Orson Hyde

On October 24th we took time out of our busy finals week to walk over to the Orson Hyde memorial park. On this day in 1841 Orson Hyde hiked up the Mount of Olives and said a prayer in which dedicated and consecrated Jerusalem for the gathering together of Judah's scattered remnants. He made an altar of stones, then walked around the whole city then went up to the Temple Mount and made another altar of stones. So we went to the memorial park not too far from our Center and Jed read the dedicatory prayer. There was a group of about 15 of us. It was cool. We then went back to the center and kept studying. It was a nice break from studying, a nice breath of fresh air, and a nice spiritual devotion.

The Carillon bells at the YMCA in Jerusalem

  Last Sunday we walked over to the YMCA in west Jerusalem and met the Squires and they brought us up the tall tower and we got to play the carillon bells, which is a huge bell system attached to wooden keys you smash down to ring a particular bell. The view was awesome and the bells were super loud and brilliant. After looking out over the city and taking pictures we went into the carillon room. Jed and Jordan played some awesome songs; they are both musically trained and very talented. We would practice on a small practice deal then they would put us on the real thing. Just as we would sit down to play the song Brother Squires would say, “Now 300,000 people will be able to hear this so no pressure”. I was a little embarrassed because I had no idea how to read music so Sister Squires had to help me out. It was so cool to play such a powerful instrument. At noon, Brother Squires did the intro then we all hit the lowest pitched bell note once for every hour (12 times). After we went down into a really small and old chapel under the YMCA and we sang ‘Amazing Grace’ it sounded sweet. We then split up and Rachel Hughes, Andrew and I got a ride back to the Center with the Squires. They asked if we had been to the pita factory, after replying negative, Brother Squires took us into a way ghetto neighborhood on the east side in the northern part of the Kidron Valley. There was a small pita factory and for 5 shekels ($1.25) we got a bag of freshly baked, soft, warm pitas. They were soooo good! The guys working saw me taking pictures and then kept showing me more things to take pictures of, they were way nice. I came home and did some studying for the next week’s finals.

Brother and Sister Squires

The Bells

Where the magic happens

Interesting events at church

A week ago Saturday we had an awesome sarcrament meeting. It was the primary presentation and it has been a long time since I have seen one of those being in YSA wards for the past 3 years. It was humorous and entertaining. This week we had a large LDS Holy Land tour come to church. In sunday school our teacher Aaron, who I really enjoy hearing his lessons, was suffering from a massive migrane that he woke up with, he apologized but still taught a good lesson. His way of teaching the lesson today was very logistical as he went over the events of Christ's visit to the Americas. 10 minutes before we were out of time an older gentleman gets up and walks down the auditorium stairs and walks up to the podium and Aaron says, "Oh is my time up?" (probably asking that because he was so confused as to what was happening). Then the man says, "Yes you are out of time" then takes the pulpit and starts to talk about when he was called by President Hinckley to be a Seventy. It was very uncomfortable and the spirit left the room. Then President Schafer, our Branch President, came down and asked him to sit down, the man continued to finish then sat down. He was an emeritus Seventy who was traveling the Holy Land with a LDS tour group as the "celebrity". Brother Jackson, the director of the BYU Jerusalem Center said that this happens a few times a year, these tour groups advertise the emeritus Seventies to help promote their tours, he then said that what we saw was a commercialized event and should not be happening. Then in Priesthood, after a question was posed during the lesson, the Seventy said, "President Schafer has a comment" in which President Schafer turned around and said, "oh, no, my hand wasn't up" then the emeritus Seventy had the audacity to say, "I know, I want you to make a comment on this" in which President Schafer replied, "I appreciate your offer, But I will have to defer". I was so confused about how this emeritus Seventy can conceit himself to think that every meeting he ever attends revolves around his agenda and that he presides. Our Branch President is awesome, President Schafer took care of it after church, he was not happy about his behavior. As unconventional as these events were today I learned two major lessons.

1. God has set order to the way the Chruch functions. When this is disruppted, no matter who, there is a lack of spirit and productivity. The spirit left the room, everyone I spoke with after said the same thing, they felt the spirit leave and/or they felt uncomfortable even though an ex-general authoriy is up bearing testimony about the savior. He did not have the sanction of the presiding authority and he cut off the person who was set apart to teach the class, thus cutting off the spirit.

