Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho!!

Today we journeyed to Jericho. There is a long stretch of absolute nothing with a lot of hotness and sweat between Jericho and Jerusalem. Of course we didn't walk there like Elisha and Jesus, but we did sweat a lot while climbing those mountains. One of my favorite parts was seeing all the Bedouins with their little shacks built on a mountain of pure sand. They follow their little flocks around all day. I was thinking to myself, what do these animals eat? There is nothing!! But I guess the dried grass is brown and you can't really see it, but they say it is pretty delicious. I asked on of the goats and he told me it was not BAAAAAAAD. So there you have it.

We visited many places, but one of my favorite parts was seeing where the walls came tumbling down miraculously in the battle of Jericho and also Herod's palace. We saw the remains of the wall of Jericho that fell. It is another living testament that God lives. I was so amazed at how these simple acts, if we follow exactly what the Savior says, can help us work miracles. The Lord will do what is necessary

to protect us if we just follow what he says. We read the scriptures while we were sitting on top of those walls and I could just imagine them walking around the city everyday. The city of Jericho is actually really cool because between Jerusalem and Jericho there is nothing but hills of dirt, but when you get to the city of Jericho everything becomes green again because of one spring in that city that gives live to everyone therein. This spring was blessed by Elisha and made sweet, and ever since then the whole city has been able to live off of it. It's not that small though, so it would be hard to walk around the city everyday and especially 7 times the 7th day. But because of their obedience they were able to w

in the battle.

The lesson I learned in this is that no matter how hard or unreasonable commands from the Lord may sound, we must do it no matter what and have faith that he will do his part. Because I know he will, even though it doesn't make sense why we should do it.

This is Brother Chadwick who teaches us our Ancient near eastern studies. He is an archeologist and pretty much knows everything about everything. So it is so fun to have him with us to explain the why's of history.

These are the Bedouin homes that are on the rocky hills between Jericho and Jerusalem, they live to follow their livestock.

This is Lizzie and I at Jericho next to the spring, Jericho is actually below sea level, so we sang Under the Sea many times together.

This is the tree that short Zacheus climbed in the Bible so he could see Christ better when he came by, and Jesus saw him and said, "come down, I am coming to dine at your house tonight." So we had to stop and take pictures.

This is Amanda Judd and I on our field trip. She didn't really want to take a picture, haha. She is my Old Testament teachers daughter. It is so fun to have some kids around.

Shabbat Shalom!!

Last night I had the time of my life celebrating the bringing in of a new Sabbath day. I asked myself, why don’t we do this? Why aren’t we as excited as they are for a new Sabbath day to dedicate to the Lord?
I unfortunately don’t have any pictures or videos because it is against the rules on the Sabbath to use phones, cameras or anything of that sort. They will get mad at the tourists that come if they pull out a camera. But I will do my best to describe this amazing even that we were part of. This is a Jewish tradition. Shabbat means Sabbath in Hebrew. Their Sabbath starts Friday night at sundown and ends Saturday at sundown. Hundreds of Jews gather at the western wall and pray and celebrate the coming of another Sabbath day. The wall is divided so the women have their own side and the men have their own side. You will see a lot of Jewish women, in long skirts and high-necked shirts. The women who are married have to cover their hair with a scarf or a wig. The men where large hats or yarmulkes, long curls right over their ears, have long beards, and usually a white button up shirt with dark slacks. They prayer to the wall and rock back and forth and then they back away with out turning their back on the wall. Sometimes they stick notes in the wall to, but on the Sabbath is against the law to write so they can’t do it on the Sabbath.
We were standing on the women’s side watching them sing prayers out of their little books, I was surprised at how many young women our age there were. All of the sudden they started circling up and dancing, we got pulled into the circle and we celebrated with them. Even though we don’t speak Hebrew or even though we aren’t Hebrew they wanted us to celebrate with them and we loved it!!
We spent about an hour dancing and singing and watching the men do the same on the other side.
I have been so excited for the Sabbath day before. It is something that I will never forget. Lots of singing, chanting, praying, and dancing – my favorite.
If there is something that I have learned on this trip it is to not judge. We can learn something for every culture and the way they do things. I learned that we should celebrate the Sabbath every week and be grateful to worship the Lord. I also learned to accept others, celebrate with them!!! It doesn’t matter what you believe or how different you are, we can celebrate our Lord together!!
Shabbat Shalom everybody!! Shabbat Shalom!!


