Finding joy in trials

This week was incredibly busy. Not only were we all completely exhausted from traveling in Egypt, it was also our finals week. However, this week has been one of my favorite weeks in the trips, even with all of the test preparation and stress. One Tuesday we took a close field trip to the Old City of David, where David lived in Jerusalem (which is not even in the city walls now.) This first picture shows how easy it must have been for David to look down and see Bathsheba. We learn many lessons from David's fall--mainly that it was not a mistake that happened all of the sudden, but poor choices on David's part led to the sin.



This isn't the best picture, but this is the exit where we came out of Hezekiah's tunnel. I loved this experience. We got wet up above our knees (some of the shorter girls it came up almost to the seat of their pants). I was impressed with what they could do with the little technology they had.





Dome of the Rock--It's amazing how crowded the how Old City is, but you get up on the Temple Mount, and there is space everywhere. It's absolutely beautiful.

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Bethlehem is actually in the West Bank, and we had to get special permission to go. Israel has built a barrier around a lot of the West Bank, and it felt like what I would imagine going into East Berlin would have felt like when the Berlin wall was up. There is one Palestinian member of the church in Bethlehem, and she only gets to come to church on Christian holidays (Easter and Christmas) when she can get a special permit. I became so thankful for the freedoms that I enjoy.

The barrier wall dividing Israel and the West Bank

Inside the Church of the Nativity. As with almost all of the Christian Churches, this church is run and shared by several Christian denominations. The day we were there the Greek Orthodox church was allowed to have their services there that day.

A Greek Orthodox Priest

The woodcarver that made the nativity I bought. He is making ornaments right here.

Looking at Bethlehem from Shepherd's field

Shepherd's Field outside Bethlehem


Our class sitting eating dinner at Shepherd's field. As it got dark we talked about the birth of our Savior. I don't think I've ever celebrated Christmas in such a spirit-filled way, and it's May!

Lauren, Becky, and me sitting at Shepherd's Field as it is getting dark.

With three finals this week we didn't have a lot of free time to see things in the Old City, so I am especially thankful that we had a field trip there this week. Yesterday, when we got to go to Bethlehem I spent a lot of time talking with Sahar, the only member in Bethlehem about what it was like growing up in Bethlehem. She got baptized when she was getting her Master's at BYU. (She got a scholarship through the BYU Jerusalem Center) She said that until she had the perspective of the church, even though she was Greek Orthodox, she hated living in Bethlehem because she was living under occupation. She told me that perspective changes everything because she now sees so much good because her own ideas about things changed. It is definiately hard for her, but she was exceptionally positive. I learned so much from her. We went from the Church of the Nativity to Shepherd's field. It was so different going from a church full of shrines to an empty, rocky field and being able to talk about our Savior, and the miraculous events that led up to his birth. As I sat there I realized once again that I need the Savior. I recognized that because he was born and atoned for our sins, even the hard things that Sahar has to go through by only being able to go to church once every six months will be made up for by the atonement. I sat and looked at the stars last night and was so thankful for it all. I know a baby was born for us in a small little grotto (cave), but his birth was one of the most important things that has ever happened on this earth.

Egypt Pictures

Suleiman the Great Citadel and Muhammad Ali Mosque:

Pictures: Inside the Mosque courtyard, the inside dome of the mosque, the mosque

Views of Luxor

Pictures: A market place (actually this picture was taken on our carriage ride), my ten-year-old Egyptian camel guide (I cannot remember his name even though I tried really hard), riding through an Egyptian village

A faluka ride on the Nile

One of the shrines in the Funerary Temple of Ramses III (Emily, Lauren, Jenny, Alyssa, Lis, Moriah, Kristin)

Ramses II at Karnak Temple

View of the Nile








Step Pyramid at Saqqara (Lauren C., Lauren T., me, Kristin I.)

A musician outside one of the restaurants we ate at

The Pyramids of Giza

The Wilderness of Zin (Me with Lis --my next-bed-over roommate)

Part of the Ruins at Avdat

Beersheva

(Where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all lived)

Egypt

This week has been absolutely crazy, so I will try to get pictures and some more blog posts up as soon as I can. We got back from Egypt last Saturday night around 10 pm, but we have had finals this week for both our Modern Near Eastern classes and for our Old Testament class (I had two finals today, and still have Old Testament tomorrow.) I don't think I have ever experienced such intense school in my life. The only saving thing for my mental state was the fact that even if I do poorly in these classes, I don't really have to worry about it since I already have a job. I am trying my best because I really want to learn the information though.
Egypt was absolutely amazing. I learned so much about the temple, and I wasn't really expecting that. I want to read a book by Hugh Nibley that I think is called the Egyptian Endowment when I get home. We went non-stop every day. We went to Cairo and Luxor both, and did it all in 7 days (But with travel time it really was only 4 days looking at things in Egypt.) I also had my first experience on an overnight train car. I also got sick in Egypt with my stomach problems. About half of the students got some kind of sickness, and I can't tell if mine is from stress, or if it is from Egypt. It has the same symptoms. I am not all better yet, but the stress of taking finals after only a few weeks of classes isn't helping that at all. I am doing my best to take care of myself though. Don't worry Mom; I am keeping food inside me. It's just in the uncomfortable stage right now.
I did get to do some pretty amazing things in Egypt, like go on a camel ride for an hour. I absolutely loved it. I had a ten-year-old Egyptian boy leading me around. (I tried really hard to remember his name, but I really can't remember it.) We went all through the Egyptian neighborhoods right by the Nile in Luxor. It was eye-opening to see how they live. We went inside one of the Pyramids of Giza, and several other tombs, through the temples of Karnak and Luxor, into the Tombs of the Kings. I also went shopping at the Bazaar in Luxor, but I didn’t go shopping in Cairo, because I was so tired and sick by the end of the trip that I stayed on the bus and slept.
We are leaving for Galilee on Sunday (since we start the New Testament this week). I have some great experiences from this week (besides spending hours studying and trying to really learn the information we are being presented so quickly. I am loving it, and am so thankful for this experience. I’ll try to get another post up before I leave and add pictures. The computers have been occupied almost constantly as people have been studying.

