Going Out With a Bang

Today was a good day.  I started out by going running in the morning around the city.  I studied for a few hours after before I went in the city again.  

A few of us about to go out to the city.  This is one of the "back porches" of the Jerusalem Center. 

In the old city there are lots of candy shops that have the candy just sitting out openly.  Well Jenessa decides she wants to get some for our bus ride to Jordan tomorrow.  However, as she purchased her bag she realized there was something extra in the bag.  One BLACK HAIR.  That isn't exactly a cheery on top if you ask me.





















After the visiting the old city, we went to West Jerusalem. It was so much fun.  West Jerusalem kind of has a European feel to it.  I have never been to Europe, but parts of it look like how I would image Europe to look.
A bunch of us found this small, authentic feeling restaurant there named Modus.  It was so cute.  My friend Ty and I shared a goat cheese pizza and this interesting pasta.  The goat cheese pizza was sooo good. It was by far the best.  They also gave us free salads and  a pizza appetizer-like plate.  I image it was because we literally filled every seat and table of their restaurant.  However there was more than just good food to make the night eventful.

Our goat cheese pizza. 

Towards the end of our meal we see police lights out side of the window and part of the road right by us is barricaded off.  We figure that they were just checking out suspicious behavior.  We go on laughing and talking when all of a sudden a BANG ricochets off the walls causing us all to go silent. That's right, there was a bomb right outside of our restaurant!!!  No need to worry though.  It was done by the police, and peace continued to flourish in the streets right after.  Sometimes when things are found in Israel that looks suspicious, the police will blow it up.  That is why we were taught never to set our backpacks down and walk away from them. Life is full of crazy adventures!  

Post bomb picture. 

To top it off, we ended the night with yummy gelato. I got Ferrero Rocher. It was super good!

My Sabbath

One of the most wonderful things about being in Jerusalem is all of the history and sacred sights they have nearby.  After church I had the opportunity to go to the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Garden Tomb. 

Garden of Gethsemane 

The Garden is beautiful. I was surprised to see how small the area was though.  There were two younger garden areas, and one older one.  They are all fenced off so you can't really wander through them which is kind of a bummer. However the olive trees are so cool. This one was in the older garden. They can live for thousands of years! 

These are my cute roommates here in Jerusalem.  I believe this is our first roommate picture together.  It goes me, Jenessa, KC, and Jane.

 Garden Tomb

"He Is Not Here For He Is Risen."

 The Garden is so interesting because there are so many different religious groups worshiping there.  This last time I went there was a group who were singing, snapping their fingers,  and shouting 'hallelujah.' I love how there are so many people who love the Lord!  

Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock is incredible. I have been looking forward to going since I have been here, and I finally got to go!!! We only got to stay for a little bit because they have specific hours they are open. It is located on the Temple Mount which is a sacred place to many people and religions.  You had to go through security to get in... x-ray machines and all. 

Your first glance at the Dome of the Rock takes your breath away.  It is beautiful. The Dome of the Rock is built over a sacred stone that Muslims believe is where Muhammad ascended into heaven on his night journey. 

I took this as they were kicking everyone out(they were closing for a few hours). I am so glad I took it though.  It is one of my favorites. 

The Good Samaritan- Wadi Qilt

In the biblical story of the good Samaritan there was a man who was beaten and left for dead.  Although there were people who passed this man, he did not receive help until a kind Samaritan, who was filled with compassion, stopped and helped.  There are people everyday who are "beaten" down, and who need are help. In the story it is so clear that one should stop and help the beaten man, yet how come it is so hard for us to realize we need to help these people when we encounter them daily.  I challenge both you and me, to take the role of the Samaritan, and reach out a helping hand.  They deserve it, and we would want someone to do the same for us!

Jump for joy at the opportunity to serve others!!

Herod's Palace

Herod had many palaces including his winter palace in Jericho.  Something interesting about Herod was right before he was about to die he told his guards to kill all of the chief judges on the day of his death.  He wanted this because he knew he was not well liked and that when he died no one would be sad.  He wanted there to be mourning on his death, so he figured if other people died on the same day, that people would be sad on the day of his death. The guards never did kill the chief judges though. But that is weird, right? Moral of the story is live your life in a way that you want to be remembered. 

Cute children we saw there!

Jericho

Jericho, or the Tel es-Sultan, is famous because it is known as being known as the oldest and lowest city in the world.  It is also famous because this is where Joshua and his army caused the walls of the city to fall down.  "And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once.  Thus shalt thous do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat."
-Joshua 6:3-5

Behind us is known as the Neolithic tower.  This Neolithic tower is dated back to around 8000 B.C.  and is considered the oldest man-made structure. 

Our reenactment of the story of Joshua. "When ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat." -Joshua 6:5

Elisha's spring. This spring is still running, and is what allowed their to be an ancient settlement in Jericho. 

Call Me Mozart

The Jerusalem Center is notorious for a lot of things including the 3,165 piped organ. It is one of the biggest organs in the Middle East. Lucky for me and the other JC students, we get the privilege to have the Squirres here with us. They are both gifted musically, and make excellent teachers.  Brother Squirres was so nice to teach us how to play the organ. Although one might think it would be similar to the piano, it is very different.  You have to hold the keys longer, and overlap the notes so it doesn't sound staccato.

YMCA

The fun does not stop with the organ however.  I also was able to go the the YMCA Carillon tower.  This is a tower in West Jerusalem that has 35 bells that play for over 300,00 people who are in/around the city. I was able to go to these towers and play for Jerusalem.     

