Jerusalem!

I am currently sitting on the patio of the third floor of the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center, looking over one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever beheld. I am in pure bliss here!

The past few days have been insane. Time has already gone by so quickly! Everything went better that expected on our flights to the Tel Aviv on Tuesday and Wednesday. We had a five hour layover in JFK but we passed the time with Bonanza and an Extreme Dot-to-Dot book :)

Me, Michael, Abi, and Erin

 I was even able to sleep for 7 hours on the 10-hour ride from JFK to Tel Aviv! It felt splendid. I was so happy that I got to sit by Erin on the long plane ride!

Erin and me (with Staesha and Kaelyn behind us)

On our first night here I was able to watch the sun set over the city skyline while listening to the “Call to Prayer.” It was incredible and at that moment I knew that this is where I’m supposed to be for the next 3.5 months! I was feeling a little homesick and anxious but after a prayer and a deep breath I felt a lot better :)

On Thursday we went on a tour of the Old City and I had Brother Jackson, the Associate Director, as my guide. I was surprised my how many vendors there are lining the streets! I’m not used to the bargaining yet…It definitely is a different culture over here!  The people are so beautiful and passionate about their beliefs. One of my favorite parts of the tour was going into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Christians believe that Christ was crucified, anointed, and buried. So many humble worshippers bowed down and kissed the Anointing Rock, most of them with tears in their eyes. I know that so many of them have come very far to pay that tribute to their Redeemer, and it touched me so much to see their graciousness.

On Friday we had Old Testament for at 8:00 AM for 2 hours and I loved every second of it! Except for the beginning of class where I got a 1/6 on our Genesis 12-17 reading quiz…I was glad to hear from the other students that 0 and 1 were the average scores. Thankfully he’s dropping that quiz, but I need to step the studying up! But that’s easier said than done because I have the beautiful Old City calling to me to come explore it’s ancient streets. Right after OT we had Near Eastern Studies for 2 hours and that one was a bit harder to focus in, but still I’m just glad to be here learning about this beautiful place! I went out with a super fun group of friends to the city and we walked to the Western Wall where I was once again impressed by the passion and dedication of the people. I wrote a prayer and put it in the ancient wall next to the devout Jewish worshippers.

We also went to the Garden Tomb, which quickly became my favorite of all the sites I’ve been to so far. I felt the Spirit so strongly as I stood in the tomb where Christ’s body lay almost 2000 years ago. I love the sign on the door: “He is not here for he is risen.” It’s true! Christ lives. Our tour guide really stressed the point that although there are arguments about where the event actually occurred, it’s the person we focus on. CHRIST!  I know He is my Redeemer and that He will come again. I can’t wait to learn more about this place and the history!

Today is the Sabbath even though it’s Saturday. We went to the Garden of Gethsemane and it was such an amazing experience. We’re going back next week so I’ll write more about it then!

The girls at Gethsemane