2. Where there are congregations of faithful saints who are living in a way that creates an environment that fosters the Holy Ghost, general apostasy cannot grow. It was interesting how everyone in our group and the branch members all felt the spirit leave and they knew something was amiss. This gave me more hope and trust in the general membership in the Church, if they are living righteously and feeling the influence of the Holy Ghost, collective apostasy is hard to obtain.

Night Of Blues

So last Firday night a guy named Michael Stallings and I played a blues show in the lounge here at the center. We played 5 or 6 blues songs that we had written together, one was Red House (a Jimmy cover). We found 5 small, durable, identical, metal coffee tables and made a sweet little stage. We had almost the whole center there, it was super fun. A word about Michael Stallings, he is an articulate, hilarious, highly intelligent man who absolutely shreds the guitar. He was homeschooled growing up and instead of taking the "gamer" route of utilizing his free time he turned to the guitar. He is phenominal guitarist and we connected very early in this trip on the foundation of 'the blues'. We had a song called "59 problems" because there are 59 girls in our group, we also had a song called "powerful woman blues" were I sang and wrote lyrics that reflected Michaels feelings for Condoleezza Rice. It was a blast to say the least.

Mr. Michael Stallings himself

Snorkeling in the Red Sea

Sunday we went to Eilat, Israel to go snorkeling. It was an early morning and a long bus ride down. It was, however, a really fun bus ride. We slept the first part of the trip, but then after a bathroom stop, we were all awake and having a blast. I started having us act out little scenes that we all make up, like "Who's line is it anyway?" it was a good time. After a 4 hour bus ride we made it to the Red Sea! At first when we were shown where we can snorkel (designated by buoys) I was a little mad, it looked like a pretty small area. But once I got out there, we were given plenty of room. The water was so refreshing! Unlike the scorching hot water in Tel Aviv, this water was probably like 78-80 degrees. There were some awesome fish there with sweet coral heads and shelves. We chilled at the beach for a while, like four hours. The buses came back and we went to dinner which was pretty good, it was at a dairy place, I got a chocolate milk...naturally. It was alright, nothing special. Then a long bus ride home. It was an awesome trip, we were all pooped the next day.

Yad Vashem and Mt. Herzl

This Monday we had a field trip at the Israeli Holocaust Museum called "Yad Vashem" then we went up to Mount Herzl. Yad Vashem was very intense. It was interesting having our Judaism Professor there giving us a tour. He gave great insights to the Israeli attitude and perspective of the Holocaust. We went through the Children's memorial then we went through the actual museum. It is one of the nicest museums I've ever been in, really well done and full of items from the Holocaust, i.e. actual yellow stars worn by Jews, shoes of those who went into the gas chambers, etc. This was not, however, my favorite walk through a museum. This was interesting and enjoyable until I got to the rooms where the mass executions began, the concentration camp rooms, and the American liberation. The stories and images, which I have seen before, where very powerful, emotionally draining, and reminded me of the horrors that the human race have committed. I got emotional at a few stories that were shared and when viewing some of the graphic images of executions. I feel that this time, because of my Judaism class I was more sensitive to it all, especially knowing the history of the Jewish people. After seeing the most graphic images of the American forces cleaning up the dead bodies from the camps I walked quickly through the rest of the exhibit. There was a room with 2 million names in binders indexed of those who were killed, then a dark room with benches and famous quotes projected on the wall, it was a room for contemplation. I left out of the building and found some shade by myself and thought of all that I had just seen. I felt anger and more than anything I felt a mourning for the despairing, hateful, and inhumane  actions of the Nazis. I knew going into this field trip I wasn't going to like this, but it was a  profound moment that I will never forget, though its not a positive experience. We then had our sack lunches up on Mount Herzl which was right next to the Yad Vashem. We had some instruction about the significance of Mount Herzl. The bones of Theodore Herzl are there, and far from them are all the graves of those important figures in the history of the state of Israel.

