Jordan here I come!!

Monday the 28^th was….JORDAN!!! I was sooo excited! We got to go to another country! So it was a bright an early morning so that we could be one of the first buses to cross the border. It cracks me up because the security and stuff that we had to go through was to leave Israel not even to enter Jordan. But we crossed the border from Israel to Jordan on foot! Haha I thought that was kinda cool! And my favorite part…I finally got a stamp in my passport!!! :D when we got here we didn't get one and it kinda made me sad but I finally got one in there and that proves I have been somewhere else besides the US and Canada! After that border we had to go to the Jordanian border which took quite a while too but we just had to sit on the bus while our teacher worked the stuff out. After waiting for what seemed like ever we finally made it into Jordan! When we went across the border we got a new bus and a tour guide! Our tour guides name was Youseph! He was cool! When we are in Israel, our teachers have permission to be the tour guides but when we are out of the country we have to have a tour guide with us. It was kinda neat though to have a Jordanian teaching us at all the sites.

The first place we went after the border was Mt. Nebo. Mt. Nebo is the place where Moses stood to look over the Promised Land (Num. 27 and Deut 34:1). There wasn't anything super big up there it was mostly just a mountain but it was amazing to be where Moses stood! If it had been a clearer day then I probably would have been able to see a lot more but even with the haze you could see a lot! You really could see a lot of the land! It was super cool to think that Moses stood there and looked at the same places that I was looking at! That is where the children of Israel got to go! It was a really neat experience!

The clouds looked super cool!

I am pretty sure this is supposed to be Moses' staff with the snake!

The view! like is said not super clear but really cool!

After Mt. Nebo we went to a city called Madaba. While here we went to St. George Church at Madaba to see to mosaic floor that was beautiful! It was a cool map of the country of Israel and Jordan! It is amazing to think that someone took the time to create such a good map out of a whole bunch of little tiles. I feel like it would have been prettier when it was first made but it was still really neat! Along with the floor there were a lot of mosaics hanging on the walls depicting the life of Christ. There was one that I was particularly interested in. It was a little odd but it is rather intriguing. I believe that it is supposed to be depicting the baptism but I am not entirely sure! Either way I think it is cool!

 I would love to hear thoughts on what the boards and/or snakes underneath his feet are supposed to represent if anyone has any thoughts!

After this it was finally time for lunch!! I was starving by this point! It was a nicer place and the food was good! It was my first experience with Jordanian food but it was pretty good! One thing that I had a tough time remembering is only to eat food that has been cooked. The water has stuff in it that our bodies are not used to so it would have most likely made us sick. In order to take precaution we made sure to think about if what we were eating was washing in the water or not to brush our teeth with the water. It was an adventure that is for sure!

After lunch we were supposed to go to Machaerus which is where john the Baptist was beheaded but sadly, because of the inordinate amount of time it took at the border, we weren't able to go. It would have been one of the cooler places on our trip I think but it is ok that we didn't get to go! So instead, we got to go on a 4 hour drive to the Hotel in Petra! It was nice to get a 20 minute nap and to watch out the window! (I really wish that I could sleep in cars but instead I get to be a window watcher which sometimes is totally worth it!) Since we were driving into southern Jordan, (To what is called Moab) it was basically just desert! It was really neat though!

Once we got to Petra it was pouring rain which isn't really what I was expecting but it was a nice change I guess! Haha J The hotel had complementary drinks waiting for us and we went straight down to dinner! It was a nice dinner and there was a sitar player down there playing live music! That was kinda cool! There was a back pack mix up when I went to take my stuff to my room! I grabbed the backpack that was marked with my white bandanna but when I went to take my computer out…it wasn't there! I started freaking out and opened the big pocket. When I opened it up, my stuff wasn't in there! It was someone else’s backpack. Well come to find out, someone thought it would be funny to switch two of the bandanna’s and so my backpack had someone else’s bandanna on it. At the time I was a little freaked out but it was kinda funny! (Thankfully sawyer hadn't taken my backpack yet so I was able to just switch our bandannas!)

Since we were only going to be spending one night in Petra we decided to go out and explore the tiny little town (more like a grocery store and like 5 souvenir shops haha) It was fun! A bunch of people bought some Indiana Jones type hats and we got to watch this guy made a camel out of sand! It was amazing how he just made this camel like it was no big deal at all! It only took him like 2 minutes! After going out I decided it was time to shower and go to bed. When I went to get into the shower it was like a dribble! There was like no water pressure at all and I wasn't completely sure if my hair was rinsed out completely or not! Haha then when I went to sit on my bed it sunk! So my head and right side on my body basically was tilted down! It was definitely an adventure in that hotel!!

