Garden of Gethsemane

So this week has been back to the routine of classes everyday. There is a lot of reading everynight, we had a midterm and a paper due, so I didn't make it out too much this week. Friday, a few of us walked over to the Garden of Gethsemane. It was my first time there. Our walk down was funny, we took a short cut at the bottom of the Kidron Valley and there was two large geese on the dirt road, one of them was hissing and charging at us. Jed of course challenges it so we all walk around while it chased him for a second. We were walking along the base of the mount of Olives checking out little caves in the rock, the cool olive trees, and I was a little stressed because we weren't supposed to take that route. We then made it to one of the churches that has made a nice garden around some 2000 old olive trees. The trees had some younger trees grafted into them. We all sat on a stone bench against the church and while looking upon the garden we discussed the Atonement. It was a great discussion, and Jed mentioned something that I thought was interesting and kind of true. He said that His testimony of the savior doesn't strengthen from being at the sights, he said when he thinks, discusses, and studies the savior he has the same feeling, no matter where he is. I agree with this statement, we have been to many areas where the Savior has been, I have been really grateful to be here in this place, but my testimony is strengthened because the places draw my thoughts to the Savior, and the spirit, the same feeling I have felt since my baptism comes, and I know. So, Yes being in these places fosters or facilitates my spiritual growth, but I don't feel that they are the root or foundation of my testimony. Its much like faith vs. Signs, even though people see signs and miracles doesn't necessarily mean they will be converted and have strong faith. My faith in the Savior comes through application of principles with the accommodation of the Holy Ghostand and seeing those changes in my life. Nonetheless, it was a peaceful time at the Garden of Gethsemane.

Yom Kippur

Today we went to the Western Wall for the last few hours of Yom Kippur. This was a neat experience. It was packed and all the Jews were dressed in white. I love walking through the men's section of the wall when it is crowded with all different types of Orthodox Jews, meaning different dress i.e. hats, curls, coats. The little children are pretty funny with their little curls and the old men are just intriguing to me with their big beards and their wise eyes. The Hebrew songs/prayers ring in the air and there is a constant movement of Jewish men rocking back and forth as they sing and pray. We then went to the Jerusalem Great Synagogue to observe the end of Yom Kippur service. It was a very interesting, they were all in white, there were a group leading the service in a room that looks like legislation could be held there (minus the decorations). The leader was chanting/singing a prayer then after a minute or two everyone would sing what sounded like the end, they did this a few times. At the very end they blew the shofar which I didn't get to see but I heard it as I was walking out. It was an overall great experience and one that I feel has given me more insight into the Jewish religion and culture. We were talking as we walked away about the similarities to our faith and practices, definitely an enriching experience.

Church of St. John, Ephesus, and Miletus Sept 20th

Church of St. John was first on the list along with the view of the Temple of Artimus. Once again a lot of really cool old buildings, columns, and in this church a baptismal font. The baptismal font was not used for immersive baptisms though, but was neat nonetheless. We then went to Ephesus, it was packed with people, hot, and glorious. There were so many ruins left of that city it blew my mind. The highlight was sitting in the theature and reading our of the book of Acts where the people of Ephesus gathered in the same theatre we were in and screamed for hours "great is Diana of Ephesus". It was a neat experience and we had a nice devotional there. We sang a hymn that no one knew so it sounded horrible, which was embarrassing because we were sorrounded by tourists, so after the class picture I demanded another, which we did. We then went to the church of Mary and got a tour from Brother Jackson. We had to wait a little on the bus because we had lost a student, she was found. Lunch was at this little quaint restaurant that was run by a family in the countryside, they loved us. Probably the coolest lunch yet because of the mom & pop atmosphere, you can taste the love. We then went to Miletus, which was again...amazing. There was a huge ampitheatre and ruins of the city. We had a devotional here about Paul's farewell that took place here among his converts, it was touching. We ended it by singing 'God be with you till we meet again' which added so much more emotion and spirit to the scriptural account we just read. After Miletus we drove back to the Hotel and played around in the pools there. Jed, Jordan, Tommy, Lorina, and I coreographed some synchronized swimming, it was good fun. Then we went down to the ocean and had a beautiful sunset swim in the Aegean Sea. It was one of those moments when you are overwhelmed with beauty and joy. We continued to hang out and enjoy our time there in the Hotel.

Assos and Pergamon Sept 19th

This morning started really early again with a bus ride across the countryside of Turkey. We arrived to the city of Assos after having to take a sketchy detour in our big bus. The little village on the hill was quant.It was all cobblestone roads and old homes. We walked up the cobblestone road, a mircale I didn't sprain my ankle, up to the top, we saw some turkeys which was a photographical event due to our geographical location (seeing turkeys in Turkey). When we got to the top it was absolutely breathtaking! The wind was chilly, the water on the Aegean Sea was smooth and textured, and the panoramic view was spectacular. The ruins of the city were awesome, old columns and walls. We had a devotional talking about Paul's time spent in Assos. After we were back to the busses. On the bus we were getting up one at a time and introducing ourselves (more for our tour guide Yasmine because we know each other pretty well aready). Dallan Miller went up and pretty much reveiled that the night before he proposed to Kassie (they started dating like two weeks ago) then Bro Judd had them both come up and confirm it. So they got engaged after 3 weeks of knowing each other...foolish. Thats all I will say about that. At lunch we ran into a Mormon tour group of adults and of course there were people who knew people. We then had a short bus ride from lunch to Pergamon Acropolis. Pergamon was very impressive. It was huge! There were leftover columns from the Roman era, a huge amphitheater, the location of "Satan's Thrown" (since been taken by Germans and sits in a museum), Location of a huge library, etc. We had to take the cable gondola up to the top of the mountain which was pretty neat. We then drove to the our Hotel, Ephesus Princess. This hotel was pretty big. There was a big pool and a long staircase down to the ocean. The view from the hotel was breathtaking. We spent the night just hanging out.

