Alyssa in the Holy Land

Stuff to Buy in Jerusalem

2011-08-02T12:49:00.001-07:00

Hey KL,

Before you leave Jerusalem, I was wondering if you could buy this stuff for me that I REALLY want.

A. This picture of sheep with gold leafing (Madison also has this):

B. This poster (I have the small one, but I really wanted the larger one):

C. A Wall Hanging like this in this color (there are cheaper looking versions, don't get):

D. I would like a BYU Jerusalem Hoodie in Navy (NOT SHOWN)

E. Also a t-shirt with this design (small):

F. Two t-shirts like this (in small):

G. and these sandals in 8 1/2 american women size:

H. and this if you happen to see it (might be in Jordan):

I. I also really want a large wooden camel like your mom and grandmas for Christmas decoration.

I really want A & B
then C & I
and the t-shirts/hoodie

I would LOVE you forever if you could get these for me. I just don't think I could live without them.

Stuff to Buy in Jerusalem

2011-08-02T12:10:00.001-07:00

Hey KL,

Before you leave Jerusalem, I was wondering if you could buy this stuff for me that I REALLY want.

This picture of sheep with gold leafing (Madison also has this):

This poster (I have the small one, but I really wanted the larger one):

A Wall Hanging like this in this color (there are cheaper looking versions, don't get):

Liahona

2009-05-04T20:18:00.001-07:00

My friend Christine (my friend since 7th grade) just came back from Jerusalem and she brought home something for me that I wish I would have gotten in Jerusalem--an olive wood carving of the liahona. The rock in the picture is a rock from the Sea of Galilee.

Here it is on my new shelf of my room in front of my framed picture of my favorite places in Israel

Sea of Galilee Garden Tomb
Jordan River Garden of Gethsamane
Lazarus Tomb

It was fun seeing her. Her family is a second family for me.

Natalie Portman

2009-05-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

"Jerusalem is the city of my birth. The air feels . . . thick with passions."

-Natalie Portman

What's on the Menu?

2009-04-17T23:14:00.000-07:00

Here's what a typical day's food is like in the Jerusalem Center:

Look Here

http://heidilovesjerusalem.blogspot.com/2009/01/whats-on-menu.html

Sahar's Story: A Palestian's Conversion to Mormonism, Now Living in Bethlehem

2009-04-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

(I have a money pouch under my shirt!)

Sahar's Story

I thought you might in interested in hearing Sahar's story. She is a member of the church in Bethlehem and is a Palestianian. I had the opportunity to meet Sahar when I went to Bethlehem last May. She took me and three others to her friend's shop in Bethlehem to get Navitity sets. Here is a picture of her friend making ordaments out of olive wood in his shop in Bethlehem. Emily, a girl that is attending BYU-Jerusalem right now wrote down Sahar's words.

Sahar is a member of the LDS church here in Jerusalem. Tonight she spoke with us about life as a Palestian and a member of the LDS church.
Sahar lives in Bethlehem which is currently in the West Bank and under confines of the Israeli army. She lives in an "outdoor prison" as she is surrounded by the walls that seperate her from everyone else.
I thought you may be interested to hear her story.

"I was born here near the Mount of Olives. I was raised a Palestinian. Life was not easy in a Greek Orthodox home. I did believe in God and Jesus Christ. I grew up Christian. I believed in God, but not in a loving God. I believed the Heavenly Father loved others but not Palestinians, therefore, he didn’t love me. I thought he hated us and that was why he was persecuting us. At a point in my life I considered being a suicide bomber because it would be easier to end the suffering. But I continued on with my life. I got a masters degree in D.C. by way of a great scholarship.

One day as I was reading the newspaper there was an ad for a scholarship for a university called Brigham Young. My brother suggested that I apply. I didn’t think I should because I had a scholarship, but my brother said do it just in case. I did apply and I was interviewed by President Brown, who did offer me the scholarship. I felt bad but I still wanted to go to D.C. People from the center came to my house. The scholarship at BYU was 1/3 less than the one in D.C. everyone thought I was crazy to even consider BYU. I don’t have a strong personality and I tend to do what people think I should do. This time I had a really strong feeling that I should go to BYU.

At the time I didn’t know what that feeling was. I pushed everyone back and I went to BYU. I felt at home immediately, but I decided before I went that I would never be a member of the Church. According to my grandfather, “Mormons marry more than one wife because they want to have many children. They have many children because Christ is coming and will be born to a woman so they have many children so Christ will come faster.” But than he added, “I met a Mormon couple once and they were very nice.” So I went to Utah and started school not interested in the Church.

General Conference came and everyone is telling me that they were going to listen to the prophet and I thought, crazy Mormons they think there is a prophet. So I went to see just what everyone was talking about. I don’t remember what exactly President Hunter said but I do remember that he was talking about the Palestinians and was so kind. And he even called it Palestine and not Israel.

After, I asked my friend to tell me everything and she did. The people in the room thought she was confusing me by saying everything at once. But to me it all made sense. I couldn’t believe that something could make so much sense. A friend gave me an Arabic Book of Mormon. After reading I didn’t even need to pray because I knew it was true. The more I went to church the more it made sense. I decided to get baptized and of course my family thought I was crazy, but I couldn’t turn my back on something I knew to be true with every fiber of my being. I didn’t want to come home because it was a miserable place before. But Heavenly Father told me to return to Palestine.

I did return to Palestine, only now I had added trials because my family tried everything they could to get me to leave the church. It was difficult for me to get to the Jerusalem Center to come to church, etc. But it was the happiest time of my life. This change of heart can help us find support during our trials. I had a change of heart that happened to me, as did Paul. Alma says, “They were in the midst of darkness but their souls were eliminated…the chains of hell…were they destroyed nay they were not….their souls did sing redeeming love and they are saved.” Many of you have experienced this mighty change just like Paul and I did. Life does become easier knowing that we have help during our trials. “Christ cannot prevent our hearts from being broken but he can help our broken hearts.” Camille Fronk. He has overcome the world and with his help we can overcome the world.

Daily changes in our lives. We can look within and know where we need to improve. Pres. Faust said, “Each one of us has been given the power to change our life. We have agency to make our decisions…in some way all of us need to change. Some of us have habits that need to be changed. These habits harm us or those around us.”

3 methods we can ensure we are changing:

1. Do the Lords will no matter what. Don’t let any one prevent you from doing what is right. Don’t worry about what others will think or say. He will stay by your side, others may not.

Coming to Church was very difficult to get into Jerusalem and was dangerous most of the time. For example, there are different ways into Jerusalem. There are back ways. At one point the only way to get into Jerusalem was to take a Taxi into the valley (we never drive on roads because that is where the soldiers are). You walk two or three miles. Taxi drivers cannot take Palestinians because their license will be taken away. One day I was walking the miles to church and the soldiers spotted me and shot at me. Luckily this nice man took me into his car and drove me to Jerusalem.

We have curfew. If you leave your house we are shot. I had to come give a talk for the branch jus like tonight. Randomly, there was this Taxi driver in front of my house and said where do you need to go? I have no idea where he came from. I had to hid in the taxi and we have to take back roads and driving on the hay field because he cannot be seen with me or put into prison.

If we try and do our best the Lord will help us. I know the Lord was carrying me every time when I came to church.

2. Allow Him to help us change.
We were tier gas bombed trying to get across a wall. It was not fun. It has nothing to do with your eyes watering, but it hurts your throat and lungs. Then the soldiers started shooting bullets at us in the university. Finally, a student was shot in the head while hanging a Palestinian flag on top of the University. The soldiers would not allow us to take that student to the hospital. As I sat there and watched these people suffer my heart was broken. I developed such a hatred for the soldiers because they wouldn’t allow us out to go to the hospital.

After I joined the church and came back that hate for the soldiers had dissolved from my heart. One day as I was trying to go to Church I tried the check points, like I always do, even though they never let me across. As I looked at that soldier the scripture “Bless them that curse you” I realized I didn’t hate them but that I don’t have feelings of love for them. The Savior wouldn’t command us to do something that is not possible.

“Pray unto the father…that you may be filled with this love…and become like him. We may have this hope to be purified as he is pure.” I prayed to Heavenly Father to help me love them.

If we ask for His help He will help us.

One year later and I went through the check point and they rejected me I finally felt love for the soldier. No hate or judgment but love. He was a son of God and that is all that mattered.

3. Trust the Lord and turn your life over to Him
We tend to worry too much. He is the potter and we are the clay. Let Him make a wonderful vessel out of us.

There are two kinds of changes. First is a mighty change. Second, are the little changes we need to make every day!

With the help of the Masters hand we can change. Become a new creature in Christ. HE chose me to have that mighty change. Without that I don’t know where I would be. It is not difficult to be a convert because I see where my life is today and it is so much better.

He bids us to come unto Him and to become His disciples. Keep Christ as the center and Savior of your world."

Passover Dinner

2009-04-13T22:17:00.001-07:00

On Saturday night, I took Dan to the passover Seder dinner at BYU. A bunch of people that I attended Jerusalem with also came (about 20 or more of us).

Dan and I read Exodus 1-20 before going and I am glad we did!

We ate parsley dipped in salt water (symbolic of the tears the Israelites cried while in slavery and also the coming of spring and the perpetual renewal of life)
We ate bitter herbs "maror" (symbolic of the bitterness of Egyptian slavery)
We ate a mixture of apples, nuts, wine, & cinnamon "haroset"(symbolic of the mortar the Israelite slaves used in Egypt)
We ate unleaven bread "three matzahs" (symbolic of the Godhead--God, Savior, and Holy Ghost. The three loaves are stacked one on top of the other in a napkin and the center piece is taken out.)

In case you didn't know, bitter herbs is the worse, faulest horseradish you have ever eaten. It is so bitter it goes right up your sinus', turns your face red, and makes you cry! I had all three symptoms! :-P

After all of this and some repetitions, we ate a really delicious meal and it was really delicious after all that! : ) Helps you realize how long the Israelites had to wait to be freed!

While we were eating we passed a piece of the unleaven bread (the middle piece symbolic of the Savior). It is called "Afikomen." The person that has it at the very end, makes a deal with the head of the table or the patriarch for something of value (tickets to a game, a dinner made by the patriarch, a ride on the patriarch's boat, i.e. anything you can think of!)

