This week in Turkey

Tonight we just arrived in Bursa. They've given us time to shop at the Bazaar. Generally I haven't bought anything because I'll be back another two times. But today I bought a cheap bath mat. The one in the center is just a towel and it slips everywhere, so the one I bought today has a non-slip back. It's nothing spectacular but hopefully it will last the year. It cost 5 Turkish Lira which is about $2.30.

I don't have anything to teach tomorrow so I'm going to enjoy a relaxing evening—although we won't get dinner until about 8 so there won't be much time.

Turkey is a BEAUTIFUL country. In my mind, it is the epitome of what a modern Muslim country can be. I've had a wonderful time here!

Faculty Field Trip Preview to Jericho

Today we went on our faculty field trip preview to Jericho. It was amazing! We only get to take the students to three places in the West Bank: Jericho, Bethlehem and Bethany. The first picture is at the Wadi Kelt—the ancient road between Jerusalem and Jericho—site of the Good Samaritan parable. In the back of the picture there is a monastery.  This one remembers Elijah, but it is somewhere around here that Jesus was tempted after his baptism

 The second picture is in Jericho. It is the traditional site. It's the sycamore tree that Zachias climbed to see Jesus. 

The third picture is Kasser al Yehud. The traditional place in the Jordan river where John the Baptist was baptizing. The Jordan River here is only 25 feet wide so you can easily see the people who are there from Jordan!

Week Two with the Students

On Monday we had a field trip called the Jerusalem overlook Field Trip. This was our second trip to try and orient the students. We started out on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem from the east. We got to talk about the geography: the main three valleys of Jerusalem: Kidron, Tyropean, and Hinnom; the city of David in the time of Melchizedek, David & Solomon; the temple mount with Solomon’s temple, Herod’s expansion, and the Muslim Dome of the Rock and Al-Aksa mosque; the city walls built by the Ottomans with the golden gate and Lion’s gate; and the excavation of the southern wall of the temple mount with the miqva’ot and the ancient stairs leading up to the temple. 

Next we moved to the Augusta Victoria church, hospital and hostel, also on the Mount of Olives. It is one of three towers on the Mount of Olives and is the highest of the three. We went into the chapel and talked about Kaiser Wilhelm II and his desire to be the new crusader who would make Jerusalem into a Christian city. We talked about the architecture of Christian bascilicas and talked about the role of art in Christian churches. We then climbed the tower (I started early because I knew that it would take me a while to get to the top and I wanted to catch my breath before the students arrived—but they were huffing and puffing as well!). Up the tower we were able to get a 360 degree view of Jerusalem, the Judean wilderness, the Jordanean plateau, the Herodian, and Nabi Samwell (where we would finish our field trip later in the day). 

Then we got in the bus and left for Tayelet or the Has Prominade which gave us a magnificent view of Jerusalem from the south. Here we were particularly able to see Jerusalem’s 3 valleys and also got to see the Mount of Olives and where Bethphage and Bethany were. This would also have been the place where Abraham would have first seen Mount Moriah as he came to sacrifice Isaac. Next we went to Mar Elias which is a traditional place where Elijah stopped on his journey fleeing from Jezebel and heading to Mount Sinai. Here we got a better look at the Herodian (the place where the Wise Men met with Herod), Bethlehem, the separation wall that the Israelis have built in an attempt to stop suicide bombers, the traditional place where Rachel (jacob’s wife) died in childbirth and we also got a great view of the “Way of the Patriarchs” where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob traveling along the upper plateau as they travelled north and south. 

Our last stop took us to Nabi Samwell which gave us a view of Jerusalem from the north east. Nabi (= Heb. for prophet) Samwell (Samuel). This has wrongly been said to be the ancient site of Ramah where the prophet Samuel died. It is a famous place because this is where the crusaders would stop and get their first glimpse of Jerusalem. It was also the place where Richard the Lion Hart stopped and retreated as he attempted to retake Jerusalem during the third crusade. From here we were able to see Gibeah, the ancient capital of Saul and Gideon, the place where Joshua asked the Sun and the moon to stop while he conquered the armies of the Canaanite kings. it was also the place where Solomon came to offer sacrifice and asked God for wisdom rather than riches. This was a wonderful place to stop and teach these scriptural passages.

Tuesday through Friday we had classes. This week I taught the stories of Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses—yes we are moving very quickly. I have started sitting in on the modern Hebrew class, which I am LOVING.

On Tuesday I was also called to be the new Seminary teacher! This is very overwhelming because being here is already such a huge learning curve for me, and the Seminary class is on the Doctrine and Covenants, of which I know very little! Why couldn’t have been on the Bible or Book of Mormon???? This year we are trying out an online seminary class, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. This means that I have to complete 12 hours of training before I teach my first class on Tuesday night. There aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all. But in the Lord’s work, there is always a way.

