Weeks 12 & 13: Is Galilee really a sea?

1. I have always thought the Sea of Galilee as a huge ocean that I could barely see the other side. Well, it's not. To give you a perspective, Utah Lake is about 24 miles by 13 miles. The Sea of Galilee is about 13 miles by 7.5 miles. It's quite small, but the beauty is beyond compare. I've never seen such beautiful sunsets in my life, and I have seen a good amount. The point of this section is not the beauty of Galilee though; the point is the sea is actually a small lake.



2. November 13-November 19
SUNDAY: Had all the craziness of my roommate going to the hospital, turned in a final paper (Woot!!), and Zedekiah's Cave

MONDAY: Departed to Galilee!!! Jordan Valley, Bet Shean, Nazareth, Church of Annunciation, St. Joseph's Church, and Synagogue where Jesus most likely taught, Mt. Arbel, and throughout the weeks stayed at Ein Gev Resort which is run by a Kibbutz

TUESDAY: Classes/Mid term and then would have played on the beach, but it was raining...therefore no :( But later it stopped raining so we had a bonfire with S'mores!!!

WEDNSEDAY: Boat ride across the Sea of Galille, Ginosar Ancient Boat Museum, Mt. of Beatitudes, Tabgha, St. Peter's Primacy, Capernaum, and Kursi

THURSDAY: Classes, hike in the Golan Heights, went to a fish restaurant, and then went to Tiberias and saw the tombs of Rabbi Maimonides and Ben Zakkai (don't know what I said the last two lines? Google it, it's a bit long to explain everything :) Love you!)

FRIDAY: Gamla, Qazrin Village, and then classes

SATURDAY: Church with the Tiberias Branch then went to Yardenit which is the commercialized section of the Jordan River


November 20-November 26

SUNDAY: Classes, then swam in the Sea of Galilee and it was freezing but now I can say I swam where Jesus walked

MONDAY: Mt. Tabor, Nain, Megiddo, Gan Ha-Shelosha, and lecture about a Kibbutz life

TUESDAY: Mt. Hazor, Tel Dan, Banias, Nimrod's Castle, Har Bental, and BONFIRE!!!

WEDNSDAY: Chorazin, Sepphoris, Akko, Kights Hall, Old Akko walk, and Classes

THURSDAY: (Thanksgiving and my birthday!!! Who could ask for a better birthday then being at the Sea of Galilee, Mediterranean Sea, Jerusalem and then ending it with a Israeli Thanksgiving dinner and pita birthday cake? Not me!) Muhraqa, Kaiser's Watch Overlook, Haifa Templar Cemetery, Caesarea, and headed back to the JC to have a Thanksgiving dinner!

FRIDAY: Classes and slept

SATURDAY: Church and Garden of Gethsemane



3. The tender mercy of Galilee was the weather. Yes, it was cold and rainy most of our time there, but the rain and wind calmed whenever my class needed it. For instance, our first field trip day we went out on the sea, and we were nervous because it had been rainy and windy all morning. It calmed and the sunshine came out while we were heading over to the port. There were many places we needed to hike through mud, but it wasn't raining while we hiked. We just had to be careful not to get our whole body muddy :) Our maids sure loved us this trip... (sarcasm). The Lord truly blessed us to keep this trip managable. Then the last few days we were there, it was absolutely beautiful and warm. We were able to enjoy the beach after our field trips at least for a few hours. One word: heavenly.



4. The funniest thing that has happened these last two weeks actually didn't happen in Galilee but the night before. Earlier that day, we had all finished our final paper for a class that was...well...not quite as popular as the rest. I was in the computer lab writing on this blog, and then I hear these screams come through the doors and see flying snowballs...no paperballs getting thrown at me and everyone else in the room. These girls put scarves around their faces and tore apart all the papers we read for the class we finished earlier that day and bunched them into balls. I, of course, had to defend myself and attacked back. It was a great little war we had going on. After they left to attack other victims, we discussed that it was the Third Intifada (kind of like civil war of the Palestinians attacking but not). It was a great stress reliever.



5. There were many testimony builders over the course of Galilee, but the one that hit me the most was on the boat on the sea. After we had a little devotional, I thought about Peter walking on water. Yes Jesus walked on water which is a miracle all by itself and I don't mean to down play it, but my focus is on Peter. He was the only through and through mortal to walk on water, yet he only did it when Christ said, "Come." That first step must have been frightening. Peter was a fisherman; he knew logically that when someone steps on water, you sink. But spiritually, it makes sense. Amazing the things we can do when we follow God's bidding. I know there have been so many miracles in my life because I decided to follow through on God's commandments and requests for me. I'm about to make another first step in my life by going on a mission. I don't get nervous until about 5 minutes before things and a mission is scaring the wits out of me already. This is something I've never done before. I can't even compare it to anything else. But I can compare it to Peter. Logically, there are a lot of things that shouldn't happen on missions, but the miracle will happen. Christ bid me to come, and I will go. In a sense, I will walk on water. And when I fall because of my doubts, Christ will be there and immediately stretch forth his hand and save me. The process will continue to go again and again throughout my mission and life. Christ constantly calls for me to come and take a risk to do something I never thought I would be able to do, but then with faith in Him, I will see the miracle. I will do the miracle. I will be the miracle. And Christ will be there by my side through it all.

Week 11: 11/11/11 at 11:11 pm!

1. I just needed to give a shout out that this past week was week 11, 11th month, 11th day, 11th year of the millennium, 11th hour and 11th minute I celebrated it with 10 other people. (Actually I celebrated it with more, but just for fun's sake I'll say 10 others). We took a break from studying for our last final and did a count down. When we hit 11:11, we wrote down our wish for the upcoming year and went around yelling and bugging everyone else that it was 11/11/11 11:11. It was epic.

2. November 6-12
SUNDAY: Yad Vashem (the Israel Holocaust Museum) and Mt. Herzl
MONDAY: Roman Catholic Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and hung out in West J
TUESDAY: Classes and Finals Prep
WEDNESDAY: Finals Prep and Judaism Final (Class #3 done!)
THURSDAY: Classes, Orientation for Galilee!!!, and Rampart's Walk (walked on the Old City walls overlooking Jerusalem from the Old City)
FRIDAY: (2 months until I enter the MTC!!!) Class and Finals Prep
SATURDAY: Church and Garden of Gethsemane

3. The tender mercy of this week kind of happened alongside with Week 12, but I'll get over it. My roommate has been having abdominal pains for a while, and the pains became really bad yesterday before church. They continuously got worse, so our home teachers gave her a blessing, and the doctor gave her pills to help with the pain. At about 9 that night, the doctor came in and did a little pain test (push somewhere and see if it hurt). Well, it hurt on the right side...where the appendix is. So we went to the hospital to see what is going on. The hospital was an experience in itself. When we finally found the hospital, we went through a shopping mall area to get to the ER (we found out later there was another way to get to the ER, but it was still weird going through the shopping area). Seeing all the Jews (ultra and reformed) was an experience too. But now you're probably wondering what happened to my roommate and curious to why I'm putting this experience in the tender mercy section. After she was tested for all the basic things, then was tested for more specific things by 4 different doctors, it was diagnosed that she didn't have appendicitis. If she did, she would have had surgery and be recovering while we were in Galilee. The Galilee trip is the longest trip we have which covers a good amount of our New Testament course. The tender mercy is that she was able to be tested, not have appendicitis, and she is now feeling good enough to go to Galilee. So whatever happened of the million things that were treated, it worked. My roommate's doing a lot better and is able to go to Galilee. :)

4. This week the funniest thing has been in the works for a while. On Thursday, we had our orientation meeting for Galilee. The head people decided to do an EFY line dance/flash mob for the faculty. Since I was an EFY counselor, I got into the thick of the...planning...committee. We've had a few days before where we wanted to do it, but it failed because we didn't feel like the whole student body was ready. But this time we gave people a little more heads up, so we decided to just go for it. The day came, and I sat in the front. I volunteered to be the one to figure out music, so when it came time to decide who would instigate the dance, I became the spokesperson. After the orientation, I raised my hand and said I had an announcement. I went up to the mic and got out my iPod and my roommate's speakers. My hands were shaking soo bad!!! I then turned to Bro. Skinner, our Academic Director, who was in charge of the meeting and said, "Actually this isn't an announcement, but a question for you Bro. Skinner. Are we going to party in Galilee? Cuz we like to party." Then the EFY music of 'We Like to Party' (the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich dance, you may know it) came on. We split the song into sections, so more people would stand up as time went on. My back was to everyone else, but from what I did see it looked pretty much awesome! I didn't know how the faculty would react but not at all what I expected! I expected some laughs, some smiles, even some confused faces...but no. It was the lack of reaction that got me! They didn't even seem to be phased by the flash mob like it happens every semester or something! But the best ending was when Bro. Skinner came back up to the mic after I turned off the music and sat down. He said, "Tie me to an ant hill and smear my ears with jelly." None of us knew what this meant which was the best part of all! Another epic event!!!