This piece of bread is symbolic of the Savior who was broken and taken at a ransom for each one of us.

At the end you also pass the unleaven bread and everyone takes a piece of it. It reminded all of us of the Sacrament we take every week at church.

During passover dinner, they leave an empty chair. This chair is saved for the coming of Elijah and every year they look forward to his coming. He is to come before the promised Messiah. But what the Jews don't know is that Elijah has come!

I have always been fascinated with anything Jewish after my mission where I taught Jews, after meeting a Jewish convert who served in my mission and hearing his conversion story, and especially after living in Jerusalem.

I really loved the dinner. I had no idea what it was about and now I want to do it with my own family someday. It really helps you realize what happened during the Exodus and helps you understand what we have as members of the church.

As a co-worker asked me today, "So are you going to become Jewish now?" I said no, because it's not that we don't believe in what the Jews believe, it is that we know even more. And deep down, I really believe that they know.

Judgement Scene

2009-01-23T23:17:00.000-08:00

This is an ancient hyroglyphic found in Egypt of their idea of what Judgement will be like. The ancient Egyptians had temples like ours and many of their ideas have survived the test of time.

This is one man's passage into heaven. His heart is weighed in the balance, he gives key words and phrases and enters God's presence.

I Met Joseph McConkie

2009-01-23T23:04:00.000-08:00

This week at work I met Joseph McConkie who visited Jerusalem while I was there in the spring.

He said the last time he had been there was in 1984. He talked about his father, Bruce R.

We chatted a long time about Jerusalem, Egypt, symbols. He told me I should read John Lundquist book about Temples and Wilford Driggs who was the head of major archaeological digs and found mummies with temple garments.

He told me that BYU had a King Tut exhibit in 1985 before I was born he said (ha ha).

See my post: Here

Christine's Adventures in the Holy Land

2009-01-11T15:03:00.000-08:00

My friend Christine (who's practically a sister to me) is currently in the Holy Land.

Follow her while she's there and learn even more about the places of Christ's time and the customs and culture of Jews, Christians, and Muslims on the other side of the world.

http://lifeofsteen.blogspot.com/

Luke 2--Merry Christmas to All!

2008-12-21T15:14:00.000-08:00

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee,

out of the city of Nazareth,
into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem;

(because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger;
because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;

23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple:

and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

I'm Keeping My Promise

2008-11-09T11:31:00.001-08:00

While I was in Jerusalem, I only cared about getting one picture just right. I wanted a picture of the garden tomb that was good enough to put on my wall. The first few times I went to the tomb, I realized that it was going to be harder than I thought. There were always people in the way. It was too bright or too dark. The flowers had fallen off the bushes. The second time I went, people kept getting in the way of the picture. I silently said a prayer that the people would move out of my way so I could get one shot. Literally, a few seconds later, the people moved out of the way. I got what I thought was a perfect shot. When I got home, however, it still didn't seem right. I went back two more times. Still not wall quality. I finally prayed that if God would allow me to take a wall-worthy picture of the garden tomb, that I would use it for good. The second to last day in Jerusalem and the fifth time to the Garden Tomb in two weeks, we were about to leave. We had followed the last week of Christ's life that day. Right before the buses left, it was the beginning of evening. The Garden Tomb was closing. Every tourist seemed to be leaving and at the perfect moment, a sunbeam lit the air in front of the tomb. It was perfect.

Well, this Monday, my roommate Alyssa let me know that my roommate Nancy's mom had passed away. Her mother had went to Canada to take care of her mom and had died suddenly in a city bus. I felt so bad for Nancy. I wanted to do something for her. Flowers I thought, but then the thought came--Give her the picture of the Garden Tomb. I had bought the picture and frame last week to send to another friend, but how perfect it was that I had it prepared already. I gave it to her last night and a few hours later, she got on a plane for the funeral.

Dear God,
I am keeping my promise.
Your Thankful Daughter

Presentation to Family

2008-10-07T19:06:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, October 4th, I did a slideshow presentation on my adventures in the Holy Land. It was with all my aunts and uncles and cousins. It was an hour and a half. It was so fun to have everyone ask alot of questions. They even taught me more! I am fulfilling my promise that I would my experience there to share it with others.

Gifts from the Wise Men

2008-09-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

I wrote my Jerusalem teacher about my "ah-ha" moment about Myrrh that I mentioned earlier in this blog. This is the response I got from him today:

"The myrrh symbolism is right on target. Gold symbolized his kingliness, and frankincense (because it was used as part of the sacrificial ritual),his crucifixion and resurrection. Good stuff, huh? Bro. Draper"

Pretty cool. I love it when I discover something on my own, before reading it in a book.

Today I ordered . . .

2008-09-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

Early this morning I ordered a book of lithograph pictures by David Roberts who visited the Holy Land in 1834. I'm so excited!

Each picture displayed as a current picture of the site as well as David Roberts journal entries he wrote during that time.

Why I like it is because it shows the sites as they looked in the 1800's. So it's really close to what the places would have looked like during Christ's time, because there was little development or population growth during those times.

Yeah, I'm so excited!!!!!

I like this picture, because practically it is the exact view we have from the BYU Jerusalem Center of the Kidron Valley below and the old city walls and with the Dome of the Rock where Solomon's temple would have stood during Christ's time.

Plus, this is the view Orson Hyde would have seen when he stood on the Mount of Olives and dedicated the Holy Land for the return of the jews in about 1844. This picture is a view from the Mount of Olives on the left. Mount Moriah is where the city of Jerusalem stands. Anciently this is the Mount Abraham was asked to take Issac.

9/13/08

The Garden Tomb

2008-09-07T10:23:00.001-07:00

This is the most peaceful place in all of Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. The Garden is surrounded by dirty city streets of Jerusalem. The streets are crowded with people (similar to the streets of NYC). There's trash everywhere on those streets, but the moment you walk into the Garden Tomb, you enter an oasis of sorts. You can hear the birds chirping and it is clean and green. It's hard to realize that just 30 feet away is bustling streets. You first enter these green metal doors. You are greeted by senior couples from Britain. They take you on a tour of the grounds. You walk a short distance through tree covered walk ways to Golgatha or Calvary where Christ was hung on the cross. In the rock face is what looks like a skull in the rock. The rock was mined here anciently and the face is what was left. If you look up Golgatha or Calvary it means 'the place of the skull'. This must be where it got it's name. You are told on the tour that many western descriptions of where Christ was hung was on top of a hill. But during Herod's time he could hang people on the streets. Herod used this as a terror device to prompt the people into following Roman rule. Usually during this time however, people were usually stoned. However for some reason Christ was cruxified. Thus fulfilling prophesy that the Messiah would be cruxified.
Walk away from the skull nearer to the tomb. As you walk you pass a cistern. This is a deep well of water. Joseph of Armethia, a jew in the sanheadron at the time, was a wealthy man and the garden tomb was the tomb he was saving for his own burial. However, when the news of Christ being killed, Joseph of Armethia offered his own personal tomb to the Savior. Even though he was a jew, Joseph must have been a believer. Joseph went before Pilote and requested the body of Jesus, else the body would have just hung at the cross until the crows picked away the entire body which is what usually happened. The cistern you can see there indicates that a rich man must have owned the property which Joseph of Armethia was. You walk past the cistern through a few pots of flowers to the tomb. There is a feeling of peace there. I have never felt anything like it. I feel like this place was perserved for us. Above the garden was a plot of land owned by a greek man and his wife. In the late 1800's they found something underneath and found the garden tomb. I personally believe that Christ wanted it this way. He wanted this spot, this sacred spot, to be saved for this time so that we might have it. The British own it, but unlike any other place in the Holy Land, it is not owned by a church. It is nondenominational. If it was owned by the Catholics, they most likely would have put a church on top of it. But it is so nice to see the sky above and have the gardens there.
I went to this place five times the last two weeks I was in Israel. It meant the most to me.

Myrrh

2008-09-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

I bought a DVD in Amman about the Pharoahs of Egypt. They had a section where an Egyptologist used a body donated to the University of Chicago to use ancient mummification techniques to see if it would work today.
One of the chemicals the ancient egyptians used was myrrh--a spice I saw alot of in the Holy Land.
One of the reasons the ancient egyptians mummified their bodies is because they were obsessed with the afterlife and gaining eternal life. They thought that if they preserved their body that they would continue living even after death.
I thought it was interesting that they used myrrh.
I think the reason that one of the wisemen brought myrrh to the Christ child in Bethlehem was because it was symbolic and a foreshadowing of Christ's gift to us--the possibility for us to live after this life, through his resurrection we will be reunited with our bodies again after our spirits are separated from them at death. But through Christ we will have our bodies again.
Myrrh was given to the Christ child. Christ gave our bodies the ability to live again, like Myrrh preserved the body for the Egyptians. Cool, huh?

My Ring from Petra

2008-08-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

When I went to the lake with my family over Labor Day, I woke up in the morning from my tent and noticed that my Petra ring wasn't on my finger. I couldn't find it anywhere. We had went to the hot springs the night before and I remembered Mike handing me my CTR ring and my Petra ring right after. I looked in the tent, my sleeping bag, and in my car. I was discouraged. I decided to say a prayer in my car. During the prayer, I pictured my suitcase and the lower corner of it. When I closed my prayer and openned my eyes, I did not search in the suitcase, by near it. Then I checked the bottom of the corner I imagined it to be in in the suitcase and low and behold!--there it was underneath a pile of clothes. It must have fallen off while I was getting my pjs the night before.
If I have learned one lesson from this is that we should follow our prayers immediately or else we could lose valuable time. We need to trust in the Lord's answers and immediately go to the answer instead of following our own will first.

My Nativity Finally Came!

2008-08-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

So my nativity finally came. I bought two of the same sets from Bagdadi in Jerusalem on one of the last days I was in Jerusalem. I waited weeks and weeks and thought it would never arrive. I finally got it on Friday, August 22. What's weird is that I wasn't going to tell Cloward that it arrived, because I had told her I would send it to her house. She told me on the 23rd that it was funny because she felt that the nativity had arrived and when she went home that day, there was a package on her doorstep, but it ended up being for her father. She felt like she had gotten the wrong inspiration. However, when I told her the next day that it had indeed arrived she was not surprised. Just more reasons to trust your promptings.

