been my favorite thus far. We had church, and right after we all walked over to the Garden Tomb, one of the places that has been identified as possibly being the sight of Christ's burial. The other place it could be is at the church of the Holy Sepluchre. My vote (not that it matters) is for the garden tomb. The Spirit was so strong there. At all of the other holy sites we've been to, it's been cool but chaotic, with people running around, yelling, and pushy tour groups barreling their way over whoever's in their way. This was a much different experience. There were still plenty of people, and some of them were still talking much too loud, but the tranquility and Spirit of the site overcame it all. It was amazingly peaceful. We were able to all sit together and sing several hymns, among which is my favorite of all time: "I Stand All Amazed". I'll include the text at the end of this blog, because I love it that much.
But before that, I want to bear you my simple but strong testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. He was chosen from the foundations of the world to be our Savior. He came and lived a perfect life, and His motivation was the perfect love that He has for me, you, and all of God's children. Because of that love, He sacrificed His life, taking upon Him the sins and sorrows of the world. He died, was buried, and on the third day He rose again. I KNOW that this is true. In my own life, I have made mistakes both big and small, and I have felt the great cleansing power that comes from the Atonement. Above everything else, I pray that my time here will be able to strengthen my testimony of that.
"I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
confused at the grace that so fully He proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me He was crucified,
that for me, a sinner, He suffered, He bled and died.
I marvel that He would descend from His throne divine
to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
that He should extend His great love unto such as I,
sufficient to own, to redeem and to justify.
I think of His hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt.
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No! No! I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
until at the glorified throne I kneel at His feet.
Oh! It is wonderful that He should care for me enough to die for me.
Oh! It is wonderful, wonderful to me"
-I Stand All Amazed, Hymn 193 in the LDS HymnBook
After we got home last night, we played a massive game of Sardines (the center is 8 stories with dorms, a gym, a few theatres and lecture halls, some classrooms, and of course a few secret closet doors, so there were PLENTY of hiding spots) WAY fun! Then we all watched "The Prince of Egypt". Sigh.
Today has been my favorite thus far. We had church, and right after we all walked over to the Garden Tomb, one of the places that has been identified as possibly being the sight of Christ's burial. The other place it could be is at the church of the Holy Sepluchre. My vote (not that it matters) is for the garden tomb. The Spirit was so strong there. At all of the other holy sites we've been to, it's been cool but chaotic, with people running around, yelling, and pushy tour groups barreling their way over whoever's in their way. This was a much different experience. There were still plenty of people, and some of them were still talking much too loud, but the tranquility and Spirit of the site overcame it all. It was amazingly peaceful. We were able to all sit together and sing several hymns, among which is my favorite of all time: "I Stand All Amazed". I'll include the text at the end of this blog, because I love it that much.
But before that, I want to bear you my simple but strong testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. He was chosen from the foundations of the world to be our Savior. He came and lived a perfect life, and His motivation was the perfect love that He has for me, you, and all of God's children. Because of that love, He sacrificed His life, taking upon Him the sins and sorrows of the world. He died, was buried, and on the third day He rose again. I KNOW that this is true. In my own life, I have made mistakes both big and small, and I have felt the great cleansing power that comes from the Atonement. Above everything else, I pray that my time here will be able to strengthen my testimony of that.
"I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
confused at the grace that so fully He proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me He was crucified,
that for me, a sinner, He suffered, He bled and died.
I marvel that He would descend from His throne divine
to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
that He should extend His great love unto such as I,
sufficient to own, to redeem and to justify.
I think of His hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt.
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No! No! I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
until at the glorified throne I kneel at His feet.
Oh! It is wonderful that He should care for me enough to die for me.