5. I love it when spiritual moments happen in the most unexpected random times. That has happened a lot more than I thought it would here, but maybe it's because I'm looking for them so they show up easier. Fridays are the movie nights typically, and we watched "The Robe" this last Friday. It's movie kind of like the 10 commandments in the sense of when it was made the atmosphere of the movie. First off, there were about five of us and five others who came in and out of the movie.there since everyone else was studying for our final which was an essay. I took time off to destress for a bit. By the end of the movie, there were only three: one of the faculty's wives, another girl, and myself. I liked the movie though. The movie was about the perspective of the Roman soldier who crucified Christ. It went through his life a little bit before, but mostly the effect afterwards. I realized while watching this movie that Christ had such an impact on so many people during that time. Since the apostasy happened, I didn't even think of the people who were effected after his death and how they went through life. Not only did Christ have an impact on others, but they had an impact on other people also. It was an everlasting effect. We have that change on people also. Whatever actions we make in life we pay it forward to someone else--good or bad. I know that pay it forward is meant for a good connotation, but sometimes in life we make bad payments. Our actions aren't as good as we hoped for, but those actions are still impactful. After the movie, I thought about all the people who have made huge impacts in my life and realized how much I was grateful for their good choices and actions, so I can be motivated to do good. It's just wonderful how we don't have to go through this life alone and how together we can all lift each other up to a higher state. Amazing.

I will be in Galilee for the next 11 days! (Another 11, just wanted to point that out) I won't be blogging next week since the Internet is super slow in Ein Gev. Just warning you, so you don't get too disappointed from missing your weekly reading of this blog. ;) Love you all!!!

Week 10: You can have the Holy Land on your hand.

1. This last week we had some finals, and one final was about the field trips we went on. We needed to know the geography of the land, so there's a trick we learned about our hand that I will teach you now. If you put your left hand up, the knuckles and fingertips represent some of the cities in Israel while in between the fingers represent valleys. Your index finger's top knuckle is Jerusalem and Bethlehem is the next knuckle (middle finger). Another fun place that you may recognize is the Elah Valley (in between middle and ring finger) where David and Goliath fought. There are more places on the hand, but now when you look at your hand you can picture Israel :)


2. October 30-November 5
SUNDAY: Knesset (Israel parliament building)
MONDAY: Walked around Tzurim valley (right next door) and had a Halloween party which involved dressing up (I dressed as a rancher...a Jolley Rancher), going to a silent movie with a live organist (our branch president), and dance party afterwards!
TUESDAY: Bethlehem Field Trip: Bethlehem University, Tent Restaurant, Church of the Nativity, and Shepherd's field.
WEDNESDAY: Tomb of the Kings (random huge tombs) and some of our boys played basketball against a Palestinian team which I went and supported with some other girls here.
THURSDAY: Studied...took a final...the end
FRIDAY: studied...took another final...then partied that night!
SATURDAY: Church and Garden Tomb


3. This week we had the amazing opportunity to visit Bethlehem University. The students there I admire so much. Some wake up at about 4 am to get to class at 8 because of how long it takes for them to get through security. For us it only took about 10 minutes, but since they are Palestinian, security takes longer for them. Sometimes they can't even get through. The soldier tells them to leave, they're not going through today. Also getting out of the country takes at least 3 months in advance to plan because they have to get permission from the state. Even then they may get rejected or not find out until their plans don't work anymore (I know some college students who decide to leave the country for a few weeks spontaneously). This is just for visiting countries, if they want to live somewhere else, they have to get an invitation from outside the country. So students have pretty much no opportunities outside of Israel, and inside of Israel is tough because of the economy. Also depending on where you were born decides what privileges you get. Inside the West Bank (Bethlehem, Gaza Strip, Ramala, and other areas), these students can't even go outside without getting special permission. If you were born in Jerusalem or outside of the West Bank, you can go in and out of the West Bank pretty much as you please (unless the soldiers don't like you that day). The students are mostly women at the Bethlehem U because usually the men get jobs without needing much education, so if the women want to make a living of their own, they have to go to school and do well. If I remember right, there are 75% girls. I just feel so blessed to have a university nearby, and if I'm late to class or I don't show up, it is really my fault. I'm also grateful to be able to travel pretty much whenever I want if I work hard enough and find the time to do it. I'm able to work anywhere I want, and I don't need an invitation to live anywhere in the world. My life is one huge blessing.

4. Something funny that happened at Shepherd's fields is that we went right before sunset and were having this devotional about what the Shepherd's went through and a little bit about the Savior's birth. Right in the middle of it, this herd of sheep walks right behind us. Our professor then proclaims how he didn't plan any of it, then another herd of sheep walk by maybe 5 minutes later. It was so funny how we are really experiencing the Holy Land with and without having to use our imaginations.

5. Also in the Shepherd's field which was a spectacular view of Bethlehem, we sang Christmas songs and during this time I felt so connected to how the night of Christ's birth was like. It was so peaceful (except for the two instances with the sheep), and the song "Silent Night" was definitely touching because the night was truly silent. We did hear randomly a car and a dog barking, but compared to the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem, Bethlehem was totally the better place to be born. I'm now in the double digits of how many weeks I've been here in the Holy Land, and I can't believe how much I have grown spiritually and intellectually. I just feel so blessed with these types of experiences to know what it was like. Yes, I didn't need to have this study abroad to have a testimony of my Savior, but my testimony has definitely grown because of it. I just don't want to waste a moment the next 6 weeks, so I can be strengthened as much as I can. Love you all!!!

Week 9: Kristine was in which city last week? A. Ammon B. Philadelphia C. Amman D. Vernal

1. This past week, we went to the country Jordan, and its capital is all the names up above (except Vernal). During Old Testament's times the capital's name was Ammon. Then the Greeks took over the area and renamed it Philadelphia. Afterwards, the Arabs regained control and returned the name to Amman (pronounced "Ammon" so pretty much the same name).

2. October 23-October 29

SUNDAY: Israel Museum and then had a lazy day

MONDAY: Head for Jordan then visited: Mount Nebo (where Abraham saw God and was translated), Madaba, and Machaerus (where John the Baptist was beheaded)

TUESDAY: Petra!!! (watch Indiana Jones 'Last Crusade') then headed to Amman and wandered around

WEDNESDAY: King Abdullah Mosque, Philadelphia Citadel and Museum, Jerash (saw a gladiator fight and the theater there had great acoustics!), Jabbok River (where Jacob saw God and his name changed to Israel), and had a night out on the town of Amman (story later)

THURSDAY: Roman Theater, Jordan River then headed back for the JC

FRIDAY: Classes and made school kits for humanitarian

SATURDAY: Church and Garden Tomb

3. After Turkey, many of us like 2/3 of the JC got sick. It wasn't as big of epidemic after Jordan, but a few students and one of our professors are sick again--super sick. One of the students I have only seen once since we got back. A lot of people had a cough or sniffles, but I was one of the few blessed to be spared. I don't know what happened or why I was saved, but I'm doing great. I've only been sick once this entire semester so far, and I hope it stays that way.

4. There's an intensive BYU Arabic program going on in Amman. So on Wednesday night, many came to our hotel to show us around. A girl was friends with a guy in my group, so she said we would go to this super good and cheap restaurant to try some local food. Well, we headed down and you know how cities are different at night then in the day? Let's just say...we got lost. She kept asking for directions and people kept leading us down different paths it seemed like. But don't worry, Mom, we made it just fine. I just got to experience all of Amman, the super sketch and the ritzy places. The restaurant we went was good, but I don't think I've ever been so nervous when we went for a taxi. Since it took us about 45 minutes to get to the restaurant and we wanted to go to this delicious fruit and ice cream place, we decided to get a taxi. Well, we didn't have enough room for all of us to get into one taxi. I got the group that didn't get into the taxi with the Arabic student. She explained to him where we were going and to put on the meter, but he didn't speak a lick of English. Once we shut the door and started going, I think I was starting to have a panic attack. All these possiblities of getting dropped off at the wrong place and then traveling lost again but this time without a translator were running wildly through my mind. Looking back at this night, it was such an adventure and so funny how freaked out we were at some times, but sooo worth it! You may not think this is funny, but I think it's hilarious :) Oh btw, we got dropped off at the right place with our Arabic student right behind us.