Bread of Life

2008-08-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

Bread is one of the most valuable foods in the middle east, especially during the time of Jesus. During that time, they ate olives, figs, grapes off the trees or vines. But bread took work, it had to be thrashed and harvested, ground, mixed, and raised. It took alot of work to prepare, unlike the olives and figs they could pick right off the tree or vine. I think that is why Jesus Christ is said to be the bread of life--His path is not easy, but it is worth--it so worth it. It takes alot of work. He grew is stature. He was beaten and bruised for our iniquities. But He rose again.
Today, when you walk the streets of the holy land, you will not see bread on the streets or sidewalks. You will see any piece of bread lifted up off the ground. Bread is sacred there.

Thoughts from Jenny King

2008-08-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

I just had an epiphany. I was listening to a sermon on the birth of Christ and it was mentioned that the sign that was given to the shepherds was that the Baby would be lying in a manger – a feeding trough. What a sign that was, when you think about it…Jesus, from birth, was offered completely to us as the Bread of Life. And to continue with the analogy, He wasn’t placed on a golden platter in the highest palace in the world. He was placed in a cave, accessible to anyone who would seek Him out. Our God is amazing. He gives us these hints and subtle signs to speak to us on our level and allows us to know Him through His word, if we will only listen. He allows us to come to Him, and to partake of the broken Bread of Life, and drink deeply of the blood of His sacrifice – the life-giving blood of His love instead of the deadly cup of His wrath, which we deserve. Christ who cannot abide with sin loves us, the utterly sinful ones, so much that He would offer Himself to us as the Bread of Life and the cleansing blood of the Redeemer so that we could be cleansed. It doesn’t get any better than that.

You know you’ve lived in JC when . . .

2008-08-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

1. You plot to blow up your Jewish reading via the Israeli army
2. Peanut butter brings a smile to your face
3. You spend 30 shekels on ice cream
4. At dinner you ask “Manna?” What is it?
5. When you start comparing yourself to countries
6. When you know longer mind seeing your professor in their pjs
7. When your veggies are neon colors
8. You buy slippers/stockings to meet dress code
9. Aladdin pants are in
10. You don’t take showers for three days and no one cares
11. When one buys something…. Everyone has it the next week
12. You know what “cow chocolate” is
13. When your mad at your class you threaten to have the next “great revolt”
14. You open up a washer and know whose clothes are in there
15. The nursery is in the bomb shelter
16. When “uphill both ways” means something to you
17. There is no such thing as Saturdays or weekends
18. Holidays mean house arrest
19. You hold class on Sundays
20. You swam where Jesus walked
21. You take over fortresses single handedly
22. You think rocks are cool
23. When you always know your longitude and latitude
24. When it takes three different references to get to a restroom ie Bathroom, Water closet, Toilet, etc.
25. You pay to use the bathroom…and even more for toilet paper
26. Dating isn’t allowed in a BYU program
27. You have no choice but to change your sheets every week
28. 3 and 5am Prayer call
29. Sheckel Shack is the closest you’ll get to an Israeli bar
30. You’re late to class because you had to run up two flights of stairs
31. 100% discount doesn’t mean free
32. Falafel is a food staple
33. You threaten to “stone” someone
34. When Jerusalem burns on a daily basis
35. People tour your house
36. You clean your room for candy
37. Your ice cream is made with soy… and you like it
38. …sack lunches
39. Sleeping in is until 7:30am
40. You have your own security detail
41. Little boys are a bigger threat than terrorists
42. Sidewalks aren’t meant for walking, but for parking
43. You’re excited to have pizza even if it has green olives and corn topping
44. Breakfast is bread
45. You all fail the final, but pass the class
46. Topics of conversation are always on things you can’t have… food, dating, etc.
47. Pop rocks belong in chocolate
48. Wafer cookies still have glue on them
49. The elevator means privacy
50. “Mobile classrooms”
51. Dinnertime is a guaranteed social hour
52. When your professor asks your opinion on their clothes or you have the same shirt
53. When your professor skips class because of border control
54. “Are we all guys?”
55. You are referred to as Bus #1 or Bus #2
56. 3:1
57. When 2:1 sounds good
58. You go a whole day without going outside, unless you count the hallway
59. Your Wednesday night social is bombarding your professors apartment eating all of their sugar
60. You see the same 80 people everyday for 2 months
61. You bargain for EVERYTHING
62. You can speak four different languages in one sentence
63. You can give directions through the Old City
64. Special Price for Mormons
65. Mahonya Yahuda and Ben Yahuda
66. One person sick = 80 people sick
67. Looking forward to a non-Kosher cafeteria
68. All the girls feel awkward stepping out of their room with wet hair
69. Eating healthy means only 1 cow chocolate bar for the day
70. All the sports end in someone getting hurt
71. Sacrament is pita bread
72. Free firework show every night
73. You have the best view of Jerusalem everyday
74. Your backyard is the Dome of the Rock
75. You know there is a paper due when there is a line for the computers for a week
76. You eat lunch outside because its warmer than the building
77. You think its cold in 50 degree weather
78. Everyone you meet on the street has a relative or friend living in the states and they’re sure you know them
79. You say “Muhammad” in the street and half the people turn around
80. You go swimming with your professors
81. Multiple trips are planned around swimming
82. Friday nights consist of going out with your teachers for ice cream
83. Service projects are cleaning someone’s tomb
84. Hand sanitizer is your best friend
85. You can’t stand the sight of water
86. Fanny Packs are the thing to wear
87. You have enough skirts to wear a new one every Sabboth for a year.
88. You eat your dessert first
89. When teachers reprimands everyone & you know exactly who their talking about
90. Roasted hot dogs has a whole new meaning
91. Your tummy is extra poochy

June 11--Mosque, Citadel of Amman, Amman Museum, Bethany Beyond Jordan

2008-06-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today we left the Ambassador Hotel in Amman Jordan to load the buses to go to a Mosque in Amman. To enter the mosque, they wanted us to dress modestly (have sleeves to our elbows and to wear scarves on our heads)—but when we got there, they had us wear these long black dresses with long sleeves with the hem touching the floor. All 50 of the girls all looked Muslim. It was really quiet in the mosque. We asked a lot of questions. One thing I noticed is that they don’t pray for themselves. Even though they pray 5 times a day, they never pray about personal matters. Like my little sister would say, “Then what is the point of praying for?” I respect the women a lot. I admire that they wear black in this blazing heat and have such dedication. Every Muslim I have met is gracious and kind.

Next, we drove through the white apartments and homes in the hilly country and white sand. We went to the Citadel of Amman. Here they had a large columned temple. We saw Israeli soldiers near here shouting. We went to an overlook and saw a giant theatre that was very old and could sit thousands of people. We went to a museum here that had Dead Sea Scrolls. Our teacher, Dr. Seely, is one of the translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls that were found were ‘written’ in copper rolls. Many ancient records were preserved on metal. They also had a skeleton of a baby in a jar. I guess they would bury their children in jars and place them underneath the floor boards of their homes so that they could still be part of the family. They also had many oil lamps. They had a skull with holes drilled in their heads. They must have practiced brain surgery in the past. The skull had 3 holes, one of which was healing, so this individual must have had a surgery that was successful. They had glass vases from the first century AD. They also had stone writings of Baoor that is mentioned in the Old Testament. It is not the same exactly words, but another witness of Baoor.

They were going to let us go shopping in downtown Amman, but they didn’t let us because it was unsafe. They said that they have had a stabbing of a tourist within the last few months if not sooner. After what happened to me in Petra, I am not surprised.

We drove out of Amman north of the Dead Sea to the border of Israel and Jordan through the deserts of Beddowin tents and fields of goats and lots and lots of sand. When you read the border they send an officer to check the entire bus with your passports after hours of waiting. They then have you unload all you luggage off the bus and travel through customs while you go through metal detectors and several stops of checking your passports. When we were going through one of the passport lines, they randomly wouldn’t let me through and told me to go sit down in back of the line. I didn’t know what was going on—all the other students were asking me what I did and why I was being singled out and I had no idea. They eventually sent over two officers and they let me pass. We then loaded an Israeli tour bus on the other side. The weird thing about it all is that they are constantly changing procedures and our teachers never know quite what to expect because they are constantly changing procedures.

What a day! I am glad to be back in Jerusalem. It feels like home.

Alyssa

P.S. I almost forgot the most important spot of the day. Before we got to the border, we stopped at Bethany Beyond Jordan Baptismal Site. This is the actual site where Christ was baptized. John the Baptist lived in this area. The land around this site was very dry and the water is salty and a stark green color. We went near the water and read from the book of Matthew about Christ’s baptism. We then went to the waters. They had a church here and we went and sang inside primary songs such as “Jesus came to John the Baptist, In Judea long ago, And was baptized by immersion In the River Jordan’s flow.”

Let’s just say that this song never had more meaning.

June 9--PETRA!!!!!

2008-06-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Petra. We walked there from our hotel and down through the red cliffs until it got more narrow. There were canals on the sides of the cliff walls that transported water into the area. The area narrows down into a slot canyon and you round the corner to see one of the most amazing sites in the world--the treasury from Indiana Jones III. Just when you though Petra was over, you keep going and see more and more tombs. There were little boys begging you to take their donkey rides. There were stands of people selling jewelry. We got to the temple that Brown University escavated. There were parts that still had the colors on the walls. There was an overturned column. We kept walking until we got to the donkeys and we rode them to the Monastary. Lindsay's donkey made her fall over and she had to walk part of the way. Once we got to the Monastary, we kept hiking up to the overlook where you could see the Dead Sea. There was a man selling silver jewelry on the top. There were goats roaming on the cliffs. They wanted to eat the bushes, but couldn't reach them, so Bruce helped them out and pulled a branch down that they could eat. Once we got back from the Monastary, we ate lunch at the restaurant there. Some went for a side hike. A group from Drapers class headed off. We kept going even though a girl from a nearby tomb house came screaming at Donny for us to turn around, we didn't believe her and ended up way off course. We eventually got to someone's home they made from a tomb. They told us where to go, so we headed back. We went to the other large tombs. The ceiling of one had deep black and red swirls on it. We sang a couple of hymns in it. We made our way back to the entrance and the treasury. We took one last look and made our way to the horses. When we got off the horses, I handed my guide $3 for his tip. He didn't like it and wouldn't accept it. He was getting more frustrated, but that's all that I had. Eventually Jason came over to help me and took the money from me and tried to give it to the guy, but he wouldn't take it. Jason threatened to throw it on the ground and the guy started taking off his belt to hurt Jason. We were frightened then and walked away quickly leaving the money on the ground. They stomped away.

