Week 5: A Week of Holidays

This week was filled with National holidays and celebrations here at the JC. It was our first day back from Turkey and we had sacrament meeting and then the rest of the day was a free day. That also happened to be the day that the Pope was in town. So we decided to head down to the Old City at Jaffa gate and stand in a HUGE crowd to see the Pope drive by. It was one sweet cultural experience because we got to see first hand one of the largest controversies going on between religions here in Jerusalem. I saw the Pope's arm! 

Israeli Guards were everyhwere 

This picture is cool if you understand the context behind it. In his picture you can see Jews and a bunch of Palestinians.  *Basically the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a conflict between Palestine (Muslims/Christians) and Israel (Jews). Both names refer to the city of Jerusalem but Palestine would be the name of it if the Muslims/Christians owned it and Israel is the name of it today because the Jews own it. A long time ago the Muslims and Christians were kicked out and no longer given the same rights as the Jews in Jerusalem. Slowly, the Jews are taking over the land and the rights of Jerusalem, which makes the Christians and Muslims frustrated at the state of Israel. The Muslims and Christians (also known as Arabs) want to gain political control of the Land and call it Palestine. Today Jerusalem is referred to as Israel exists, not Palestine.

Ben, Me and Jenny standing by the city walls waiting for the Pope

Because we aren’t allowed to stay in East Jerusalem after dark a bunch of us just went over to West Jerusalem and the boys played in the water fountain with a bunch of little Jewish boys! Everyone enjoyed that, it was a hoot!! Then we got some dinner and shakes at a cute place, then headed home. 

Monday was field trip day and we went to Jericho and the wilderness. We learned about Jesus fasting in the Wilderness which was a great experience itself, it was spiritual for me, I really learned some valuable lessons from Jesus’s experience. Then we went to Jerich0 which is claimed to be the “lowest point in the world”. It’s 1300ft below sea level. My ears were popping like crazy. But basically this is where Herod built his kingdom. This day was also USA Memorial Day! We didn’t celebrate for that though haha.

Wilderness selfie 

Oh hello donkey! 

Tuesday was Al- Isra wal Mirj (the celebration of the ascension of Muhammad (Muslim)) so there were celebrations going on out there but we had a lot of classes that day and didn’t have that much time to go out.

Wednesday was Jerusalem Day! Confused by all the holidays? Yeah, I was too. This day was a dangerous day for Israel because of the Palestinian-Israel conflict. *Above*  There were some riots in the old city so they didn’t let us out. So I studied that day too.. but I really wanted to get out! Haha.

Thursday was ANOTHER holiday in Jerusalem but this time for the Christians, it was the day they believed Christ ascended into heaven. We didn’t celebrate that either it’s just cool to read about it in the news and then be able to see it first hand. We had a lot of classes again but got to slip out to city and get some Arab clothes at Shabans (a shopkeeper) for Arab night. Arab night was SO cool! First we had some sheiks (they aren’t Islamic leaders but they are viewed very highly) and they performed the Call to Prayer. Being a sheik is something that is passed down for many generations so we had a father and a son come. The ability to sing the way they did blew me away!

Then we had a ton of yummy traditional Muslim food and then learned how to dance J It was a great night!

Friday again we studied but then a group of us went out to the city and just played around. We got to see a service at the Armenian church which was incredible! I just am amazed at how many different types of worship are all crammed into this small city. We saw this service and then on the walk back there was a Mass going on, and another religious practice just in the streets. It’s just insane. And the smells… oh, I cannot capture all the smells. The incense in the churches, the weird spices, the smell of people without deodorant, the smell of sweets, that is something you cannot bring home with you!

And now Shabbat (Sabbath). Today has been an incredible day for me as well. A spiritual one indeed.  Sacrament was amazing like always. The chapel is like movie theater seating with the speaker at the bottom and behind the speaker are just glass windows so you can see the ENTIRE city of Jerusalem during church. I just kept looking at the walls of the Old city and thinking about Christ and about all he has done for me. Sacrament has taken on a whole new meaning for me.

After church we went to the Garden of Gethsemane. I actually didn’t really feel any sort of spirit testify that THIS IS THE PLACE, but it was more of the idea of the atonement that I reflected on. That’s the problem with the sites here is that SO many different churches will take over and build memorials and cathedrals and churches which bring in hundreds of people to these sites but they just don’t quite bring me the same peaceful feeling that I get when I’m in the temple. It’s cool to visit these places but to me, it’s not about finding the EXACT rock where Christ suffered, but it’s more of understanding Christ and having faith that the event took place.