Gallipoli and Troy

This morning started off really early with a quick breakfast at the Kent Hotel in Istanbul then a long drive to Gallipoli. We watched the movie Gallipoli in the Bus to get us pumped for the site. In short we went to the memorial site for the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) and the Turkish Soilders who died there during WWI. Due to some foreign food, I was fighting my own battle at Gallipoli because they had no facilities. I held off the forces for half an hour till we got to the ferry, to ferry across the Asian side of Turkey over Dardanelles strait. I had to wait in the queue for the Toilet. I get in and it was a Turkish Toilet, which is a porcelin hole in the ground with two foot grips on either side. This,combined with no toilet paper on a ferry boat created a moment that I would not describe as enjoyable. Luckly, Brother Stratford was in the queue with some TP and he saved me. We then spent more time in the bus on the way to Troy. We had a really brief but informative tour of the ruins of Troy. We then spent just as much time taking photos in the huge Trojian Horse out front. It was the same horse used in the Brad Pitt movie "Troy". We then bussed to our Hotel which was no more than half hour drive away. This Hotel was absolutely amazing! There was a sweet pool and a swimming area and dock on the Aegean Sea. I threw my stuff in my room, threw on my board shorts and jumped into the pool, then quickly into the Ocean. I swam out really far (it was really shallow for a really long time) and felt alive as I floated by myself (Jed and others were not far off) in the Aegean Sea. Back in my element. The water was refreshingly chilly, but not to give me any discomfort. My eyes were burning from looking under the water the whole time, I was looking for the drop off, never came. I am listening to "All the wild horses" by Ray Lamontagne and I feel it is the perfect soundtrack to my swim that night. After getting called in by Brother Judd and restricted to the "swimming area" there was about 30 of us messing around doing chicken fights, which produced two solid knees to the my face. I stepped on some Vana (sea urchin) which is just a small annoyance. Dinner was on the second floor overlooking the pool, deck, and Aegean Sea which made me seem super high class. The sunset was way good tonight, just a red burning sun. I chilled out by the water solo after dinner, just listening to music and enjoying the WiFi. Then they started a dance party (they = Mckay and the other buss's tour guide). I was not in the mood so I went on a walk on the beach with a gril named Rachel, we spoke of our future professions and our families. Then when I came back we sang Happy Birthday to Cal then I sat and talked about social work with Liz. It was a really good day and it was fun to hang out at the hotel and be out of the bus.

First full day in Turkey

September 17th, 2012 Today was a super solid day! we had breakfast in the hotel (Kent Hotel), which was super nice, then we walked down the street a ways to the Hippodrome. As we walked down we must have passed half a dozen domes that I though were going to be our destination, they were all so beautiful, well I was wrong about that one. The first Mosque we went to after seeing the three monuments of the Hippodrome was literally next door and was the Süleymaniye or Blue Mosque. This thing blew me away! I don't have the time not energy to describe this beautiful building but breathtaking will do for now. Both inside and out were absolutely gorgeous. We the took some pictures outside and made our way to the Topkapi Palace. This was a long palace with four courtyards, the front gate looks like the Disneyland Castle, which brings me no personal excitement, but helps explain the physical appearance of the palace. There were some exhibits that were interesting, one claimed to have the staff of Moses in it, which was a small bamboo looking stick, I took one look and said in my head...nope. I did however enjoy the couple strands of The Prophet Muhammad's beard that were on display, very interesting. Saw an 86 karat diamond. Took some pictures of the view across the Bosporus Strait over to the Asian side of Turkey. We then went to the Basilica Cistern. This place was super sick, it was a Cistern for a palace and could hold an unreal amount of water in it. I was really impressed with the structural integrity and engineering. We then left for lunch. Before the busses arrived though, I was sitting by myself a stones throw from the group on a bench looking at the Blue Mosque. A girl sat next to me and asked if it was ok she smoked, I allowed it and started a conversation. She was from Uzbekistan visiting with her mum for her mums 50th Birthday. We talked a bit, she gave me some gum, then she gave me her phone and had me find myself on Facebook so she could add me, I did and then she added me. She then said," maybe we can hang out in a few days?" I said I can't get on Facebook, so she said we'll chat then left. Ha ha it was a funny/interesting exchange. We went to lunch, our meals here in turkey have been very posh, I feel like I'm at a wedding reception at each lunch and dinner. We then has an hour to shop in the Grand Bazaar, which is this huge shopping mall, like ginormous! I got a turkey flag shirt, guitar pick, and some postcards. This place was crazy, I had to pay close attention to where we went. I was with three girls so I spent a good amount of the time waiting for them to look at jewelry. We all gathered together and walked through the grand Bazaar and through the crowded market streets of Istanbul to the harbor. We all got on a tour boat and had a well needed relaxing boat tour on the Bosphorus Sea. There were some breathtaking sights to behold, so many mosques and old castles and walls! The hills were green and there were Turkish flags everywhere. We all took hundreds of pictures and played games. It was really enjoyable. I keep saying that, but truly today was a solid day of enjoyment, the entire day. We went to dinner which was super nice, we had like 6 small courses of good meat, hummus, and peta bread. After which we went home and I crashed. Such a wonderful day. Im so grateful for this absolutely wonderful experience.