June 7--The Garden Tomb

2008-06-07T23:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I am off to Petra/Jordan for four days, so you won’t get an email from me. For those of you that have asked about Galilee, I still need to write about that. Today was an interesting day. Church was amazing. Everyone that bore their testimony had something very insightful to say. There was a really good feeling there. We get a lot of visitors from the LDS tours and today there was a lady from Ghana that I spoke to for awhile. She served her mission on temple square and she said, “I taught people about the model of the city of Jerusalem all during my mission, but seeing Jerusalem in real life is something else.” I will never look at a model the same way!

After church a group of us went to the Garden Tomb. We only had a few hours before we had an early dinner after fasting. So we walked down our hill (Mt Scopious) through the Kidron Valley and up the street passed some garages that sell food and to the city walls. At Jericho Gate, we cross the street and walk a block or so down a really filthy street. The Muslims were selling their goods (Saturdays are Christians & Jewish’s Sabboth day and so they aren’t out). But we walked the dirty street of people selling goods on the street, layed out on the side walk to a long alleyway to a place of trees and flowers. It is such a contrast from the dirty city streets and the garden inside. We took a tour of the garden. First we walked north a small way to a cliff with the tour guide. On the cliff face is what looks like a skull carved into the cliff face. The tour guide explained that the meaning of Golgatha and Calvary means ‘skull’. And here in this very cliff is the shape of a skull. The place of Calvary was on the Mount Moriah. This is the same mount that Abraham took Isaac to sacrifice him 2000 years before Christ was born. During Christ’s time, the way they killed perpetrators to the law was by throwing them off cliffs and then stoning them to death. This is how Stephen was martyred. However Christ was crucified. No one could be crucified within the city walls. And this spot was just outside the city walls. Around 1830/1840, this place was thought to be the most likely place of Christ’s burial.

Many western depictions of Christ’s crucifixion show the three crosses on a hill. But we know that during Herod’s time, that those being crucified were right next to the street so that the passerbyers would see those that ‘perpetrated the law’ and would steer them away from going against his empire. It was used as a terror devise. This was a place that had a definite need for the Savior, the guide said.

The tomb was over a water cistern. The cistern was used to water the garden during Christ’s time. The garden was a working garden—not just an orimental garden as it is today. Olive trees would have been planted here during the time.

Gestamane means olive press. This is appropriate because of the symbolism with Christ being an olive press. Olives were smashed and squished so they could use oil for healing and for light. They say that only a rich man could have a cistern, such as Joseph of Armenthia. Joseph of Armenthia was a special man, he was wealthy Jewish man and was a ruling 70 in the Jewish council. Even though he was a Jew, he was a secret disciple of Jesus. He was daring and unorthodox. But it was the worse time for Joseph to be so with the prestige he had. He put himself at risk when he went to Pilate & requested that they bury Christ’s in his own personal tomb. This was unheard of for someone that was crucified to be placed in a tomb—Those on crosses hung there until the crows had pecked away their entire bodies and their bodies were discarded. However, Joseph got permission to take him off the cross & bury him.

We followed the guide through a flowered path to the tomb. Inside the tomb on the left side is a weeping room where the people would have gathered for the funeral. It is also on the left side that they would anoint the body with oil and wrap it in linen. But because Christ died on a Friday and Sabbath was on Saturday, they did not anoint his body with oil because they did not have time without disobeying the Sabbath. His body was laid on the far right corner. And they placed a 2 ton circular rock in front of the tomb. To this day you can see the rolling marks.

On Sunday, the women came back to finally anoint his body with oil. Their first thought was that someone had stolen the body. But they were told, “You come seeking Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified—He is Risen!”

One the left of the tomb is a cross with two slash marks at the bottom and top of the cross. This was from the Byzantine era and often symbolized Christ being an anchor. Our lives, with Christ, have an anchor and our souls have hope. The tour guide ended, “God is King. Jesus is Lord. What part do we play—are we white washed tombs that are white on the outside and have death & darkness on the inside?”

Christ was once dead, but he rose again. From this we know that everyone will live after this life and that our spirits will be reunited with our physical bodies.

Alyssa

John 20

June 5--Masada Dead Sea & Scrolls En Gedi

2008-06-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today was a packed day. We took buses to the east side of Jerusalem through the Judean Wilderness and hit sea level and followed the Dead Sea on its southwest side to Masada. Masada is a fortress that Herod built so that he could go to as refuge. Masada has a gory history. The city was full of Jews. When the Romans came to conquer the city, they built a gateway up to the fortress which is high on a cliff overlooking the Dead Sea. The Romans penetrated the fortress wall, the Jews knew they were done for. If the Romans took them they would have put them into slavery. To save themselves from bondage of slavery, each man had to kill their children and then their wife. Then ten men were to kill the other men. The last ten men drew lots and had to kill the rest and the last man then killed himself. The only survivors were a woman and her children who hid in a cistern. After 60 AD, the fortress was abandoned. But today, Israeli troops are inducted here, by hiking up to the fortress with torches in their hands and they make an oath to never let Masada fall again.

We took a tram up to the top and walked along the casemate walls and looked over the walls when the Roman penetrated the wall. We ended in an acropolis on the northern end of this bluff.

After this we swam in the Dead Sea. This was far beyond my expectations. The Dead Sea is 30% salt. The salt concentration is so high that you float on top of the water without any effort whatsoever. I drastically underestimated this fact. Truth be known, you can literally stand up in the water with nothing below you. If you try to even slant your legs in a 45 degree angle, your legs will be automatically lifted in front of you or behind you. So you can float on your back without doing anything. You can lean forward and your legs will float effortlessly behind you. You could literally lay here for hours. It was the perfect combination of my fears of swimming—mainly of animals touching me underwater (nothing grows in the Dead Sea) and my fear of depth (you can go out as far as you want and never drown). It was great until you splashed pure salt into your eyes or got in on your face. We went on shore and covered our entire bodies in mud. The water leaves your skin with an oily feel. I love the Dead Sea.

As I was waiting to rinse off, I met this Jewish girl from Boston who was here for a week & a half tour of Israel. The Israeli government pays for Jewish kids to come to Israel no matter where they live in the world. I told the girl that my friend did that last summer (Elder Olson from my mission—the elder that converted from Judaism). She told me that they are not allowed to go to Bethlehem or Nazareth because they are not safe for Jews. She wanted to go to these places, even though they are not holy sites for the Jews.

After this, we went to the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. It is called Cumran. The people in this small civilization were Jews who made money by making fig jams and jelly. They found over a million date pits in excavation. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found when two men were herding goats and they were searching for one of the goats that had gotten lost. In the mean time, they found a cave and so being boys, they threw a rock into it and they heard a curious sound—the clanking of a pot. So they found many pots full of records that were preserved over a thousand years because of the lack of moisture in this area and also by the bats covering up the hole to the cave and cutting off oxygen to the cave. They found several caves after that. Many of the caves we could see from the view of this city. The Dead Sea Scrolls were important because they were written before 300 AD, the date of the oldest records of the Bible. Many people believe the book of Isaiah was written by several authors, however the Dead Sea Scrolls verified that it was written by one man. This is important because Nephi quotes both the end and the beginning of Isaiah.

After this we traveled to En Gedi, where we hiked to David waterfall. We followed the river drainage until we got to a very tall waterfall. The drainage reminded me of Havasu, but with white rock instead of red. It was beautiful considering all I had seen all day was the driest desert in the world with no shrubbery.

We were exhausted by the end of the day, but my favorite part of these field trips is looking out the windows at the landscape. Absolutely everyone had their shades down. I am glad I did, because I saw the markings when we reached sea level, 100 m about sea level and300 m above sea level. They have these marked on the hills.

After dinner, our Jewish teacher came to teach us more about the synagogue, because we are attending a Jewish synagogue tomorrow night. Friday night is their day they welcome in the Sabbath which is on Saturday. I, as all my mission comps know, have been waiting for years to attend a Jewish synagogue. I’m praying I get to go to the orthodox service!

Alyssa

June 4--Temple Institute & Ramparts Walk

2008-06-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

We had three hours of class today, but after it, we took a sharoot (a taxi) to Dung gate (western side of Jerusalem) to the Temple Institute. This is an organization of Jews that is collecting items for the temple that they plan on building someday on the temple mount (SW corner of Jerusalem). Currently, the Dome of the Rock is built on this spot, but this is the place where Solomon's temple once stood before it was destroyed. This spot is important to the Muslims (because they believe Muhammed ascended to heaven from this spot) and the Jews (Solomon's temple was built here) and the Christians (Christ will appear here for his second coming).

Before we went to the institute we had heard that this was an extremist group that is collecting items for the temple. But after going there, it was better than I ever imagined.

I have to admit, I was the first to fall asleep in sunday school when they started talking about Solomon's temple, but now that I've seen it and understand the symbolism of it all and realize now for myself that it was an actual temple built in Jerusalem, I want to learn more about it!

They showed us the priest's clothing (the dye coming from a rare snail), the shewbread table, the ark of the covenant, etc. They taughts us the symbolism behind the twelve jewels on the high priest's clothing (symbolic for the twelve tribes) and a container with twelve faucets. They had painting after painting of the temple and what it would look like. The priest's clothing had 72 bells on the bottom of it (72 is divisable by 12). The crown of the priest symbolized that there is one greater and above him, because the crown points to heaven. The temple has an area where anyone can come and the second section is where only the priests of levi could come, and in the back is the holi of holies where only the high priest can enter. This same design is also found in the Karnak temple that I saw in Egypt.

