Gethsemane and Carillon Bells

Here is a picture of Lindy and I in Hezekiah's Tunnel! You can see where the water was at that point. That was the very beginning of the tunnel, but the water doesnt get much deeper than that.

The next one is of me playing the Carillon Bells!! I am so cool!

This has been an eventful last two days! And it will just keep getting more exciting because I leave for Jordan tomorrow! So next post will be about Petra and Ammon!!! I am so excited! But before I get ahead of myself I'll talk about yesterday and today. Yesterday was the Sabbath for us, and it started out bad. A lady from the Branch lent me here violin that hasn't been touched in years--it was in really bad shape--but I needed it cause i am going to play in Sacrament meeting with the primary in a couple weeks, and then for the Christmas concert some of us are doing a string quartet. (probably more like a trio playing quartet music) Anyway, so i went up stairs to try and tune it to a piano--i was being as careful as possible, but sure enough the bridge snapped!! It was sooo devastating to me I started bawling! I immediately ran down to call mom and dad--i didn't care if I was waking them up in the middle of the night--my mom had to ask me to repeat what happened three times cause she couldn't hear me through the tears. But I asked her to go buy me a new bridge and send it. (She didn't have to I called her back and told her she didn't need to cause we would do it here, but I didn't know what to do at the time) So I had to get the courage up to tell Sis. Squires--the music director, and the lady who's violin it was. Both were completely understanding, and assumed something would break or go wrong anyway cause the violin was in such bad shape. Ofcorse it wasn't that big of a deal at all, but at the time it happened it seemed only a matter of life and death to me. Don't you love those kind of stories? Anyway

So then Church was great, I borrowed Gage Herbst's violin to practice with the primary kids and after Church I went to the Garden of Gethsemane. I am not even going to try and describe that experience because it is too sacred and there aren't any words for it. It was so special though. I will be going there several more times before I leave.

Sis. Susan W. Tanner gave us a firesdie that evening!! Cool huh!?! she came here to the center! It was a beautiful fireside, her husband spoke too!

Today was really fun as well! Bro. and Sis. Squires go to the YMCA tower every sunday to play the Carillon Bells, and they invited me to come along so that we could go stop at a music store after to see if they had a bridge, or at least find out where we could get one from. i got to invite a few other people to tag along, so Me, Ali, Kelsey, and Lindy as well as three other people go to go play the Carillon Bells at the tower!!! I have played them!! How cool is that? After that we went ot the music store, which did not have a bridge, but we now know where to get one, and we went to this open market place for lunch. A man there gave me free food Because he though I was cute! I was flattered of corse. We also got to go to the pita factory--you get 20 hot pitas for about $1.50--its the best thing ever!! All the students that came were telling me that I should break violins more often so that we can do all these cool stuff with the Squires in a van!

Anyway, it has been an excitng last couple of days. Now I get to go pack for Jordan! I love you all and miss you!

Things I love about BYU Jerusalem (Part 1)

The VIEW
The Old City!!!!!
My balcony with rose garden and pomegranate tree
Security
The Oasis (cafeteria)
PITAS
Climbing Stairs
Auditorium—especially the organ
Sunday Evening Classics Concerts
Shawarmas
Falafels
Hebrew
Vendors who say “BYU!” and “Hey Mormons!”
Damascus Gate
Elia Photo Service
Western Wall
Holidays!
Calls to prayer 5 times a day
Hearing the Call to Prayer while I sit on my balcony looking over the city
Standing out from everyone on the street—blonde hair does not fit in
Ben Yehuda Street & West Jerusalem
Bad English spellings & grammar
Taking a week off of class and going to Egypt
Boats on the Nile & camel rides
Pyramids
Mount Sinai
Sunrises
Sunsets
Valley of the Kings
Egypt Museum
Mummies
Mosques
Hard Rock Cafe
Fancy hotels and restaurants
Swimming
Having people take pictures of us
Headscarves
Walking through history
Diversity of dress
Olive wood – Omar
Aladdin’s Money Changer
Making olive oil
Living with my teachers and their families
Having my teachers’ wives come to class
Linen Exchange
Having chocolate pudding with whipped cream for breakfast everyday
Deep Fried French Toast every morning
Chocolate Croissant
Rockin awesome field trips
Rollin in Mercedes buses
BYU-JC backpack and fanny pack
Head Sets
Crazy drivers
Smells--brings me back to the Congo
1 Shekel popsicles at Lana’s
Augusta Victoria
1.5-liter water bottles and water carrier
Tel Aviv & the Mediterranean
Shekels
Room checks with treats
Service couples
Donkeys, horses and goats just hanging out around the city
Internet- even if it is painfully slow
Student choir
Random schedule
Forums
Hebrew U
Consulate families
Stellar movie collection in the library
Learning about peoples and cultures
Being able to drink the water in Israel
Kibbutz Yotvata
Official nametags
Being taught by and associating with people who are known worldwide
Wandering and shopping
Palestinian Costco
Herding sheep
Tons of soldiers and people with huge guns everywhere—the best is when you see a normal dressed cute boy, then he turns around and has a giant gun!
The Center gardens
Dormition Abbey
BonBons, Ali Babas & Jericho Wafers
Genie pants
Olive Picking and Crushing
Talent Shows
St. Mark’s Covenant
Aramaic
Sling Shots
Emails
Naps
Playing the Violin in the Center
Hezekiah’s Tunnel
Children
Garden Tomb
Gethsemane
Ramadan Dinner