I know what you are thinking...how LUCKY West Jerusalem must have been to hear John,my lovely bell partner who has in fact never played the piano before, and myself who quit piano years ago play. I tried to upload the video of us playing, but unfortunately it is not loading at this time. But we actually did relatively well!  It was invigorating to know that thousands of people could hear you play.  As soon as we finished John exclaimed " my first concert ever was for 300,000 people!"  We both felt accomplished. After we got to ring the bells 12 times because it was 12 o'clock.  I was the first ding...Overall mom you should be proud!

Under the Jerusalem Center

So here at the Jerusalem Center the students are able to go and take a tour underneath the center. This is where students get their one chance to leave part of their "legacy" by signing their names showing that they were once students at this beloved school. Well I have three fabulous sisters, and two of them have had the opportunity to come the Jerusalem Center two years ago.  They were so great at helping me get ready for this journey, and I am so grateful for their love and support. I was on a mission to find their names in which I am proud to say I succeeded.  I was so excited!!  Rach and Chels, your names are still there:)

The Negev

We stopped at two tels in the Negev; the Tel of Beersheba and the Tel of Arad.  The Tel of Beersheba was our first stop.  Beersheba means the "well of oath" or the "well of seven."  There has been various scriptural accounts that have taken place here. Such as Abraham who dug a well at Beersheba, and tarred there for sometime during his life. You may have noticed in the Bible, during the time of the Judges, it uses the term "from Dan to Beersheba" when discussing distances.  Beersheba is located in the Negev which is used to explain the southern border of the Israelite territory.  
We went to the tel, basically a hill that has been excavated, and saw many remains of a city that was dated back to 900-700 B.C. It was most likely inhabited by government officials and used as a trading site.

My cute roommate, Jenessa.  She is so great!!

Reenactment of the city. I chose to be a guard. 

  It had a miraculous water system that was underground. We were able to walk through it.
 

A replica of an alter that was found there. 

At the  Tel of Arad, a small temple was found from the Israelite period. It was a Satellite temple( a temple away from Jerusalem.) They found many remains such as an altar, Holy of Holies, an outer courtyard,etc. However, it is believed that they were not doing things the right way, so either Hezekiah or Josiah "initiated religious reforms" and centralized altar worship to the temple in Jerusalem. 

The bottom of the wall is part of the real wall they found. 

Women Are Incredible

We were able to go to a Bedouin weaving center.  These are women who weave various things to make a living for themselves.  They are amazing individuals who fight for women rights. They began to weave so they could support themselves and their families.   A woman, who was probably in her twenties, was explaining how they started making their own newspapers because some people did not like to see pictures of women in the newspapers.  However, they know that women deserve respect and a chance in life.  These are amazing women who are smart and strong. “We believe that one woman should not change the world, but that we should all do it together.” This was my favorite statement from the trip. I completely agree with it.   

This is the weaving process.  They make the yarn(through various steps), die it, and finally weave it!

My Confession

So I have a confession.  I aspire to one day become a cute, artsy photographer.  Not necessarily professional, but just learn for my own personal benefit.  I have loved taking pictures and filming since I was a little girl. So on this trip, I am trying to take creative, fun photos. Jerusalem is the perfect spot for this because it is B.E.A.U.T.F.U.L.  It also helps that the view I have from the center is spectacular.  All of these were taken somewhere on the BYU Jerusalem Center grounds. 

The Jerusalem Center has a repetitive theme of arches. It is amazing. 

Orson Hyde Park With the Crew

We went to a park that was dedicated to Orson Hyde.  Due to safety, we must go there in groups of ten or more, with at least two guys(usually we just need to travel in groups of three.) This was not a problem.  A group of us just journeyed down the road to go check it out! It was beautiful. 

 

we. are. cute.

Overlooking Jerusalem. 

Pools of Bethesda

The pools of Bethesda is where Christ healed the sick.  People who were "barred from the temple" would wait there to be healed.  They have a beautiful church and garden there. 

Another beautiful church. This had amazing acoustics just like the Augusta Victoria.  It was so fun to hear and sing.  The group that I went with sang a few hymns in there.  A women, who is from the U.S. and is here teaching harp, also sang while she played her harp. It was magical. 

It is so incredible!

Jerusalem Overlook

We got to have an overlook at Jerusalem.  We visited a few spots including Seven Arches Hotel, Augusta Victoria, the hills overlooking Bethlehem, Nabi Samwil, and Tayelet. It is so crazy visiting places that have so much history. I don't think I will ever get over the "wow" factor.

Seven Arches Hotel View 

                                   

This southern part outside of the walls is where the original Jerusalem use to be. This is where Nephi lived. 

The steps right next to the wall are dated back to the time of the Savior.  These are steps Christ could have walked on in order to get to the temple grounds. 

The Dome of the Rock.  It is magnificent!

Augusta Victoria 

This is a Lutheran Church that commerates the ascension of Christ into heaven from the Mt. of Olives.It was breath-taking inside. There was such great detail everywhere. We got to sing in there, and the acoustics were amazing. 

See what I mean?! Mom I wish you could have seen it. I know how you love old churches. You would have loved it. 

The alter. 

This is called the Panto Crutor, meaning "ruler of everything." This is on the ceiling, which makes sense because they usually put it on the highest part of the church. The book Christ is holding means Alpha and Omega. The four gray circles on the four corners symbolize Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are four chief angels north, south, east, and west of Christ. The 12 outer circles represent the 12 apostles. Almost everything in the church had a meaning which I love!

An Overlook of Bethlehem 

I can't believe I got to look over the fields of Bethlehem. So much history.  This is where Christ was born.  These are probably the fields that shepherds watched their flocks by night before they got to go see the baby Jesus. In a few weeks I will actually get to go in Bethlehem! 

I love these girls. 

This is similar to what the Savior is likely to have been born in.