Travel Day

September 16th, 2012 Gobble gobble!!! This morning I woke up and packed for Turkey. I was ready to go too early. So I made some calls to some old friends. I also went down after breakfast to the laundry room to play Andrew in table tennis. Two of the workers came in and we each played them individually, they beat us both ha ha they we way good. We finally packed on the bus and went to the airport in Tel Aviv. We left at 11:00am and I am now settled into my hotel room at 11:30pm, symptoms of traveling in a pack of about 95 people. The flight to Turkey was not that long at all, probably about an hour an a half. We got loaded up into two huge tour buses, which is not an unfamiliar sight to us by this point. We drove into down town Istanbul. We passed the beautifully lit Mosques and an aqueduct that we drove though/under that was built in 5th century CE. It was breathtaking. We went to dinner in what seemed to be the heart of Istanbul, all 95 of us. It was a nice restaurant that was probably pretty pricey. I sat with Janessa, Lizzy, Jordan, and Jed l, which is a recipe for disaster. We were told not to laugh loud and to not draw attention to ourselves especially as Americans during this time of conflict eight the hostility towards Americans. Well, I was pretty hyper and so were the rest of us, we were being pretty loud, as well as other groups. We got back on the bus,after almost getting taken out by a taxi in the madness of the busy street, and brother Judd gices us all (the whole class because it wasnt just us) that we were being obnoxiously loud and insensitive to others in the restaurant. I felt way bad, here I am an adult who has pretty much graduated from college sitting on a bus getting a lecture from my teacher as if I was a insensitive, boisterous,  obnoxious little preteen. Though I was not the only one who was being loud, I felt like his browbeating was directed at me. Well we unpacked and went up to our hotel rooms, which are really nice! 

Turkey Time

So I am leaving for Turkey in about an hour!!! We are leaving for a week and traveling around Turkey, which will be just fine. The last few days here at the center we have had a lot of classes, usually two hour long classes. In my Palestine class our professor Bashir Bashir was asked by someone about the current conflict in Cairo. He went off on an hour lecture, which included answering tons of questions, and I was completely captivated and intrigued. He spoke of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the U.S. foreign policy. I will refrain from going into details but lets just say I absolutely LOVED it. Bashir is so intelligent and so informed which made listening to him that much more enjoyable, add his entertaining accent, passion, and hand gestures and you have my favorite lecture yet. There were demonstrations in the Muslim Quarter Friday so we were not allowed to go out into the city. We normally have to wait till 3pm on Fridays to go out because of this reason, Friday mornings all the Muslims gather in the old city to pray and that's when they are all together and start talking and are more likely to have an uprising. This Friday they were marching to the U.S. consulate in protest of the horrible film that was published in the U.S. that mocked, insulted, and ravished the name, mission,integrity, and holiness of Muhammad. So we all had to stay inside the Center. This was fine, I got a paper done on Bursa, Turkey. Which was about as fun as watching bowling on ESPN. There was much socializing done, which was fun, I feel that our group is getting really close. This has made the conversations funny and also more in-depth. I have been playing music a lot which is always a good thing. We had a small little show in which me and Michael, the kid who can absolutely shreds on the guitar, played the blues and it was soulful and bitchin'. I have been practicing the Harmonica quite frequently to the chagrin of my roommates, but I must say that I have improved quite a bit since receiving it for my birthday a month ago. Things are really fun here, no question about it, and they are increasingly more enjoyable because of the friendships I am making which enrich all the spiritual and wondrous moments that the Holy Land has to offer.

Some Free Time

Yesterday, After my two morning classes I had the rest of the day off. So with my roommates and some friends we went our into the Old City to explore. We went to the Armenian Quarter and attended a service at the Tomb Chapel Of St. James the Major, St. James Cathedral. It was such an ornate building, different from other domed churches I have been to. It had the classic high domed cealing, but what was different was the decorations inside. There were ghostly paintings of the saints and the Savior all over the walls and many hanging ordiments, when I say many I mean over a hundred. They were all unpulished silver with some consrvative colored glass on them. The service began, it was all in Armenian. At one point after ten minutes I crossed my legs, one of the clergy-man came and told me to uncross them. The service was very different. One of the men walked around at one point with incenses and shook and jingly metal incense holder at different parts of the church, namely paintings. After the service we went to Dormition Abbey. This was an awesome building! we went downstairs where there was a service being held surrounding the supposed burrial place of the Virgin Mary. Though it may not be where she is burried it was interesting to think that I could be that close to the resting place of the mother of Jesus Christ. We then went to King David's Tomb, where he was supposedly burried. It was in the Jewish Quarter, and as custom with holy sites the men had to wear a Kippah when going in to see the Tomb, they give us a cardboard one to use. As you walk into the chamber there are orthodox jews praying in Hebrew and reading all around you. I went up and placed my hand on the Tomb as I can hear the screaming prayer of a woman on the other side of the partition (the men and women are always segregated at Jewish holy sites). Speaking of loud worship, we then went to the Upper Room, a reconstruction of what the location would have looked like where the Savior institued the Sacrament during Passover. There was a group of about 15 people who were like unto a penicostal faith, they were screaming, dancing, slapping the walls, and a man was on the floor face down with his shoes off. We waited a few minutes, but when we found that they were just warming up we realized there was another two rooms up higher. We gathered there which was more private and the acoustics were still really good. All 12 or so of us started singing "Nearer My God To thee", it brough the spirit in so strong. Then we sang "there is a green hill far away" which is my favorite Sacrament Hymn. Jordan, my roommate (one of the Jonas Brothers), read the account of the last supper. We then ended our little spur of the moment devotional by singing "I Stand All Amazed"...wow, all I can say was that all our thoughts were on the savior and it was an intimate and special moment that we shared together. Though you could still here the slapping of walls and screams from downstairs, we had a small reverent devotional with our small group. This was a humbling and learning experience for me. I wanted to just start singing our Hymns in the bigger room, my thoughts were, "They don't own this room, we can worship here as well, Its not a competition, but we should just start singing over their screams" but I am so glad that we found and decided to go into the upper-upper room and have a more quiet and reverent setting for our worship. We went on the roof of that location and took some photos and looked at the distance from that location to the Mount of Olives I thought about all the time Christ had to think about what was about to happen. Its probably a 20 minute walk at least. It was a good experience. As I think of it now, I am grateful to be around people my age who would do something like this on their free time. To visit sites, sing hymns , and read from the scriptures and invite the spirit has fostered some very special moments for me during my trip and is more important to me than shopping and eating at cool places.