On a more personal note if you care to read, here’s what I learned about the Atonement at the Garden of Gethsemane today:

I was at the site of the most remarkable and universal event that has ever happened to humanity and I thought about the symbolism of the Atonement and how the Atonement has been an influence in my life. I haven’t had any significant sin I needed to overcome or had to go through the repentance process and I always thought that was how someone utilized the Atonement. But then I started to think that the Atonement is WAY more than Christ making up for our sins to fulfill God’s will, it was Christ overcoming a trial, and not just his own physical and emotional trial but one to help him empathize with ours. I began watching the people walk by me, and I just thought everyone, every single person in this world has a trial. When I think about Christ in the Garden I picture Christ in agony and frustration in pain and confusion. Then I thought about those moments that were hard for me, where I was curled up in a ball, crying my eyes out because of an emotional or physical trial. Is that not the same? Didn’t Christ have the same experience? Past all the pain though, is the resurrection of Christ and his ability to overcome the sins of the world. And how we can overcome our sins by not only realizing that Christ has overcome but by our faithfulness to God and our “not my will by the thine be done” mentality. Hopefully that makes sense. That was pretty personal, but maybe it will help someone out there who is struggling to understand how the atonement can benefit our lives today.

Week 4: Turkey!

So this week we were in Turkey! It was a blast. We were here to follow the mission of Paul. We learned a lot of interesting things about Paul as an apostle and we also had a great time learning about the Turkish Culture!  Here's a little taste of our views in Turkey

We had some beautiful views! 

And not so beautiful views... yes those are the toilets and yes i used them!  

Day 1.   ISTANBUL
The first day was a lot of traveling so by the time we got there we were exhausted, but there was no time to waste, we went straight to our first site: the Hagia Sophia. Our tour guides name was Necep (Like Egypt with an N in front and no "t" sound) and he was the coolest guy ever. His accent was pretty strong so that was a bit difficult for us to understand but we still had an awesome time with him!! He called us "Negeptians" haha. The Hagia Sophia was so amazing! I had studied it before in some of my classes so to go there was such a treat. It was amazing and i thought, why would we do the BEST part of the trip at the very beginning and not at the end? Little did i know how many other sweet places we would go to!

Outside of the Hagia Sophia. Sophia means "Holy Wisdom"

Inside of the Hagia Sophia at the alter. All the detail and the gold is so beautiful. Above the alter you can see a depiction of Mary and Jesus, but Muslims don't put icons in any of their mosques. This is there because this mosque used to be a Christian place of Worship and they used icons, but the Muslims got control of it and plastered over ALL the mosaics. Now it's a beautiful mix of both. 

I took these pictures mainly to show how intricate and amazing these mosaics are. Same piece, just zoomed in 

Next we went to the Archeological Museum and got to see room #28. This was a HUGE deal because the professors here have been trying to get into this room for years and this was the first time they were allowed. You can imagine the excitement on their faces!

Jenny and I going to see the secret room #28

Statue of Hermaphroditus. half man/half woman statue. I thought it was cool!

I REALLY enjoyed the Sarcophaguses. I just can't believe people carved this out of marble! It was so amazing. The picture on the right shows what they would have looked like when they had all their color on them! Dang! i want my tomb to look like that :) 

Around 8 we got to our hotel and went out of course to explore the city. This was an interesting experience... so our curfew was 10:30 and we really wanted to walk on the water so we took the tram to the Bosporus. I had Dr. Belnap's daughter so being on time was very important for me. Long story short.. and after a very crammed and busy tram ride home, filled with muslims (so us blondes stood out), we sprinted back to our hotel asking everyone on the street to help us. No one spoke english so it was like a charades game and we were 15 minutes late. We ran into the hotel, brother Belnap was standing there with a very scary look. I was in HUGE trouble because i didn't get her home on time and we were 15 minutes late.... Luckily there were others who came in after us so we didn't get punished.. phew! It was close and i haven't been late since!

The first night we stayed on a beach in Istanbul with a sweet dock. You'd think we would be exhausted after traveling for more than 20 hours but we couldn't pass up a night on the dock singing songs and just talking. Great memories


Day2. ISTANBUL

Out bright and early this day. First went to the Hippodrome (a place where Constantine used to have his horse track- this was also a community center where people would come and enjoy themselves).