Oh! It is wonderful, wonderful to me"
-I Stand All Amazed, Hymn 193 in the LDS HymnBook
Friday, January 15, 2010
Drinking from a fire hose
Sorry that I haven't written for the past few days... classes picked up like CRAZY!!! The semester here is front-loaded, so even though it's only 15 credit hours, for the first few months it's the equivalent of taking 18 credit hours. So over the past 2 days I've read 29 chapters of Exodus, written out 30ish Bible Dictionary Terms, read roughly 70 pages of Ancient Near East History, 10 pages of Modern History from the Islamic perspective, and 50ish from the Jewish perspective. I have found the best place to read is on the exercise bike (everyone else has found that out too... so now you have to fight for one!) because you're pretty much guaranteed to not fall asleep!!! So, that's been my exercise routine... exciting, eh?
With the increased workload, I haven't had as many chances to go out into the old city, but yesterday we were able to go to a few cool places. We went to Absalom's pillar (he was the rebellious son of David) as well as Zacharia's tomb. There were some caves by the tomb we went into, and then we turned on a flashlight and saw a bunch of humongeous dead (I think... and hope) spiders hanging from the ceiling. AACCKK!!!! As you might imagine, we got out of there pretty fast and commenced checking each other's hair and back for evil eight-leggers. I still managed to get some pictures of said evil spiders, though... just for y'all!!!
Tonight is the beginning of the Jewish sabbath, and we're taking a field trip to the Western (or Wailing) Wall to be there for the evening Sabbath prayers. I'll be sure to tell you more on that tomorrow.
Well, on that note, I'd better go and get some more HW done. See ya!
With the increased workload, I haven't had as many chances to go out into the old city, but yesterday we were able to go to a few cool places. We went to Absalom's pillar (he was the rebellious son of David) as well as Zacharia's tomb. There were some caves by the tomb we went into, and then we turned on a flashlight and saw a bunch of humongeous dead (I think... and hope) spiders hanging from the ceiling. AACCKK!!!! As you might imagine, we got out of there pretty fast and commenced checking each other's hair and back for evil eight-leggers. I still managed to get some pictures of said evil spiders, though... just for y'all!!!
Tonight is the beginning of the Jewish sabbath, and we're taking a field trip to the Western (or Wailing) Wall to be there for the evening Sabbath prayers. I'll be sure to tell you more on that tomorrow.
Well, on that note, I'd better go and get some more HW done. See ya!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Mmmmm Mmmmm Good!!!
Today was a more low-key day. Had 3 classes, including our first Modern Near East Class, taught by a Palestinian Christian, which goes over the Palestinian point of view and history of the current conflict. Very interesting!!! We also had a bit of free time today, so we went out into the city for a couple of hours. I'd been dying to try some of the pastries in the streets, and today I got my chance. None of them were bad, a few were OK, but one of them (I have no idea what it's called) was AMAZING!!! It was this sweet cheese with some nuts and spices, breaded and covered with a greenish cream sauce. MMMMM!!!!!!! Along those lines, the food here in the center is waaaay good (I just had curry for dinner... jealous Lauren? haha) I've made a rule for myself that I can't take seconds, I have to eat the vegetables, and I only get dessert on Saturdays (the Sabbath) or if it looks REALLY good. I'm also exercising in the mornings, plus just walking to anywhere from the center is like the stairstepper from down under. So... hopefully I'll return to you skinny! Anyhoo... that's my random note for the day. Everyone have a fantastic day!!!
Monday, January 11, 2010
A bird's eye view
Hello again everyone! So I'd like to think that every day millions wait in anticipation for my latest blog update. Alas, it is not so, so thanks to the few (if any) that are reading these and bearing with me. I'd love to hear from you, so shoot me and email any time you'd like.
Last night I got to bed at the amazing hour of 9:30. I know, I know... who am I and what have I done with the real Jeremy?! But seriously... YOU try walking around Jerusalem all day and then tell me you're not tired! So, side note (I promise it'll be relevant!) ... every day there are 5 calls to prayer broadcasted from the Muslim mosques of the community. It is a gregorian-type chant, all in Arabic, sung out over the entire city. The first happens at 4:30am, and it's been waking up everyone else, but I've always been sleeping too deep. Well... this morning I actually woke up for it, and just lay there listening to it. It was gorgeous!!!