I hope they call me on a миссия ミッション Mission!

Mission calls are my favorite! I love how excited everyone is and finding out where people are going. I get the chills and the spirit bears witness to me of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the work that these wonderful people will be doing. We have had 7 mission call openings and that is only the beginning!

On Sunday the 27^th  there were two mission calls received, two girls that are absolutely amazing and will make some of the best missionaries. McCall was called to the Minnesota, Minneapolis mission! And Tori (yes there is another Tori) was called to Japan! They had both already opened their calls via Skype with their parents but it was still super exciting and there were definitely tears shed. Before they even read their calls we all sung called to serve and that was a really neat experience! They spirit just flooded to room and really testified of the work that these girls were going to be doing.

After Jordan, there were five mission calls! Three on Thursday the 31^st, one on Friday the 1^st and one on Monday the 4^th!! On Thursday there were two guys and one girl. Preston had already opened his call because his parents emailed it to him. So he had known for about three days and wasn't going to tell anyone until we got back to the center! I don’t know if I could have kept a secret like that for so long! It is crazy!! So when we got back, John’s and Cara’s calls where both waiting for them here! They were both super excited and we were all crazy excited for them! As it turns out, there was a member of the presiding bishopric and some other church employees that where here. We were originally going to open it in the shekel shack (the student common area) rather than the oasis (the cafeteria). Well, our special guests wanted to hear the calls so we all gathered in the Oasis. We sung called to serve again which was just as amazing this time as it had been the last!

 Preston went first and announced that he was going to the Moldova, Romania mission, Russian speaking and leaving on May 8^th. They John went and he got his mission to the Baltic mission, Russian speaking and leaving on May 8^th! We all about freaked out!! I can’t believe that both of them leave only 10 days after we get back from this trip and they could possibly be in the same district or even companions while in the MTC! I think that is great! Another really neat thing about Johns call is that he is going Russian speaking! He has had three sisters go on missions. They have all gone to different missions but they have all spoken Russian, and now he is no exception. He will be able to speak Russian with his sisters all the time when he gets back I think that is super cool!

After the boys it was Cara’s turn. As soon as she got up there the water works started! I just couldn't hold it back! She is absolutely amazing and she is such a great example to me! Anyway so when she got up there she could barely read her call she was so excited and she ing going to Fiji!! And she is speaking Fijian which I didn't even know was a language! Haha but I am so excited for her! The next morning it was Lizzie’s turn! She opened her call that morning with her parents and then announced it after class! She is going to Taiwan! I think it is really cool because she already speak mandarin so she probably will not have to be in the MTC for very long! On the 4^th Michelle opened her call and it turns out she is going to Japan as well and reporting the same day as Tori. Even though they aren't going to the same mission they will also be speaking the same language and could possibly be together in the MTC! I think that is amazing!!

I just love that so many people are going on missions! It is a true testament that the church is true and that we are here to spread the good word of the gospel.

1/27 West J

West J is totally different from the old city! You feel like you just went forward in time! West J is totally modern! There is a mall (with an American Eagle I might add) and there are modern buildings and it is just crazy the difference. Of course in order to get to West J you have to go through the old city but that is always fun. We just walked through. We went to shabban’s shop again cause a lot of the people in our group hadn't been yet and they got to dress up! It was nice to just walk through and it was kinda funny because there was a black out while we were walking through so the streets where really dark because none of the shops had light! It was definitely an experience! 

Once we got out of the old city we just decided to explore West J. As we were walking down the main street we found this bakery called SamBooki That was soooo super good!!!

After that we found this park that was the funnest thing EVER!! They had a bunch of stuff to play on that I had never seen before and it was just a blast! We just kinda walked around west J cause we didn't really have a plan but it was kinda cool just to watch the people and see the difference between East and West Jerusalem.

That night we met up at Jaffa Gate with some other people from the center to go get dinner in West J. The rule of the center is that you can’t be in the old city or East Jerusalem after dark but you can be in west Jerusalem after dark as long as you take a cab back and you are back before midnight. So this was the first time that I had stayed out of the center after dark and it was cool. We went to this burger place cause a burger just sounded super delicious! We started out in a HUGE group but only a few of us split off to go get burgers. They were pretty good but they were definitely different then in the states. They where Kosher! I really learned the meaning of Kosher that night because I didn't realize that they drain all the blood from the meat. Because of that, the consistency of the meat was almost weird and it just wasn't as good! Even though it could in no way be compared to a burger back home it was still pretty good!