5. We went to the River Jordan, it was not what I was expecting. I don't know what I was expecting, but whatever it was didn't happen. There were places set up, so people could go down to the river and be baptized. Some people were baptizing themselves, and some were just washing themselves. I washed my hands, and it was a cool experience to know that Christ was baptized in the river somewhere along those banks. But it was the experience I had there that was changing me. We sang some songs, our professor gave a little devotional, two students bore their testimonies, and said a prayer together. The Holy Ghost was feeling so strong there. The thoughts I had were about what we talked about in Sabbath School the previous Saturday. In Romans, we talked about baptism and the importance of immersion and I made a connection with baptism a little bit. We are immersed at baptism. Even if one pinky finger is up, we have to redo our baptism. It's like our commitment. We shouldn't just sprinkle our commitment to the Lord, but be completely immersed and committed to following him. (I know, how many times can Kristine use commit and immerse in one paragraph? But I'll do it a little more.) Yes, I know there are times when I fail at being fully committed or immersed to following my Heavenly Father, but he allows me to try again. When I fail, through his grace he lifts me up again and again.

Well, the next two weeks are my finals weeks for most of my classes. Wish me luck!!!

Week 8: If I were a Jew...

1. On Friday, I was able to attend a Reformist Jewish synagogue. It was soo much fun! Pretty much the entire time I thought of our sacrament meeting. I especially loved the family in front of me. There was this girl who held the book "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and asked her dad if she could read it. His blunt no and her plea to read it reminded me of when I wanted to read during sacrament meeting. I also loved how this same dad was talking to another dad during one of the songs (we sang for about 45 minutes straight) about some sort of game that recently happened. There were also the singers who...well...let's just say everyone knows who's singing. The elderly people who glare at the youngins who don't behave. It just amazed me how similiar people are around the world and even in churches. Another tidbit about Jewish people is that the typical observant Jew doesn't turn on electricity or ride in a motor vehicle once Shabbot begins (Friday at sundown) until an hour after sundown on Saturday. It may sound weird or difficult, but it's actually really nice. All day they cannot work...on anything. The focus is God and their family. I love it because that's how the Sabbath should be. Sometimes we get caught up in church and the activities but miss out on why we have the Sabbath. The Jews have their priorities straight when it comes to God and families in my opinion.

2. October 16-22

SUNDAY: Eilat!!! Snorkeled in the Red Sea. LOVED IT!!!!!!

MONDAY: Field Trip to City of David (overlook and a movie showing Jerusalem's transitions), Hezekiah's tunnel (if you want to see me, you most likely will see a video of me on my professor's blog huntsmansintheholyland.blogspot.com), and olive pressing

TUESDAY: Classes

WEDNESDAY: Went to the Separation Wall and had Danny Seideman explain to us the conflict here more in depth along with THE visuals

THURSDAY: Studied for my last mid term (Ancient Near East) for 10 hours straight with only 1/2 hour dinner break and hour forum break!!! It was a very long day...

FRIDAY: ANE mid term and visited the Reformist synagogue

SATURDAY: Garden of Gethsemane (I LOVE it that I can keep coming back to the place where I opened up my mission call. That place will always have a special meaning in my heart now)

3. I love having our professors living in the same building as us. They are able to close up see how...well...stressed we are. For instance, Brother Huntsman noticed how we were all stressing for our midterm exam on Friday and he had scheduled for a quiz (which takes about as much time to study for as an exam) on the same day. He could sense our stress and said that the quiz was due on Friday, but he won't be in his office until Sunday (aka if we turned our quiz in tonight, we would still get full points). Love you Poppa Huntsman!!!

4. I am a very clumsy person. Anyone can testify to that and prove it by the look of my kneecaps (or review the very beginning of this blog). Well I was walking down the steps in the forum, and I don't know what happened. I just completely biffed it. I looked like I was trying to slide face first into the steps. The best part about it was I fell right in front of my professors, their wives, and the doctor. At least if I got hurt, I would have been treated right there and then. :)

5. Since we are on a time difference and busy schedule, last night we finally finished conference and not picking favorites or anything, but I LOVED Elder Yamashita's talk "Missionaries are a Treasure of the Church". This talk just got me even more stoked to go on a mission. AHHH!!!! It's still hard to imagine that in a year from now, I will be speaking and even thinking in a different language. I will be over half way finished. My life will be changed forever, and I don't even know how it will!!! BAH!! I'm just so blessed to be serving for my Lord. Love you all!!! (Oh and btw, my mission's name has changed not the boundaries just the name. I will be serving in the Adriatic Mission. Woot!)

Week 6: What does Jerusalem look like from the top of trees?

1. I've been a little slow with updating the blog but well here it is. Last week, a group of my friends and I helped our Judaism teacher build a sukka. A sukka is a structure which Jews build before week of Sukkot (Feast of the Tabernacles). They eat every meal during this week under the sukka. Now you may wonder why this has to do with looking at Jerusalem from the top of a tree. Well there can't be anything over the table they eat in the sukka, and there was a nice branch hovering over the sukka. I felt adventurous and decided to remember the good old days of climbing a tree and headed up. Mom, I'm still writing so I made it back down, but I did get a nice view of my teacher's house and the street. Two days later, we were olive picking to make olive oil, and I guess I didn't fill my need to climb trees. I found a lovely tree which had many branches to climb up. That was the tree where I had a great view of Jerusalem. This place is so beautiful. I wish my pictures did it justice.

2. October 9-15

SUNDAY: Field Trip to Shephelah which included Gath, Beth Shemesh, Azekah, Valley of Elah (where David beat Goliath), Bet Guvrin, and Lachish

MONDAY: Went out to the city then headed our way to build the sukka; even though it's not April we had a Passover meal that night which is called the Sedar meal

TUESDAY: Classes and donated blood (hardest time I've ever had to give blood, all the forms were in Hebrew and the needle was quite bigger than in the States...)

WEDNESDAY: (Sukkot Eve) Classes and olive picking

THURSDAY: (Start of Sukkot) Church of Saint Mary Magdalene (Russian Orthodox Church), Jewish cemetary (largest in the world), and a sketchy Tomb of the Prophets (supposedly Haggai and Zechariah were buried there)

FRIDAY: Humanitarian activity and an Informal talent show!!!

SATURDAY: Garden Tomb and church

3. On Wednesday night/Thursday morning, I bought a calling card and talked to my parents and some of my best friends. It was such a tender mercy for me! I've been missing home a bit...ok a alot...and one of the first things my parents mentioned was that the phone wasn't fuzzy at all. It sounded the same as if I was calling from Provo. It's amazing how technology has improved even in the past few years.

4. On Friday, we had the informal talent show which was sooo much fun!! This reminded me of the variety shows at EFY because ANYTHING could happen during this time. Any talent whatsoever could be shown. I participated in an improv game and two of my roommates and I lip synced to "Send Me to Glory in a Glad Bag" but as Chinheads. I'm sure you could You Tube it and guess how I looked. It's sooo funny!!!

5. During this week, I had the opportunity to pick olives and climb trees, but it's not just the experience of picking the trees that changed me, it was the pondering afterwards that changed me. Before we started picking the olives, our academic director gave us a forum on the symbolism of olives. Olives taste sooo bitter (don't ask me how I know), but after they get pressed, the sediment goes to the bottom, and the pure oil comes to the top, the taste is sweet. Watching the olives get crushed, pressed, then tasting the end reminded me of how my life could be. Life stinks sometimes and tastes so bitter, but after the difficult times, life is so sweet. I could write down and reflect on those times for you, but only I would be grateful and feel my Heavenly Father's love for me. Remember those times so you can share this blessing with me for Heavenly Father does love you. He will always be there and see you through. Believe. Hope. Endure.

Week 6: Was the crossing at the Red Sea?

Midterms have been a bit hectic last week, so the center has been partying the last few days from being cooped up in the center. Therefore, no blog until the middle of the week. Sorry.