Field Trip #2

So on monday we went to a few different sights in the Negev Desert. The first place we went to a location where Bedouin women weave blankets, rugs, and other items. They brought us under a traditional Bedouin tent with all hand made coverings and decorations. They brought all 90 of us Chai Tea, which was really tasty and sweet, spoke to us about the bedouin women and their focus of education and then gave us a weaving demonstration. I volunteered to try spinning the sheep wool into a strand, which after a few attempts I started to do it. The process that they go through, the spinning, dying, spinning to double up, then the actual weaving is somthing to be admired. They are humble, hard working, and hospitibal women and it was a pleasure and privilage to have them show us their way of life. We then went to Tel Sheva which has many different old testament references. It was an interesting archeological site, which was also really hot, seeing that we were in the Negev desert and wearing pants. We then visited another Tel, Tel Arad. This was another very interesting site that I will not go into details about the events, history, and relevance to Biblical antiquity but I will say that the 'satellite temples' that they built was a very interesting part of the site visit. There was an altar and a holy of holies, which was pretty apostate in those days to have a temple outside of Jerusalem. We then drove home, the significance of the drive was the way we took to get home. We drove down below sea level and along the Dead Sea then up into Jerusalem. It was really cool seeing the Dead Sea, we did not get to jump in, not yet anyway. We discussed on the bus the way that Lehi and his family would have come, which was very ugly terrain, we also discussed the point at which they stopped and Lehi told Laman, Lemuel, Nephi, and Sam to go back and get the plates. It gave some insight to the reply that Laman and Lemuel gave saying, This is a hard thing you require of us. Well, looking out the window in the bus as we were flying through the hot desert and looking up at the very gigantic cliffs and its extremely rough terrain, I would have said the same thing. Conversly, this gave me more respect for Nephi's answer to go and do. Though I never really ceased to sweat out in the Negev Desert today, I am really glad we had this field trip and the experiences it produced.

Slidin' and jivin' in Tel Aviv

So yesterday we took a trip to Tel Aviv, Israel. I was not expecting to surf for a few reasons, First I was in a group of 14, that is one of 4 groups of 14 that all went to Tel Aviv. Secondly, I didn't think there was going to be waves. And Lastly, I don't have a board. Well, lets just say there was some smooth jazz playing from the water yesterday. We got dropped off and I looked down the coast and saw a crowded lineup! Then a feeling rose from my toes to my forehead, stoke. I was as gitty as a schoolgirl. I ran up to the first guy I saw outside of his car checking the waves and asked where I can rent a board. He directed me down the beach about a mile. I speed walked in my Locals (sandals) for about a mile. I got to the place, which was a sick little surf shop in a graffiti covered builiding that looks abandoned. I rented a 7'6" NSP funboard. I wanted a longboard but the ones I pointed out the guy said were his bosses boards. I then continued speed walking back 3/4 of a mile to the surf spot. The waves were 1-2 and mushy with a steep inside section. This was more than I had expected. I jumped in the water and there was a transitional body shock when I hit the water, but it was not the kind I am accustomed to. The water, a local guy told me later, was 31 degrees celsus which is about 88 degrees fahrenheit. It was the warmest water I have ever surfed in my life! Even Hawaii never gets this hot. Also, the water had a really high salinity compared to anything I had experienced. I was catching all kinds of waves, getting used to the board I rented, and just enjoying myself in the Mediterranean Sea with the Tel Aviv skyline and Jaffa as my scenery. I was out there for a while before any local surfer would even talk to me. So, the lifeguard was yelling in Hebrew in a very angry tone, I turned to a local guy and asked if he was telling us to paddle north out of the swimming section. His reply was hilarious, he said, "You don't give a f*ck what the lifeguard says, they respect us." I laughed and then he smiled and we then started talking about the break and the differnt surf spots around. I don't remember the name of the spot we were at, I have a horrible short term memory, espcially when it is a Hebrew or Arabic word. I really enjoyed talking with him and another older, stern-faced, crusty surfer with a salt n' pepper beard and long matching hair. Then, something happened that brought me back to the fact that I was in Israel, I heard the call to prayer being sounded out of mosque from the city of Jaffa, which just off in the distnace. This was an experience I will never forget, catching waves for 2 1/2 hours, speaking with local surfers, and then hearing the call to prayer from the lineup while a group Muslim girls play in the water dressed head to toe in black attire. The water was out of control hot, so I had to come in halfway through my session and get some water. I took the board back, which was quite the walk, and it cost me 100 shekels for 3 hours (about 25 american) which I felt was worth it. We then walked around Jaffa and Tel Aviv, then came back to the beach for the sunset and a night swim. Of course, as custom has it, I waited for the girls to swim in then I removed my shorts. It reminded me of the moonlit bodysurfing sessions I would have at Pounders in Hawaii, It made me miss those days and those friends who would share the free feeling and rush of those kinds of activities. I walked about 6 miles today in my locals and my body was not having it, I was sore, chaffed from surfing in such high saline water, and overall beat, but the events of the day were wonderful.