After dinner we went for a walk just around the city, to go get some Gelato. On our way down the street there was this guy selling puppies! So of course we had to stop and hold the puppies! You can’t walk past a box of puppies and not just want to adopt every single one of them! We all wished that it were possible to get one because they were so freaking adorable! Anyway so after that we went to get some gelato! Oh my goodness this Gelato is sooooo freaking good! It was the same place that we stopped at during the walking tour but I decided to actually try and get some! It was super delicious! This time I got snickers but I wish that I had gotten the mango because it literally tastes like you just cut open a mango right there! It is soooo delicious!

After freezing to death being outside and eating our gelato, we ran into the rest of our group who had an interesting experience during dinner. They went to this pasta place that one of our security guards goes to all the time. Well while they where there someone left a bad in the street. Here in the middle east you don’t just leave a bag lying around and I will explain why. While they were inside the restaurant they noticed that the police where blocking off the street and no one was allowed down. They were really confused but didn't think much of it until they heard an explosion. If there is a suspicious object (such as a bad) just lying around, here they are not going to check it out, they just blow it up. Haha so our whole group got to witness this take place! I wish I had been there but it is a kinda neat story to tell anyway.

After meeting up with them we decided to see if we could go find some clubs because there were some people in our group that wanted to go clubbing. Well what we didn't really think about was the fact that it was only 7 o’clock. Haha we felt pretty stupid after that and we decided to go home. Since we aren't allowed in East Jerusalem after dark we have to take a cab or a van home. There were like 28 or so of us so we called security and ordered a van. It was kinda neat to have that experience and get to go out after dark. I think that I will definitely do it again!

Home cooked food!!!!!!

On Sunday the primary president invited all of the primary teachers and workers to her house for dinner!! It was my first home cooked meal since I have been gone! It was soooo good!! It was pasta and bread and just normal food but it tasted sooo good! I think it was so good just because I haven’t had home cooked American food in so long haha. It was really fun! It was cool to hear all about why the presidency is here in Israel and all about them! I mean it is just like a regular ward but for some reason I feel like it is different because we are in another country where there are no missionaries and there are so very few members of the church! It was a neat experience and I am soo grateful that I get to serve in primary!

Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho!

Thursday, the 24^th, we went to Jericho!!! Jericho is the oldest city in the world dating back 11,000 years. The tower in the old city of Jericho dates back to 9000 BC. It is also the lowest place on earth, about 1300 feet below sea level. So now I can say that I have been to the oldest and lowest place on the earth.

 It was really cool place to be to think that I was in the place where the oldest building has been found. There is a tower there that was recovered that was dated back to 9000 BC. It is amazing to me to think that the tower is still standing!

While there you can also see the wall that was believed to be the wall of Jericho. The wall to Jericho had two different parts. There was a bottom portion that is made out of stones and a top portion that was made out of mud bricks. The stone portion still seems to be standing. The top portion (which is the portion that would have fallen when Joshua was there) can be seen in a pile of bricks. There is a lot of dispute between archeologists about whether or not this was the wall during the time of Joshua and Moses. Even though there is a lot of argument between them it seemed to me that it was most likely the right wall. I really think that was the wall that fell at the time of Joshua. It was really neat to actually be there and talk about the story. I mean when you read through the scriptures at home it is really cool but there is something special about being at the place where the story happened. I know that many of the places are just believed to be the place and we don’t actually know but so far everywhere we have gone has felt like it was the real place.

The little pile in the bottom left hand corner is the pile of bricks

Before we left for Jericho we heard that Jericho is also supposed to have the best bananas in the world so….we decided we needed to try some. Some of the guys bought them and one of them let me try one. It was super good! I mean I don’t’ know if I would say that it was the best banana I have ever eaten in my life but it was super good!

Reagan and Spencer

We also had an adventure where Spencer accidentally dropped his fieldtrip manual in the water of the fountain at the front of the city. It was really funny (and his manual stunk pretty bad hahaha)

Spencer squared

After we went through the city we went to this spring. It is called Elisha’s spring. This spring is mention in 2 Kings 2:21-22 “And he went forth unto to spring of the waters (Elisha’s spring), and cast the salt int there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.” The water flows from the spring at 100 gallons/minute. It is crazy that it flows so much and for so long. It was pretty cool.

After that we went to an old sycamore tree that Bro. Judd (my Old Testament teacher) called the Zacchaeus Tree. The tree was named after the story in Luke 19 which talks about Zacchaeus, a publican. Zacchaeus climbed on a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus. It was a beautiful old sycamore tree that would have been like the one Zacchaeus climbed. It was neat to see!