They had models of what the temple will look like. At the end the red-headed Jewish man told us about how they are looking for peace. I could feel the spirit as he spoke and I almost felt like he would end his talk with "In the name of Jesus Christ Amen." But then I had to come to my senses!

As we went to leave, the man said, "Do you guys always dress so modestly? Is that part of your church?" We explained that it was. He also said, "It is so nice to see young people being modest and following their religion." We each shook his hand to leave and he gave me a hug. As we were standing outside, he stood by us. He said, "Tell me a little bit about your beliefs." Imagine the excitement I felt, because here was a jew that wanted to know about us--when I had gotten door after door slammed in my face by jews in NJ--I was so eager to tell him and then I realized that we cannot, because of the agreement we made not to proselyte in Israel. We prompted told him, "we would love to, but we cannot." He said, "Is that part of your religion or is that just in Israel?" We told him that it was just in Israel. I loved talking to this man!

Going to this institute made me appreciate more the meaning of the temple and made me appreciate that the jews who also believed in "holiness to God" as they kept saying. The temples of today say, "Holiness to the Lord."

After the temple institute, we went on the ramparts walk. This is a walk on the tops of the old city walls. We walked from the western side half way around the city to the Dome of the Rock. This allowed us to see the slits that were used to defend the city with bows and arrows and also to see the Christian and Muslim quarters from above.

We went to the money exchanger after that and I exchanged my Egyptian pounds for DB's for Jordan, American dollars, and Israeli sheckles. Aladin (the money exchanger) was all confused, but Aladin is one who said to me when I first got here. "You mormons are beautiful on the inside and the outside. You can see it from your faces." When Aladin counted my money he said I had 433 Egyptian pounds and I told him I only had 333 pounds. He said, "You are not a jack mormon are you?"

After that we went to Omars. He has a shop full of olive wood carvings. He has pictures of Moroni, Joseph Smith, and pictures of him with President Hinkley, President Kimball, and Steve Young on the walls. His olive carvings feature nativity scenes, but also the liahona, Nephi, Alma, Joseph & Hyrum! I got two small nativity scenes and he wanted it in American dollars, but I needed it for Jordan that we're going to this Sunday, so he just said, "Take them now and pay me later." When I looked confused he said, "You are people of integrity, I know you will pay me."

Alyssa

P.S. Tomorrow I am swimming in the Dead Sea and we are seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as the caves they were found in. I'm so excited!

June 2--

2008-06-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

May 23--Bethlehem & Shepard's Field

2008-05-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

So we've had finals on Wednesday and Thursday, so I didn't leave the center at all really for a few days. However, to celebrate the end of finals, we had a talent show last night--it was mainly music, but I decided to show my photography slide show that I made for KLAS' Christmas party and I cannot tell you what an amazing feeling it is to see it on the big screen and hear people clapping afterwards. I love that feeling!

Today we started our New Testment class. Some things I didn't realize is that Mary was only 14/15 years of age when she had Jesus. Also that Joseph was estranged with Mary--meaning that he couldn't even touch her. I have so much more respect for Joseph. Nazareth, which I will see this next week, was a very small community. It was very poor there. During this time, Herod was the king. He was a very nasty king and he would kill many people every month and it is said that almost everyday you would see people being crucified and hanging on their own cross in the city. It's a whole another feeling with the people and the places here. They are so much more alive to me. I have seen Herod's tomb from a distance. I walked the streets of Jerusalem where Jesus walked. I see sheppards and goats and olive trees on a daily basis. The cities are places I can actually go to. It just makes everything so much more real to me. However, I felt closer to Christ back at home, but I am more aware of his surroundings and his culture.

After class this morning, a group of us including Lindsay and Luke went to the west side of Jerusalem (for some reason we cannot go into east Jerusalem on Fridays--its dangerous). We went to the Bible Lands Museum. It had many artifacts, but what I thought were the most interesting were the seals that they used to seal letters (they were so intricate) and also the idols that people worshipped during the Old Testament. I cannot believe people worshipped statues that were deaf, dumb, and blind.

Afterwards, we went to this quaint restaurant. It was beautiful. There was a jewish wedding going on near-by. It was in an outdoor garden. I loved it and the people I was with were just fun. Everyday I become more and more impressed by the quality of people on this program. I have made some good friends here.

We ran back to the center to get on tour buses to go to Bethlehem. We crossed the Separation Wall that was built in 2002. It separates Jerusalem from the West Bank and since it was built, it has practically eliminated the terrorist attacks. They have only had one since. However, this wall has caused a great deal of controversy which I can now explain in great detail. I can now say that I actually understand the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. We passed the wall into the city of Bethlehem. Bethlehem has managed to stay relatively small despite the 2000 years since Christ was born there. We went to the Church of the Nativity, which is a Greek Orthodox/Armanian/Catholic church that was built over the cave that Christ was born in (or legend says). People during those times would keep their animals in caves. I can understand this after being in the desert heat. There were many old paintings in this church. While we were waiting as a group we sang Christmas carols. Our tour guide made an interesting comment to us while we were sitting in the pews. He said, "You Mormons, right? You are attractive smiling and good humor. I am not a religious man. I guide everyday and no other people like you. Something special from you all."

I looked around at my fellow classmates and how tired and unsmiley were were at that moment--yet this man could see--he could see how we are different. He could see the light in our eyes. Before coming here, I heard the story of when they first openned the BYU-Jerusalem center. The LDS church came here on the condition that we could not proselyte while we are here. And a member of the community stated, "Well what are you going to do about the light in their eyes?"

I heard this story, but I am here to say that this is not the first time I have heard a comment like this. I have heard this statement before from a member of the community a few weeks ago and then again today, I have heard it ONCE again. A light on a hill cannot be hid.

Afterwards, four of us went with an Israeli member of the church that joined the church while she was a student at BYU. She lives and teaches in Bethlehem, but she cannot cross the wall except for once every six months, so she can only go to church twice a year. She took us to her friends shop and I got a navity scene for 1/3 the cost of what other students were paying! After that, we loaded the buses and went to a sheppard's field overlooking the city of Bethlehem. We walked through the fields, where there was sheep furs laying on the ground. We passed the olive trees and walked up the rocks. We ate our dinner and then we sang "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Once in Royal David's City" and had a lesson by Dr. Draper as the sun set and night came. It was a great feeling, not only to walk through the fields that sheppard's walked on, but to see the little town of Bethlehem and to think of His birth. I will always remember this day for the rest of my life. I will never hear or read the Christmas story again without thinking of this moment and seeing Bethlehem for myself.

So in 24 hours, I will be headed to Galilee for a week and a half. I will be staying at a hotel 200 feet from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Alyssa

So we've had finals on Wednesday and Thursday, so I didn't leave the center at all really for a few days. However, to celebrate the end of finals, we had a talent show last night--it was mainly music, but I decided to show my photography slide show that I made for KLAS' Christmas party and I cannot tell you what an amazing feeling it is to see it on the big screen and hear people clapping afterwards. I love that feeling!

Today we started our New Testment class. Some things I didn't realize is that Mary was only 14/15 years of age when she had Jesus. Also that Joseph was estranged with Mary--meaning that he couldn't even touch her. I have so much more respect for Joseph. Nazareth, which I will see this next week, was a very small community. It was very poor there. During this time, Herod was the king. He was a very nasty king and he would kill many people every month and it is said that almost everyday you would see people being crucified and hanging on their own cross in the city. It's a whole another feeling with the people and the places here. They are so much more alive to me. I have seen Herod's tomb from a distance. I walked the streets of Jerusalem where Jesus walked. I see sheppards and goats and olive trees on a daily basis. The cities are places I can actually go to. It just makes everything so much more real to me. However, I felt closer to Christ back at home, but I am more aware of his surroundings and his culture.

After class this morning, a group of us including Lindsay and Luke went to the west side of Jerusalem (for some reason we cannot go into east Jerusalem on Fridays--its dangerous). We went to the Bible Lands Museum. It had many artifacts, but what I thought were the most interesting were the seals that they used to seal letters (they were so intricate) and also the idols that people worshipped during the Old Testament. I cannot believe people worshipped statues that were deaf, dumb, and blind.

Afterwards, we went to this quaint restaurant. It was beautiful. There was a jewish wedding going on near-by. It was in an outdoor garden. I loved it and the people I was with were just fun. Everyday I become more and more impressed by the quality of people on this program. I have made some good friends here.

We ran back to the center to get on tour buses to go to Bethlehem. We crossed the Separation Wall that was built in 2002. It separates Jerusalem from the West Bank and since it was built, it has practically eliminated the terrorist attacks. They have only had one since. However, this wall has caused a great deal of controversy which I can now explain in great detail. I can now say that I actually understand the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. We passed the wall into the city of Bethlehem. Bethlehem has managed to stay relatively small despite the 2000 years since Christ was born there. We went to the Church of the Nativity, which is a Greek Orthodox/Armanian/Catholic church that was built over the cave that Christ was born in (or legend says). People during those times would keep their animals in caves. I can understand this after being in the desert heat. There were many old paintings in this church. While we were waiting as a group we sang Christmas carols. Our tour guide made an interesting comment to us while we were sitting in the pews. He said, "You Mormons, right? You are attractive smiling and good humor. I am not a religious man. I guide everyday and no other people like you. Something special from you all."

I looked around at my fellow classmates and how tired and unsmiley we were at that moment--yet this man could see--he could see how we are different. He could see the light in our eyes. Before coming here, I heard the story of when they first openned the BYU-Jerusalem center. The LDS church came here on the condition that we could not proselyte while we are here. And a member of the community stated, "Well what are you going to do about the light in their eyes?"

I heard this story, but I am here to say that this is not the first time I have heard a comment like this. I have heard this statement before from a member of the community a few weeks ago and then again today, I have heard it ONCE again. A light on a hill cannot be hid.

Afterwards, four of us went with an Israeli member of the church that joined the church while she was a student at BYU. She lives and teaches in Bethlehem, but she cannot cross the wall except for once every six months, so she can only go to church twice a year. She took us to her friends shop and I got a navity scene for 1/3 the cost of what other students were paying! After that, we loaded the buses and went to a sheppard's field overlooking the city of Bethlehem. We walked through the fields, where there was sheep furs laying on the ground. We passed the olive trees and walked up the rocks. We ate our dinner and then we sang "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Once in Royal David's City" and had a lesson by Dr. Draper as the sun set and night came. It was a great feeling, not only to walk through the fields that sheppard's walked on, but to see the little town of Bethlehem and to think of His birth. I will always remember this day for the rest of my life. I will never hear or read the Christmas story again without thinking of this moment and seeing Bethlehem for myself.

