Wow. What an adventure this week has been. Last week, we had our “Herodian Jerusalem” field trip.
Leslie Smith and I walking through the streets of "Herodian Jerusalem." This is where the shops were in those days.
An old column.
Muslim cemetery near the outer wall of the old city. Much cleaner and better kept than the Jewish cemetery.
Pinnacle where Jesus may have been tempted to cast Himself off by Satan.
Our Old Testament teacher Brother Emmett took us on a tour near the Western Wall and showed us where the old streets and shops would have been back then.
Model of the Temple Mount.
The Wall tour was really interesting, and the wall actually descends a LOT lower than you see when you go to the main part of the wall.
"Opposite the foundation stone and the site of the Holy of Holies"
We saw cistern that was built at the time, and we got to walk through the spot that is supposedly the closest place to the Holy of Holies. That part of the wall was a really tight squeeze and there were Jewish people praying all around it. The whole experience was awesome.
We also visited the Whol Museum and the Burnt House which were basically museums built around ancient civilizations before that part of the city got burned down.
We saw the very first map of Jerusalem and we also saw the very first depiction of a menorah. How amazing.
We witnessed about 20 bar-mitzva’s that day near the Wall. I took a few videos. As weird as it sounds, it really reminded me of the marriages at the Salt Lake or Oakland Temple. One right after the other. And we saw all the Jewish boys being led over to read the Torah scroll. That was interesting to see.
Steps where Jesus definitely walked.
And we walked up the steps near the temple wall literally where Jesus walked and read scriptures on site. It was such an amazing experience.
A couple of days later, a big group of us went and did the Via Dolorosa walk in the Old City and followed in the steps through the city of where Jesus walked when He carried the cross, and where he struggled and touched the wall. They explained each station and what happened at each one of them. There were about thirteen.
Entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
We ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I will never forget that experience.
On the Sabbath last week, I took about a fifteen minute walk to the Garden of Gethsemane. It was my second time going, and what an amazing experience it was. I actually got to sit in the place where the greatest act of mankind took place. I wrote in my journal and contemplated for awhile, and it was so special to be in the place where it actually happened. I feel like each time I’ve gotten to go there it’s been a different experience. I get something different out of it each time. I’d like to go again at least a couple more times before I leave.
This last week, we had midterms and I think they went okay. I’m not sure if I did spectacular, but I think I did okay. It was a crazy stressful time for all of us here though.
A couple of days ago, the director of the center actually took us on a tour underneath the center and we got to learn about the plumbing and how much certain things cost to build. It was pretty shocking, but a great experience to see what goes on down there and how everything runs. He also gave us a chance to go and etch our names on the walls down there and so I wrote my name near Marie’s and then I don’t know if you guys know her, but I found Christine Frye’s name down there and took a picture with it. She’s an awesome girl. You’ve probably heard me talk about Stephenie Frye a lot. That’s her cousin. They all live in Napa and they are in the Napa Stake. Anyway, it was a neat experience seeing that, and who knows? Maybe Kevin or David will decide to come here one of these years and they’ll see my name down there. That would just be awesome!
Yesterday, Marie and I did humanitarian work for a couple of hours and helped make hundreds of hygiene kits for underprivileged families. We also had locals from the city come and help us. It was an awesome experience seeing all those boxes stacked up behind us after we had been so involved in the work we were doing for that time. I loved it. They’ll probably have that activity running at least for a couple more weeks so I’ll try and see if I can go again.
A little boy was selling some shoes near the old city and they all got totally trashed because of the rain. How sad.
Later that day, Marie and I got a little group together and took a trip to the Old City and walked around in the rain. It was a lot of fun, and it was actually pretty liberating to be out and about after being in the center for the entire week just studying for midterms. It felt so good.
A couple of nights ago, we had a guy come in and teach us Israeli folk dancing. It was so much fun! I knew it was going to be fun, but I totally underestimated it. What an experience. We also got to do the Macarena which was also really fun. Ha.
This next week, we’ve got finals. How crazy is that?! One week of midterms and then literally the next week we have finals! I hope I can get through it. I’m going to try and just keep the idea in my head that we are going to GALILEE in just a couple of weeks!!!! AAAAH!! So exciting. I can’t wait.
Anyway, it was SO nice to talk with a few of you over the phone yesterday. You have no idea how nice it is to be able to get in touch with you like that. I really enjoyed it, and I really think I needed that. Thank you also for responding to my e-mails. Anything that you send to me, even if it’s just a sentence would be awesome. It literally makes my day.
I hope you all are doing well. I’m trying to live this experience for all of you guys and remember that I won’t ever get this chance again. I’m loving it here, and I get really sad even thinking about leaving this place. I pray for you every day, and hope that the next week goes well for you.
Love,
Jill
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