1. Did Moses really part the Red Sea that we know today? No. There was a mistranslation from Hebrew to Greek. The Hebrew term is 'Yum Suph' for the sea where the Israelites crossed. The Greek translation thought that suph meant 'red', but it actually means 'reeds'. 'Yum Suph' therefore translates into Reed Sea not Red Sea. Traditionally the Red Sea is how we know it today, but there are different areas where scholars believe it happened. Blew my mind.

2. SUNDAY: St. James Church (saw a live service), King David's Tomb, and walked around Jewish Quarter

MONDAY: a bedouin village, Tel Beersheva, and Tel Arad

TUESDAY: Judaism Midterm

WEDNESDAY: Old Testament Midterm

THURSDAY: Hebrew Midterm

FRIDAY: Palestine/Islam Midterm and my missionary buddy (the only other one who will receive their mission call here in the JC) received his call! He's going to the Boston, Massachusettes Spanish speaking!!!

SATURDAY: (Yom Kippur, aka Day of Atonement for Jews) Western Wall and the Garden of Gethsemane (fitting right?)

3. On Friday after finishing finals, I hung out with the little girls of the center. I love having the families here at the center. They are my tender mercy. Whenever I see little Melia, Marissa, and Abby, I just get so excited. There's nothing like having kids here in the center to brighten these walls. The families tell us that the center is boring without the students, but the center would be stressful all the time without the little kids. They add such a dynamic to this center that no student could bring. I love the families.

4. If you hadn't noticed. Last week was kind of...well...stressful. We had almost all of our midterms last week. On Monday night, everyone was a bit looney. I'll tell you about my looney experience. I felt like I was all over the place because I had a study group to get to while planning some other things at the same time, and giving good luck notes to people made in FHE (Friendship Home Evening since we're technically not a Family). I delivered my notes, but I wanted to do it in secret. So I got into the room where I delivered my notes and then I went to my room to get my study stuff (I was already late to my study group, so my stress levels were beginning to rise). I got to my room and realized that I left my keys in my room. We usually keep the back door unlocked, so I went through the room where I left the notes (because I knew it was open) and wandered through the patios to get to my patio. Once I traveled through about 3 patios I got to my patio which was locked. Now things were getting desperate. I noticed my roommate's laundry was on the ground outside (we occasionally hang our laundry outside), so I picked it up and treaded back through the patios and my friends' room (which no one was in the entire time). As I hustled to my study group, I saw my roommate at the end of the hall, and she had the strangest look on her face and asked, "What are you doing with my clothes?". I couldn't handle it anymore (a lot of the times when I'm stressed, everything's funny); I dropped everything which consisted of my roommate's clothes and paper and pens for FHE along with spoons (we were going to play the game Spoons). I went to the ground and started laughing my head off. Those around me started laughing too. Eliza joined me on the floor because the sight looked hysterical, and my roommate, Suzy, looked at both of us wondering if she should get the doctor. That's just one story that started off the night. The rest of the evening had many more instances of stress was getting to us. It was pretty dang funny.

5. On the Sabbath, there was a special musical number performed by two Hebrew University guys. It was really beautiful, but the most intriguing part was their hymn selection: Adam-ondi-Ahman. As they were singing I thought of the States and how much I miss it. I missed the fall colors, the first snowfall, stars, BYU football games, Skittles, friends' stories, and family members' hugs. There's so much in the country of Adam-ondi-Ahman that I miss. But then I realized, there would be so much that I would miss if I was back in the States: call to prayer 5 times a day, Jerusalem's beauty, pita corner in the Oasis, buildings 3 times older than my home country, Kathryn's laugh (you just got to be here to know), going to class with the same people and all being in the same inside joke, bartering for clothes and souveniors, the local children's smiles, the smells of the market, and seeing and feeling what my Savior saw. Yes, it was a different world at the time, but I have traveled in the Judean Wilderness. I have walked by synagogues where Christ may have taught. I have felt His love for me in the Garden of Gethsemane. I may miss many things at home right now, but there is nothing I would trade right now to be home and miss this experience. I read a speech from Elder Holland, "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence." He talked about the time when Oliver Cowdery lost confidence in his revelation to read the plates. "[He] missed the opportunity of a lifetime because he didn't seize it in the lifetime of the opportunity." So if you were wishing you could be in my shoes and experience Jerusalem, don't sit watching opportunities for the lifetime of that opportunity may end soon. I'm so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost, so I may be prompted for when those opportunities do come I may be able to follow those promptings and fulfill the most of my lifetime with opportunities not missed. Please don't sit wishing for your Adam-ondi-Ahman but find where you're needed right now.

Week 5: Happy Rosh Hashanah Everyone!!!

1. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish holiday of the New Year. They celebrated the eve on Wednesday and Thursday was the new year. It was cool to walk around in the Jewish quarter of the Old City and see everyone happy and buying food for the party that night!!! It reminded me of Christmas Eve and how everyone is buying last minute presents. Holidays are just so much fun!!!

2. SUNDAY: Got over our Turkey 'hangover'. Almost everyone was sick and were either sleeping or studying for classes we didn't study for the previous week.

MONDAY: Field trip to Neot Kedumim (Bible nature walk; reminded me of camping in the mountains, seriously we started a fire and made our own lunch in the woods)

TUESDAY: Classes

WEDNESDAY: (Rosh Hashanah Eve) visited Dome of the Rock and the Jewish quarter, and had a Arab Culture Evening and Palestinian Folk Dancing (soooo much fun!!! We dressed up and had a great time!)

THURSDAY: (Rosh Hashanah) Classes

FRIDAY: Classes and Humanitarian Activity (we made over 2,500 hygiene kits)

SATURDAY: Church, Garden of Gethsemane, and General Conference (because of the time difference, we're watching General Conference over the next 3 Sundays. Crazy)

3. This upcoming week is mid-terms and, so last week I've been stressing a bit on mid-terms and some other things. On Thursday, one of my friends e-mailed me, and he mentioned about having more faith. I was struck by that and searched more into it. I found this talk by Elder Gene R. Cook titled "Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ". While reading this talk, it just continually lifted me out of my 'depths of despair'. There were 6 points he talked about: be believing, commit yourself, do your part, pray, expect trials of your faith, and expect the Lord to act. "Life is all upstream--all uphill." I need to do my part and have faith that the Lord will help me through all my stresses right now. Everything will turn out great in the end.

4. When I visited the Jewish quarter this week with my friends Eliza, Shalyn, Tiffany, and Charlotte (aka Lottie), we just wandered around and enjoyed the festivities. We were walking around this building which had an empty corridor and tunnel which was weird because there was people everywhere getting stoked for their New Year's party. We were walking down the corridor and Lottie walked towards the tunnel. I all of a sudden heard this BOOM!!! My first thoughts were, "Lottie stepped on a mine. We're going to die!", and I gasped and started to breathe faster. I looked freaked out to everyone else, and Lottie started laughing her head off. She had stepped on a balloon. Since the balloon was in the tunnel, the noise made an even louder sound which scared me out of my wits! I shouldn't have been scared because Jerusalem is pretty low on danger despite what everyone says (most of the craziness happens at night and on the West bank which is plenty of miles away). Now looking back, my reaction was dramatic and funny, but at the time my heart took a while to calm down.

5. General Conference was actually wonderful tonight (or Saturday morning for pretty much all of you). One of my favorite parts was when we sang, "Redeemer of Israel" for I'm in Israel. It's crazy how understanding the geography and the people makes me realize more about scriptures and songs. For instance, the words "Israel will shortly be free" means so much to me now that I'm over here. I didn't think about the war that is happening over here, but the lack of proselyting. We, as members, are not allowed to preach the gospel. We can't free those who don't have the whole truth. There are many good people out there who understand good parts of how to live their lives righteously, but I want to show them so much more. Another part was "For why in the valley of death should they weep or in the lone wilderness rove?" There are so many valleys over here it's quite ridiculous. I thought I knew valleys since I've only lived in valleys, but these valleys are seriously V shaped. For instance the Kidron valley right between Mount Scopus and the Mount of Olives is just a road maybe plus some wiggle room for houses. It's interesting though with the Kidron valley because that is where Christ walked to the Garden of Gethsemane and he would have past by this Jewish cemetary which is still there today. Hence he walked in the valley of death to suffer for us. Also the wilderness is seriously on the other side of Mount Scopus. We are on the side which faces Jerusalem and the other side (which is a walking distance) views the Judean wilderness and when I say wilderness I mean desert. There's nothing out there. I can't even imagine someone walking through a valley of death to suffer or walking in the Judean wilderness for forty days fasting. Yet Christ did. He did those things for us so we may be saved. He is our Redeemer of Israel.

