EGYPT!!!!

Egypt was incredible. There are no words to describe some of the things that I saw while I was there. I stood in awe everywhere I went. Just like normal, every second was jam packed with amazing sites and great food. Some of the highlights in Egypt included: tour of Kibbutz, pyramids, temples and tombs, camel rides alongside the Nile, sailing along the Nile, Valley of the Kings, carriage rides, sleeper train, bargaining at hundreds of shops, and most definitely hiking Mount Sinai. See what I mean. We did so many other things as well and everything feels like a wonderful dream.

To begin, the pyramids were absolutely incredible. I just stood in front of them with my mouth wide open. It was something I had only ever dreamed about seeing and was so amazed to be there. We were also able, the night before we went to the pyramids, watched a light show and heard the stories of the pyramids. (these last two pictures are of the syhinx. My two friends Lizzy(left) and Molly(in the middle) are next to me!
The temples and tombs were also so amazing. To be standing in front of ancient temples that had been built thousands and thousands and thousands of years ago was so amazing. I kept thinking that the temples that I was looking Christ might have thought that they were old as well. Many of them had been built hundreds and even a thousand years before Christ. WOW!!!! The same thing with the pyramids. Everything was so OLD! Ha ha! The tombs were remarkable. The ones that we went to on our tour were incredibly detailed with old ancient writings and drawing. Many of them also had the color on them still after all these years. I loved looking at them and I stood really close to my teacher who was telling a small group of us students what the symbols meant.
(the first five pictures are at the Karnak Temple. The most incredible ancient temple there is in the world and the last five picture are at Queen Hatshepsut temple. I dont have any pictures of the tombs because the tombs that we went to at the Valley of the Kings did not allow you to take pictures there. Its such a shame because it was so amazing. Maybe look online for pictures.=)

The camel ride was so much fun. We left just about two hours before the sun went down and we sailed across the Nile River to our camels. The view was incredible. It was literally beyond any expectations I had for a camel ride. A big group of us then got on the camels and took a 30 minute camel Ride right on the Nile and started going into a little bit of a small country village with beautiful mountains in the background. I also had a lot of fun talking to my guide Abraham. And my camel (George Cloney took good care of me)!(these are little girls that were trying to sell us some flowers. They were adorable. It amazes me how poor some of the world is. Being here has opened up my eyes in so many different ways.)

The bargaining in Egypt was CRAZY!!! Whenever we decided to go shopping we were mobbed by all the merchants. I cannot even count how many times I was told I was beautiful and so many men asked me to marry them. I even got offered a million camels. I have got to tell you, even though they were just trying to sell me their stuff and get my attention, they sure know how to boost my self-esteem. I was very flattered, most of the time. The other times it got quite annoying and I kind of got irritated. By the end of Egypt however I got really good at bargaining. At least I think I did. A lot of my friends would ask me to go buy stuff for them. It felt great to bargain! I really loved it!

Mount Sinai was my very last stop in Egypt and is was one of my favorite! We all woke up at 2 in the morning, yes am and got on the bus. We then took a short drive over to the mountain and started climbing. This mountain was a tough one. It was straight up the mountain and it had quite the obstacles to dodge. Hundreds of camels! Everywhere we were hiking we heard “want to ride a camel, long way up.” It was crazy. There was one point where I literally got smashed in-between two camels. It was a little scary. I walked next to one of our leaders who I love to death. Her name is Sue Allen. I get excited every time I talk to her because she reminds me of my wonderful friend Janette Allen. I do miss her but am grateful that I have this Sister Allen to love in the mean time! Anyways, we made it up the mountain and then had the option to climb up on the very tippy tippy top of the mountain. It was 700 more stairs up and many of the girls legs were already shaking and did not want to walk further. However, I was determined and I made it all the way up to the top. We arrived on the top just as the sun was about to come up. It was so beautiful! We were higher than the sun at the time so we were able to see the sun coming out. It was so incredible. f We also sang some songs on the top and it was truly a beautiful and wonderful experience. After the sun came up and we finished singing we climbed back down the stairs and had a testimony meeting. People shared their thoughts and feelings and I have never been so uplifted by others and the spirit in my life. It was wonderful. I feel like I am constantly growing spiritually as well as mentally. We then had the decision to climb down the camel way or the stair way. Now previously in this trip I rolled my ankle on the very first day of going to Egypt. By the week’s end and I was climbing Sinai it was still a little soar but incredibly better. Anyways, no one wanted to go down the camel way because they wanted to go faster and wanted to see the new scenery so I decided to go with them as well and just suck up the pain. NOT A GOOD IDEA! My ankles were still weak and not as strong and I actually twisted my ankles a few more time on the way down. It turns out it is a pretty bad sprain. However that is not the important thing. My experience there will never be forgotten, and not just because of my ankles but because of the beauty and the things which I experienced on top of Mount Sinai.