Jenny and i at the hippodrome. This was a statue that represented the presence of the Egyptians, it's huge and awesome! 

Next we went to the Blue Mosque! This was awesome because we got to wear head scarves in and take our shoes off. It was a very peaceful place.

Architects make the outside of the Mosques dark looking to 1. scare away the bad spirits and 2. to enhance the beauty of the inside! The builders of the Blue Mosque wanted this mosque to stand out among ALL the other mosques in the world so the builder put up 6 minaret's when the typically mosques have 5. However, the most holy mosque in Mecca (the Grand Mosque) had 6 already so they built an extra one at the Grand Mosque in Mecca to make sure that the Blue Mosque didn't surpass it. 

Blue Mosque Selfie 

Then we went to the Topkapi Palace and Gardens which was really awesome but i wasn't allowed to take any pictures there. Next we went to the Basilica Cistern. This is a huge underground Cistern under the Hagia Sophia which consisted of 336 different types of pillars that the people took from different sites to build it. This was a way for the people to store water.

In the Cistern they needed more stone for a pillar so they took these huge heads of Medusa. To them at the time it didn't mean anything but supplies for the cistern but now it's super cool to see that.

The Grand Bizzare was next! In other words the largest shopping mall i have ever been to! It was huge with hundreds of stores and pretty cheap! There are NO price tags so you can bargain.

The Grand Bizzare

I got fed some Turkish Delight.. yum!! (Photo bomb in the back) 

Ran into Elder Johnson! Small world! :)

If you didn't think day 2 could get any better we then went on a boat ride on the Bosporus! Man it was beautiful and so much fun!

Jenny and i getting wind blown on the boat :) So fun!

After the Boat ride we went to the Whirling Dervishes. I couldn't get a picture of that but this is a show with a circle stage. it's a very tiny room. pretty much what happens is that a bunch of Muslim men spin in circles for 45 minutes as a form of prayer to God. It's a pagan tradition. Here's a picture from the internet. Because it was a session of worship there were no applauses or anything. There wasn't even a break, they spun for 45 minutes straight.

That night a bunch of us decided to venture around Turkey and find some yummy food :) And we did!!! I love trying new foods, it's probably my favorite part!



Day 3- TROY!

Bright and early the next morning we loaded the buses.. it was a long but fun bus ride. The best part about long bus ride days is that when we take breaks there are ALWAYS Magnum bars. I tried every flavor over the trip! I think all my money is going to be spent on food instead of souvenirs.. :)


Finally we got to Gallipoli Battlefield Memorial, also called ANZAC This was a special place where the spirit was very strong. This is the island where a great war between the Central powers and the Allied Powers took place. What was so special about this place was the quietness of the water as you walked down the beach and then to see all the graves there which included Muslims, Jews and Christians. I thought that was especially cool because here is Jerusalem there is so much havoc over these three religions not being able to get along.. but at ANZAC i realized that God is God, no matter what your race and that one day all of these religions will be able to Coexsist in peace.

This was the memorial there. It's cool how the community has come together for this and really understood the emotions the families must have felt at this battle 

Next was the Ferry Ride across the Dardanelles. Here is where i attempted to get over my fear of birds! We would throw bread in the air and they would swoop down and catch them... freaky!

Birds 

This was the horse that the Greeks brought in to Troy when they defeated them 

Day 4. Perganum

A lot of driving this day!! But the main part of the trip was the cool temples at Perganum.

Here's a cat that decided to join our lecture! I was dying!!!!

Day 5. - Selcuk

Long driving day again which means more Magnum bars! We went to Assos this day, which is an acropolis or city on a hill.

Gotta love the ancient ampitheaters

You can call me Queen Bee! 

 Church of St. john was next. I thought these toilets were very creative, but i don't like i'd like to go in a communal bathroom where everyone can see you.. it worked for them :)

Lize and me enjoying the sunshine! Oh! And the Rocks

Next we went to Ephesus which was so awesome. I don't have time to write about all the cool history of this place, but it's amazing how much of the city is still there!!

Me, Jenny and McKenna at one of the oldest libraries!! 

This is the Goddess NIKE behind me! She inspired my most favorite brand :) 

That night we went to Priene which was a blast! The evening was the best though, we got to play at our own beach that was on our resort!!! jenny and i looked at each other when we got in and we're like, "Yeah we're just playing the Agean Sea in Turkey, no big deal!!"