Pools of Bethesda

Last Friday me and a group of students went to the pools of bethesda. (see John 5:1-16). We walked fast out of the center because we didn't have too much time till sunset (when we need to be back in the center). I was saying "assalaamu 9alaykum" to all the Arabs, stoked that they responded!! ha ha kind of my first time learning a new language and using it, I was a bit nervous but now I say it to a lot of people. And yes thats a "9" in the second word. It means "Peace on you" which is a polite way to say hello. The pools of bethesda were awesome, we walked around it for a few minutes then we went into a sweet church, Church of St. Anne, and sang hymns, the acoustics there were awesome. It was awesome being at the site of one of Christ's miracles. Of course I was with one guy, Quinn who I think is hilarious and a way cool guy, and like 8 girls, so naturally we spend forever taking pictures before we leave. The sunset was awesome, especially as it shined through Lions Gate as we walked east toward the center. We then broke off in a group of four to get Amy some candy for here birthday in the little shops on the way up to the center. We went to four shops trying to locate some diet coke, I am beginning to realize that diet coke is not just a staple in the lives of a few women, but a staple to thousands of women everywhere...I don't understand and I never will.

Me, Amy, Emily, and Brooke Reppin Southern California

Pamphlet

Underground pool

Arch, me, Brooke, Alta, Andrea, and Stasha

The Ruins & Jaquel

St. Anne Chruch

Emily, Lions Gate, and the Sunset 

Friday, Shabbat, and Sunday

Friday, Oct 5th:
We had a midterm for our Palestine Class on friday. Morning classes went well, then came lunch. During lunch I continued to study for the midterm. I usually take the option of eating outside as apposed to inside. We can look from our tables and see the entire old city, east Jerusalem, and the skylines of west Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock is one of the main focal points/landmarks. I decided to keep studying even though I was done eating. It was me and my really funny, silly, cracks-me-up-legitimently friend Lizzy. As we were quizing each other about Islam we heard some loud "booms" or bomb detinations, there are usually tons of fireworks in Jerusalem, especially during Jewish holidays, this whole week is the Jewish holiday Sukkot. Well, when I heard the detinations, I looked at Lizzy and jokingly said, "lets just say those ones were fireworks" though we both knew they were not. We kept studying and the detinations every few moments were going off. Some were pretty loud and were echoing through the Kidron Valley up to the BYUJ Center. We kept studying then one of the security guards came out and was on the little wall under the railing so he can see better. I turned around and I could see the tear gas rising from the temple mount (where the Dome of the Rock is). As soon as he went back inside Lizzy and I got up on the 2' little wall and were looking, there was a huge traffic jam on the road around the old city walls with endless tour buses motionless. We were up there for a moment as Tarek (the main security guard, who is super awesome and funny) came out and sternly said, "Get down, that is a security hazard." We both jumped down quickly and a little startled then we look back and he was laughing. He's a big jokester, but this was kind of a serious matter, but to him, he's seen much worse. We all sat with our eyes fixed on the Temple mount. I asked him if he had experienced tear gas, he answered in the afirmative and said it was absoulutely horrible. The reason for the conflict was because 12 years earlier Jewish Extremists tried to place a conerstone for a third Temple on the Temple mount (which is the holy site of the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Which I feel is really intense and pretty dang gnarly. Also, because it is Sukkot all week long the Jews have kind of taken over the city (not literally) with their celebrations and crowds. So the reason this happened on Friday is because it is the day of Prayer, where hundreds of Arab Muslims gather at the Temple Mount and pray, so this is when they are all together and start speaking about things and get riled up. Anyways, needless to say we had to stay inside all day. I did really well on my midterm which was a pretty easy test. We all hung out in the center after classes. We had a movie night watching the "Incredibles" which I always forget how good pixar films are till I watch them. Halfway during the film Farras, one of the security guards, paused the movie and made a security announcement that we were not to go on the balconies or take any flash photography out the windows. Appearently there was some unrest outside out center. Kind of gnarly, but it simmered down.