Overall, Egypt was incredible! I actually just looked up the word incredible in the thesaurus because I feel I have been using it a lot and the word I like the best to describe Egypt is far-fetched! So, Egypt was absolutely far-fetched! Ha ha!

Just chillin in Jerusalem!

Things have been so crazy for the last few weeks, hence the reason I have not had a second to write on my blog! I have literally had every second of my day planned even down to eating, sleeping and bathroom breaks! A couple weeks ago I was still in Jerusalem and was able to classes and had two free days to go out in the city. I have been learning so much it is incredible to me more know than ever that the mind can hold so much information. We have such amazing bodies! Anyways, I have such wonderful professors here at the Jerusalem center, I am truly blessed. They take us all over to different sites and teach us so much about each place we visit. We also read directly from the scriptures while we are there too and in some places we sing. For example, one of my favorite places that we went were in these amazing caves. They are called the Bell caves and they are honestly the most beautiful caves I have ever been in. They are incredibly tall and wherever you are in the caves it echoes. We had a few people from our group sing some beautiful solos and we also sang as a group. It made the whole caves sing as well. It was so beautiful.

We also when spelunking in some different caves. While the Bell Caves were the most beautiful caves I have ever been inside, these were definitely the coolest. We had to crawl on our hands and feet and in some places had to do the army crawl to get into the bigger cave. Once we all got out of the little tunnel and made it to the middle where the big cave was our teacher had us turn off all of our lights and sit in the darkness. He talked about the importance of light in our lives and the importance that the gospel is and that it gives each of us our own light. He said some amazingly profound things and then we all sang some hymns that had to do with light. I will never forget the feelings that I had.

Some places that I went while I was in Jerusalem the last couple weeks were to The Garden Tomb, which was absolutely amazing. I actually went as a field trip with the other students. So, there was not a whole lot of time to sit and contemplate, however I could definitely feel the spirit there. All of our group sang some hymns and it sounded absolutely incredible. I am already looking forward to the time when I can return again. That is the wonderful thing about living in Jerusalem. I can return to any of these places that I have visited anytime I want to!

(this is a sign that when President Hinckley came to visit here someone read it allowed to him and President Hinckley said, "I do every day." What an amazing man!)

Some other places I have gone have been some museums (probably none that you may know a lot about if know about at all, I sure did not until I went there) and have gone to the Western Wall. That was truly amazing to go there. To see so many different people come from all over the world to worship and praise here at the western wall was amazing. When we went there they separated us into two different sides; one side for the girls and one for the boys. On the girls side it was very quiet and everyone was very reverent. There were many people that were literally weeping as they were touching the wall. There were also many people that were standing and reading the Koran. On the boys side it was a completely different feeling to me. While I was not allowed on the guys side I was able to stand on a chair and look over a wall to see what they were doing. They It was such a cool experience. I stayed there for quite a while watching and pondering on my own. I was able to write my own prayer scroll and put it into the wall. Even though my religion does not consider this to be a holy place per say, I still felt the spirit there and respect so much the people that come from all over only to touch the wall and to say their prayers to God.

Hello from Israel!

Shalom!!! That means hello, goodbye and peace in Hebrew. A lot has happened since I last blogged. Things have been so crazy here and not much time to spare. I have adapted very well to the time change unlike most of the people that have been here. In fact many are still suffering. It turns out it was a good thing that I suffered the first three days without any sleep because while everyone else was sleeping on the plane and I was wishing that I could, it turns out that my body would let me sleep any time I gave it a chance while in my bed. So, lesson learned. For me it is better to suffer the first few days and then catch up on sleep later. Anyways, I have been all over the area already. Which means miles and miles of walking. And let me tell you, everything seems to be on a hill and very hot. However it is great! I actually really enjoy it because it is a great workout and I feel like I have been sitting in a steam room all day. It is humid here which was surprising to me because I thought that it would be dry. On the second day we were here we got in groups of about 10 to each "more mature adult" and went on an orientation walk. Here we went around the city and they showed us places that we would want to visit and a little bit of how to get around. It is very easy to get lost in the Old City. We traveled about 7 miles and saw many places that I am very excited to go!

The next day we woke up early and went to our first day of classes! I went to Old Testament and then also to Ancient Near Eastern Studies. There is an incredible amount of homework just in these two classes and I also have Hebrew, Modern Near East as well as New Testament! It is going to be really hard to keep up in the class but it makes it easier to want to read because I am actually here studying the things that I am reading and then experiencing it every day. It’s incredible. Anyways, after class we had yet another wonderful Orientation meeting and then we were able to go out for the first time on our own and go to the city. This was on Friday. Friday is the Muslim’s Sabbath so we are actually not allowed into the city until 3:00 because it is so busy and crowded all the time. But as soon as the clock ticked 3 I was out the door ready to see and experience everything. I went with a group of friends and we explored a little bit and went into many of the different shops. It was wonderful to be out and to meet so many people. It seems like everyone in town knows who we are because of the way we look, dress and act. They all scream out “the Mormons are back” or come up to us and say “hello Mormons let me show you something.” I am so happy that many of the students before me have acted in a way that makes us seem like such wonderful people!