Sabbath Day Garden Tomb

Today was district conference and we had all the different branches here. The branches consist of Tel Aviv, Tiberius, Galilee, Haifa, Bethlehem, and then of course the Jerusalem Branch. We sang "I need thee every hour" as a choir, and again we practiced it half an hour before we performed it. The Conference went really well. After church we walked over as a group to the Garden Tomb. It was really hot outside and I was sweating like crazy, but once we walked into the Garden I was immediately calmed and cooled. The Garden is in the middle of the crowded, smelly, and hot city. You turn off the street and go down an alley-way then you are at the garden tomb. Once you walk through the walls it is immediately shady and everyone is in the mindset of reverence and worship. We had a sweet old british lady give us a little tour of Golgotha then the empty tomb. It was a little crowded with other Christian groups, some from Africa and some from Europe and they were all singing hymns, It was neat. A running theme from the sights of the Savior is that we are not even sure that these places are the actual site, but one thing to remember is that it really doesn't matter, its what happened there that is truly the beauty and the importance. Nonetheless, the empty tomb is a great visual of what it would have looked like, and better yet, It is the feelings and the thoughts that arise when you are there that make it special. After we all had a moment going into the tomb we congregated and sang hymns. The spirit was really strong and all the other people were enjoying our singing. It was a good spirit of brotherhood and worship as we conversed with other pastors and visitors. It seemed that because we were there sharing our respect and our deep admiration for the significance of the empty tomb and all that it insinuates, our other doctrinal differences were melted away with the Love and gratitude for the Savior. It was a wonderful experience, I would however, like to go back with a smaller group and take more pictures and have more contempative time. It was a good Sabbath Day.

Western Wall II

So this Friday night we walked over to the Western Wall as a full group, all 82 of us. This experience was very different than my first experience. This time it was packed full of Jews who were there to usher in Shabbat. It was quite the experience. There were all kinds of different Orthodox Jews. After speaking to a few I realized that for the most part the physical dress and appearance differed more from genealogy and tradition, some wear big round furry hats, some have top hats, and some just have a kippah on. There were some who were singing chant-like prayers in Hebrew and then there was this one group of guys who were my age singing really loud Hebrew prayer songs, they were dancing, yelling, getting on each others shoulders in piggy-back formation, and Pogo-dancing in a circle whilst clapping the beat. I was very hesitant to jump in being an outsider/Christian/Mormon but I did jump and clap right on the side of the whole group with a few other guys. They were really getting down. I went to the wall and said another personal prayer while an old orthodox fuzzy hatted Jewish guy was singing his Hebrew prayer really loudly next to me. We also spoke with a Jewish guy in a top hat who was about our age, he answered our questions though some of the questions asked by the guys I was with were a bit embarrassing due to their irrelevancy and their ignorance. My overall impression of this whole trip was a gained respect and appreciation for the commitment and dedication of the Jewish people. They have so much dedication, which is showcased best during Shabbat. It was a culture shock for sure to walk around a sea of Orthodox Jews with their fuzzy hats, curled sideburns, and coats singing loud Hebrew prayer-chants. What an experience to have though, to see others dedication to God. It made me re-access my Sabbath Day worship and dedication to God.

Little Outing to West Jerusalem

So yesterday, September 5th, was filled with classes and studying. I had my first class meeting with my Arabic teacher. He is absolutely hilarious. He is an overweight Arabic Muslim, who was wearing a tight (due to his weight) teal polo shirt, very nice glasses, and had hilarious mannerisms and facial expressions. He is extremely outgoing, very dry and witty sense of humor. He picks on people and just rags on them. He reminded me of an Arabic version of my High School teacher Mr. Carey. The whole class was cracking up the whole time, literally I felt like it was an instructive comedy routine...which I found absolutely fantastic. After the class some of my friends were going to West Jerusalem but I was going to study, last minute I decided to join them. It was me, Quinn, Brooke, Alta, Rachel (rayray), and Janessa. We took a van from the center for 50 Shekels. We just cruised around Ben Yehuda st. and the side streets. We got some dinner and just walked around. We danced in front of a street performer who was in a wife-beater, jeans, and sandals. We were in a very good mood, just loving everything about our adventure. We would stop in little shops and look around at the interesting things for sale. We made observations of differences between our cultures, and also enjoyed the modernity of the west side of the city compared to the old city, a little taste of "home" if you will. We did this for about two and half hours then we came back to the center. It felt really good to get out of the center after being "cooped up in there for a few days. I also enjoyed people watching and the company of those who came in our group.

Bashir Bashir

So today we had Old Testament class which is always enlightening, then we had our first class with our Palestine Teacher Dr. Bashir Bashir. He is a Palestinian Muslim with Israeli citizenship. He is my favorite professor thus far. He is extremely intelligent and a very passionate lecturer. His accent takes effort to follow, especially when combining his advanced vocabulary and his Palestinian accent. He gave a moving lecture on avoiding stereotypes, Xenophobia, and Xenophelia. He spoke of motivations for gaining knowledge and how we should be motivated by gaining understanding and not for self-affirmation, belligerency and outright war. I wish I could give justice to the power and passion that Bashir displayed when sharing his belief in understanding, sensitivity, and humble differentiation. It was very refreshing to be lectured to by someone who is so well educated and passionate, it was very motivating to me as a student and as a visitor here in the Holy Land to learn about the different cultures and religions. Other than that there was not much to write about today.

