Hey everyone!

This week has been absolutely crazy. I feel really bad for not having written sooner. We've done so much and learned so much. We just got a couple mid-terms out of the way. Applying for jobs, trips to the Old City, and a couple of really cool field trips in between.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Memorial Museum). There were so many things I learned and had no idea about before that museum visit. The museum was absolutely phenomenal. So well structured and planned, and every part of it meant something and symbolized something. It would have taken me months to get through that place trying to read everything. So many artifacts and stories. It was amazing. The worst camp was Auschiwitz (sp?). It was absolutely horrifying to hear all the stories of the people that suffered SO much. How can one group of people just decide that they would totally wipe out a whole ton of people like that?? It really almost made me sick to my stomach just hearing about all the stories and the way they went about everything. The people that put their own lives in danger to hide the Jews really touched me. Their stories were amazing. At the end, I just started bawling when we walked into the Childrens Memorial Museum and there were candles everywhere and the names of each of the children that were killed were being read over a speaker. Some children as young as 3, some as old as 13. It was mortifying. The whole time I was picturing what it would be like to see Kevin or David end up like that (even though they’re 16 and 18), and I could not stop crying. I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like without them and for them to just be killed like that. It really made me think. I can’t even imagine. How terrible.

This particular piece represented the Jews, downtrodden on the Death March.

Each of the trees surrounding the museum stood for someone who risked their life to save a Jew.

This one represents Andrzej Kostrz. Poland.

Jews being strong during the Holocaust, despite all of the turmoil.

View of the Holocaust Museum.

Those people were persecuted SO much and went through so much. How did some of them even survive? Another thing that really sticks out in my mind is what the people looked like in the end, when they had a selection of pictures of survivors all laid out. How much they changed physically. Skin and bones after all they went through. And even though they had to undergo all that trauma and experience all that turmoil, some people still got married (sometimes to other individuals that they met right there in the camps), and they still lived out their lives. I was amazed. It really gives me a lot of perspective and makes me think about what I’m grateful for. What an amazing experience.

We also visited Mt. Herzl and took a tour which was led by our Judaism teacher, Mr. Yarden. We visited Ben Gurion’s grave, which was interesting to see. We also listened to some children’s Hebrew music that he had brought.




David and Goliath scene. EPIC.

Having some fun with my sling in the Valley of Elah. The place where it all went down. No biggie.

Lachish. Where they had battle ramps and a very important siege.

Jenni Perkins and I having some fun on the TEL. One of MANY that we would see throughout the trip. Ha.

The olive press.

Anyway, our next field trip consisted of Shephelah/Philistine life. We went to Beth Shemesh where we were shown the lifestyle and homes of ancient peoples. We saw a siege ramp that was built and also saw the remains of the types of houses they had in those days. We also saw the remains of a temple that had an altar for sacrifices. We went to Azekah, the valley of Elah (where David and Goliath had their battle), and the teachers gave us slings (haha) and let us practice with our slings and rocks right there in the valley where they had fought. It was AWESOME. We went to Bet Guvrin, Lachish, and Micah’s cave. They were all awesome. Micah’s cave doesn’t have much significance but it was awesome to explore.

Pretending to be doves in the dovecote.

Pretending to be a dove.

We also explored a “Columbarium cave” which served as a dovecote for raising pigeons for food, for cult purposes, and for manure which was used for fertilizer. That was pretty cool to explore and we took lots of weird pictures. We also saw an olive press and explored another really open cave, and sang a few hymns. It was AMAZING.

Piggyback rides in Tel Aviv.

After they took this picture with that statue, the shopkeeper came out and asked for money for the picture. Haha.

"Mom, can I get this one?"

One of my all-time favorite pictures from the trip.

DaLynn Brown and Dan Jones and me posing in front of the Tel Aviv landscape.

Jill Baker and Jill Wood at the beach.

Abraham and Isaac scene within this statue. Among many other Bible stories.

Look what I found at the market in Tel Aviv! Can I keep it?!

Group shot.

Sam Carpenter...

Danishes. YUM.

Another view of the market.

Man pretending to be Jesus in Tel Aviv. Bit sac-religious.

My roommate Kimberlee Ray.

Kramer even came with us to Tel Aviv!

Jonathan Arnell ("Tall blonde") doing a cool trick that he learned on his mission.

At dinner. Cafe Nimrod. Haha.

Last Sunday (on our free day), there were about 25 of us that took a trip to Tel Aviv, which is about an hour away from Jerusalem. It was so much fun! What a gorgeous place. It kind of reminded me of L.A. plus another European town (even though I’ve never been there) put together. I loved it. We went to the beach and took a lot of pictures. It felt really good to relax and just get to know people more. I got FRESHLY squeezed orange juice (which was indescribably amazing) and had dinner at a really nice place called (yes) Café Nimrod. Marie and I split a huge salad and some lasagna and gelato. It was all SO good.

Yesterday, Marie and two other people and I all went to West Jerusalem (which is kind of the more modern part of town), and I got FRESH juice again which tasted like the best smoothie I’ve ever had in my life. I asked the guy to make me his favorite kind and it was called Tutti Frutti or something like that. Best juice EVER. We also got gelato, which I’m loving more and more every day. It was all really fun. Kind of a short trip and we didn’t do a TON, but we did have to be back to class by 4.

We have church tomorrow! I LOVE having sacrament overlooking the Mount of Olives. Nothing like it. I don’t know if I’ll be able to adjust back to a normal room. Ha jk. Hopefully I can go to Gethsemane again. I’ve only been there once and that was the very first week we were here. It was amazing. Sunday is another free day. Haven’t figured out what to do yet, but hopefully I can go see some more sites. I’m in desperate need.

Anyway, I’m finding out every day here that it’s SO difficult to find a balance between study time and city/touring time and social time. Whenever I go out, I feel guilty for not doing homework and then when I stay here and study I feel guilty for not going out and seeing things. I can do it though... I love this place!

I really hope everything is going well with you guys. My phone card is almost done so I better go run up and get a new one so I can call you guys sometime next week. I talked to grandma for a bit a couple of weeks ago and she was absolutely shocked that I called. It was nice to talk to her. Also, I’m a little confused. I’ve tried calling Todd about 4 times now and he never answers. I wonder if he thinks it’s a solicitor or something. But Todd: please answer your phone if it says unknown or something like that!! I would like to talk to you. It’s been really nice being able to call each of you guys while I’m over here. It’s nice to know that everyone supports me and can live vicariously through me and my pictures and e-mails and everything, and I LOVE talking with each of you and hearing about your weeks. I pray for you all every day.

Love,
Jill