Saturday is the day that is most celebrated as a “sabbath” day here so we as students also celebrate it as our Sabbath. In the morning a group of about 7 of us woke up early and went before church started to the Garden of Gethsemane. It was absolutely wonderful. The spirit was wonderful there and it was gorgeous. We arrived right when it opened which was perfect because no one else was there and we could wander around peacefully and sit and read the scriptures as well as pray and meditate a little. All of my group made it a goal to come every Sabbath before church starts. It is a great way to start feeling and partaking of the Spirit! Right next to Gethsemane is the Church of All Nations and a small group went in to have a private sermon. I was able to hear them a little bit sing and pray in latin. It is so wonderful to hear and experience different cultures and religions. It really fascinates me. On the way back we met three men. One of the men there was a pastor that had been to Jerusalem 65 times and was traveling all over making his sermons out of movies. That way the church will be able to literally see what things look like as well as here the lessons. He invited us to join him and hear his lesson. One of the other men that was there had been born and raised in Jerusalem and was able to tell about the culture and the geography of the places. It was such an amazing experience. I will never forget it.

On Monday was our first field trip. We went to the Augusta Victoria Tower, Seven Arches Overlook, Deir Elyas, Haas Promenade, and then Nebi Samwil. It was a great experience. I had a great time getting to see everything and at some of the overlooks you could see the most beautiful views. It was truly incredible. I was also able to see an overlook that looked over all of Bethlehem. It was beautiful. I find myself pinching myself all the time seeing if this is real or if it is just a dream. I am in such a beautiful place in the world and feel so blessed to be here.

Today was the first day of my other set of classes. I absolutely love Hebrew. It is so much fun. I feel like I am in Kindergarten all over again. I found myself smiling the whole time. The instructor must think I am a huge cheese ball. Anyways, it was wonderful and I think that it will be one of my favorite classes of all. If you got through all of this I am impressed! Love you all!

Excited to be finally be here

Hello Everyone! I have been having the time of my life here. I am in the most incredible city in the world! First of all, the flight here was increadibly LONG!!!!! However I got to watch two different sunsets and a beautiful sunset while over the ocean. I am pretty sure that the fact

that I was sitting next to a guy the whole way went a little bit out of our normal BYU curfew time!! ha ha! I sat next to four different people for four different flights. I also had a long layover. However the layover was actually kind of fun because we got a big group together and played a game the whole time. I am already making wonderful friends. Everyone is so nice and so fun to be around. I was not able to sleep on the plane all but 20 minutes and only got a 2 hours the night before I left so I was extremely exhausted when I arrived. When we arrived, we still had half of a day to stay up. It included the long orientation meeting, (which many people fell asleep in) dinner, getting to know your professors, and unpacking. It was a long three days all combined into one. However I made it to sleep and woke up to the call to prayer at four am. However, I am not one bit unhappy about not getting sleep. I dont want to miss anything. Plus, Brad always says "I can sleep when I'm dead." The next day which was on Thursday we woke up early, had breakfast, had yet another orientation meeting (which many people also slept in) and then began our toured walk of the city. It was 7 wonderful miles. Jerusalem absoluetly fascinates me. So many different cultures, religions, and people all put in one city. The BYU Jerusalem Center is on the mount of olives looking over the whole city. It is the most beautiful view I have ever seen. The building also everytime I go and look around literally makes me cry. I dont know if it is just jet leg or the fact that it is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been in. Probably both. It feels to me like a temple. I feel incredibly blessed and rich just to be living in this building. Today was the first day of classes. I went to my old testiment class first then have Ancient Near Eastern Studies. They both seem really intense and I feel really lost. However I am excited about them because I will be able to read in my many texbooks that have been given to me and then go out and see what I just read. We also had a couple meetings today for our different commitees. On fridays they do not let you out into the city until 3:00 because if is the Jewish "sabbath" and it is so crowded and populated that they do not want any students down there because it is the time that most terrorist attacks would happen. Dont get scared! I feel extremely safe here. We are so protected in this building by countless body guards and I feel that Heavenly Father will watch over us wherever we are. I have only about 40 more minutes and I will be able to go to the city. I am very excited to explore. To sum up I am having such an amazing time, meeting wonderful friends and am in the most beautiful and sacred place in the world!

(this is one of the views outside on my balcony)