Here's the Proof

  I know, I know, it has been almost a whole month and this is my first post since I've been here, but that is even more proof that I really am living the life in Jerusalem--I really have barely any time to sleep let alone try to give you all a decent glimpse of this beautiful Holy Land. Words truly cannot express the experiences and the feelings that I have felt here. I feel like this is my home now.
  So, without further ado, I'll give you a quick tour of my new home and hopefully you can somehow feel a portion of the amazing experiences I have been so blessed with this past month.
             [WARNING: this is a very random mix of my experiences here and not even close to all the pictures and details I want to share with you all... so be patient with me]

One of the first amazing visits of the Old City was the Dome of the Rock. We are not allowed inside because we're not Muslim, but it is still a beautiful Mosque. We have the wonderful experience of hearing the Call to Prayer 5 times a day played from loud speakers all across the city and echoing from the hills...one of which is every morning at 5-6 AM. [I am officially not a tourist any more because I can sleep through it :)]

This is a south eastern view of the Old City and the Dome of the Rock. You can see the Kidron Valley and the Jewish graves at the bottom of the picture on the Mount of Olives (where supposedly they will be the first to be resurrected).

Me, Tucker, Dane

This is a view into the city of Bethlehem (in the West Bank, so we have to get specific permission to travel there), which we will go to later. We sang O Little Town of Bethlehem and some other Christmas hymns and made me wish it was Christmas again. My pocket size hymn book is my best friend--we seriously sing several hymns at every site, which invites a very special and sweet Spirit to these sacred sites. 

Sarah B., Me, Megan

The Augusta Victoria Cathedral that is right behind the Jerusalem Center.

Inside of the cathedral is absolutely beautiful! 

In the Old City, there are all kinds of fun little shops and stores that have crazy spices, foods, and candies. I am now very used to eating everything without knowing what it is--kind of a fun mystery game I guess...

Just some neat arches in the Old City; there are beautiful things like this everywhere which make me feel like the US is so bland and boring.

There are a lot of people in the old city that love to display their Israeli membership. There are four quarters of the Old City that are separated fairly distinctly: the Muslim quarter, the Christian quarter, the Armenian quarter, and the Jewish quarter. It's pretty interesting to see the differences.

Just a nice Arab guy that was rocking out to some sweet Arab music on his handheld radio. 

There are so many beautiful courtyards in the Old City that surprise you because you turn a corner from a dumpy alley way and then see these extravagant homes. [this one is pretty modest compared to others] 

Just a view from my back porch--sunsets are breath-taking here! This is one of my favorite places to just sit and ponder about my life and the Gospel.

This is the Garden Tomb where Christ was most likely laid after His crucifixion. 

There are always many diverse groups of people in the Gardens worshiping Christ in their own different ways. I heard this group while I was writing in my journal and felt the Spirit through their music. Hopefully this captures some of the feelings I felt.

This is on the door to the sepulcher. This is what we should be focusing on: That Christ Lives! He is Risen! Even if this was not the spot where He was laid, the event still happened--Jesus Christ was resurrected on the third day and lives as our Savior and Mediator. We can look to Him in all of our times of need. Through the Holy Ghost we can feel of His comfort, love, and peace; we can be truly happy through Christ because He is the way. 

Some of the studly men that I get to associate with every day :)

Me and David at the Israel Museum which is MASSIVE and we spent over 4 hours there and didn't even make a dent. 

This was an outdoor model of how Jerusalem would have looked during King Solomon's time. 

This is Alladin (pronounced All-LAH-deen) who is our favorite money changer. He has all  these BYU posters and notes from past Mormon students all over his walls. He loves to make Mormon jokes and offer us coffee then say, "oh, just kidding, you don't drink that." :) The shop keepers all know who the Mormons are and love to talk and talk and talk to us. They give us advice on places to go and decent prices for different things. Their system for changing our money completely is based on trusting the integrity of us Mormon students, which is truly amazing after years of dealing with students like us. The people here are so sweet; for example: we asked Alladin where to get a good falafel (see below), and he immediately said, "oh, let me just show you" and he walked almost a full block with us to show us the shop personally. They really understand how to connect with people and make sure everyone is comfortable--I love it and think the US could use a few more people like these guys!
[And yes, Alladin did let me hold $40,000 just to let me get this picture]

My first falafel! These are the most common lunch items around here. They take ground up chick peas, ball them up, fry them, and put them in pitas with french fries, tomatoes, spicy mystery sauce, and other condiments...SOOO yummy!
Instant happiness for only 7 shekels! 

This is on the Ramparts Walk, which is the wall around the Old City. You pay a small fee to get to walk around almost (except for the wall near the Muslim quarter) the entire wall around the city. It gives a whole new perspective on the city in many ways and it's simply beautiful!

This is near the top gate (Jaffa gate) of the Old City and looking out to West Jerusalem. West Jeru has a whole different feel to it: it is WAY more modern, clean, safe, and westernized. A lot of orthodox Jews spend time there, so you see many men in full black suits with the top hats and the peyot (long curls of hair over their side burns) and their kippas (the word we use for yamaka). 

The view from the wall shows the whole new world of the life happening on top of these buildings. It's pretty amazing to see full soccer fields, houses, shops, patios, and schools on the tops of these buildings; you would never know it from below.

Alley ways like this are pretty common, but the stray cats are even more common--it's disgusting! It is actually pretty sad to see how abused and trashed the Old City is. Needless to say, hand sanitizer is our best friend.