Shabbat Oct 6th:
Due to General Conference today we did not have anything scheduled for us until 6pm, which was the saturday morning session because of the time difference we watched conference from 6pm-8pm then 10pm-12am. That morning after breakfast Jed, Jordan, Sophie, and I walked to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This was my first time waiting in line there to go inside of the Holy Sepulcher, which was really cool, but we waited for probably 20 minutes and went into the small Sepulcher that fits three people at a time, I knelt, kissed the stone and started to pray when the monk came and yelled at us to get out, giving me a total of 10 seconds in the tomb. We spent some time in church exploring around. We then walked over to the Garden Tomb. Which, Juxtaposed to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is quite peacful and overall a differnt experience. It is a garden so obviously there is a difference of made made structure and nature. At the Church of the Holy Sepulcher I get a feeling of pilgrimage, worship, and diversity along with an overall feeling of hustle and buzz. At the Garden Tomb there are really friendly british volunteers who greet you and there are trees and flowers all around you, in the distance you can hear different christian denominations singing hymns (today was a group from the BYUJ center we later bumped into), but there is a more laid back atmosphere. I find it quite peaceful there. I sat on a bench that overlooks the Tomb and I read out of St. Matthew the accounts from the betrayal to the resurrection of the Savior. Then i went into the Tomb and spent a few minutes in the Tomb pondering. It was for me, the best preparation for Genereal Conference I have ever had. We walked back to the center, showered and changed into church cloths. After dinner we went into the Forum to watch Genereal Conference. To start of the Conference when President Monson made the announcement that the there is now an option for males who are 18 years old to serve missions and women who are 19 years old to serve the place errupted with excitement and emotion. For the group here at BYU Jerusalem there are many girls who are 19 and 20 who had been planning to serve missions, when this announcement was made, their lives got flipped-turned upside down. It was really exciting news, very historical Conference seeing that the last age change for this was in the 60s. Conference was the spiritual lift that I had been praying for. I thoroughly enjoyed all of it.

Sunday Oct 7th:
Early this morning around 6am we walked/ran down to the western wall for the "wacking of the willows" which is a Jewish tradition done on the last sunrise of Sukkot. The western wall was packed to the brim with Jews, all holding their “four species”. The four spices are also important symbols of Sukkot and represent the blessings of nature. These are lulav (a green, closed frond of a date palm tree), hadass (twigs and leaves from a myrtle tree), aravah (twigs and leaves from a willow tree) and etrog (a lemon-like fruit of the citron tree).The scriptural significance is: “four species” (plants) and reciting Hoshanot (Psalm 118:25). Reformed Jews find this practice rediculous but Hasidic Jews are very serious about this tradtion. When they get to the willow branches in the prayer they beat them on the ground. So naturally we woke up early to see these practices. It was awesome! We walked around the very crowded area then we met our teachers at the city of David (old Jerusalem) just south of the western wall through Dung Gate. We had an awesome field trip at the city of David. We got to go through Hezekaihs tunnel which was a tunnel that went under the city, we walked in water up to our shins and in a tunnel just wide enough for you to walk comfortably in. We sang songs and had a good time. At the end was the Pool of Siloam where we had a devotional, this was the pool where the Savior, after spitting in the dirt and rubbing clay in the blind mans' eyes told him to wash (John 9:11). It was awesome. After stopping at a few more spots, like an acient synagogue where Jesus was likely to have been (it was just rocks and ruin), and the city gates we went back to the busses and had our sac lunches and bussed back to the center. I then preceeded to take a 4 1/2 hour nap, which was absolutely lovely and gave me the energy and alertness for another late night of General Conference. I can say that I received answers and direction from Conference that I plan on sitting down to process and formulate goals today. Overall, this weekend was quite eventful and spiritual, stoked to be alive and here.

Western Wall on the last day of Sukkot

A Hasidic Jew with his "Four Spices (plants)"