So in 24 hours, I will be headed to Galilee for a week and a half. I will be staying at a hotel 200 feet from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Alyssa

May 20--Hezekiah's Tunnel & City of David

2008-05-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today we went to an overlook of the City of David. The city of David was the first settlement in the area. We waded through Hezekiah's Tunnel, a tunnel built to transfer water from Gihon spring into the city walls of Jerusalem. The tunnel was 700 feet long and reminded me of hiking through slot canyons. The water went to our knees in some parts. We ended at the remnant of a city pool (Siloam Pool) that Christ talks about in John 5, I think. He puts clay on a blind man's eyes and tell him to go to this pool to wash and that he'd see again. The blind man walked down a long hill down to the pool with faith. He became a believer after that, even though his own parents never became believers, even when they had seen their own son see again.

They have recently uncovered steps from this pool that leads up to the temple. They found these in 2004. It's amazing that they are still finding remants of the old city. But it makes it hard, because people live on top of the relics. The city of Jerusalem continues to be build upon even today.

We went to the Broad Wall that Hezekiah built in 700 B.C. in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. After that Lis, Moriah, Will, and I tried to go to the Burnt House (a house of the time of Jesus) but it was closed. We went to a crusader church that no longer had it's roof. We saw the large golden Menora and walked down to the entrance of the Dome of the Rock (which I have yet to go to). We walked past the western wall and down into the Kidron Valley to some carved out tombs and through the olive trees. It amazing to think that dead bodies used to lie in these caves. There are tombs everywhere here. Many of them made into the limestone walls, the Garden Tomb being one of them.

May 17--Back from Egypt

2008-05-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

So I'm back from Egypt and glad to be home. Or at least Jerusalem feels like home now. Egypt was amazing in every way, except that the water is bad there and we had to brush our teeth with bottled water and we couldn't eat their fruits or vegatables or they would make us sick. I made the mistake of putting my toothbrush underneath the fausett (sp?) and I was sick for the next few days.

Egypt was a heart wrenching experience for me. Cairo and Luxor were full of poverty. About 98% (and I'm not exaggerating) of Cairo was filled with tall apartment buildings made of brick and cement columns. It was very unstable. Many of the streets were dirt. The lanes of traffic had lines, but no one followed them. The tour guides said, "The lines on the street are simply decoration." The streets were filled with trash EVERYWHERE. It was worse than Jersey. All the kids were begging for money and men would stand around the tourist spots with Egyptian clothing and request a tip for getting a picture taken with them. None of the water closets had toilet paper so you must pay a tip for that. You cannot take a picture of anyone without paying a tip. We washed our hands in the sink and then had to immediately use hand sanitizer or we'd get sick. There were people sleeping everywhere you can imagine. In that heat I would too!

This was an eye-openning experience for me and in every way made me feel so grateful to have grown up in the U.S. and in a Mormon home. It was crazy to see Muslim women walking in 120 degree heat with a black dress with long black sleeve and the dress to their ankles and a black scarf on their head. There were even some with their face covered in black cloth, only their eyes showing. In the marketplaces, these women would scare the living day lights out of me. The men here are not afraid of cat calling and requesting kisses. I cannot count the number of shopkeepers that requested a kiss from me. Luckily I never did get kissed either. But believe me, I would have slapped them. One of the girls in our group, got out of a taxi and the taxi driver grabbed the front of her with both hands. When I went to the Karnack Temple with Randy, Ryan, the Doctor and his wife, the wife was bound and determined to guard me from the Taxi driver.

On the way to Egypt, we passed the Red Sea and stopped at Tel Beersheba and the Zin Overlook and Avdat. As we passed the Red Sea, I couldn't but help picture the sea parted and Moses leading the Israelites through the sea. Then we got to the Zin Overlook which is an overlook to the desert that the Israelites wandered in for forty years. Imagine being an Israelite and seeing the Red Sea being split in front of your very eyes and the next day, you have already forgotten God and complaining to God about your circumstances. Because of their wickedness they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. After seeing the overlook, I definately wouldn't want to wander in that desert. And what's even more amazing is that they stayed 38 out of the 40 years only 2 miles from the overlook. They were so close, yet they still wandered. It reminds me of Lehi's dream. Those in wickedness lost the straight and narrow path and were lost in midst of darkness and wandered off on their own paths and were lost.

The next day we drove for hours on the most desolate desert I have ever seen. It was over 110 degrees or more that day. What's even more amazing to me is that Abraham, Moses, and Joseph traveled that same path in their day in that hot desert. We passed the Suez Canal through an underground tunnel. In Egypt we had to have an armed guard in front of the buses. This consisted of 5-6 men in white military outfits that were armed and they had a machine gun. On the bus, we had an officer that was armed as well as our tour guide. When we passed the border into Egypt, we weren't allowed to take any pictures and we especially weren't allowed to take pictures of the officers. They would shake their hand at us if we did.

Our first day we were in Cairo we went to the Pyramids. Each block of alabaster was taller than me and much wider than me. The pyramids were a site to behold! You could see them for miles and it was such a contrast to the current conditions of poverty to see some of the greatest engineering the world has ever known. We entered one of the pyramids (each pyramid was a tomb for one single person). We dunked (sp?) down and up small tunnels until we got to an open bare room spelling of body odor with a discoverer's name on the wall. We saw the sphinx, Saqqara, Memphis pyramids. that night we got on a flight to Luxor. The security at this airport was non exsistant.

On Wednesday, we took horse drawn carriages down the street to the Luxor temple. This was AMAZING and used to be considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Someone was shooting a music video here. There were over 100 columns all in a small space covered in hyroglyphics. We were ants compared to how tall they were. There are not words to describe this. One thing about the Egyptians is that we know that they were obsessed with Eternal life and they wanted to return to God after death. Their understanding was amazing. They do however, believe that only the good will be resurrected after this life, but we know that everyone will be reunited after death through Christ. However, what is amazing though, is that this temple also contains hyroglyphics of the washing and annointing, the God asking questions and replies, key words, and entering God's family by being embraced. These hyroglyphics were surrounding the structures considered the 'Holi of Holies' which contains an altar. I was in awe!

They believed that the sarab (a beetle) was a sign of luck. They had a structure of a sarab and if you walked around it 5 times you would be rich, 7 times you would marry, and 8 times you would have children. Needlesstosay, Emily and I walked around it 8 times! : )

We took a carriage ride to the Luxor temple as well. This was amazing as well. We examined a few hyroglyphics in here as well. We were all so exhausted from lack of sleep and the heat and hunger and sickness that we all looked like zombies. We could barely keep moving, but we knew we couldn't miss it! But it was so sad to be sitting at one of the most amazing sites on earth and not being able to soak it all in from shear exhaustion. After a nap, we went on a Falucka Boat ride on the Nile to the west bank of the Nile. The Nile is interesting because it flows north, yet it is so still that the winds could carry you south. Thus the Nile was designed in a way that the Egyptians can use it for transportation both ways. After we crossed the Nile, we rode camels through the west side of Luxor. They took us through the poverty filled streets. The homes were dirty, the floors within were dirt. The streets were dirt. The women filled their buckets on the outside of their homes. The children would stop and wave and say 'hallo'. They were so cute. Many of the kids would sit there and some would just continue to sit there while flies flew on their faces.

My camel guide was named Abraham. He was a cute chunky kid and that was really sweet. My camel's name was Alibaba. The camel behind me was named "Michael Jackson". The camel ride was fun. The camel sits on it's legs and after you sit on it it will stand. You feel like you will fall off as they lift their legs up off the ground.

I will write more tomorrow. I have a 4 page paper to write and it's 1:40 a.m.

Love you all,
Alyssa

May 15--Luxor, Egypt

2008-05-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today we saw the Valley of the Kings. I have been in luxorfor two days now. I alsosaw King Tuts mummie and coffin and tomb aswell as three other pharoah's tombs including Ramsi IV.
My favorite part of today was seeing the site where the papyrus of The Book of Abraham was found. This is so cool!
Today we are going on a carriage ride and taking the night train up to Cairo. Yesteday I went on a camel ride and saw the streets of the West Nile. We even saw a boat named"Alyssa". We rode on a faluka (boat) on the Nile and then got on the camel. My boy that led my camel's name was Abraham and my camels' name was Alibaba. :)
Egypt is third world and I cannot belive the circumstances the people live in here. Even Cairo is all poverty and thereisonly one rich neighborhood. All the kids are beggars. I hate shopping here,because they aredishonest. This has been an eye openning experience forme and makes meso grateful tobean american.
Alyssa

May 14--

2008-05-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

Mom,
This is amazing. Today we saw pictures of the Egyptian with the washing and annointing and key words and passwords and entering god's presense. Wow! This stuff is amazing. I'm off to a boat ride on the Nile and riding on camels this is so amazing! Love you mom
Alyssa

May 13--

2008-05-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

I love the expressions of my group. If you look off in the distance, you can see the Holi of Holies of this temple that took 2000 years to build.