Living the Turkey Life: Old and New

Since Turkey was so amazing, I decided to Turkey its own blog post :)

SUNDAY: I woke up and realized the BYU vs. Utah game was going on in the forum area. Went and watched about 10 minutes after half time then was grateful I had to leave to get ready for Turkey. 'Nuff said. On a better note, the flight went great, and we landed in Istanbul!!! One of the best realizations I had in Istanbul was that it was the nearest I'll be to Croatia until I get there! AHH!!! I can't wait! But Istanbul is sooo beautiful! We came to our hotel and it was called "Cartoon Hotel"! The theme was cartoons, and there was Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Snow White, and all sorts of characters! It was so much fun. Also the elevator was tiny and get this...there was no door to the box part. The door closed to the floor and then we watched the door go down and the wall move. After looking at the beautiful view, we walked through downtown Istanbul to get to our dinner, and it was sooo good!!! Family, you would be proud of me, I tried everything! And I found new favorite foods that I wouldn't have had by just the looks of it.

MONDAY: Our first stop was the Blue Mosque which is right by Hagia Sophia (the oldest church still standing; about 1000 years old). In the Blue Mosque we had to take off our shoes like in any holy place. They didn't require us to wear head scarves, but I think it's because it's more like a museum now. We then went to the Topkapi Palace which is where sultans used to live and about 4,000 wives, concubines, family, servants, and workers. It's like it's own little village. There was so many beautiful carvings, gardens, paintings, and other artifacts. The tile work was especially amazing. I don't even know how many tiles there were, but just imagine a little village covering their walls not in wallpaper but in tiles. Bam. Crazy, huh? We went down to a cistern ( an underground dam underneath the city) which was about the size of at least 3 Vernal temples, maybe 4. We then went to the Grand Baazar. Bizare! I still am marveling at how big that place was. We got lost so many times. It's a miracle my group made it back on the bus. After our long day we went on a boat ride to get to the Asian side of Istanbul (they call one side of the sea Europe and the other side Asia). It was great to feel the sea air and see Istanbul from a different perspective. When we landed, we ate dinner by the water side and I had a sardine whole! I know you're not beliveing me, so I took a pic of it and my reaction afterwards. Let's just say I wasn't smiling... I also had clam for the first time! It was stinkin good!!! Since I was on such an adventurous high, they served us an entire fish without the guts, but I then tried the eye. Definitely not trying that again. After getting back to our cartoon hotel, we hit up on the town by metro and tasted some of the best baklava ever! It was a successful night to an AMAZING, long successful day.

TUESDAY: Troy was our next stop, so we got on the bus and headed on our way. Now I can say I've been on a Trojan horse and got attacked by a frog where Hector was killed by Achilles (supposedly). Don't worry the frog will not mess with people again ;) That day we couldn't fit a lot with riding on the bus and not many sites around Troy so we went to our hotel which was right by the beach. So we went to the pool, had a bonfire and dance party on the beach! It was crazy fun! I LOVED IT!!!

WEDNESDAY: We started the day in beautiful Assos where Paul taught. It has a temple of Athena which overlooks a gorgeous view of the sea. I definitely could get used to the sea. I miss my mountains, but oceans and seas I could definitely look at for quite some time. In the little village, there were some turkeys. Yes, turkeys in Turkey! haha We then went to Pergumum (mentioned in Revelation) which has a Roman Temple, and it poured!!! Zeus was not happy with us being there or something. Everyone was soaked to the bone, but it was a lot of fun :)

THURSDAY: We headed our way to Ephesus which is an ancient city bigger than 2 BYU campus and only maybe 10% has been excavated. In the hills all around there is most likely 90% of the city underground. Wow. Ephesus was a hopping place. It's so much fun going to these ancient ruins and pretending to be like how it would have been in those days. My friend, Cali, and I walked down the lane acting like we were going to the Turkish baths and head to the theatre after some shopping. It was great. The theatre by the way made me all giddy! The acoustics were great and there were actual stones excavated for this site. It felt so good to be on a stage again! Another stage that was fun to see after Ephesus was the one in Miletus, another ancient city, but this one is where Paul said good-bye to the Turkish people. It made me really think about saying good-bye, but I'll talk about that in the overview blog. Before Miletus, we visited the Artemis temple which is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This temple had 127 columns about 60 feet high. Currently, there's only one column about 50 feet high. They're not exactly sure what happened, but it could be from a lot of different things (enemies, earthquakes, angry birds; last theory don't take seriously). But it was crazy seeing a field where one of the great wonders of the world should be. After this exciting ancient day, we went to a modern hotel which had hot springs! The water felt sooo good!!! A great way to relax after many hours sitting on a bus for sure.

FRIDAY: We started the day heading down a waterfallish of hot springs. If you want to see pictures of what I mean, type in Google "Pamukkale" and press on Images. Again, it was soo much fun! This day was mostly spent on the bus (about 7 hours) which is why this part is so short.

SATURDAY: Spent some of the day in Bursa, first off in the Grand Mosque, and Bursa is the end of the Silk Road, so we went to a silk market and visited some silk shops. I've decided I love silk and can never go back to cotton. It felt way too good. We then went to Nicea where Constantine held his winter palace and First and Seventh Ecumenical Councils (don't worry about the details, I'm just trying to remember for my test). We stopped by a small Hagia Sophia then made our way to the famous Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Crazy big. This church was originally Christian then the Turks took over and changed it to a mosque and covered all the Christian symbols. Now it's a museum and undeclared of religion so both religions can be seen inside this beautiful, huge building. We then had our final dinner in Turkey went to the airport. There were no troubles in my opinion throughout the airport experience. The only problem was that we arrived home 4:30 am in the morning. We were a bit tired the next day, but all is well.

Week 4: Foreign CatchPhrase Anyone?

If you want to view my travels with pictures, my professor has a blog and since he's a professor he has special rights to posting pictures and videos. I'm not in like any of the pictures, but you can still check it out :) http://huntsmansintheholyland.blogspot.com/

1. I've learned in Turkey that the top 5 words/phrases to learn are: Thank You (Sahol in Turkish; used this phrase probably every hour at least); Hello (Maharbra or something like that); Sorry (already forgotten how to say it and the next 2 words); Please; and No (to combine with Sahol to say to the vendors "No thank you" whenever they push something at your face). I'm really considering to remember this on my next adventures to foreign lands, so I can get smiles where ever I go because I try to say a word in their language and I pronounce it completely wrong :)

2. Turkey (look at previous blog)

3. As we spent our last hour in Turkey before heading to dinner, we stopped by a smaller bazaar and did some last minute shopping. As we headed back, I saw one of the saddest things I've seen in my life: two sick little girls wrapped in blankets with the lonliest eyes I've ever seen on a person's face. These girls were homeless and were asking for money. I know that their 'guardian' might have put them up to it and staged them in the streets, but I couldn't help it but give the little bit of Turkish money I had. If you don't know me, I am an Elementary Education major and kids are my weakness. When I saw these girls, my heart just tore a part for them. How would it be like to live on the streets? Not knowing if you would eat the next day or when you would sleep under a roof again? Especially as a kid. I can't even imagine my happy childhood living in the streets looking up at strangers begging for money. That's not the education I want for these girls, but all I can do is count my many blessings and keep working hard so my kids don't have to experience hunger. I will never see the look in those girls' eyes in my little girl's eyes. I'm so blessed.

4. So there were a few sick kids on the bus at the end of the trip, and guess what happened the day when we get home? About half of the students in the center got sick. It was pretty ridiculous seeing everyone the next day either coughing or have tissue in their hand. You may not think this is funny, but I thought it was hilarious. Yes, I was one of those sick kids hence why I didn't write on Sunday or Monday because I was either doing homework or sleeping, but it was pretty funny realizing we had our first epidemic at BYU JC (Jerusalem Center).

