Hey all,

Sorry I haven't written in a few days. Things have been CRAZY. So much to do, so much to see and a ton of homework on top of that. I'm still trying to get used to this place. I still feel like it's a dream. The last week has mostly been classes all day followed by random trips to the old city in between.

The individuals in greenish yellow are Africans. People come from all over the world to see the Wall.

Separate entrance for men and women at the Western Wall

On our way to bring in the Sabbath with the Jews.

Bringing in the Sabbath. As you can see, they are reading from their prayer books and kissing the wall as a sign of devotion and love for God.

Last night, we went to the WESTERN WALL to welcome the Sabbath. We had the choice to write a prayer and put it in the wall so I did. It was amazing to see how devout most of these people are. Makes me feel like I need to be better about the things I do. They were all kissing the wall and crying and reading to themselves. You weren't allowed put your back to the wall so you had to back up as you left. As soon as we backed up and were about to stand around, a HUGE group of Jewish girls grabbed us and started dancing and singing with us. SO fun. They were really welcoming and they loved the "Mormon girls." You also weren't allowed to take pictures on the sabbath but I snuck a couple which I will try to post sometime soon. Don't tell anyone.

Church today was amazing. I love singing in the choir. It sounds like angels. And on top of that we're basically singing to the whole city, the chapel overlooks the Mount of Olives. It literally feels like we're proclaiming the gospel. It's awesome and I love it. When I come back, I don't think I'll be able to get used to having sacrament in a regular room. I'm getting kind of spoiled. Ha.

Dan Jones posing in front of our new snack place: "The Dan Jones"

A couple nights ago, we opened our JC snack shack, which everyone voted on to be renamed to "The Dan Jones" because we've got a guy named Dan Jones in our group. SO awesome. I don't know if you guys get it but maybe Ryan or Todd knows what I'm talking about. He's an awesome guy.

Last night, we played sardines and watched the Prince of Egypt to get ready for our Egypt trip. It was awesome and it makes me even MORE excited to go. We will be there for about a week. Just exploring. I'm really excited! I've heard not to eat anything that's not steaming and definitely do NOT eat any salads. Haha.

My first trip to the Garden Tomb.

Where the body of Christ may have been laid in the Tomb

"He is not here- for He is risen."

Anyway, today we went to the Garden Tomb. Yes, the Garden Tomb. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. We actually got to go in and look at where Christ was buried and where he arose from. I couldn't believe it. And it was such a sacred place. We also sang a bunch of hymns including "There is a Green Hill Far Away" and "I Know that my Redeemer Lives" and a few others. Right when we started singing I couldn't stop crying. I was just imagining everything as it happened there so long ago, and just remembering what He did for me. It was unreal to think about. Definitely won't ever forget an amazing experience like that.

As I told all of you, we live for EGYPT next week, but I will try and call sometime tonight (my time) or tomorrow on our free day, which will probably be jam-packed with more amazing stuff. I'm excited.
Hope you're all enjoying my updates, and I hope you're all doing well. I pray for you everyday.
Love, Jill

Another scattered e-mail (sorry this is all a little disorganized):

Family,

Lots more exciting things have happened and are still in store for the upcoming week! Yesterday, we went on a field trip to Jericho (yes, Jericho!!), the Quruntul Monastery, the supposed "Tree of Zacchaeus," Herod's winter palace, and to the St. George Monastery view. Fabulous!! It was amazing to see all the ruins of civilizations in Jericho.

At the top of the monastery

Ruins of Jericho

"Jericho: the lowest place on earth; 1300 feet below sea-level; 10,000 years old; blessed peace from the oldest city"

Spot inside the monastery where Christ may have had one of His three temptations by Satan

My FHE husband and I at top of the monastery

How amazing that there were people actually living and working there in a place like that!! Pictures soon to come. The Quruntul Monastery was also amazing. I actually stood in the place at which the three temptations possibly happened! And I stood on the ledge that overlooked Jericho. How beautiful! I have also figured out over the course of the trip so far that I am deathly afraid of HEIGHTS!! That ledge really scared me and it was pretty hard for me to take pictures. Haha. We also had to cover our heads there, which was pretty interesting. You will see pictures don't worry! (Mom and Dad, hope you're bugging Kevin or David to look at facebook for recent pictures!)

Driving through Jericho

Tree of Zaccaeus

Anyway, the tree of Zacchaeus was HUGE! It was cool to actually be near the tree that he possibly climbed up in. I felt privileged to be seeing all these amazing places.

Herod's winter palace.

Herod's winter palace was pretty amazing, but there really wasn't much left of it so we only stopped there for about ten minutes and took pictures. But a cool thought to think about!

Judean wildnerness.

Gotta have that classic jumping picture!

We also went to a lookout point of the Judaean wilderness!! Where so many important individuals have wandered. I couldn't believe I was there. And surprisingly, it was really beautiful. Just the brown hills everywhere surrounding us. We sang hymns at each of these places and it was amazing. Again, I've been using my hymn book as sort of a third journal for where I've been so I can remember these amazing experiences for the rest of my life. I know I won't ever forget any of this. How awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, today we had our Egypt trip orientation! We leave for Egypt EARLY Thursday morning! Woohoo! Athough, I'm actually really nervous to go now. We had a HUGE talk about travelers diarrhea and how last semester 50 of the 80 people here got cases of diarrhea. Comforting, eh? I'm excited. I just always have to remember to only eat cooked stuff and only stuff I can peel. I'm actually thinking of just living off snickers and water??? Ha. Just kidding! I will be VERY careful though. Hopefully I'm not one of those lucky ones who's laid up for a few days.

Anyway, things are going GREAT! I have a feeling that Egypt will really bring everyone even closer together haha. It's going to be AMAZING!!!!!!!

Love, Jill