On Friday night we took the students down to the Western Wall for the Sabbath evening. It was a WONDERFUL time. I think that we could learn a lot from them about how to celebrate the Sabbath. There were hundreds of people from all walks of Judaism singing and dancing and celebrating the coming of the Sabbath.

On Saturday after Church we walked down to the Garden Tomb and had a tour of it. It was fun to see the excitement in the eyes of the students as they really enjoyed that experience.

Tonight a group of us went to dinner on the Mount of Olives at the Seven Arches hotel. In it’s prime it was probably a very closely hotel. Now its a little run down, but we had our meet cooked on a stone at our tables. It was quite fun (and expensive). 

First Bus Field Trip

The end of my first bus field trip. This is taken at Nabi Samwel (i.e., the prophet Samuel)l. It's the place where Richard the Lionhart stopped in his attempt to retake Jerusalem during the third Crusade. It was mistakenly thought to be Rama, the place where Samuel died, hence the name. From this site you can see Gibeah, Saul's capital and Gibeon where the sun and the moon stood still for Joshua and where Solomon came to offer sacrifice and asked God for wisdom.

Looking back at Week 2 - students arrive

This has been a busy week for me. On Monday I went into the old city for the first time since I have been here. We wandered around and I bought myself an over the shoulder purse to carry all of my stuff in. I needed something smaller than a backpack. I found something I like made by the Druze, which is a sect of Islam that are based in Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. On Tuesday we went back to the Old City as part of our preparation for the walking tour that we would take the students on Thursday. We walked from the center, down the Kidron Valley, up through Saladin street and Nablus road (both Palestinian streets outside of the old city, then in through Damascus gate to the Austrian hospice where we could get on the roof to have a birds eye view of the city. Then we followed the Via Dolorosa for a short way to the church of the Holy Sepulcher. We went in briefly, but we'll bring the students back for a longer stop later in the semester. Then we went the Roman cardo which dates from the time of Hadrian (1st third of the second century). This is in the Jewish quarter and so we saw the Hurva synagogue and then went out through Zion's gate. We walked for a while outside the walls to Jaffa gate. Along the way we looked out past the Hinnom valley to west Jerusalem. I'm getting so that I can recognize landmarks in the Jerusalem skyline: the Aijalon tower, King David's hotel, with the YMCA tower behind it (where I played the carillon bells last week), the church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Luther church of the Redeemer, and the Dormition Abbey. Once we made it to Jaffa Gate we saw the David's Citadel museum and then we caught shuttles back to the center. I was pretty exhausted. It took us about 5 hours.

On Wednesday we went out on another pre-field trip. Again it is to give students a sense of bearings. We made two stops on the Mount of Olives: the Augusta Victoria shortchange with its amazing church and tower. It was a LONG way to climb all of the stairs but it was a breathtaking 360 degree view once I made it to the top. Then we went to the 7 arches hotel lookout to get a wonderful view of the Kidron valley and the Temple Mount. Next we went north west to Nabi Samwell (a crusader fortress , which was as close as Richard the Lionhart got in his attempt to recapture Jerusalem during the third crusade) where we could see King Saul's ancient capital of Gibeah with its unfinished palace of Jordan's King Hussein, and Gibeon where Joshua commanded the sun and moon to stand still while he defeated the alliance of Canaanite kings. Then we went south east to Mar Elias from which we were able to see Bethlehem and the Herodium. Lastly we went to the Haas promenade which was a beautiful spot where we could view Jerusalem from the south. In many ways jerusalem is a very different city than it was in Jesus' day, but in other ways it's still exactly the same: the hills and valleys are still the same; Bethany, Bethphage, Bethlehem and the Herodium are still there!

On Wednesday afternoon the students arrived and brought with them an energy to the center. On Thursday morning I lead a group of ten on the walking tour of the old city. I was pretty afraid that I would get us lost and that I would remember all that I needed to say, but we got through ok and had a great time. But boy was I exhausted at the end of it and my feet were telling me that they had done way too much walking and climbing this week. I've had them up every spare minute since trying to get the swelling down!

On Friday I was finally in my comfort zone—in the class room. I love teaching and I love my subject. We talked about Abraham and Isaac!

Today it was great to have the students at church. They were already leading the music, translating and teaching Sabbath School, Primary, Young Men's and Young Women and Priesthood lessons. Then tonight we had a music fireside where they played the piano, flute and sang. They were all very gifted and I was once again reminded of how The Lord has blessed us with such diverse talents, all of which are so important to help build the Kingdom.

Visiting the Old City to buy a purse

Just like in Nazareth, the old city was a bit deserted.  The shopkeepers kept asking about the students and when they would return!  They come on Thursday!