5. Miletus really hit me. Not because of the beauty or any significant ancient building, but a touching event. This is where Paul said good-bye to the people he had been serving for 3 years. We had a devotional here with my professor giving his thoughts and he talked about leaving people. He mentioned how we all had left people behind to go to Jerusalem or a mission, but he had a different experience of leaving people. His dad passed a way a few months ago, and he shared with us his thoughts on how his dad must have felt passing away leaving everyone behind on Earth. While he was sharing his story, I thought about all of you and how it would feel leaving you all behind in this life. I thought leaving to Jerusalem for 3 months was a hard good-bye and how leaving to Croatia for 18 months will be hard...I have no idea. I then thought of all those close to me who have passed on. I'm blessed to not have too many of these experiences, but enough to feel the pain of the memories. Enough to remind me not to leave a moment for granted and to keep words unsaid. I know Heavenly Father has a purpose and plan for each of us. We have been given gifts, talents, and abilities to fulfill this purpose. He won't leave us to fail. He'll be there every step of the way to encourage, help, and walk us the rest of the way. I love you. Don't forget it. At the end of the devotional, we sang "God Be with You 'Til We Meet Again". The words completely changed for me keeping this perspective in mind, so my friends, family, and people who I don't even know that are reading this, I love you. God be with you until we meet again.

Week 3: Shalom!

1. Shalom means ‘peace’ in Hebrew and is given as a greeting and a good-bye. Jerusalem used to be called Yerushalom which means “city of peace”. Even though this city is known for not being peaceful, there are many examples for it being peaceful. Yes, there are many religions, and those religions are trying to claim certain holy places; many of those people from the different religions respect each other’s agency to choose and worship that religion. I’ve had many experiences already of people from Muslim to Jewish, Orthodox or not, who have expressed that as long as someone is living a good life, God will be the one who will judge—not us. Sometimes we go through life judging someone based on their religion, and we don’t look at the fruits of the person himself or herself. These people are living in their own peace with each other. Some people choose not to live in this peace and accept other’s rights to agency. Because of this I’m not living in the city of peace right now, but I’m looking forward for the day when everyone will be living in shalom.

2. SUNDAY: Tel Aviv and swimming in the Mediterranean!!!

MONDAY: Judean Wilderness, Jericho, Herod’s Winter Palace, Qilt Wadi, and St. George Monastary

TUESDAY: Classes

WEDNESDAY: Classes and walked around East Jerusalem

THURSDAY: Garden Tomb and Classes

FRIDAY: Classes and looked at different Olive wood shops

SATURDAY: Preparing to leave for Turkey on Sunday!

3. I’m not sure if one would dub this as a tender mercy, but I am sure thankful for it. This week for the first time, I went with a bunch of girls out in the city. Usually it’s a bunch of girls and at least one guy, but this time I’ve traveled the city with only girls a few times. There is a big difference. I’m soo grateful men are here at the Center. When it’s been a group of just girls, we get more male attention from locals and vendors. Now Mom, don’t get scared. It’s more like catcalls, and men coming up and telling us they love us and want to marry us. We haven’t had anything big happen thank goodness, but I just feel safer with a guy around. Even one guy with a group of three girls gets less attention than a group of ten girls. We talked about this a little bit in Relief Society today, and it’s just because we obviously don’t look like locals and we dress a bit differently, so they think our standards are different. This is why modesty is so strict over here. It’s interesting to think that I was viewed as a super modest person back at home, and here, I’m on the borderline of modest (and to some religions I’m immodest). It’s so important to know the culture of where you’re going and understand the ‘rules’. I’m glad to have these fabulous guys here at the Center to protect us.

4. My roommate, Suzy, and I have been trying to figure out how we know each other. She looked so familiar to me ever since I first saw her at Orientation, and it was bugging me soo bad!!! We then figured it out. In Provo, I went to the devotionals every Tuesday at the Marriott Center. I went through portal J pretty much every time. I like to smile and say ‘hi’ to the ushers because I know through past experience, it’s more fun when people talk to you even if it’s just a ‘hi’. Well, Suzy was the usher my freshman year for Portal J. I was so stoked to finally figure out this connection. When I told her that was me who said ‘hi’ every week, she just gave me a silenced look. (If you know Suzy, she’s not one to just be silent especially during a time of rejoicing.) I asked what’s wrong, and she told me that she thought I was her mom’s best friend’s daughter the entire year. Suzy had felt guilty every time I said ‘hi’ because she couldn’t remember my name and felt embarrassed to ask since we were supposed to know each other from our moms being best friends and all, so she always just played along and said ‘hi’ back. Well at least she doesn’t have to feel guilty any more. This may not be funny to you, but it’s HILARIOUS to me! Now I understand why she looked at me kind of funny every time during freshman year.

5. This week a group of us went to Omar’s who is an Olive wood carver. He is known around the Church because of his BEAUTIFUL carvings. They are so detailed, and he gives each of his characters expressions. Omar is also a great man. He is one of the people who has influenced me this week about judging others. He has such a great perspective of life and other people that I can’t help but loving this man. His insights were just very profound. I’ve been thinking a lot about generalizations since coming to Jerusalem especially this week since 9/11 was on Sunday. I remember when 9/11 happened and all these people being so angry towards Arabs because of what a few people did. Just because someone looks a certain way or believes in something different doesn’t mean they’re bad or strange. Yes, don’t be dumb and righteous judgment is needed for everyday common sense, but our job is not to give final judgment. That is someone else’s duty who knows their heart and knows why they did the things they did. I’m probably over killing this topic, but it’s what’s been coming up for me over and over again. Well, tomorrow I’ll be in Turkey! I’ll give you the update of how the Turkish Delight tastes like in a week!!!

Week 2: I Have a Tale about a Tel to Tell...

I decided to post two blogs this week since one is about my mission call, and if you look at it...it's quite huge. Sorry, but I like to talk (theatre trait).

1. So the Tel that I have to Tell is that a Tel is a mound or hill that was made from previous settlements. These settlements are usually cities that have been destroyed either from being old or enemies or just construction to build up the city. So the streets I walk here at Jerusalem aren't really the same streets that Christ walked. He walked the same area, but there are only a few places where the stones are from Christ's time (very few stones).

2. SUNDAY: Wandered the Old City and West Jerusalem. Oh and I bought something on Sunday; I know, I'm a rebel. (Our Sabbath is on Saturday, so don't think too low of me.)

MONDAY: Had a field trip which was many overlooks of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho, and many other places.

TUESDAY: Had classes all day! Great classes, but a little overwhelming.

WEDNESDAY: Had classes but during the break between classes went out to the Old City and looked around some more.

THURSDAY: Classes all day, Jazz/Ethnic concert, and received my call!!!

FRIDAY: After class, waited for 3 pm so I could open my call in the Garden of Gethsemane, then went to the Western Wall to welcome in Shabbot (the Sabbath).

SATURDAY: Went to the Garden Tomb before we had Israel District Conference.

3. My tender mercy this week was on Tuesday. It was just a rough day. We started classes, and they were all overwhelming with the reading. I also started feeling homesick because I think my body and mind finally realized that I wasn't going to be home for a few months and this wasn't just a vacation. (It's soo fun, but we are STUDYING abroad not playing abroad.) So I went and did my laundry (I have a very limited supply) and went to study also. Two of my friends, Devin and Brielle, came in. They didn't just come in, but they came in with one of my favorite things in the whole entire world!! SKITTLES!!! Skittles are my absolute favorite candy. They are seriously my comfort food, but I came across the world without them. So silly of me, but Devin was nice enough to ask me if I wanted some. I love her for that! It's AWESOME how Heavenly Father works through people.

