count down 17

started the day at 7 am and went to Dome of the Rock- totally worth it

some cool graffiti in West Jerusalem

love this one

most delicious crepe's I have ever had

Partaking of said crepes

Between Dome of the Rock and crepes we went to the Jewish Quarter twice, Christian Quarter once, the Shook (out door market), and West Jerusalem. Personally ate a (another) caramel croissant, a chocolate pastry, and a pizza bagel.

Post crepes we went to Aladdin's to change money, Jimmy's, and our favorite place to get shirts/sweaters in East Jerusalem. Finally at about 4:00 we made it back and I took a 1.5 hour nap that I'm still recovering from.

Great Day!

I only have 18 days left :(

Okay so today was absolutely amazing. I really feel like this city is my home and I really am so sad to be leaving so soon. Today we went on a morning field trip. We went the the Wohl museum that is built over ruins of houses dating back 2000 years. We went to the Burnt house- remains from a house that was burned down by the Romans at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple. We also went to part of the Western Wall that had stairs that hadn't been reconstructed and where they found stones that had been thrown off the top of the Temple during the Second Temple destruction including the pinnacle stone where the shofar would be blown (kind of similar the Angel Moroni on top of LDS temples except it was a real person... details). We got pictures with Israeli soldiers (made my day) and after the field trip my roommates and I walked around the old city finishing Christmas shopping and eating delicious food. I personally finished all of my Christmas shopping for family and most of my own shopping and I ate a caramel croissant and shawarma. Good thing we spent all day (from 8:30 am-4:30 pm) walking including the huge hill up to the center. I think my exercise and eating habits cancel each other out- hopefully. I guess the truth will come out when I come home and start playing wii fit again with my family.

Tifereth Israel Synagogue that was blown by Jordanians after the War of Independence

I might be slightly in love with the guy to the left of me...
I might also be suffering from a 3:1 girl to boy ratio for the last 4 months

The stones behind me were the ones thrown off the temple

I really wish people would start spelling my name right...

Galilee!

Sorry for the slacking on the blog. We have been in Galilee for the past 10 days and it was absolutely amazing!
Day one: We spent the first day driving from Jerusalem to Galilee making a few stops on the way. We went to Beth She'an, Nazareth, and Arbel. Beth She'an had some great ruins. In Nazareth we saw the Church of the Annunciation and the Synagogue Church. Arbel had a great view of Galilee.

Day two: First field trip! We started the day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. We stopped in the middle of the "sea" and had a devotional. After the boat ride we went to a museum and saw a boat that was found in the Galilee and was dated to around the time of Jesus. Then we made our way up to the Mount of Beatitudes. It was absolutely beautiful- looked just like paradise. Then we went to St. Peter's Primacy and Capernaum. St. Peter's Primacy was the place of the "do you love me then feed my sheep" conversation between Peter and Jesus. In Capernaum we saw a synagogue that was built on the foundations of an older synagogue- potentially one that Jesus may have taught it.

Day three was cold and rainy. We spent the day in classes and watching movies.

Day four: Only a half day field trip. We went to Gamala part of the Golan Heights. Some of us tried to find a waterfall. It was rainy and muddy and very foggy. We found where the waterfall was supposed to be but unfortunately we couldn't see it. Then we went to Qaztrin and saw some ruins from a Talmudic community.

Day five: another class day

Day six: Shabbat. We had later church on Shabbat so that we could use the small chapel in Tiberias. It was a beautiful chapel and on the way home we went to the River Jordan. It was a beautiful view as the sun was setting and a great time to reflect on the Savior and his baptism.

Day seven: Class... this might have been the day that we had our midterm but I definitely blocked that from my memory.

Day eight: I honestly can't remember what we did. I think it was Mount Tabor, Nain, and Megiddo. Mount Tabor is one of the traditional sites of the transfiguration. It was a great field trip but I honestly don't remember what day it was.

Okay... because I can't remember the days here's a list of the things that we did.
-pictures on the shores of Galilee
- Tel Hazor
- Tel Dan
- Banias
- Muslim fortress/castle
- saw some great mosaics
- Acre/Acco
- Chorazin
- Sepphoris
- Haifa
- Mt. Carmel
- German Templar Cemetery which holds the graves of some of the missionaries that were in the Palestine mission

We came home yesterday afternoon. It's weird to call the JC home now- especially since I'm only here for a few more weeks. While we were gone the service couples had decorated the center and there a bunch of trees decorating the top few levels of the center. Our wonderful chef Achmed also had prepared an amazing Thanksgiving dinner for us including turkey, sweet potato marshmallow casserole, and stuffing. It was all delicious and was a sweet reminder of how blessed we all are to be here and the wonderful people that we are surrounded by.

Galilee was really amazing but it came with it's own challenges. Although I would have enjoyed a trial free vacation it was a great time to reflect on the atonement and how it has affected my life. I had some wonderful epiphanies while being there and just pondering over what I was going through. In the end it was a great blessing to be able to put my trust in my Savior. I was able to walk in places or in the air space of where Jesus walked and saw many of the places that Jesus spent a lot of his mortal ministry in. It was an amazing trip but it's great to be back in Jerusalem.

Count down: 3 weeks

Pictures of Bethlehem

Elyse and Me at the Herodian

Me and Thomas- also at the Herodian
(in real life Thomas is about a foot taller- he squatted for the picture)
Kaitlyn and me- Classic pic at the Tent Restaurant
Love this sign
Just some Katherines at St. Catherines

Oh Little Town

We went to Bethlehem! Definitely one of my favorite field trips so far. (by the way this is delayed by about... a week). Just a super quick summary of what we did.

First stop was the Herodian- Herod the Greats palace in Jerusalem and also the site where they very recently found his grave.

Second stop was Bethlehem University. We got to talk to a professor and some students there just about life and school. It was actually the first Palestinian Universities and some of the students have to pass through multiple check points on their commute from home to school. It was really interesting to hear about the University and how similar some of the problems are between American students and Palestinian students- but there are some major differences. The best part of that visit was just walking around talking to the students. Kaitlyn and I actually got asked out to coffee by some students. Unfortunately we had to decline because we were leaving soon... and we don't drink coffee.

After Bethlehem University we went to the Tent Restaurant for lunch. Basically it was delicious food eaten in a tent. And that's all I have to say about that.

Our next stop was Manger Square/Church of the Nativity. The line to the star of the place of the birth Christ was really long and we weren't sure if we could get through so a group of us just went through the rest of the church/cave. We had a really amazing time just Christmas songs- we had some people video taping us (pretty common reaction from other tourists actually) and some people from other churches started singing with us. It was a great experience to see (again) how music and religion brings people together. After the church we shopped around Manger Square. A bunch of us got Bethlehem baby blankets. I guess the only time they make money off of them is when the BYU students come- typical.

Our final stop was Shepherds Field. It is the place where LDS tourist groups go for the place where the angel appeared declared Christ's birth to the shepherds. It was pretty dark by the time we got there but there were still sheep walking through the hills. It literally looked exactly like I imagined it would- maybe a little less green but that's just because nothing is really green here. We had a little devotional there and then sang Christmas songs and had some quiet contemplative time which was really nice. It was a great time to think about Christ's Birth and how important his life and atonement is in my personal life.

I really do love being here. It is the best experience of my life and will probably remain in the top 10- I can't imagine too many things being better. It's incredible here. There is so much history and so much love here. I am so sad to be leaving in a short 5ish weeks. I will miss everything here. If any of you want to come to the Holy Land and need a tour guide let me know! I'll come with anyone in a heart beat and take you to all the cool places... well the ones I know about.