First Field Trip

Today was our first Field Trip, we basically went to 5 different places around the city that offered us awesome vantage points of the City. After the first look out we went to the Augusta Victoria Lutheran Church of Ascension on the mount of Olives. We had to wait a bit before going in so we went out back and had a devotional, we sang "Lord I would Follow Thee" there at the top of the mount of Olives, the spirit was warm and comforting. I looked around and pondered the thought of Christ ascending into Heaven somewhere in this general location. I looked to the sky and pondered the feelings of the implications of this event. We then went into the church, It is a Basilica styled church with all its dark beauty and high ceilings. We sat in the Nave and sang two hymns, the first was #68 "A mighty fortress is our God" which was written by Martin Luther. It was a tribute to him because we were in a Lutheran church. The second hymn was absolutely soul stirring and beautiful, we sand hymn # 124 be still my soul. The acoustics in this church could never be replaced by any electronic amplifying devise and were absolutely phenomenal. Almost brought to tears from the beauty and spirit of our singing this hymn will be a burned memory in my mind forever. We then went up to the top of the tower 250 or so steps...almost inducing a heart attack. The view from the tower on top of the mount of Olives was vast and beautiful. Professor Stratford pointed out places we needed to know and explained the geological layout of the land and some of the recent and ancient history. We then went to Mar Elias hill where you can see Bethlehem and we stood on fields that David was most likely on as he protected his flock from lions and mastered the sling. Professor Judd told us of all the Biblical people who would have walked past where we were on their way toward or away from Jerusalem. We sang three Christmas hymns in the heat of summer as we looked upon the City of David and the Birth place of Christ. We sang Hymn #206 "Away in a Manger" #210 "With wondering Awe" and #204 "Silent Night". For some reason, today in the heat and sweat of hiking up stairs and hills I found peace and stillness. The hymns were very emotional and spiritual to me, special moments were created today. We went to other sights, the Nabi Samwill Mosque was awesome. It was the last stop, we went in and saw the orthodox Jews praying at the supposed tomb of the Prophet Samuel. That part was a synagogue that was located in the basement of the Mosque. We had a really awesome devotional overlooking the land where Saul was found by Samuel and was anointed to be the Ruler of Jerusalem. We sang Hymns #21 "Come listen to a prophets Voice" and #19 "We thank thee O God for a Prophet". We were all sweaty and tired. We sang some songs on the bus one reggae and one folk song that were about Jerusalem. I took a nap when we got home then went to dinner, after we had Home Evening. I was sustained as a group leader. We met our group, I gave the devotional. I read the lyrics to "Beggars" by Thrice then read Mosiah 4:15-19 and spoke about humility and respecting other religions and gaining all we can from their examples of righteousness.

The Western Wall

September 2nd, Sunday was our day off and a day I will never forget. I woke up early to do laundry before our 7:30am breakfast and was hindered in my plans due to the machines not having power yet, though they should have been on since 6am. So my roommate Andrew Wilcox and I played some Table Tennis (they have a table in the laundry room) while we waited for the guy to come fix them. Andrew is a really good table tennis player, this was something I really enjoyed, I love a good game of table tennis, his skills far surpass me, but it is fun to have a good challenge. Andrew is from Portland, OR he is a large person, he is probably 6'4" and 240. His face looks like that of a really excited child. He is a sweet guy who finds joy in simple things, a simple person, which is refreshing. He is just a good kid who is a little naive to the world, which sometimes I envy being a critical and cynical person. My first contact with him was at orientation, his first question was, "Do you play any sports?" This makes me laugh now that I know him more, that question has the same context and intention as a 10 year old boy asking the new kid in the neighborhood after their mothers introduce them then go in the kitchen to talk. He just wanted to play. So I went to breakfast, finished my laundry then met up with Emily (tapanga) and her roommate to go into the old city. We left about 10am and walked down the Kidron Valley then back up it to the city. I now know the meaning behind the expression "up hill both ways". We went to Aladin's money exchange and I paid from the advancement he gave me on Friday. We then entered the city at Herod's Gate. We cruised around the Muslim Quarter then I wanted to go to the Dome of the Rock, but it was closed for a few hours, so we went to the Western Wall. This was my first experience in the Jewish Quarter of the City. We had to go through security very similar to an airport. We walked down a covered street, like a tunnel, we came out into the big courtyard where the Western Wall is. There was quite a bit of people walking around in the presence of the Israeli Military boys carrying machine guns. There were a lot of military "men" (they are all still in their late teens) on this day and I later learned they were having some kind of military graduation. I looked over to the left and there it was, the Western Wall! It is the only remaining part of Herod's Temple, It was actually an outer wall and not part of the Temple structure per se. Nevertheless, I was very impressed. We walked to a gate that separated those who are going up to the wall to worship and pray from those who are just wandering around the large courtyard. I was very impressed and humbled to see the Jewish men at the wall praying some with their hands on the wall and others holding prayer books. Emily and her roommate were not planning on going up to the wall, they said we go there twice with the whole group later on, I said, "oh, OK" but then I just kept getting this feeling and prompting to just go to the wall. So I told them that I have to go to it now. I walked to the entrance, put on a kippah that they give out to those who do not have one on. I placed it on my head and walked up to the wall, literally with each step I took towards the wall the spirit got stronger and stronger. I know that it is just a stack of old rocks, but man was it powerful! I found a spot between two orthodox Jews who were uttering Hebrew prayers. I places my right hand on the wall, whose cracks were overflowing with rolled up papers filled with people's hopes, concerns, gratitude, love, and desires that they so tenderly share with God. Its overwhelming to think of how many people have made the long pilgrimage to this very spot to place their hand written prayer on this wall. I did not have paper to place my prayer in the wall of God, but I knew I was coming back to the wall so I didn't stress about this and I just focused on the spirit and the prayer I was offering in my heart and mind. I said a long prayer, nothing compared to the Jews around me who would spend a long amount of time at the wall. The Director of the BYUJ Center is not a member and he spoke to us our first day about being a listener and observer here in this land. I am forever grateful for his advice. I feel that I have learned so much about dedication, sacrifice, faith, and love for God just in this one experience. Just typing this experience out almost brings me to tears, that is how profound this was for me. I hope I do not sound pretentious or that you may gather some kind of theatrical elaboration just because I am here and I must let people know that I am having this marvelous experience, this for me is real. Getting tossed into a different culture that is, in my opinion, much more dedicated to God than 90% of those in my own religion has been poignant and life-changing. It causes me to reflect on my own dedication and faith in God, how can I improve to be more like this Jewish man next to me at the wall? how can I improve my relationship to God like the African lady brought to tears at the sight of the supposed empty tomb of the Savior? How can I be more dedicated like the Muslim who prays toward Mecca 5 times a day everyday? I came back to the center after some more exploring through the city. My mind could not get off of the Western Wall experience I had earlier. The hike up the mount of Olives to the Center almost killed me in pants in the heat of the day. I studied and socialized with other students. One girl, Hollie Crosby, in particular studied with me out on the terrace then inside. She is a really cool girl. Very outgoing, flirty, and confident. Hollie comes in with guns blazing. I enjoyed her company as we studied till midnight.

