Hump Day!!

Life is speeding by so quickly. Last week was my “hump day” in Israel. Before I know it I’ll wake up and this will all be over. I have to make sure that I appreciate each day. That’s a lot like a mission :o)

The snow this week was 7 inches!!!!! It was beautiful to look out of my balcony window and see it. Reminded my of Utah weather, except that Utah isn’t getting any of it. To have two snow storms in Jerusalem is really quite amazing.

Our field trip this week took us back to Yad VaShem. This is such a sobering place. I think that if I wasn’t with the students I wouldn’t go back. So much hatred, so much tragedy, so much death. I just don’t understand how people can do this to people, and yet it still goes on today, just in different places, and we pretend that it doesn’t happen, just like the world pretended then. I asked Lana to take this photo for me.

This is a hall with an eternal flame—lest we forget. I particularly wanted her to have a picture of the flame with Dachau in the foreground because I went to the Dachau concentration camp when I was backpacking around the world. That was my first realization. My bubble was burst. . . . And yet at Yad VaShem there is also a beautiful garden where trees were planted to remember all of those people who risked their lives to save Jews. That gives me hope.

On a brighter note, today I went to the King David hotel for lunch. This the ritziest hotel in Jerusalem. In the main lobby are tiles with the signatures of famous people who have stayed there. The one I saw were George Bush. I went with Linda Gunther and Sister Smith. Linda is leaving on Saturday. Sister Smith and her husband are here to be the new Humanitarian Service couple. I will miss Linda A LOT.

This  is a picture of Tina, Kasdyn and Linda at the Monastery at Petra. 

It’s hard to believe that in another week we’ll be finishing Old Testament class, heading off to Turkey and then coming back to start New Testament with the other group of students. It’s so easy to get attached and I will miss them, but I’m looking forward to getting to know the new group.

I wake up in the morning sometimes and can’t believe that I’m here and that I have such a wonderful opportunity of a life time. Who would have thought that a young kid from Redcliffe Australia would get to do all of this? The Lord has richly blessed my life. 

Midterm Exams, Dodgeball, and Hezekiah's Tunnel

Well not a whole lot happened this week. We had midterm exams. We went on the City of David field trip and today we went to the Holocaust Museum (Yad vaShem) and Mt Herzl.

Picture #1 is the most fun. Lana and her Family Home Evening group prepared to play Dodgeball. I wish that I had seen it. I just got the reports afterwards. Everyone told me to check out Lana’s hair. The finals for Dodgeball are tomorrow night. I guess I’ll have to go upstairs and have a look this time.

I got a note on my door Friday night. Two of my students brought me this Valentine’s Day flower! They had bought them for all of the girls, and I thought that it was so very sweet of them to think of me. I got a little teary!

Pictures # 2, 3, & 5 are from our field trip to the city of David last Monday. Hezekiah’s tunnel was just as fun this semester. The students absolutely love it—even though it is winter and the water was a little cool!

Picture 2 is me at the end of the tunnel. I’m pointing to where the plaque was that talked about how the two teams that were cutting the tunnel met in the middle. The original plaque is now in the museum in Istanbul, and we get to see it when we go.

In picture #3 I am standing by the ancient tower that was built to protect the Gihon Spring. It dates back to the Middle Bronze Age, around 1800 BC—to the time of Melchizedek!!!!! That’s pretty cool. 

Picture #5 is me teaching with the walls of Jerusalem in the background. We took the time to talk about Nehemiah rebuilding the city walls after the return from the Babylonian exile. In particular we talked about Pres. Uchtdorf’s talk, “We Are Doing a Great Work, and Cannot Come Down.” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/we-are-doing-a-great-work-and-cannot-come-down?lang=eng

It’s a great talk about the story when Nehemiah was repeatedly taunted by his enemies to come down and meet with them. He responded with the famous quote: “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.” I love Pres. Uchtdorf’s application. Although he is speaking to the Priesthood, the message is just as important for the sisters:

"We live in times of great challenges and great opportunities. The Lord is seeking men like Nehemiah—faithful brethren who fulfill the oath and covenant of the priesthood. He seeks to enlist unfaltering souls who diligently go about the work of building the kingdom of God—those who, when faced with opposition and temptation, say in their hearts, 'I am doing a great work and cannot come down.'  When faced with trial and suffering, they respond, 'I am doing a great work and cannot come down.'  When faced with ridicule and reproach, they proclaim, 'I am doing a great work and cannot come down.'  Our Heavenly Father seeks those who refuse to allow the trivial to hinder them in their pursuit of the eternal. He seeks those who will not allow the attraction of ease or the traps of the adversary to distract them from the work He has given them to perform. He seeks those whose actions conform to their words—those who say with conviction, 'I am doing a great work and cannot come down.'