Here is a link to a video I found, it shows a little taste of what it looks like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18tZLwcVO2Q

Keepin it Kosher

In Jerusalem there is no such thing as a cheeseburger. Why you ask? Because it is not kosher. I have learned a lot about this since I arrived here in this beautiful land. They cannot mix meat with dairy. For example, if they eat meat they have to wait 6 hours before they eat any type of dairy. So a cheeseburger is definitely out of the question. There is a McDonalds in West Jerusalem and we walked in just to check it out and look at their menu and see how it was different. The main difference. . . . NO CHEESEBURGERS!! What is McDonalds without cheeseburgers? The answer is KOSHER. So here in Jeru we are keepin it Kosher☺

Just a few of my adventures this week

We were able to walk along the wall of the old city and have a birds eye view of what goes on and the people and culture, we loved it!! I was about 2 miles long. Can you see the dome of the rock in the background?

Here I am walking the narrow walkway on the top of the city wall with some good friends.

With some more friends overlooking the city.

Standing in the middle of the old city with a my friends, we were shopping and looking around, just exploring. We usually get out and do that for a couple hours a day. It is so fun! I don't think there is another city that is packed with more culture and diversity than Jerusalem. And to think, Jesus walked these streets!!

I have loved studying all the churches that we have been to, even though they are not of our faith, we take apart all the symbolism and relate to what we believe and the symbols we have in our temples. There are many similarities. This church was a Lutheran church called the Augusta Victoria, we were able to climb the big tower and look over the city.

I love this map in West Jerusalem. In this artists rendition, Jerusalem is in the center of the world, everything revolves around it. I love it!!! It kind of feels that way sometimes.

We were wandering through the old city and kind of got lost and found ourselves in the allies with a ton of kids playing, it was a more rural part where they had little apartments. It was cool to see all that, everything is so compact in the old city. Some people that live with in this small space, don't leave for months at a time because everything they need is inside.

This is Lizzie and I at the western wall. Crazy story, Lizzie is actually the sister of Hermana Tingey, who I trained in the mission. It has been awesome getting to know her. It is so incredible to see these devout Jews pray to God. I respect them very much for what they do and they way they actually LIVE their religion. They rock back and forth and chant prayers and sing. They also write prayers on papers and shove them in the walls. It is an amazing sight. If the men want to get close to the wall they have to where a yamaca, or something covering their head. I will tell you more about this later, because on Friday we are going as a group to watch them welcome in the sabbath at night. I am so excited!!

Abraham's Painful Journey

We are studying about Abraham. When we read the story of how he was commanded to sacrifice his own son Isaac, it took on a whole new meaning to me. This story has always astounded me, but lately having watched my sister lose her baby, this story holds new meaning. I have never been a mother before but I have seen my sister ache and mourn for the loss of her child. Isaac was the child that Abraham and Sarah were promised and they had waited a long time for Isaac. So when the Lord commanded him to kill his own son Isaac, this must have been incredibly hard. I would have thought, What? Are you kidding me? This is the child that you said would carry our posterity? But he says “Here I Am” and doesn’t murmur for one second. He doesn’t even have to ask why the Lord would want him to kill his own son. The next morning he arose early and prepared for the journey, a very hard journey. The last journey he probably thought he would take with his son Isaac.

God always tries with the trials that would help us grow and depend on him the most. He was commanded to do the hardest. In the beginning he probably thought that he would never have children and then Sarah conceived and he was so happy. Now the Lord is commanding him to kill their only son? What? The Lord has us suffer our worst thing. This is why Abraham had to be tested this way. The Lord was planning to give him some amazing blessings, but he had to see that Abraham would be faithful and obedient in all things before he gave him the blessings and before he became the father of all the righteous.

This is a picture right south of Jerusalem on a mountain called Haas promenade. This mountain is the one that Abraham climbed up from behind, coming from the city of Hebron, and looked over the small city of Jerusalem. Mt. Moriah was empty when Abraham saw it, but now on Mt. Moriah the Dome of Rock is there to remember Abraham and the faith that he showed at that moment.
As I stood over looking Jerusalem and Mt. Moriah and as I walked in the footsteps of Abraham our great grandfather, I was in awe at the faith and trust in the Lord that he had to obey the Lord and not murmur for one second, even if it didn't make sense. I hope we can all do the same in our lives. He lives, and has a perfect plan for us, even though it might not make sense.

I'm Here!! Jerusalem is amazing!!