After that we went to Herod’s winter palace next. It was really cool. We stood on top of this little, I guess you could call it a hill, and we looked out over the tel of where his temple was. His temple was actually three portion connected by two bridges across Wadies. We were standing where the middle one would have been but there wasn’t really much there. We were looking out over the portion that was the main portion and it was really really cool. This is the Palace in which Herod ordered the death of his brother and also where he would die. While there, when we were climbing up to the top to look over, I may or may not have cut my toe on a rock. It didn’t hurt to bad cause it was just a little cut but it was bleeding like crazy! I can’t believe that one little toe can bleed that bad from a little cut. But lets be honest, I am super accident prone anyway so I was bound to get hurt at some point or another. Haha J

After Herod’s temple we went to my favorite and least favorite place of the day. We went to the Wadi Qilt which is where the road from Jerusalem to Jericho is. This is the road that Christ would have taken and also the road on which the story of the Good Samaritan would have taken place on. It was my least favorite part because in order to get up to it we had to walk on this little path that was basically on a cliff. It was terrible only because of my fear of heights. If I wasn’t such a pansy I am sure it would have been absolutely beautiful. There was the monastery that was built right into the side of the cliff which was pretty amazing but still…just a little too high for my liking. Besides that, it was awesome!! It was sooooo cool to go to the place where the Good Samaritan took place. It was neat to be where it would have taken place and now I can picture that place in my mind. It was a super cool experience! I even took a rock from there to keep haha.

Another thing that I noticed was the bedewin people. I guess I had never thought about why the bedwin tribes where different. But when driving to Jericho it was very evident. They literally live in tents. It almost looked like shanty towns when we drove past. Of course they were not living in boxes like in the states or we did at school, but they almost seemed like shanty towns. They live a pastoral lifestyle and have to follow their herds to wherever they can find a place to graze. I guess in my mind I just never made that connection until we were driving to Jericho and you could see where they lived. It is crazy to think that they live that way when there have been so many technological advances. I commended them for sticking with what they know and what they have been taught. I commend them for not giving into what the world is offering and that they continue to work hard for what they have. I don’t think that I could ever live in a tent for my whole life but I commend them for doing it!

The Negev!

So Monday was our field trip to the Negev. The Negev is in the southern portion of Israel and it is a desert. We are super lucky and just happen to be here during the winter when it is green. Most of the year it is super uber hot and brown haha but this time of year it is beautiful and green. Well as green as a desert can get. So it was about an hour and a half drive out to the Negev which was kind of nice to be honest. While I have been here we have been getting up at about 6 every morning. Breakfast is at 7 and if you don’t get breakfast then you pretty much feel like you are starving to death by 10. Well Monday, because they bus ride was so long, we left at 7:30 so breakfast started at 6:30. It was nice to have a long bus ride because we could sleep after having woken up so early. So I got a nice nap on the bus.

 When we got there the first thing we did was go to Lakiya (La-key-a) weaving. This is a women’s organization that allows Bedouin women to make money. This is one of the first women’s organizations in the Negev and because of the culture in the Negev, they have created their own newspaper. It takes these women about 6 weeks to finish a project and they all have their own looms at home. It was amazing because they do everything by hand. The starts from goat hair or sheep wool, they roll it into yarn, they die it different colors, and they weave it into beautiful rugs. They demonstrated to us how they did each step and it seemed very monotonous and like a lot of hard work. The pieces they made were absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! I wish that I had enough money to buy a rug or something for them. This organization takes a portion of its profits and puts it towards teaching Bedouin women how to read and write in the unrecognized villages in the Negev. When they lady that was giving us the tour told us this we all wondered what an unrecognized village was. It is a village that the country does not recognize as a village, just people living out there. Because of this, the country of Israel does not provide them with water, sewage, schools, or even electricity. We were told this was something that was being worked on through the country but none of the women were receiving education so they are helping with that cause. I thought it was really cool to see all of the hard work and the beautiful pieces that came from it.

They brought us some Herbal Tea while they were showing us how they make everything.

Not a huge far to be honest!

Eden was the ultimate tourist haha

This is the dye that they use

After the Yarn is died it looks like this!

And this is one of the final projects

After the weaving shop we went to Beersheba. Beersheba is historically significant because this is where Abraham built a well. At the time of Judges there was a phrase “from Dan to Beersheba” which was the borders of the territory within which the Israelites lived. Later on, during a time which there were many satellite temples (temples built in other cities besides Jerusalem), there was a sacrificial altar built. This altar was found but there was one issue with it, it was built with Hewn stones. Hewn stones means that the stones where carved by men. According to the Law of Moses, altar had to be created with unhewn stone. Because of issues with Satellite temples, Hezekiah and Josiah decommissioned all altars except for the altar at the Temple in Jerusalem (2 kings 18:22, 23:8).