Moriah & Lis at The Holi of Holies of Karnak:

May 8--Shopping in Old City

2008-05-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

Things are going good here. It is really crazy busy with the amount of homework we have and readings and field trips and trying to get out and enjoy being in Jerusalem. A bunch of the students went to Tel Aviv, but my roommates and I opted to stay here to study. We went to the Old City instead for a few hours. We have our first midterm tomorrow and it's only been less than two weeks. But it has been really great, because the places and the people are really coming together and the missing pieces of the puzzle are locking into place, if that makes any sense. It's so incredible to read of a place in the Old Testament and picture it in your mind. The prophets are becoming so real to me. I am very tired all the time, but it's a good tired. It's amazing to me how much I learn in the short amount of time that I move somewhere new.
We were talking in our old testament class about the differences between happiness and joy. Brother Draper said that happiness is based on the present and fulfilling our needs now. Happiness is not the plan God intends for us. His plan is not the plan of happiness. But this life is about joy which is permanent and future-oriented. This plan of joy doesn't necessarily mean we will not have hard things come, but that the journey will be good. He told us that four months ago his younger brother had some difficult things come in his life. His son came home from his mission psychologically broken, his youngest son was killed, and he lost his job because his co-worker lied about him. Many would say, "I can't believe in a God that would treat me this way." But the answer is that life did it to him, not God. And his response to all of this reminded me of you. But the man said, "God is still there. The continually sustaining hand of God lifts and helps us through. Many times I have felt His love & His presense & we knew He cared."
I wasn't planning on going into all of this.
It does remind me of a story from the Old Testament where the Israelites and Amorites were fighting at Azekah (where I went yesterday) and the sun didn't go down during the night, they fought straight for around 48 hours. The Lord didn't take away their trials, but he did send a hail storm (which is crazy for Israel) and the hail killed more men than the Israelites killed by themselves.

May 6-- Day 7--A Day Inside

2008-05-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a hard day for me. I don’t know what snapped in me, but I just felt really alone today. I can’t help but think of the Savior right now. He was so alone. He walked the streets of Jerusalem with a cross on his back and his own friends betrayed him and gave him to the mob to be killed. He had no one, yet he did no wrong. He fell yet there was no one to help him pick himself up again. His understanding stretched beyond everyone he came into contact with, yet they only understood little. Did he ever wish to be with someone who could relate? No, he just kept reaching out, putting his arms out to help and lift and inspire. With no reward and not knowing what he would eat that day or where he would sleep. He lived 33 years alone. He only preached for 3 years, I wonder if he wondered what He was doing until then. God was preparing him. God was teaching him. He knew His purpose. He knew He was needed. Amid the blazing heat and prickly ground in his sandals, he kept going traveling miles and miles—the Sea of Galilee alone is about 70 miles from Jerusalem. With no trees to shade His path and with little water to quench his thirst, He kept going forward.

Coming to Austria and Israel, I have really come to see how many people there are in the world. This doesn’t even count the people we talk about in the past, because this area has been inhabited for 6000 years. In my near eastern studies class, we talked about the gathering of archeological data and how scientists have put together information to make conclusions about the past, to the best of their ability. The written word offers the best information, by far, whether it’s on pottery, papyrus, tablets, leather, stone, or parchment. Artifacts, then, seem to reinforce the writings. They have some amazing museums within the city walls that I’m really looking forward to checking out.

Today, we didn’t get to go out to the city. My friends and I stayed up last night to 3 or 4 in the morning reading all the reading we have to do and memorizing dates. We had Old Testament and a health meeting for our trip to Egypt next week. We then had near eastern studies class and then we drew maps of the middle east—both political and geographical maps by hand and gathered information on the holidays of the Muslims for a 10-page report we are doing. We have our first Old Testament midterm on Friday, after a week and half of class! Our Muslim class got canceled because our professor, Dr. Adnan Musallam, couldn’t past the through the walls of the West Bank today. He teaches at Bethlehem University. I spent the majority of my day drawing maps and watching a Jewish film “Salah Shabbati” for class.

Tomorrow we are going to the place where David fought Goliath, several underground caves, and some fortresses to keep the Philistines from coming up to the Israelites.

‘til tomorrow,

Alyssa

May 5--Walking in Jewish Section of Town

2008-05-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

Today was a neat day, because I have always been so fascinated with the Jewish culture. I wish I could have taken pictures for you to see, but there were specific signs up saying that the Jewish people wanted to be respected and not for tourists to walk through their neighborhood. We wore long sleeves and longs skirts, because they had signs asking everyone that came into their neighborhood to be modest. I had seen the Jewish men coming out on the street on Saturdays in New Jersey, but it was nothing like this. The streets were trashy, we walked down alleyways for streets, they were all one lane wide, even the city buses drove through very quickly. You have to be a better driver than Jersey here if you can believe that. You have to be very sure that you are walking on the sidewalks here, because you will literally be hit by a car going at least 35 on a very narrow street and 45 on a major street. It's scary and will literally blow you away!
They have small little shops selling things. Most of the stuff looked like thrift store stuff, because it was dusty and was poorly presented and the outside of their little shops were covered in dirt and the streets were filled with trash.
The women were all dressed in skirts and the majority more blacks and greys. Their heads were not covered. The men were all wearing long black coats and top hats or the small circle of fabric on their heads. Most wore hats. Some men wore grey jackets of sorts with a string to tie it together. The little boys all had two curls on each side of their heads. All of them had jewish features. I saw one jewish boy with blond hair and one with red, but the rest were black or deep brown.

We stopped in an olive wood shop and I bought a Jerusalem magnet. They were kind people and I made them smile, I didn't feel so bad being in their neighborhood then, but most of the time I did. We made the long walk back, asking Israeli police officers for directions and passing Jaffa gate into the old city walls of Jerusalem. My feet hurt from walking because of my surgery and my feet were bleeding by the end. When were were passing the city walls, we saw some men trying to kick a soccer ball over the old city walls of Jerusalem. Some boys from above had lost it. One in our group, Jason, attempted to kick it above the wall. He was unsuccessful. Finally one of the Israeli guys got it over. I would have attempted if I wasn't wearing a skirt!
This morning, we had our Old Testament class and we talked about Adam and Eve and the need for Eve to partake of the Tree of the Knowledge and how God wants us to multiply and replenish the earth and we talked about the things that are hinderances for men and women to get married in the world today. In Judiam, we talked about the different levels of Judism. Some reformed, some conservative, some ultra-orthodox, and some neo-orthodox. It was fascinating to hear what they believed and so confusing to know which believed what. I am grateful for the gospel that it's one complete package and it's not something that's been changed or editted to fit what we would like. Truth never changes. I find it fascinating that we invite these Jewish and Muslim men to come into teach us, for me are not afraid of learning, but invite it. One of the most fascinating concepts of the jews is their idea of "zion". They believe that all the jews will return to Jerusalem and that it will become their zion. But they also believe that zion is a part of who they are and as they become more spiritual, that they create zion. I have heard again and again that the jews are the closest to the truth and teach many of the same doctrines as we do. And Zion was one of the first topics that I immediately recognized as being similar to ours in ways.
Wow! I am learning so much! I wish I could just transport you hear so you could walk the streets I walk and see the people I do and have the conversations I have with the other students. It has been an experience, that's for sure!

Alyssa

May 3--Shabboth

2008-05-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

Today was the Sabbath here in Jerusalem. They celebrate it here in the Holy Land on Saturday instead of Sunday. It is so strange that I have only been here for 3 complete days. I feel like I have been here for months, so I can't imagine what it will feel like when I return home. I still can't believe I'm here. Tonight I got a video of the loud prayer call they do here 5 times a day with the Dome of the Rock in the background. My first night I was here, I had a hard time sleeping because it was so loud at it was 5 a.m. You can hear their prayers all over the area and I am a mountain away from where the sound originates. My favorite thing about this place is the food. I love their salad made of avacados, tomatoes, olives, and peppers in vinegar. I love their humus and their pitas I can eat everyday. Tonight we got to try Israeli ice cream. And they make this bread in the shape of an oval and it is covered in sesame seeds and it is so delicious! It reminded me of the Egyptian cookies the UN leader gave me as a gift in Provo when I ate with their family--they were covered in sesame seeds as well. They are such healthy people here. Everything in this building is so close. It takes me 30 seconds to walk to class and church is up 3 flights of stairs. We had a testimony meeting in church today and the windows behind the pulpit are arches that overlook the Dome of the Rock. It was even more incredible than the windows in Stanley! The branch includes people from the area and tons of tourists, besides the 80 students and their families. Today was a pretty lax day--I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep from the time change (we're 9 hours ahead) and I wrote in my journal. Tomorrow, we have Old Testament and Islam and Judism classes in the morning and some free time, so we're going to go see some sites within the Old City walls of Jerusalem on our own. Alyssa I wrote this email to my friends from Iraq: Hi friends, I just wanted to let you know that I am now living in Israel--in the city of Jerusalem. I live on Mt Scopius. I will be here for two months. I can't but help think of all of you while I am here. I think of you all often! Alyssa

May 2--Geography Field Trip

2008-05-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today was amazing as well. We had orientation meeting in the morning and then we loaded the buses at 1 pm. We made four stops—all on outlooks of the surrounding areas. The areas were saw cover 70% of the places in the Old Testament.

The first stop, we drove south to a monastery called Deir Mar Elyas. From this point, you could see the town of Bethlehem and perhaps the Sheppard’s field that the sheppards saw the star of David and knew where to find the Savior. We also saw the new Partician Wall that they built in 2002 to keep terrorists out. So far only one attack has happened since the wall was built. We saw a distant hill where Herod was buried. And the Judean wilderness in the distance—even though it is spring, it is just sand. Also in the distance, the place where Moses camped and the place where Abraham (northern Negev) came from—he traveled over 60 miles or more to sacrifice his son Isaac. Do you realize that Abraham was promised that his seed would fill the whole earth and his wife had to wait 80 years even after having menopause to see the promises of the Lord fulfilled and have Isaac? I thought of how Abraham sacrificing his only son (the son he had waited for a century for) was a precursor to God giving the sacrifice of his only Begotten Son centuries later for all mankind. I hadn’t realized that Abraham had traveled that far with the knowledge that the Lord wanted him to sacrifice his son. Imagine traveling all that way knowing of the task you were to perform and how much faith that would take? We also noticed that the city of Jerusalem was at a lower elevation than the surrounding cities, even though it is said in scriptures, “Go up unto Jerusalem” this is because you must climb to get to a spiritual place. I asked the teacher on my own to show me that path that Joseph and Mary would have taken to get to Bethlehem and he said they came from Nazareth (which is60 miles) away from Jerusalem and then from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. He said the roadways have stayed the same over the centuries, so this was probably the path they took. I could but help picture the star directly above the city of Bethlehem.