Sabbath Day

Saturday's here are the sabbath, we practice this due to the workers at the center, so they one, can practice their religious sabbath and two, because the work week is fashioned after this belief, so shops are closed and no one works on Saturday. It was neat having sacrament meeting on the old testament sabbath day. It was fast sunday today, we had choir practice at 9, which most of the students participated. Our w choir director is Sister Squires, she is an old Utah bread, sassy woman who is a little bit of a choir elitist. She was talking about how horrible the local choir was that she put together and I was uncomfortable because some of the local branch members were there early listening to us practice. It's easy to be a musical elitist when your husband is a humble sweet old man who plays the pipe organs like Van Halen plays the guitar. He studied with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's famous organist (forgot his name) for many years. So we went through the song a few times then she made us perform in front of the local branch, which was made up of visitors, foreigners (foreign to Israel), and students. This experience of our last minute minute choir performance, which turned out beautifully, draws my thoughts to the musical culture of the church. I have played musical instruments my whole life, but my literacy is liked to that of Gomer Pile when it comes to sheet music. I play music by ear and feel, but especially those from Utah, where there is a stronger Mormon musical culture, can sing their different parts by looking at dots on a page. This is one part of the Mormon culture that I am really impressed and proud of, though I myself am not a product of this music culture. Sacrament meeting was beautiful, the chapel is an auditorium with huge clear windows behind the pulpit and a beautiful view of east, a bit of the west, and the old city of Jerusalem. Not only is it beautiful, but when you let your mind wander as you look out your thoughts naturally go to the Savior and how he walked, taught, healed, implemented the sacrament, suffered, died and was resurrected in the geographically area in which, from your seat in sacrament meeting, you can see. So that was a marvelous experience. We had gospel doctrine in a place called the dome theatre. It's up in the upper floor, and like it sounds, it's a domed building with small auditorium seating. We then had priesthood, the branch president and district president were in attendance. It is interesting because there is no high priest quorum, because we are not in a stake. We have an elders quorum and a district president who reports strait to two men who are in the presidency for the quorum of the seventy. I found the structure in a place where things cannot be in normal order very interesting. Also, we cannot proselytize and if someone finds the church on their own they have to go out of the country to join the church. The branch president is an older caucasian American who, when he opens his mouth has an amplifier for a voice-box and a Bruce R McKonkie command of the pulpit. He had the visitors introduce themselves, not the BYU students. He then asked me to introduce myself, I stood and shared my name and that I was from California. There was a moment of awkward confusion from him the I sat down with the expectation of the student to my left to go next, but instead he said, "ok is there anyone else?" He thought I was a visitor outside of the BYU program because I was wearing a blue dress shirt instead of a white shirt. This became the ammunition to some of the lamest jokes among me and the BYU guys in attendance. When people are unfamiliar with one another humor seems to be a resort to break the ice and to try and get "in" or on a more personal level with someone, and when they are not very witty this proves to be a sad and embarrassing social interaction. I had to respond to about 7 occasions where one of them would come up and say with a grin, "thanks for visiting today Paul!" or "how long are you visiting for?". It's nothing that I am annoyed with, I just observed this little social nuance and found it amusing. I just responded with similar corny rebuttals like, "yea, everyone has been so nice to me today". I received a calling today after waiting for a whole outside the office. During my wait I talked with the first counselor of the district presidency, a man whose last name I have forgotten due it's awkwardness. He is a young pleasant man with Asian features and awkward eye contact. He wore a suit that look like it belonged to his bigger older brother. He was a father of a handful of small children and worked at the UN as an administrator. He named his position which had more titles than Kelly Slater. I was called to be a family home evening group leader, which is ironic because I rarely go to FHE outside of here, but it should be fun. So I went and took a little nap then was awoken by my roommate Jed Jones, he and his brother Jordan are my roommates. I call them the Jonas brothers. They are from Dallas Texas, Jed is an energetic fo-hawk and tight jean wearing guy who would could be in singer in a dashboard confessionals/Goo Goo Dolls cover band. He is actually a pretty fun guy. Dinner was at 4pm due to it being fast sabbath. After I got the guitar, which there are 3 but i have a horrible one, so borrowed the good one. Michael, an articulate, socially awkward kid who rips at the guitar and plays blues like someone who would be named "Bubba the train" who grew up in Chicago in the 40s. Anyways, he was really reluctant to let me borrow it, but he eventually handed it over after an awkward moment of silence. I went up to the top level and on the way up this girl Emily asked if I could play her a song, she was sitting emailing home. I told her to come with me to explore the top and I would play her some songs. We went out on the grassy balcony on the 8th level. It was absolutely fabulous. We sat in the shade on some clovers and looked out to the city as I played her songs and we talked in between. We had a lovely conversation about each others lives, doing some hypothetical situations to get in each others heads. Emily is a sweet girl from a little suburb of a thousand Oaks, Ca. She looks precisely like Tapanga from Boy Meets World, beforre she got fat in the later episodes. She has beautiful eyes that make you feel comfortable and a even more reassuring smile. Some more girls came out and we talked and I played songs as we watched the sky turn red with a beautiful sunset and the points on the cross over the church of the Holy seplicure change colors as the crystals would catch the changing light of the sunset. The weather was perfect. We the. Went inside to the lounge called the shekel shack for peida bread and nutella and some games. We played baby if you love me give me a smile, I opened up and got a bit silly if you will. It was good fun. I am truly enjoying my time here thus far, there are some amazing people both in and out of the program and a beautiful culture that I am excited to learn about and experience first hand. This is a blessing and. Decision that I will ultimately never forget or regret.