Day 6. Bursa.

This place was super cool! It is known for it's silk! :) We also got to see some cool sites including one of the oldest gymnasiums!!

Me, Emma and Jenny! 

Talk about getting buff at the gym! 

I cannot believe how huge these temples were!

The streets can get a bit crowded!

And now back home.... TO JERUSALEM! WOHOO!! It was a fun trip and such a great experience with some amazing people.

Week 3: Synagogues, rocks, and propinquity

     Every week just keeps getting better and better. It feels like I’ve been here for three months already but it’s only been three weeks! Wow, this is the best. I have had some amazing experiences thus far. Here’s a summary of my week. 

     Sunday- Free Day! A bunch of us went to the Israel Museum. They have some of the oldest artifacts ever to be found there. It was huge and absolutely beautiful. My favorite was the Jewish section. Their rugs, and art and clothing and pots and everything is so beautiful. I am amazed at their ability to create such beauty in the world.  Here are some of my other favorite works from the museum!

 

I think these are very beautiful classical sculptures. It's just amazing how these people could carve out of marble! 

A recreation of the Temple Mount during the time of Herod (2nd time the temple was rebuilt) 

A color wall that i was obsessed with! 

Later that day Jenny, McKenna and I spent time with grandpa in the city! It was such a blast like always with gramps. My roommates loved him too because he’s just amazing and can seriously make anything possible. We had some fun adventures that day. If you really want to hear details on that you’ll have to ask him or me in person J We traveled to a lot of fun places though and finally ended up in the Armenian quarter where we walked down a very quiet street and just sat and thought for a second about everything. It was so peaceful. I felt the spirit so strong today. I love the gospel. I love that I am a part of this church because I am SO Happy. I am grateful for the knowledge that I have about God’s eternal love for his children. I love all of God’s children, including the Jews, the Muslims and just everyone else. This trip has really led me to deep thoughts about my testimony and my religion.  

Monday was field trip day! We went to the Israelite temple and Beersheba. Both just a pile of rocks that we studied for a couple hours. But very significant rocks!! Haha. The Israelite temple was especially amazing because this was a temple build, used and buried after the Israelites left. They buried it very neatly. They didn’t just throw dirt in, but they laid down the pillars and carefully filled it in with dirt. That was very symbolic of their respect for their temple. We also got to stand in the Holy of Holies. Probably the closest thing we will get to standing in a Holy of Holies. I could seriously write forever on the history and scriptural references but that would bore the reader and I just really don’t have time for that!

McKenna and I at Tel Arad 

The next place we went to was Beersheba. It was extremely likely this is the location (or close to) the location where Moses lived when the Lord visited him and told him to take Isaac to the mountain to sacrifice him. We had to wear hard hats because we got to go underneath the city and see the well they dug by hand! It was amazing. 

Bailey and I with our fancy hats on! 

Going underground to the well 

Good times with good kids! 

A great portion of the rest of the week was spent inside the JC studying. Yeah, sometimes it’s difficult to study but it’s worth it. I learned a great deal about creating a balance between an exegetical and eisesical method of studying the scriptures including the principle of propinquity. Don’t worry about it, Brother Belnap just assigned a paper that seriously took everyone twenty hours to write. But it was indeed helpful in my life so that’s good!

Besides the homework I went out one day and played soccer with some Muslim kids, that was way fun! They loved us and one of them really wanted me to add him on Facebook haha. A bunch of us girls also went to the mall in between classes. It was nice to just get out and spend some money on new clothes. You don’t realize the limited outfit choice here, but I would say it is a humbling experience. My favorite part about the wall was the pastry shop! I found a delicious muffin thing that ended up being a warm lava cake when I cut into it—heaven!! We also went to a Jewish Synagogue service for Shabbat. Listening to them sing and recite passages was very beautiful! This was an orthodox/feminist synagogue so it was very interesting. The men and women are separated as they would be in an orthodox meeting, the rituals are the same, they practice with preciseness and exactness, but what was different is they would switch off between a woman and a man leading the service. It was an overall life changing experience spiritually from me. That I could go into great detail as well if I had time!

Sunday night frosting fight!! 

I could write much much more but I’ve got to cut it short. I leave for Turkey in the morning (that would be 3 1/3 hours from now!!).

Stay tuned for some SWEET pictures from Turkey!!!!