We arrived in Jerusalem after a long long day of traveling! Everything went as planned with my group of travelers. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This experience outweighs all of they expectations I ever had. The people, the city, the Jerusalem center, the professors, and the chance I have to share my talents. Seriously, all this put together make one incredible experience!! After just the first flight I felt so close to everyone I was with. Everyone here is so outgoing. I feel shy here, and I have never felt shy in other social settings, haha. They are so well-rounded, talented, smart, and happy. I haven't met a bad one in the bunch.
I have felt the love of my savior so strong this past couple days.
Experience #1: During our first orientation meeting we met in the big auditorium where we have sacrament meeting every Saturday. The curtains were closed. The organ started playing and they opened the curtains to the windows that look right over the whole city and the dome of the rock. I can't describe the feeling I felt. Something told me. . "Do you know how lucky you are? Do you know how much I love you? I sent you to this place to learn something and because I love you. Don't take advantage of it." I never really knew what I was getting my self in to. But I am so excited that the Lord gave me this opportunity to learn more about his life and to feel his love for me.
Experience #2: So today was the Sabbath for us. We had church at 10 in the morning and choir practice before at 9. It was awesome what we could put together a prelude song in just a short time. So we sang right before the meeting and we had a full meeting, there was a big Mormon tour that was passing through. So we took the sacrament looking over the exact city in which the Atonement happened. Wow!!
Also, today I was given a calling. I am the new YOUNG WOMEN''s TEACHER!! There are 5 Young Women in this branch and there are only 13 in the whole country of Israel. So we are so lucky!! The Young Women are so amazing!! They are all from the US but here with there parents for work. 3 of them live right here in the center. They are so knowledgable and know the gospel really well. I am learning so much from them. There is a President of YW that we work with, her name is Sister Bentley from California. Shelby - another studentd, and I will be teaching every other week. I am so excited!! I have always wanted to work in Young Womens.
But the best part about this whole experience on the Sabbath was the blessings that Brother Muhlstein gave me when he set me apart after church. He doesn't even know me well at all, but I feel so much love coming from him. He is one of my professors but also in the Branch Presidency. In the blessing while he set me apart. He blessed me that I would love these girls like the savior does. He also told me that the Savior had a perfect love for me, that his love is overflowing and something that I cannot even imagine. He told that I am doing what the Lord wants me to be doing right now, and that my sins are forgiven me. I was shocked at the words he said!! I have never had such a personal and loving blessing while being set apart. Afterwards he thanked me for the willingness to serve and told me that this calling would change my whole experience here at the center. I know it will!! I felt so good after that blessing.

After church we went on a walk to visit the Garden of Gethsemene. I can't believe that I was standing in the spot where Jesus suffered for my every sin. The big gnarly olive trees were exactly as I had expected. It was really cool. Then we walked into the big church right next to it and there were holding a big Catholic mass in Spanish so I was able to understand a little bit and talk to some people from Spain. My day was complete!! I ended with a little Atonement and some good ol' Espanol!!

P.S. I also found out today that they might be able to get a harp for me to play. Across the street is the Hebrew University and I guess we can rent instruments from there. I hope that can happen because I would absolutely love to play in this beautiful auditorium looking over the whole city of Jerusalem.

Tomorrow we start all of our real classes, they are going to be intense!!
Love you all!

Today I Am Grateful for a Righteous Father

Lately, having seen many good men fall to temptations and lose their testimony, I have been so grateful for a pure father who honors his Priesthood. I have total and complete trust in him. I know he will never do anything to disappoint my family or stray from the church. There are not many men that I can say that about.
My dad has an incredible faith in the Savior. He will do anything that is required to serve in the church and give whatever is needed. He truly gives EVERYTHING to the church. His life totally revolves around the Lord and this wonderful church.
Today something happened that reaffirmed my total trust and gratitude for my father. Today is Easter Sunday, which means we ARE singing in the ward choir. It is something that we have done as a family for a long time. We had a choir practice at 8:20 before our meetings began. When my dad woke up that morning, he was swollen all over. He had had a allergic reaction to something the night before. His tongue, lips, hands, and feet were all swollen and itchy. My mom told me that dad was not going to choir practice because his tongue was swollen and he couldn't even talk very well.
While I was getting ready I heard my dad get out of bed and come out of his room. I had to go see how looked, poor thing. Let's just say he didn't look perky and ready for choir practice. I felt so bad. Well, my dad realized the importance of Easter sunday and also that he was one of the only Basses in our choir. He got ready in a jiff, and he was in the car before I was. I was shocked to see him ready for choir practice.
Not only did he go to sacrament meeting, he went early to practice, and stood in front of the whole ward with his swollen face. Where do his priorities lie? What is most important to my dad? The Lord and the church are much more important than his appearance. Not many people noticed this small act of dedication to the church. But I sure noticed it and I will never forget it. I will never doubt that my father will choose the church above all other things, no matter what trials and pestilences come. I love him!!