You can see the Dome of the Rock in this picture, but also notice all the black and white water tanks, satellite dishes, and solar panels on the roofs of every house. This is VERY common here, not very pretty, but it is how they live.

Again, it's sad how trashed this city gets. Especially since these are remnants of old ruins...now it's becoming a landfill.

Holding my home in my hand! The Jerusalem Center is absolutely beautiful from a distance... and to live in. :)

Just a great doorway in the old city

Dome of the Rock and the Jeru Center on Mount Scopus!

We got in the spring at Jericho (after we sang "Joshua fit the battle at Jericho, Jericho, Jericho..." and tromped around the remains of Jericho a bit) where Elijah healed the water from being bitter. In a dry, arid land like this the spring is the life source of the city; we sang and talked about how Christ is the single life source in our own lives. Through Him we can have everlasting joyful life flowing from His abundant Fountain of Righteousness. 

Apparently it is tradition to try a taste of this 'healed' water, so I gritted my teeth and tried a sip before I thought too much about how many germs and bacteria I could be drinking...

This is the Wadi Musa with the view of the St. George monastery built into the cliffs' edge. There are monks and nuns that stay in this monastery for years and people that pilgrimage here to escape from the world and stay in little caves for months at a time. It would be an interesting experience to be completely cut off from the world and have our sole focus be on the Lord.
We need to find our own way to find a place and time in our busy schedules to dedicate to the sole focus of the Lord and His will for us. I know that as we do this, we will be happier, we will be more peaceful, and we will never go astray. 

There are crosses like this all over the wilderness to mark some peoples' pilgrimages to that spot.

When you see 'wilderness' in the Bible, try to picture this landscape...it's probably a little more accurate than an Amazon jungle.

This area is called the Judean Wilderness where Jesus Christ would have been during His 40 days of fasting and prayer. As He was tempted by Satan and left alone in this barren wasteland, there was no one and no thing to support Him but His Father in Heaven. We sang and talked about our own 'wildernesses' in life where we feel like we are alone and suffering by temptations. We had 10 minutes to just sit in silence and ponder about these things. All I could hear was the whispering of the wind, which had strong symbolism to me of the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. It was amazing how quickly inspiration and revelation came to me as I sat pondering about Christ and God's will for me. One of the biggest lessons that I have learned since I have been here is that pondering is KEY to spiritual growth and maturity. 

This is on top of Mt. Nebo where Moses was 'buried', but probably translated.
[me, Alyssa, Makara, Hannah, Danielle]

This is Machaerus, where John the Baptist had his head cut off.

no explanation... 

[me, Ethan, Sarah B.]

THE BEST HOTEL EVER!! This is during our trip to Jordan. We pulled up to the hotel to be greeted to live music, fully decorated horses and men in Arab garb, free juice, and yummy pita breads. Then we were treated to an amazingly gourmet dinner at the hotel with literally 8 pieces of silverware each and napkins folded into hats. :) All during dinner we were being serenaded by a man on a wooden flute and a bongo drum guy totally rocking out. After dinner somehow their rocking out transformed into a full-on dance party with the whole hotel staff and chefs. Some of the Jordanian men showed us some traditional dances and we parties in the restaurant for over and hour. It was easily the best hotel I've ever been to. 

[me, Tucker, Sarah B., staff..., and Sarah Beth]

A little bit of Indiana Jones for ya...
[this is the Treasury which is the most famous facade in Petra]

These are the traditional red and white keffiyeh (headdress) that the Arab men wear here, although it wasn't offensive for me to wear it. However, it was offensive to one of the Jordanian men who saw me try miserably to put it on correctly, so he decided that he needed to do it for me. :) 

[me and Tucker sporting the keffiyeh while enjoying some delicious magnum bars]

Bucket List---Ride a camel: CHECK!!

And I did sing "Arabian Night" from Alladin while riding this camel. They really do spit too! (and hiss and growl and even bit one of the guys in our group...)

All along the 700+ stair steps up to the Monastery (another facade much larger than the Treasury) there were Bedouin women and children selling jewelry and little trinkets like these. The long strands of beads with camels were so tempting that I bought one to bring a little Petra home with me. The women kept cheering us on during the long trek to the top by lying to us and saying over and over "you only have a short while to the top, but come back and buy from me."

Inside of the Monastery

                                                Horse ride back from the Treasury

We had a couple nights where we were free to roam the city in Jordan, so we somehow gravitated to an Arabic Burger King to ease my cravings for some soft serve ice cream and a little bit of home. It really wasn't very similar at all, but a good time regardless.
[Jen, me, Tucker, Brennan, Megan]

We had a good experience as we got to put on the Muslim attire and go inside the King Abdullah Mosque in Jordan. We had our Jordanian guide explain Islam to us more as we took it all in.
[Jenae, me, Shaylee, Boone, Letty, Tucker]

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There have been so many experiences since I have been here that have made me stronger, more steadfast, more compassionate, and more aware. Along with plenty of experiences that have made me less ignorant, less prideful, and less judgmental. No matter where I am, I can feel the love of our Heavenly Father for each of His children individually, regardless of their religion, race, stereotype, beliefs, language, neighborhood, clothing, or status. God does not discriminate among His children. Although, I do feel extremely blessed beyond expression for all that He has given me. I have been born in a free country, raised by good parents, given opportunities to express myself and get an education, able to worship freely, and blessed with the knowledge of the Savior and His role in my life. 

Hopefully this gave you a nice glimpse of the history, land, people, and experiences of the Near East. I'll try to post more often, but it is way more difficult than you would think. :)