Hezekiah's Tunnel

Pool of Siloam

Turkey Sept 22

Nicea,Turkey. This morning we drove to Nicea and went into the Hagia Sophia (Orhan) Mosque which is not to be confused with the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul which we saw later on that day. This Mosque was a Christian church which the 7th Ecumencal council took place, it is this really old church that was rebult in the 11th century after its first Byzantine Church was destroyed due to some earthquakes. It was a Christian house of worship and then it was later changed into a mosque. It was really cool because Its recreation was basically placing new windows in around the old stone and a new roof, the rest is all original and kind of run down a bit, which adds to its ominous and ancient feel. We then had a little walk through the town and went to the site of where the first Nicean Ecumencal Council took place. Most of the ruins are under the Lake of Iznik (Iznik is the modern day name of the city). We had a nice devotional there about the nature of God and the first vision. The lake was a sheet of dark blue glass with very subtle ripples caused by the nice cool breeze. The sun was shinning and not a cloud in the sky. The shade by the lake was very cool and comforting for an over weight man forced to walk around in jeans. We then made a long drive to Istanbul, stopping for lunch on the way. We took the ferry over to the European side of Turkey and made our way to the Hagia Sophia. This place is the 4th biggest church structure in the world (it was the biggest for many years) and is absolutely breathtaking. Though I took heeps of pictures, justice will never be done to its majesty. After a tour given by our Turkish tour guide Yasmine, we had free time. We went to the Tomp of the Sultans, which I didn't find too impressive, but it was interesting enough. Then we walked over to the Blue Mosque which was convieniently a few hundred yards away. The Blue Mosque is amoung my favorite structures I have seen thus far. The blue and white mosaic tile that line the huge domes is fantastic and very beautiful. Dinner was fun, we had a full cooked fish each and the restaurant we ate at was open and next to a road of many restaurants and shops that were hustling and bustling. Many turkish men and children were trying to sell us turkish hats and cigars. From dinner we drove to the airport, it was time to say goodbye to Turkey. It was such an awesome trip. We said bye to Yasmine in the airport, she was our beautiful and foxy Turkish tourguide. Our flight left at midnight and we landed in Tel Aviv around 1:30am, I had not slept much on the bus that day and was in a state of delerium. I finally slept on the flight. I was passed out, so much that the landing didn't even wake me up. I did however wake up to the sound of Janessa laughing very abnoxiously and she would not stop. I turned around and stared her down. She continued and I said in a desperate and pityful plea for silence, "Janessa, Please...shut...up!" this didn't do much either. Everyone else was thinking it, as they later told me, but I was so desperate for sleep on our half hour taxi to the terminal that I was the only one who spoke up and said something. Anyways, we made it to the Center at about 2:30am and we passed out!!!!

The Hagia Sophia (Orhan) Mosque in the background of me acting like a child who got left behind on vacation.

Lake Iznik location of the first Nicean Ecumencal Council ( Where the Nicean Creed was written)

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey

Turkey Sept 21

Due to the length of time that has transpired since these events and my laziness I will just put some pictures up of this day's activities with minor commentary.

 Sardis Gymnasium

My roommate Andrew and I wrestling in the field. This is were the romans used to practice sports and wrestle.

  

Temple of Artimus in Sardis

  Ulu Chami Mosque in Bursa

Field Trip to the Shephelah

Shephelah is pronounced (sh-vay-la; two syllables)...fun to say. This field trip was a longer one. We visited the ancient site of Samson and Delilah in the Sorek Valley. Then the Valley of Elah, we both looked down at it from Azekah and went down to the valley, this site is where David slew Goliath (1 Samuel 17). We visited some other relevant sites, but the highlight of the day was going to the wadi or brook where David gathered the 5 stones. We did a reenactment which was funny, we exercised our artistic liberties and used Batman lines that fit, Goliath was Bane, roommate did a wonderful impression of him. For example one line was, "I am Israels Reckoning" and so on. David was of course Batman, and I played Saul but using the character and accent of Alfred (Michael Caine). It was good fun. We then got to sling stones. I was a little nervous about doing this, especially with 40 of us, but I made sure to go as far away from people as I could. This did not help...First, Lizzy swung her's really fast and it went sideways really fast flying right at my head, luckily I ducked out of the way just in time. It was pretty scary, it was a rock the size of a lemon and it hummed in my ear as it passed by. Then, this girl Rachel did the same but it came from even further down the line, she didn't say heads up or anything, it landed 4 feet ways from me, I looked up and she just walked in the opposite direction without a word being said. So my roommates Jordan and Jed had for some reason had plenty of sling experience. They showed me how to do it and to my surprise I got the hand of it. It was fun and a good photo opp. We also went to these Caves called the Bell Caves, they were amazing!!! We also went to these other caves that people used to keep Doves and used as cisterns. I was sweating like nobodies business today, it was a humid hot, whcih I am noramlly used to but not wearing pants and shoes. I was dead tired by the time we got home at 5pm, we ate dinner then I studied for our Judaism Mid-Term.