4. Sunday was sooo funny!!! We have a new roommate. His name is Larry. Larry the Lizard. My roommate Taylor went outside on our patio for a few minutes and on the way back she saw something run into the room. I was taking a nap at the time, so she didn't want to wake me up and ran for one of her good friends here. They tried to corner it, then shoo it out, but it was soo FAST!!! Well, after a few minutes of trying to corner it, I woke up and then all three of us tried to either catch it (but we didn't want to tear it's tail off) or have Larry run back out the door. We weren't successful. He ended up running underneath Taylor's bed, and we tried to find him. We couldn't find him. We saw glimpses every once in a while that day, but we didn't see him leave the room. We haven't seen him since Sunday, but we're guessing either he is chilling and eating the bugs in our room or he left. We like to think he's still in our room, so we can claim that we have a roommate named Larry just to satisfy some more rebelliousness in us. ;)

5. Yesterday, we went to the Western Wall. I'm not sure how I can explain the feelings I had. The closest of how I can explain it is with a phrase our Academic Director described it: religious envy. At our meeting before going to the Western Wall, he explained how God works in many different ways to help people feel hope or connected to Him somehow and how if we try, we could feel something too. For many Jews, the Western Wall is the most sacred place to them because that's the wall which was part of a temple that was destroyed in 70 AD. To the Jews, this wall that is still standing is the closest place they can feel connected with God. As I was standing there waiting my turn to touch the wall, I was noticing all the different types of Jews and how they were mourning and remembering. As I watched, I felt something. I felt God's love for these people who are trying to do the right thing. Yes, I may not believe in what they believe, but I do respect them for trying to do what's right. It's amazing for this small town, country girl who's always been in the majority to go to this place with so many different beliefs and cultural ideas. It's the end of week 2, and I can't believe how much I have grown to love this place and the people inside and outside the center! I have already begun to feel sad for when I leave, but it's good because then I'll always feel the pressure to not leave a moment for granted. For I'm not going to leave with regrets, only with memories (and maybe some souveniors). Have a GREAT week!!!

I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go

For those who don't know...I GOT MY MISSION CALL!!! I've been blessed to be asked to serve in the Slovenia/Croatia mission speaking Croatian or however my mission president sees fit (aka I could be speaking something else once I get there). I will be entering the MTC on January 11, 2012 which will be about 3 1/2 weeks after I get back from Jerusalem. This is exactly when I wanted to leave because it's enough time (or hopefully enough) to get home and do whatever last minute things I need to do and spend time with the family at Christmas, but not too long that I get super anxious to leave. From what I hear about Croatia area and seen on Google, I'm already in LOVE. Yes, I know the pictures are for tourist spots but it looks so pretty. There's a girl here that has been to Croatia, and she was telling me all about the place and the people. Apparently there are very few members, and those who are members are basically women. Someone else told me that's where their grandparents top place to vacation because it's so beautiful. Pretty much, I'm stoked. Period.

I thought it would be fun to tell my adventure though on how getting my mission call went down because it wasn't just a simple I got the call in the mail then I opened it right then. It's kind of a process. First off, I didn't expect my call to come on Thursday but instead at least 2 weeks from how mission calls get delivered, and I had turned in my call 9 days before so it was kind of quick. Well, there was a jazz/ethnic concert on Thursday night, and I was ushering for it. I headed upstairs and one of my friends, Shalyn, asked me if I was waiting for a mission call. I told her yes and didn't think much about it because word was getting around that I was waiting for my call. She just looked at me with excitement and said, "There's a white packet upstairs that looks like a mission packet with your name on it." I freaked. I ran upstairs (but she had to keep directing me from behind because I didn't know where I was going), and then ran into the office and there it was. All perfectly white on top of the students' mail pile. I gently grabbed it and started freaking out even more. I just didn't know what to think. I couldn't believe it was here, and I didn't know what to do. I needed to usher and by that time I was running late. I tried to think of different options, then Shalyn who is such a sweetheart kept offering to do stuff. But I ended up just asking her to hold onto my mission call until after I ushered. Well once the concert was over, I booked it out and tried to hunt down Shalyn. I've been waiting too long to get my mission call and I wasn't going to wait anymore as long as it was in the building. But I couldn't find her! The Jerusalem Center is quite a large place, so I went to all the usual places where people go and called her name. No I couldn't find her anywhere! So I just told everyone that if they saw Shalyn to tell her I was looking for her. I went to her room and only her roommates were in there, and we did a sweep of the top of her things to see if it was there. Nope. So I got to my room because I had no idea what to do and I figured she would come to my room if she did try to find me. After about 10 minutes, Shalyn knocked on my door. YAY!! We talked for a little bit about missions (Shalyn served in Chile), and I just kept getting stoked. If you're wondering why I haven't opened it up by now, it's because for the past 5ish months, I've been dreaming of opening my mission call in the Garden of Gethsemane. People kept telling me how patient I was, but I think it's because I had dreamed about it so much, I wanted it to turn out just right. Now don't think I'm a saint or anything because I surely was tempted to open it many times (especially at 1:30 in the morning when I don't have a super good grasp on self-control and the envelope was kind of turned on the end, so it was already at the beginning stages of opening). I didn't open it the next morning because since it was Friday, we can't leave the center until 3 pm because there are prayers going on to welcome in the Sabbath and if a riot was to happen in East Jerusalem and the Old City, it would happen sometime before 3. So I took a lot of naps because there was no way I was going to get homework done, and it made the time go by so much faster. I also was super tired from not being able to sleep the night before. But a blessing happened, and I asked the Academic Director if we could leave at 2:45, so my group and I could be back for our 4 o'clock meeting (the walk to Gethsemane is about 20 minutes). He approved, so off we went at 2:45!

The walk up to the garden was not fast enough! I feel like I could have ran the whole way there, but I don't think my group had enough motivation to run the whole way with me (there are some steep hills). Once we got there, I had thought this all through. I wanted to sing "Called to Serve" and "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go". The girls who went with me (Shalyn, Eliza, Suzy, and Cali) are excellent singers, so I'm glad we were able to sing before I went off down the path a little bit and opened my call (they had a great view, so they caught it on camera. If you want to see it, you'll have to ask when I get home. It's pretty great). When I opened my call, I just couldn't believe it. Croatia? Wow. I'm so blessed. I then called my family (I called a earlier than expected, so it was soo hard to just keep it in. There were many times I wanted to be like, "I AM GOING TO CROATIA!" But I didn't.) The girls who were with me just freaked out when I told my family on the phone. But we had to book it back to the center for our meeting (totally made it back in record time) then I announced it to all of the people in the Jerusalem Center at the meeting where I was going. I received a standing ovation which was pretty cool (since I'm involved in theatre, standing ovations mean a lot to me). I just can't believe I'm going on a mission. AAAAHHHHHHH!!!

I know I need to go to Croatia (or Slovenia or Serbia; those countries are also in my mission). It's going to be super duper hard, but super duper awesome. For whatever amount of effort you put into something, you'll receive a greater amount back. I don't know what Heavenly Father has in plan for me, but I know it will be a great finale to these best two years of my life (EFY, Jerusalem, and then mission). Life is AMAZING!!!

Week 1: Am I in Near or Middle East?

As I have been thinking about what exactly what I want to post on my blog every week I decided to put it into 5 sections. 1. My title will tie into the first part because I'll give a little tidbit of something I thought was interesting I learned this week specifically non-spiritual since I'm guessing a lot of my readers are like me and don't have any idea of what goes on in Jerusalem geographically, politically, historically, and all that jazz. Also, not everything I learn these weeks will have the spiritual aspect. 2. I will give a low down of what I did this week (Randi you might want to skip this part; you asked for a heads up;) ). 3. My tender mercy for the week. 4. Something fun/funny that happened. 5. Testimony builder. Now that you all know the set-up you can read it all or just what you are looking for specifically (or none at all, but I'm guessing you'll want to read something or you wouldn't be on here).

1. Our substitute Academic Director who is getting replaced next week (the new one couldn't come until after a wedding) asked us the question if we were in the Middle or Near East? I answered smart-alecky, "Location?" And I was actually part right. Hopefully I understand this correctly (I was kind of sleep deprived at the time), Near East is a term Europeans use since this area is 'Near East' and Middle East is a term us Americans use. I don't know what Asians call it, but I thought it was a nifty tidbit.

2. Monday: Had orientation in Provo then couldn't sleep because I was so stoked!

Tuesday: Flew from SLC to NYC!! Then from NYC to Tel Aviv (an Israeli airport).

Wednesday: Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean then landed in Tel Aviv. Had Orientation in Jerusalem!

Thursday: Had an orientation walk and more orientation stuff (lots of times trying to stay awake since we were all still jet lagged).

Friday: Went to the Israel Museum (mostly archeological stuff), the Garden Tomb (talk more about that later), and the Old City by ourselves!!!!

Saturday: Had church ( I was chorister for Primary, so much fun!!! Hopefully I get a calling in Primary!) and went to the Garden of Gethsemane (AMAZING, 'nuff said).