City of David, Dormition Abbey, St. Mark's Covenant

On Wednesday we had a field trip to the City of David. I wouldn’t exactly call it a city though—just the remains of a city. It is just below the southern end of the wall to the Old City. Back in Christ’s time it would have been within the walls of the city however. At the City of David we got to see the excavation going on what they are discovering to be David’s Palace. The most fun part of the City of David was going through the caves to see Warren’s Shaft in the Gihon Spring, and walking through Hezekiah’s tunnel where at certain points the water came above the knees. The water was cold at first but I quickly adapted to it. The tunnel is pitch black so my head lamp came in handy—head lamps are one of the best inventions ever! At the City of David we also go to see the Pool of Siloam where Christ would have sent the Blind man to wash and be healed. It was so neat. Up until the 1980’s Israelis did not believe that Warren’s shaft was the probably shaft that Joab would have gone up to get into Jebus and allow David to take over the city. But in the 1980’s a BYU student actually (sort of illegally) climb up the shaft without anything to show it was possible—so now they believe it is most likely the shaft Joab went up! So that’s a cool fact related to BYU!
After the City of David we were able to wander around the city the rest of the day like we do many other days. My friends Kelsey, Ali, Lindy and I decided to go to Dormition Abbey. It is supposedly where the virgin Mary is laid to rest. The church is very beautiful and above Mary’s crypt is this beautiful Mosaic of Christ and the women who influenced him, The outside of the Abbey is incredible, it reminds me of a Disney castle almost.—Belle’s castle probably.
After Dormition Abbey we headed over to West Jerusalem. We shopped (I got some Genie Pants and accessories for Halloween and to wear at home) and ate Falafels. On the way back we stopped at a Jewish bakery and ate cookies. They were delicious. I love the bakeries! I eat so much food here—even in the center’s cafeteria. My goodness food is yummy. I know I have put on weight but fortunately I don’t it is noticeable yet. I’ll keep exercising!
Yesterday after class I went out into the Old City again with a few people. We decided to go to St. Mark’s Covenant—this small Church where in the basement, supposedly the Last Supper took place. Whether it did or not I am not sure, but that isn’t what is important. It was such a special experience. There is this sweet old lady who takes care of the Church—she is originally from Ninevah, and is one of the few hundred people left in this world that speak Aramaic—the language Christ would have spoken! She sang us a prayer song in Aramaic, it was so beautiful! She also told us stories of miracles she had seen happen in the church. One of the nice things about the Church is it is a little hard to find it and not m any people go there. So the few of us students were able to go into the basement where the Supper took place and take about a half hour to read John chapters 13-17. I don’t know how to describe spiritual experiences very well but it was something I won’t ever forget.

well, I was going to upload images for this post, but the internet isn't working right, so I'll have to post the pictures later! I love you all and miss you!