This site was really cool. It is an archeological site so everything was methodically dug up and preserved.  It is so cool to go to these sites because you can see where the walls are, individual buildings, and even benches. It is really neat. At Beersheba there was a very intricate water system that dates back to 900-700 BC. It is amazing the things that where thought of back then. I don’t think that I could have even come up with anything this smart. They built a channel that brought the water into the underground cisterns where the water would be held all year. Since they only get water during about January, they had to store enough water to last them the entire year. We got to walk through and it was really cool.

Skyler in the hard hats we got to wear!

The portion in the lower left hand corner (inside the lines) is the original wall!

This is where perople would take their horses and animals to drink and eat when they would come to visit the city.

All the way down to the water system!

Sarah and Spencer were so tall they touched the ceiling!

We sacrificed Spencer on the Altar :)

After Beersheba, we went to Tel Arad. Tel Arad is mentioned in the Bible as one of the cities that prevented the Israelites from entering the Promised Land. There was not as much significance to this site but it was really cool to see. There were about 3 different time periods that had been uncovered at Tel Arad. There was another satellite temple here and it is believed to have been dismantled because there is evidence that more than one deity was worshiped in the temple. There was also a wall there that dated back to 3000 BC. I was in shock at how old the wall was and that it was standing right in front of me. It was amazing to see and feel the history right there in front of me. 

The sacrificial altar in Arad

Sitting in a house from 3,000 BC :)

And Apparently this is how you spell Canaanite!! teehee

During the bus ride, for a lot of the time, I watched out the window and it was really neat to ride through villages or little towns and see the people.  As weird as this sounds, it was really cool cause at one point we drove past this little shed where two guys where butchering something. I thought it was interesting that they were doing it right by the side of the road where everyone could see it. In the States you would never see that driving down the road unless you were literally in the middle of nowhere. There are so many differences between our cultures in the States and the culture here. It is really neat to read and learn and see all of these things. 

This is another thing that I thought was interesting because this is a town that was deserted not to long ago. it is a totally modern town but it is completely deserted i thought that was weird because how often would you see this in the states. Like never. It is weird to think about what i would have to do if i just left my house and everything and it just sat there for year. no one is allowed to move in even today. It is so interesting to see the differences between here and the states!

Dome of the Rock

Sunday here is like Saturday in the States. Most people go to church on Saturday so Sunday is party day! haha so Sunday we went out to explore the city!! :)  Well this Sunday was for sure a fun one! The first thing we decided to to was go to the Dome of the Rock! Because of prayer times and other things tourists are only allowed on the temple mount in the morning. So that was the first thing we did.

Of course we couldn't make it all the way there without stopping to take some pictures teehee

Once we got there of course we took even more pictures!

The Ramp to get up to the Temple Mount

Al-Aqsa Moque

The cool clock in front of the temple

Rachel and Lizzie

Tess and Kate

Me, Sarah, and Ben

After we took pictures Sarah, Ben, and I decided to split off from the big group and go do some stuff in the city. Ben had a camera that he was trying to sell so we went to find that guy. Once we found him that was a whole ordeal in and of itself. The guy that was trying to buy the camera basically was going to rip him off and so we decided to leave. Well we found this place to stop for lunch right next to where the guys shop was so then he started trying to barter for the camera. Well as it turns out, he traded the camera for a 60 shekel chess set (that is only about 15 dollars) It was really sad. But lunch was super good!

We tried Falafel and Shwarma. I think I liked the Falafel better but I also think that the shwarma was lamb so i wanna try chicken instead. But besides that it was really really good! I will defintiely be eating falafel again while i am here!

 Then we just went walking around the city. I bought a pair of real leather sandals for 12 dollars which was awesome!! Then we went walking through the Armenian quarter of the old city which was kinda boring cause there was absolutely nothing but It was kinda neat to see. Then after that we had to go to the restroom so we went to the mall in West Jerusalem because we figured the bathrooms would be cleaner there. Well as weird as this sounds I was enamored by the toilets...they were square!!!!

After that we went back into the city. We decided to go to the pools of Bethesda but since it was Sunday and it was owned by a catholic church, it was closed. But on our way we walked past the church of Mary's Birth which was pretty cool too.

So after that we decided to go to the wood carvers and then go home. Well on our way home, we ran into another group that was playing soccer with some kids. So we stopped and played soccer with some kids in the city!! It was sooo much fun.

After that we went to see the nativities and figure out prices. I guess I have a lot to think about to figure out which one I want. This is what they look like! They are gorgeous!!

It was an amazing adventure in a beautiful city!!!