Conquering Goliaths

Pictures: A contemporary mosque in old Joppa; On the beach at Tel-Aviv with the Mediterranean Sea behind us (Becky, Moriah, Dan, Lis, Emily); Tel-Aviv; In a Sidonian Tomb at Maresha with the painting of musicians; Practicing with slingshots (Moriah, Becky, Emily); a field in the valley of Elah where David might have fought Goliath; Looking down on the Valley of Elah from Azekah (actually the tel where Azekah was); Tower of David Citidel used by everyone from Herod, Suliman the Great in the 1500's, to the British Army in World War I.

My Goliath this week has been figuring out how to balance my time to get the most out of everything. This week has been a whirlwind of experiences. (I don't think it is going to slow down, so all of us are just hanging on.) Besides being fully immersed in classes, we have had a little time to explore the city. After going to the Garden Tomb last week, I wanted to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site that Helena, Constantine’s mother, found was Golgotha, the tomb, and other sites associated with the Savior’s death. She built a church around these sites, and they have all been made into a type of shrine with incense and candles everywhere. Different churches own different parts of the church, and it was interesting to watch how they each took ownership of it. It was a very interesting comparison with the Garden Tomb the day before. No one knows the exact location, but I love the simple beauty and peace that come with trees and flowers.
Even though this is only the second week of classes, we had midterms just yesterday for the classes that end after a month. (We are having finals the week after we get back from Egypt. We leave tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. and will be there until next Sunday evening, so I don’t know when I will be able to add to the blog next.) That has meant a lot of effort trying to stay balanced with everything that I want to have happen. I feel like I need to spend time on school because the sites we see mean so much more as I study what has happened there, but I don’t want to spend so much time on school that I miss the experience of being in Jerusalem. I have taken time every day to go see something, or experience something. It truly is a balancing act. It’s been great to walk places with people and quiz each other on names and dates that we need to know, thus utilizing the time for studying, and not feeling like we are taking too much time seeing things, but having time to experience things. I went to Tel-Aviv with a group of people on Thursday, even though we had midterms on Friday because it was one of the only times that we had enough time to go. I studied all the way there with a friend, and then we went and explored the old city of Joppa and went swimming in the Mediterranean Sea afterwards. It was so beautiful. I feel like I am taking time for the most important things, and somehow or another Heavenly Father blesses me to be able to get things done.
This week we also went on a field trip to the coastal plains (where the Philistines lived). We visited quite a few tels (archeological mounds) where ancient cities were. We saw Gath, the city Goliath was from, but only from a distance. However, we did see the Elah Valley, where David fought Goliath. He had such strong faith in Heavenly Father. It reminds me of the description of the armor of God described in D & C. David wasn’t wearing physical armor, but he was wearing this armor, at least at that stage of his life. We practiced throwing rocks from sling shots while we were there. It is definitely harder than it looks, although I got mine to go pretty much where I wanted it.
Last night, after finishing our midterms, we got to go to the Western Wall and participate with the Jews as they brought in the Sabbath. It is amazing what a joyful experience the Sabbath is for them. However, as I was there I thought about the happy memories I have on Sundays, and that even though I do not approach the Sabbath singing and dancing, I do approach it joyfully. I think that joy, which comes from the Savior, and the faith I have in him are truly the things that have helped me overcome so much.

Insights

Golgotha
















A different view of Dome of the Rock on Mount Moriah (Becky, me--with very windblown hair, Kristen A., K'eola)




The view of Jerusalem from the balcony off my room.





The last three days I have felt like Nephi when he said that he could understand the writings of the plates better because he knew Jerusalem. We have gone on a walking tour of the Old City, gone on a field trip to look at the Geography of the area, and today, since Saturday is the Shabbat or the Sabbath, we had church and got to partake of the sacrament on the Mount of Olives while looking out the beautiful windows of the Jerusalem Center toward the Old City. I never realized how close everything was to each other. On our grography field trip yesterday, the furthest we drove was fifteen to twenty minutes from the Center, and we could see Bethlehem and Hebron to the South, the Dead Sea, Jordan and so many other places. One of the greatest insights I had happened yesterday and today. We stood on a hill around where Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah, and we talked about the faith that Abraham had in God, but today we went to the Garden Tomb, and a site where they think Calvary might be. One of the men volunteering there talked about how Christ was crucified on Golgotha, which was probably the highest part of Mount Moriah. I knew that Solomon's Temple and the Dome of the Rock were on Mount Moriah, but I never realized that Calvary was still part of Moriah. Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac was much more like Heavenly Father's sacrifice of his son than I realized. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father loves us so much to provide that sacrifice for us, and that he provides us with trials so that we can grow and become more like him.

Arrival

I'm here! The Jerusalem Center is more amazing than I was even expecting it to be. We have one of the best views of the entire city! We get to go on a foot tour of the city today, and I am so excited to be able to see and experience so many things.