I bear solemn testimony that God lives and is mindful of each one of us. He will stretch forth His hand and uphold those who rise up and bear the priesthood with honor, for in these latter days He has a great work for us to do.”

Field Trip to Shphelah - The Lowlands in Israel

This weeks photos come from our field trip to the Shphelah (the lowlands in Israel). Many Biblical stories take place here—too many to mention. What was different about this field trip to last semesters is that Pres. and Sis. Worthen (BYU President) came on part of the trip with us. They even came on the bus. They are wonderful gracious people, but it still made me a literal nervous :o) We went to Beth Shemesh first, which is where we discuss two Biblical events: the story of Samson and the story of the return of the Ark of the Covenant after it was captured by the Philistines (which is loosely the story behind the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark). 

Our next stop was Azekah, where we look down over the valley of Elah—the place for the David and Goliath story. We took a little too long at Beth Shemesh so we had to hurry up to Azekah because we were trying to time the mirror event with Ron’s class who were at Lachish. That meant that we had to immediately do the mirrors, like we did last semester, before we did any teaching. This picture shows us signaling. 

This picture shows me teaching afterwards about the significance of the mirrors during the Babylonian conquest of Judea (with Mikey, Merrick  Ann, and Kenzie). Do you like my new hat????? I think that it looks a little more classy than my old one :o)

My class singing in the Bell Caves at Beit Guvrim. The caves are man-made. When they discovered that you could take chalk and mix it and make a hard shell to line cisterns (so that they wouldn’t leak) and houses. People would dig a hole, break through the hard crust (naarim) and then mine the limestone in every increasing circles, which led the the bell shape of the caves. The acoustics here are divine!!!! So the picture is of my class singing. In the background are a group of school students who were also in the caves. When they heard us singing they gathered to listen to us and gave us a rousing applause when we finished! I’ve found that whenever our students sing, people always stop, listen, and give very enthusiastic applause! They certainly radiate a spirit when they sing.

Tomorrow we are off again to the City of David excavations, the highlight of which for the students is going through Hezekiah’s tunnel. This trip I will be leading all by myself, which is a first for me. That means that I have to do ALL of the teaching, and I won’t have anyone to back me up if I forget something important, which is easy to do because there is SO MUCH history and archaeology associated with this place. So you can imagine what I’ve been doing for most of the day today—reading, and reading and reading! So I can only do the best that I can. If I forget something, then it’ll have to be okay :o) I am looking forward to it and I know that the students will love it. It is winter though, so we’ll see how cold the water is.

Field Trip Week to Jordan

This week has been a big week for us. We went to Jordan. I really enjoyed the trip. It was a little less stressful for me because this time I had a bit of an idea about what I was doing. Unfortunately the lookout from Mt Nebo, where Moses looked out and saw the promised land, was hazy so we couldn't see very much.

Z (her name is Lindsey, but she goes by Z) and me at the Jabbok River. I LOVE the Jabbok River. There isn't much to see; the water is pretty polluted, but the story of Jacob’s wrestle with the messenger from God, continues to inspire me.

At Petra this time I chose to climb to the High Place. It was fun to see Lana up there when I arrived. 

Coming down was pretty hard on my knees and I knew from last time what it was like after a climb to walk the 5 miles from the restaurant out of the park, so we decided to ride camels from the restaurant to the Treasury.  All of us at the end of our ride, in front of the Treasury. This is the Treasury from the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Then I walked out through the Siq (the canyon) and then rode a horse back to the gate. In doing so it only took me 2 days to recover, rather than 2 weeks!!!!! 

In this picture the camel was very friendly :o) 

We got home from Jordan late. It took us FOREVER to get through Israeli customs, probably because there were some problems in the north. But then I had to prepare for my two hour class on Friday morning. I must admit that there got a point where I was so tired, I decided that I would have to wing part of class. Luckily I’m behind in class, so most of it was what I had previously prepared! We were supposed to be in Joshua, and I finished in Leviticus! Oh well, I guess we’ll catch up before the midterm somehow.

Sorry this has to be short this week. I have to get ready for the field trip tomorrow. I've just heard that Pres. and Sis. Worthen (BYU President and his wife) are coming on the bus with us. So I had better go and make sure that I’m up to speed!