Jewish Holidays

I have certainly lucked out being here in Jerusalm this month, because this is the month with the most Jewish Holidays!! I got to be here for Rosh Hashanah (New Year) then Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shimhat Torah, and other small ones! This video I took this morning. We walked to the Western Wall at 6 AM to go see all these people at the Western Wall. They are all holding willow branches--I still don't understand the significance very well let alone be able to explain it to you guys, but it was so neat to watch! It was the most crowded I had seen the Western Wall--even more crowded then on the Sabbath and other holidays. Although I was not allowed to go there on Yom Kippur--I imagine it would have been just about as corwded then.
Yesterday we did a service project with all the young boys from the surrounding neighborhood--we cleaned up the streets near the center. It looked so much better, but sadly enough, by this morning there was already so much trash everywhere--in face all the dumpsters where we put the trash looked like they had been gone through, and trash just left around the dumpster. Oh well, I still believe our efforts were not done in vain--it looks great! This place is so beauitful I don't even know how to describe it.
Last night I attended one of the concerts that they hold here every sunday. It was a cello and piano duo. My mind was flooded with memories of all of my beauitufl sister Megan's recitals. Although the two men are older and not near as beautiful as Megan, it was incredible. Both are so qualified. The Cellist has played for Leonard Bernstien and with Yitzhak Perlman (Incredible Violinist) and the pianist was basically another child prodogy. I am blessed with the greatest opportunities here in Jerusalem. I have a few more occasions as well that I will be able to play the violin for people here.

Olive Crushing and Biblical Times

Two very exciting things I got to do this week are Olive picking and crushing, and then we went on a field trip to this "Bible Land Reserve" where I got to participate in activities they would have done during the Bible Times.

Olive picking and crushing was particularly special. Every Semester gets to crush olives, but Fall Semester is the only semester that actually gets to pick the olives as well, so I am so blessed! Two days in a row we picked olives for an hour and a half, then a couple days later we got to do the crushing. Bro. Skinner gave a lecture on the symbolism of the olives and making olive oil before we did it, and it was so touching. I have heard the metaphor of olive crushing in comparision to the Atonement, but I actually got to see how it works, and it was so touching. It was such a special experience.

At the Bible Times Reserve I got to heard sheep around--that was quite the experience, and make my own pita on an outside fire, learn about Torah Scrolls, make my own oregano spice, etc. It was really fun although I don't think I would have made a very good Shepherd.

The Caliber of BYU Jerusalem

I have been in Jerusalem for over a month now, and have come to realize just how great of people I associate with everyday. Still, I don’t think I even fully comprehend the caliber of the men and women that serve us here at the BYU Jerusalem Center. I just want to take some time now and let you know how incredible these men and women are by telling some of the things about them. First off, there is Jim Kearl, who although he does not stay here, is the director for the center. I think the family already knows how smart this man and how qualified he is, so I won’t spend time on him. Eran is the Director here at the center. He is a secular Jew and has been a leader of the Peace Now Movement—an Israeli movement that is pushing for peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is a big and important movement here.
Bro. Huntington is the assistant to Eran. Not only is he a great administrator, I have discovered that he use to be a teacher here, and is just as qualified as any of the teachers here to teach our classes.
Bro. Skinner is amazing—you can just ask my sister Brooke about how amazing he is. One of his Master’s is from Harvard in Biblical Hebrew. He is one of the very few scholars in the world to have actually done work on the Dead Sea Scrolls. He is one of the smartest men, and not only is he smart, he loves what he teaches. He is so excited in class that he gets me excited about the subjects of the Ancient Near East!
Bro. Huff is my Old Testament teacher, and he team-taught with Elder Bednar at BYU-Idaho.
Bro. Squires is one of the service couples here, and his is sooo talented on the Organ.
Sis. Thomas is also a service couple, and she use to be a counselor in the General Young Women Presidency.
Sis. Susan W. Tanner and her husband are coming here in a couple weeks—I think her husband has something to do with Kearl at BYU.
My two teachers of Modern Near Eastern Studies, Ophir Yarden and Adnan Musallam are not any less qualified as scholars than Bro. Skinner. If you “googled” them you would find that their name and work is everywhere. I am so impressed with the people that are here. I also feel very inadequate to be here, but all the more grateful. I love it here, and I love all my teachers and leaders!

Temple Mount

These are pictures from the Western Wall (bottom of the Temple Mount) and the Dome of the Rock (on the Temple Mount). Both are incredible to go to. The Dome of the Rock is fascinatinig in itself, and it seeing the people praying at the Western Wall is quite the experience. I got to go to the Western Wall and to a Synagogue on Wednesday for Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) I couldn't understand anything they were saying but it was so cool to listen to. It was really interesting to watch them sing and dance at the wall. I certainly felt out of place inside the Synagogue, but it was neat to listen to them read outloud from the Torah. They keep the men and women separated at the wall and within synagogues.