3. My tender mercy for the week has been regarding flights. Obviously, I'm grateful I'm here, but seriously. I'm one of the blessed who has been here since the beginning. After our flight made it to NYC, we heard from someone who still had their phone on them taht 51 of our classmates (there are 82 of us all together) were stuck in Phoenix. After that first leg of the trip, their plane which was going to Philadelphia had maintenance problems and got ancelled. When the 30 of us got on the flight, we still didn't know how our friends were going to make it. 16 arrived Friday (note we arrived on Wednesday) while 1 got stuck in Frankfurt because she was put on the waiting list, and 12 more arrived Saturday. 1 student was laready here before because his father is a professor, Bro. Ludlow. If you were counting, yes, you did your math right. 22 people are still not at the Jerusalem Center. I feel very sad for them, but very blessed to be here right now. I can't imagine the last week waiting around to get here. If you look at my schedule, you can see I have done soo much already! I feel like I have been here for a month and want to stay forever! It's so beautiful here, and it's amazing how being in the country! I am so blessed to have Delta pull through for us.

4. Something fun that has happened was after we visited the Garden Tomb. We went into the Old City to just get our bearings and see as many sites as we can. The vendors LOVE us. I cannot express it anymore than that. We just walk down the streets and they ask, "Mormon?" and we reply, "Yes." then they get these HUGE smiles on their faces and say, "Welcome!" and try to get us in our shops. I'm guessing they've had plenty of students come by from the 'Mormon University' (no one knows us from the BYU Jerusalem Center). We had one man, who stopped us on our orientation walk to give us discount cards, stop us again and actually was able to get us into his shop (it was probably my fault but I'll take the blame!) We walked in and he offered us some fruit juice ( he knew that we didn't drink coffee or tea; again previous students) then he dressed us up in legitimate dressess and headdress. We got pictures; don't worry, I got some nice pics. I wish I could post them, but our internet stream can't handle all of us downloading pictures onto the internet so they made a rule to not let anyone. It's cool. You'll just have to come back later for the good stuff. ;) He seemed bummed after we had a good time taking pictures that we didn't buy anything, but I'll definitely come back later not only because his stuff is cheaper than other places I saw, but because he tried so hard. I respect him for his effort and feel like he should get something for it. And if anything, I should pay him for the fun we had!

5. Finally what will probably be my favorite part of my blogs: testimony builder. On Friday, we went to the Garden Tomb. We were supposed to start classes but since a good amount of the students weren't here yet, we did a field trip instead. When we arrived at the Garden Tomb, we had to wait outside a little bit, so we sang some resurrection hymns. Our group has AMAZING voices, and the Spirit came in so quickly. I love how music can do that. As we walked, the tour guide kept telling us how historians THINK where the crucifixion and resurrection were at but no one really KNOWS. He also kept reminding us that the place wasn't the important part, but the subject was what is really important. After the tour and seeing where supposedly Christ's crucifixion and resurrection was, we gathered as a group and had a devotional. We can't talk about our faith to others unless they are already members. So there was a little spot designed for groups, and we sang hymns and two of our professors gave us some thoughts. I'll be saying this a lot but it describes what I feel: it was amazing. The Spirit was so strong, and I'm just so grateful to be here where Christ walked and talked. Where He healed the sick, blind, and lame. Where He suffered, died, and resurrected. But I realized in the Garden of Gethsemane that what he did is important, but it is not the most important thing. He did ALL those things for ME (and you but this thought was directed towards me). If I don't remember and strive to be better, all those events will just be events. What Christ did and how it impacts me right now is the important realization. For Christ is not gone, He's LIVING though me right now. I made the mistake to not understand that until I came here. But if that's all I learn this semester, it will be enough to get me through to the end and return to my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank goodness though, that this will not be the only thing I learn this semester. I'm so grateful for the adventure that is ahead of me, and I hope you'll enjoy it too. Until next week!

Oh hey

I'm having technical difficulties with my blog. Shalom

Just a Few Adventures

Ok, I'm really horrible at blogging. My goal is to blog every week while I'm at Jerusalem, so hopefully that will help me stay caught up! I just want to share a few moments I've had the previous months.


First off, my freshman roommate got married 2 weeks ago! She looked sooo beautiful, and we had a ball all together. You can catch a glimpse of a few of the amazing people I hung out with that weekend. By the way, don't judge me. ;)

We had a Fiesta at my Grandpa's place for a work party. We had soo much fun! This picture just shows a little bit of the spiciness fun we had. I know, I look cute.

During March again, I went to the American Fork Krishna temple's celebration of the Festival of Colors. I have never coughed up so much chalk in my life! But it was a BLAST!!! It was also amazing to see someone else's religion and culture. I would definitely suggest it to anyone else with these tips: take sunglasses to cover the eyes, handkerchief to cover the mouth, and go early in the day when there aren't as many people high off of stuff other than chalk (if you get my drift). But other than that, go have a ball!!!

This summer I had the A-MAZING opportunity to serve as an Especially For Youth counselor four awesome weeks. I can't think of any other thing better I could have done this summer. I loved being with those girls and saw how they could grow during the week through the gospel. These girls were my first week during pizza night! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of my other girls because so many cameras were already going on, but I did love them all like my own little sisters that I never have had.

After EFY, there was EFC (Especially For Counselors) at Disneyland!!! It was crazy fun!!!!! I loved getting to know other counselors and people and reminisce with counselors I already knew. I can't believe how blessed I am in this life with the people I know, and the experiences I have shared and will share with others in the future.

Another adventure that I have had which I don't have pictures for at this time:

My cousin, Nate Haines, and a few friends came out to Vernal for the weekend. They came to run the river and go to the Demolition Derby. It was so much fun to see these city folks come to a hick event. The cars roarin', smoke coming out of engines, and the smell of money (cows, that's what my dad likes to refer the smell as) are just a few of the things that reminds me of home. But the big adventure happened earlier that day on the river. We decided to not get a guide especially since the Green River wasn't running fast, and it's not that intense of a river. Well we're weaving in and out of tight spaces and having a grand ole time. There was a rock up ahead in the middle of the river, and we started casually saying right or left. Well some went left and some went right and together we went smack dab in the middle of the rock (Mother-In-Law in case if you were wondering what it was called). I tried to flip the raft over or something, but in my effort my hand instead got caught in between where the raft folded. Everyone was able to swim to shore, but I just kind of chilled there on the raft with my hand being comforted in the middle of the raft. After a mintute or two, I was able to wiggle my hand free. Since I was there, I tried to budge the raft off. The current was ridiculously strong. I tried one side then went to the other and tried. After some tugs, the water took me under and I think I hit a rock with my leg because I had a lovely bruise afterwards. We weren't able to get the raft out, so we had to pay them to get the raft off. But we are blessed because they said since we were so nice and willing to accept whatever consequence that came, we just had to pay the minimum fee ($500, but much better than $2000 which was what the raft cost and much better than someone getting hurt). Let's just say we learned to make decisions quickly in life. The river is like life ;) Think about it.

Updates:

Today I had my interview with the Stake President, and he will press the button in 9 days for my mission papers to go to the 1st Presidency!! AHHH!!!

On that same day (August 30), I will be going to travel to Jerusalem for an entire semester. Life is just simply amazing. I can't believe that I will be blessed to go walk where Christ walked, lived, and died for an entire semster. Hopefully 2 weeks from now I will have updated this blog to let you know my extraordinary experiences that I will have over there.

The Last of 2010

Since I've been lazy, here's a recap of the last 6 months.








It first started off in Idaho, I had a road trip with some friends from my freshman ward. Our Relief Society and Elder's Quorum presidents married in June. Typical BYU :)

The next adventure was in July for the Jolley family reunion at New York, it starated at Niagra Falls, Palmyra, then ending in New York City. I loved spending time with my whole family. I can't wait for May when we can all be together again.

Another trip I took in November was to Cedar City. I didn't get any pictures with one of my best friends, Randi, but I did get a ride to the St. George temple and did some baptisims for the dead. The temple was very beautiful being all white.

My roommates/cousins and I went to the Harry Potter 7 Part 1 midnight showing! It was way fun dressing up and being one of the firsts to see the last first part of the Harry Potter movies.

(Me/Percussionist Weird Sister, Nate/Harry Potter, Aaron/Dobby)

My old roommate, Kaitlyn, and I have this tradition to do something crazy every night during finals week. This past finals week, we only had one night before I went home. So we did something that we've done before. LAUNDRY SLIDING!!!!

I had a little mishap....let's just say I added something to my Christmas list last minute.

Before I went, Aaron and I did baptisms for the dead in the Draper temple. This temple was gigantic! It's so big, there were 18 weddings scheduled for that day. Crazy!