Today we had our first real field trip of the semester, and it was awesome. We went to four different sites on the outskirts of the city, each giving us different vantage points for us to see the city and the surrounding sites. The main purpose was to geographically orient ourselves. Once again I realized how surprisingly close together most of the Old Testament sites are. The first place we went is where legend states the prophet Samuel is buried. From that high point, we could see where 70% of the OT took place!!! My favorite site was an overlook just under that Seven Arches hotel that overlooked the old city and the Kidron Valley, where stands Golden Gate, where the resurrection is supposed to take place. From another vantage point, we were at the spot where Abraham would've been when he first saw the mount where he was commanded to sacrifice Isaac. Our professor made a comment that really got me thinking... Abraham was probably incredibly anxious and scared about what the future would hold. I, and probably you, face fears about our futures. Do we have the faith to continue to follow what the Lord asks of us... even if we don't fully understand it?
On a different note... classes are picking up. Today I read 82 pages for my Ancient Near Eastern Studies class, and after this I'll be working on 35 pages for my class on the Israeli/Zionist perspective. It's nice though to have everyone be in the same classes. Well, anyhoo... I gots to go, but thanks for reading! Talk to you soon!
Last night I got to bed at the amazing hour of 9:30. I know, I know... who am I and what have I done with the real Jeremy?! But seriously... YOU try walking around Jerusalem all day and then tell me you're not tired! So, side note (I promise it'll be relevant!) ... every day there are 5 calls to prayer broadcasted from the Muslim mosques of the community. It is a gregorian-type chant, all in Arabic, sung out over the entire city. The first happens at 4:30am, and it's been waking up everyone else, but I've always been sleeping too deep. Well... this morning I actually woke up for it, and just lay there listening to it. It was gorgeous!!!
Today we had our first real field trip of the semester, and it was awesome. We went to four different sites on the outskirts of the city, each giving us different vantage points for us to see the city and the surrounding sites. The main purpose was to geographically orient ourselves. Once again I realized how surprisingly close together most of the Old Testament sites are. The first place we went is where legend states the prophet Samuel is buried. From that high point, we could see where 70% of the OT took place!!! My favorite site was an overlook just under that Seven Arches hotel that overlooked the old city and the Kidron Valley, where stands Golden Gate, where the resurrection is supposed to take place. From another vantage point, we were at the spot where Abraham would've been when he first saw the mount where he was commanded to sacrifice Isaac. Our professor made a comment that really got me thinking... Abraham was probably incredibly anxious and scared about what the future would hold. I, and probably you, face fears about our futures. Do we have the faith to continue to follow what the Lord asks of us... even if we don't fully understand it?
On a different note... classes are picking up. Today I read 82 pages for my Ancient Near Eastern Studies class, and after this I'll be working on 35 pages for my class on the Israeli/Zionist perspective. It's nice though to have everyone be in the same classes. Well, anyhoo... I gots to go, but thanks for reading! Talk to you soon!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Feel the burn!!!