Call to Prayer

So everyday, five times to be more precise, there is a Call to Prayer over loud speakers that echo through the whole city. It is a Muslim practice that calls Islamic members to prayer. I absolutely love it, since the Center I'm staying at is on the East side (predominately Arab Muslim side) of Jerusalem I hear the prayer very clear. It is a long chant/singing prayer and it as it echos through the valley and through the City walls and narrow streets I feel very entrenched in a different culture. It is the perfect soundtrack to the things that I am seeing. The 4am call to prayer has not awaken me from my sleep yet and I doubt it every will because I have been so beat. We had our first day of classes yesterday, there was only two classes actually. First was my Old Testament Class. We had to read Genesis 1-20 before class and some other readings. The discussions in class were very good, and I was learning and being refreshed of things I read about on the plane ride over. My teacher is a very nice, down to earth, red headed, stubby legged, little voiced man who I really enjoy. After that class was my Near Eastern Studies class with Professor Stratford. Professor Stratford is a slightly balding young-middle aged man with small circular scientist/small clams attorney glasses, he has an ex-high-school-football-runningback-who-could-have-played-in-collage-but-went-on-a-mission-and-got-married-and-now-gets-really-intense-during-any-church-sports kind of body build. He is an expert on archaeology, ancient writings, middle eastern history and geography. He is well humored and also enjoyable. Both courses that I have attended thus far are with white LDS members from America, more specifically Utah. I look forward to my classes with my two non-member professors, one is an Israeli Jew and the other is an Palestinian Muslim. On a side note, one thing I admire of the center is that they employ both Palestinians and Israelis, which they are numbered with about 5 other institutions or businesses in Jerusalem that practice this. I think it is awesome, some of the locals that work here, in which I have chatted with, are really nice and have very clever and classic dry humor. One in particular I feel like I could have a good laugh with once I get to know him. Yesterday We had free time after our classes, I was super tired and jet-lagged still, but I knew if I slept I would have not got up until midnight with no hope in a good nights sleep. So I put on my shoes and went on an adventure with 3 other students into the city. It was sweating like a whore in a church house as we traversed down the hill then up the hill to the Old city, I was fashioned with shoes, jeans, and a t-shirt and for those who know me well, the second listed item on my body creates a phenomenon with my physiological makeup that could fill a two liter bottle with sweat and fry an egg on my lower back. In short, It was hot as hell. We went to a money changer, who on our first tour of the city was on the corner with a stack of business cards and a smile that said, "I love you Mormons and your business pays my bills." The administration says that they have never told those men (plural because there was 4 through our whole 4 mile walk that knew we were coming) the dates of when the new arrivals come, but they always know when our first tour of the city is, this I found amusing. We went to Aladin's money exchange, which is not pronounced like the Disney movie, its pronounced "Alla-dean". He was closing up shop early because it was Friday because of the Muslim worship that takes place every Friday. This worship is also the reason we are not allowed to go into the city until 3pm because if any uprisings or conflict will happen, it will most likely be during the Muslim weekly Friday morning worship. So as our small group walks past and learn that he was closing (literally locking the doors) we start to walk away when he calls us back, opens the doors, then proceeds to just have us write our names and how much we want to exchange, then hands us the Shekels. I was blown away at the reputation of integrity and trust fellow BYUJ students have build with this man. We tried to give him checks but he said he didn't have time and that we should come back Sunday, I was amazed. We leave the exchange as a group of 15 BYUJ students walk up, we tell them he's closed and he tells them as well, we lucked out. So we decide to go to the old city after I purchase a notebook that I needed for school. We entered in at Herod's Gate, one we didn't enter in on our first introduction tour of the old city. It is the Muslim Quarter of the city. There was fruit, trinkets, old and young men and women, trash, old men up on old patios smoking and playing what looked like chess. As I walked through I felt as out of place as a fat kid in a spin class. One of the highlights of this little stroll through the Muslim Quarter was seeing a small old fashioned barber shop, with an old guy straight razor shaving a guy as everyone in the whole shop was smoking. It immediately became a must do for my time here; to get my hair cut and a strait shave by a guy smoking and speaking Arabic to his friends who comfortably sit in the corner reading the newspaper with out a care in the world as we sit in the midst of one of the most Sacred, Conflicted, and Coveted piece of land on earth. This would be my kind of non-spiritual Jerusalem experience. So we also passed a billiard parlor with some younger guys shooting pool and old guys smoking and playing chess, This too, is what I would love to do, shoot pool and talk about rap music. I say rap music because while I was purchasing some Holy Land Chocolate milk and some British chocolate (yes they have some of my favorites) a group of young guys my age came in and I was talking to them, their English was very broken and one of them lived in Minnesota for a while, they were asking me if I liked rap music, I said yes. In the which, they started naming off some of their favorite rappers "snoopdogg (I told them of the name change to SnoopLion, they were a little confused), Biggy Smalls, Tupac (their fav), Dr. Dre, and a few more. I was really cool, I wanted to start singing Juicy to see if they joined in, I probably would have gained some sort of street cred after that, "hey, there goes that fat white American that raps!" Anyways, back on the stroll we went into the supposed spot where Christ was tried. I was awesome, there was an orthodox Christian ceremony with Fryers(?-they were dressed like fryer tuck from robin hood, I know very ignorant of me)they did three prayers, same prayer but in Arabic, Spanish, and English. They then leaded a procession that went down the supposed path that Christ walked from his trial to Calvary. They would stop at certain spots and say prayers, since we didn't have time we didn't go, but I plan on doing it later. We walked back chatting with a few people, one little kid was blocking us trying to sell us stuff, similar to Tijuana, MEX. This one kid strait up licked the arm of one of the guys in my group. I thought of my friend Ryan Ford who would lick people a lot when we were younger. The walk back up to the Center is one that, if it doesn't kill me...it will kill me. I had dinner and socialized for the evening.