The next stop, Haas Promenade Overlook, allowed us to see the old city of Jerusalem from the other side, the city of David, the garden of Gethsemane (where Jesus bled for all our sins from every pore), the BYU-Jerusalem Center, and the Mount of Olives. It put it all into perspective too see how far Jesus traveled with his disciples. I loved this field trip because it allowed me to see the land that Jesus must have walked on with his disciples following him. And I tell you what—it is definitely not sandal material!

The next stop, we went to Augusta Victoria Hospital and church. The interior had the most amazing mural of Christ and on the ceiling the Christ and many of his apostles. We climbed 200 steps to the top of the tower of the church. From this tower, you could see the Dead Sea and also the town of Bethany where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived. You could also see the city of Jerico which is the longest continuously inhabited city on earth. You could also see the land of Ephraim (which is the tribe I am from). After we went to the tower, we went into the church and because it had great acoustics, we sang as a choir of sorts. We sang, ‘Abide with Me, ‘Tis Eventide, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, All Creatures of Our God and King, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, Nearer My God to Thee, and the spirit was so strong as we sang. That was probably one of my most favorite moments.

The next stop we stopped at an overlook very close to the BYU-Jerusalem center called Seven Arches Hotel Overlook. Immediately below us, there was a Jewish cemetery with the coffin boxes right on the ground. Imagine being “buried” on the Mt of Olives. We were even closer to the Dome of the Rock this time. I couldn’t but help to think of Nephi going into the walls of the old city to get the brass plates from King Laban. We cannot read the Book of Mormon without acknowledging its beginnings from Jerusalem. We cannot sing, “Redeemer of Israel” or “Come Follow Me” without thinking of following the Savior here in Israel. We also learned that 30% of the Christians have moved away from Jerusalem and one political leader has said, “Christians here are becoming the ‘canary in the mire’. It is frightening. We are glad you [Mormons] are here.” The Muslims and Jews have overtaken the city.

The last stop we made was at Nabi Samwil (Arabic for the ‘prophet Samuel’)-- a place of Old Testament spots. As we approached you could see small children shepparding goats on the hill side. It amazes me that people are still doing the same thing they were doing centuries ago. From the top of the monastery, you could see where the crusaders came to attack the city. This served as a fort of sorts to ward off intruders from the Mediterranean coast. Daniel also had his vision of the two ladders from spot in the distance. You could see farmland for the first time. The Jews own the bottom and the Israelis own the top. There are two kinds of monks—ones that are hermits and stay within the church to pray and to fast and the others are soldiers. I never knew this! From the monastery you could see Jewish children playing around the ruins. They even had curls on each side of their head and were jumping and playing around.

We traveled home. We ate dinner and I got to know my roommates better. My roommates are from Idaho Falls, Littleton Colorado, and San Diego.

I have had some really good conversations with the people here. Many people have said, “That was the best conversation I have had in Jerusalem.” It’s amazing how the gospel binds people together. I am impressed with the quality of people here, they all have their own story and I feel privileged to get to know them.

Alyssa

May 1--Walking Tour of Old Jerusalem

2008-05-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

Today was amazing! After an orientation meeting and our near-eastern studies class, we headed on a walking tour of old Jerusalem. We descended down the hill and up to the city wall. We couldn't go through Herod's gate because it was too dangerous. However we walked along the trash filled streets and limestone homes and businesses. We would pass male A. jews with their long black coats and two ringlets of hair on each side of their head. Also muslim women with their hair covered with brightly colored scarfs. There were kids playing in the streets as well as young boys pushing carts and working for their families in the little shops. The vendors would wait for us on the street in hopes to sell us their goods. Many men would say, "The mormons--great people." We are known not as Americans, but as Mormons and the Mormon University. The streets smelt of spices. It reminded me of going into the homes of my investigators from India. We continued to the safe gate into the walls of Jerusalem. The archways were high and decorative and the alleys in Jerusalem are filled with shops selling scarfs, prayer rugs, trinkets, spices in large containers, and raw meat. As I walked the streets of large rocks and limestone, I could but help think of Christ walking those very streets with a cross in his arms. We climbed to the top of an Austrian hostel where you could see the roofs of the homes. Many of the homes have dome shaped roofs--which helps keep the homes cooler. Some of the homes displayed flags with the star of David. These flags signified that a rich jew had purchased the home of a palestian. The city of Jerusalem is separated into quarters--one muslim, one christian, one jewish. Afterwards we were walking the small walkways. We entered a small walkway with lots of people passing by us, many brushing against me. I thought of the story in the book of Mark of the woman with the hemorage who touched the clothing of Jesus and in whom Jesus turned around and healed her, even though there were many people passing by him and brushing past him.

24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronging him.

25 And a certain woman, which had an aissue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his agarment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that avirtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

Mark 5

We past the entrance of the garden tomb, but did not go inside. We will in a few weeks. We past an open area that reminded me of the open area where Jesus was presented to Herod to be killed. We left the city and walked to western Jerusalem where the streets were wider and more modern. We passed Israeli men in green army uniforms with rifles at their sides. All Israeli men and women must serve in their forces for two years of their lives. After walking 4 miles through the streets, a bus driver drove us back to the center. We sat on the grass in front of the large auditorium and looked over the Dome of the Rock and the city. It was beautiful. I cannot believe that the church owns such an amazing building in such a unique place.
We ate dinner. Our food here is authetic middle eastern food. Humus, pitas, sliced tomatos, cucumbers.
We had a meeting where we got our cell phones and transmittors and we went on a tour of the center.

I can't believe I'm here. I feel like I will must be coming home in a week, but then I think about all the time I have here. And for once, I get excited to read my homework, because I know that it will mean so much more to me and help me appreciate these places even more.

Alyssa

April 30--Vienna

2008-05-01T04:13:00.000-07:00

I just arrived!

So I just arrived in Jerusalem at 3 a.m. Israel time! We had an 11 hour layover in Austria, so today we spent the day in Vienna! AMAZING! We took the train from the airport and saw the cathedral that Mozart was married in,

tried gelato (so good!), saw an opera house, a statue of Mozart, parliment, and went to this royal palace. The palace was by far one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen in my life! It had beautiful gardens, a large open area with a large fountain and windy roads leading to another palace lookout. I can't explain it, but it's beautiful.

I'll send pictures soon.

I've already met some amazing people. So we've been traveling for almost 48 hours and let's just say we were excited to brush our teeth and change our clothes when we got here today.
It was such an amazing feeling as you walk into the Jerusalem Center. The spirit is definately here. They fed us a snack and you go out the cafeteria to see the Dome of the Rock and the old city walls of Jerusalem. I am in awe! You can see the Dome of the Rock from my bedroom window as well.
For our first assignment we were assigned to read the first 20 chapters of Genesis, which I read in the many hours on the plane. I couldn't help but think of the creation on my own looking at the world from the windows of the plane. And as I read about the light being separated from the darkness, I look out the cabin window to see the most amazing sunset and the clouds covering the earth.
I just feel so blessed right now. Tomorrow morning (in 3 hours), we eat breakfast and off to our first day of class and later a walking tour of old Jerusalem. I'm off to sleep!
Good night!
Alyssa

April 29--Arrive at Airport

2008-04-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

So we had to be at the SLC airport at 4 a.m. I saw Mary Lou from BYU's travel office that I had worked with alot when I hosted the Iraqi's. We flew to Chicago and I met Lis, Moriah, Lauren Thompson, and Lauren Call. I had a good conversation with Jamie McClane. Lis, Moriah, and Lauren Call and I walked around the airport and it reminded me of boarding the plane for my mission, because we had a layover in Chicago.
We boarded the plane to Vienna. The interior of the Vienna Airline planes were the most hideous colors. The women had red business suits on with blue scarfs.
We spent our 11-hour layover in Vienna. Kristen Irvine went on a study abroad there, so she took us to all the spots.
We were all so exhausted that we rode the city train and all 9 of us fell fast asleep. We don't even know how many times we went around the city in it.
We boarded the planes to Tel Aviv. We arrived early in the morning. Some of the BYU staff arrived with signs. I remember sitting near the front of the bus and the Drapers were talking to all of us. The first impressions I had were the limestone walls everywhere. The road up to the center was beautiful and you could see the Dome of the Rock from the windows of the bus. I immediately thought the BYU Jerusalem Center was amazing! I was once again amazed that the programs of the church. I was equally impressed with the PCC in Oahu, Hawaii. We went to the Oasis (where we eat) and we had juice and muffins waiting for us.
I couldn't sleep the first night because at 4 a.m. the call to prayer was sounding and it was so loud. After that, I never heard it again, because I was always so exhausted!

April 28--Orientation

2008-04-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

On Orientation day, we had a lecture by Dr. Kearle who scared us to death and said our sleeves had to be to the middle of our arm. (Hense the frumpiness of all my pictures!) I sat behind Camilee. My roommate Kristen quickly found me. I remember seeing Luke and thinking, "This will be an adventure!" I went to Walmart with my mom and got some last minutes stuff. We stayed the night at Sonya's and Sonya let me borrow two of her shirts--luckily I did, because they ended up being my favorite shirts on the whole trip.

My Journal in Jerusalem

2008-04-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

The way I found my journal for my experience in Jerusalem is kind of a cool story.

April 5, 2008:

Weeks before finding this journal, I had almost finished my other journal I either pondered or prayed to find the right journal for my experience in Israel. Yesterday, I was at the BYU Bookstore and as I was leaving, I saw a display of journals. They looked similar to my old journal. As I looked, I found one that reminded me of the most of the Holy Land. Even though it was $19, I knew it was perfect. I wondered what the front design was from--if it was actually middle eastern. I turned to the back cover and read it was from Ireland, Scotland, and northern England. However, I could not find a better journal and went home. I was showing my roommate this journal and how perfect it was yet my disappointment that it was from Europe not the Middle East, however, she asked what else it said and I read to my joy, "The large book reproduces the Gospels . . . The image on the cover is from the Gospel according to Matthew and represents the monogram of the Greek form of Christ's name (Chi-Ro, XP)."

How crazy is that--that I would feel impressed to buy this journal, not knowing what it really meant and that Christ was the central image of the cover.

[Picture] On one of my last days in Jerusalem, we were walking the route of Christ during the last week of his life and I saw the Greek form of Christ's name on the ceiling of one of the stations on the Via Delarosa. I just so happened to have my journal with me.