Hello from 72 degree Jerusalem without a cloud in the sky. Take that Utah!!! Today was our free day, and we most definitely made the most of it. One thing that's surprised me is how close together everything is! When I've read the Bible, I always picture everything so far apart... NOT SO! First we visited the Wailing Wall (no David, I did not get a prayer for you... lol) which was way cool. We had to put on a head covering to go down to the wall, so stay tuned for a picture of me wearing a cardboard kippa! At the actual wall were hundreds of people praying. They rock back and forth as they pray, trying to be obedient to the call to pray with all your body, mind, might, and heart. Next we went about a block away to visit the Dome of the Rock. It was beautiful!!! I never realized how much controversy surrounds that structure. It is a Muslim mosque, which stands on the site of Solomon's temple. The Jews believe that it will be torn down for the temple to be rebuilt before the Messiah can come. So, yeah... a bit of a hot topic. Next we went to the Austrian hospice, where we ate lunch, and then took some awesome pictures from the roof. From there we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre... again. This time we were armed with cameras. We waited in line to be able to go and touch the shrine which is where many believe Golgotha was. In the same building is where some believe that the tomb was. Just down the street, we went to a little church's basement, where the Savior was supposedly imprisoned with Barabbas. Done yet? NO! Next we got lost on the way to Jaffa's gate, and ended up in the Israeli quarter of the old city. We didn't realize it until someone greeted us in Hebrew rather than Arabic and it through us a bit off. We eventually got to Jaffa's gate and did the Rampart's walk on the walls of the city. From there we passed by the wailing wall yet again on the way to get our first dose of falaffel, which I must say is amazing. Finally, on the way home, we stopped by Aladdin the money changer (yes Nancy, he's still here!) and I got some more money. Whew! Now it's 4:30ish and I need to give my legs a rest (LOTS of steps and uphills here) and get some studying done. Signing off for the day. Love ya! (well, most of ya) ;)
Saturday, January 9, 2010
My first Sabbath
Today was my first Sabbath day spent in the Holy Land, and it was amazing. We have sacrament meeting in a concert hall with huge windows looking through huge stone arches out to the city of Jerusalem, with the dome of the rock to the left above the western wall. Talk about distracting!!! AND I got to help pass the sacrament in the city where it was first instituted. I can't believe how blessed I am to be here for 4 more months still! Afterwards we had normal meetings. At the end of elders quorum we all went outside and sang "O My Father" together to the tune of "Come Thou Fount".
Just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, it did! Every sabbath after church we have a few hours of free time, so a group of us went to the Orson Hyde Memorial Park, which is only a 10 minute walk away. It's the spot where Orson Hyde dedicated the Holy Land for the gathering of the children of Abraham. We sat in the stone amphitheatre and read the dedicatory prayer, and then walked around the gardens. If we'd had time before dark (we can't be out in the old city after dark) we would've been able to visit Gethsemane... only a few more minutes away. Thankfully, we have ALL DAY tomorrow for free time. :) I can't wait!
Feel free to email me and keep in touch! I might be able to get a few picture albums up to my facebook in a week or so. I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
And so it begins...
Well hello everyone! It's been an eventful few days and I wanna tell you about it! Please keep in mind that I've got some jet lag going on, so forgive me if something doesn't make amazing sense.
Sunday night I got into Provo, and Monday we had our orientation meeting about all the ins and outs of the program. That night I got to go on an awesome date... 
and then checked into a hotel for the night where, after re-packing my stuff, I got a miraculous 4 hours of sleep! At 6:30am we all met in the airport, and by 9 we were in the air towards Denver. I won't bore you with all the details, but just know that we went from there to DC, then to Vienna (I didn't get up once for the whole 8 hour flight! 
), and finally to Tel Aviv, where we caught a bus to the Jerusalem Center. It's beautiful here! We had orientation here in the big meeting room, which overlooks the old city, including the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall. We had a few other meetings, and finally we were off to bed. I don't even remember my roommates turning off the lights!
This morning we got up early (6am), quickly ate breakfast, and then went on a 4 hour walk through the old city. OMG!!! I want to live here... OK well I do for now, but I mean for more than just 4 months! The city is amazing, and that's after just a whirlwind tour. We went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where tradition states the crucifixion took place, as well as Christ's burial. We also went up on the roof of the Austrian Hospice where we had an aerial view of the entire city. That building's purpose is to take care of the many pilgrims that come through. It has a beautiful chapel, rooms, food, and medical care. Our guide, Sister Allen, pointed out that the Jerusalem Center is the same. It is a place of refuge, and we should remember that we are more of pilgrims than mere students. WOW! These 4 months are going to be an amazing experience.
A few housekeeping notes...
I'll hopefully be able to check this a few times a week. I might not be able to post any pictures... although supposedly our next door neighbors at the Hebrew University have better internet, so I might be able to do it from there. As for the best way to get a hold of me... email is going to be the best.
Well... that's it for now... have an AMAZING day!
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