New shtuff: Third Week In

I don't have very much time to write! But I have to put this up before I leave for Egypt! First pic, me blowing a horn at Jericho. Bringing the wall down.

Beautiful view from the Hurva synagogue.

My roommates and I at the Garden Tomb. What a cool experience. We had a great testimony meeting.

First shwarma in the city!

Me and my man clothes. Plus, great photography by my roommate Kaitlin.

Eating pure chocolate souffle in West Jru. The chocolate on the teeth...gets 'em every time :)

Chelsea and I at Tel Jericho. Matching BYU.

In the Judean Wilderness.

St. Georg's Monastery, built out of a rock!

The remains of King Herod's Temple

Trail at Jericho. Where we read about the Good Samaritan.

Me and the wilderness.

We're going to Egypt in the morning, so I'll be out for the week! But will come back having been to Africa, the pyramids, and a camel ride.
Some men here are creepy, and the classes are tough, and it is so busy, and I just got called to be a seminary teacher. But, this will be great.

Jewish Sabbath

Tonight was amazing!
We went to the Old City after classes at 5. Normally we have to be outside of the Old City by dark, but we went as a big group to the Western Wall to see the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, which starts at sundown on Thursday and goes through Friday.

Earlier in the day we learned what exactly the Western Wall is. It is not the old wall of the temple, but part of the old wall that surrounded the old city that the temple was in. It's the last remaining thing, and so it's considered very sacred.

There were tons of people in the square! The men and women go to different sides and put slips of paper in the wall, their prayers. And people are chanting psalms and it's just so amazing to see how religious they are. I touched the wall, (which has stones from Jesus' time! Ancient Herodian stones) and put a prayer in. There were lots of girls dancing and singing, so some of us joined in their songs, it was a lot of fun. And it was just so cool to see so many people worshipping together. I talked to some girls on a birthright tour, where they come for 10 days to the Holy Land from the states.

And these are from the last couple days. Trying a Nok Out bar...which are so good! Walking on the rooftop of Jerusalem, eating ice cream, looking at the Dome of the Rock, in January.

And below is me and my friend Lindsay. She's a really cute girl. We were in the tomb, watching an old Jewish lady praying, trying to be so quiet for her...then her cell phone went off and she started chattering in Hebrew.

1 Week in the Holy Land

Despite massive amounts of homesickness, things are improving here. Mainly from great advice from mom that things take time :) I don't need to know everyone or do everything in one week. We went on a great field trip to a couple sites around Jeru. This pic is from the 7 Arches Hotel. It had an amazing overlook and from there we could see where the ancient city of David was, and other cool landmarks around the city.
We went to the Augusta Victoria. It's a Christian Church, on the Mt. of Olives, named after the German's wife who built it. It's the Lutheran's church of the Acension, because Christ ascended into heaven from the Mt. of Olives. We went to the top of it and had an incredible view of around the city.
This is Nabi-Samwill. Forever it was mistakenly believed to the death place of Samuel, but it wasn't. There is a mosque on top, and a synagogue on bottom. We wrapped scarves around us and went to the synagogue.

This view is also at Nabi Samwill, and from here we could see the West Bank, and the wall that divides Israel and the West Bank. We looked out to where Solomon built his temple and asked the Lord for wisdom. It was a really cool thought; that God loves when we have righteous desires.



Wailing Wall. Some Jews come here everyday and recite the entire book of Psalms. There were so many little prayer papers stuffed in the crevices, it was really cool.
And, the Rock.
So gorgeous up close. I was expecting a gray mass, but it was really pretty.

There I am, in my fanny pack glory.
Don't ask.

First Days

These first few days have been so hard, but that's okay, because it's already getting better. And I'm trying to think of it as me being lucky that I'm so homesick, because everyone I left in the USA I loved so much.
So, the above girls are my roomies. Rachel is on my left. She is awesome. Gorgeous, as you can tell, and so nice! She and I are becoming closer. She has a twin sister next door named Chelsea, and they're identical, but I can tell them apart..so that means I'm a true friend :)
The brown haired girl next to me is Jessica, and the girl next to her is Kaitlin. They're darling. They have a lot of missionaries they're writing to, and lots of boys to keep straight, but it's fun. Note mom: I'm wearing my long skirt. And what the heck; people had shorter skirts..and everyone brought at least 5! Where did they find them!?
This is the view outside our window. Our rooms all face East Jerusalem and the Old City, and that's the Dome of the Rock, right outside! I can't wait to go there on a free day soon. The view is phenomenal. And sitting in Sacrament meeting, we look out at the city, learning about Christ, and it's amazing. The center is incredible, I really love it.
Not so great: the prayer call speakers are right outside my room, I swear, so they blare loud. I can't believe Muslims get up at 4:45 to pray!
I'm getting happier here, and am thankful every day that Heidi is here too, because she's great and hilarious and such a good friend.
But mostly I can't believe that I'm here! In Jerusalem!