Jordan and back again!

Oh my goodness! I love fall time more than anything!! Favorite time of year!! First of it was my birthday!! Ya man I am 20! What can I say?! I'm just an oldie now! We went on a field trip for my birthday. We herded sheep and made spices and pita and it was freaking delicious! It was a great day!

Me on my 20th birthday!

Then there is Halloween!! I love Halloween. One of the best holidays! So we had a little party here. We dressed up and the kids here came trick-or-treating and then we watched Signs and then had a dance party! It was way fun! I kinda get into it! Music costumes, signs, the whole shebang! I dressed up like a black cat! Party! I even got an outfit together for Emily. She was a pirate, complete with a shirt on her head! ha ohh i love it! That morning too we went out to the Shook and to an Ethiopian Church! It was fun!

Me, Elisia, Emily, Kaylen, Sara and Ellen at the Ethiopian Church!

I'm a black cat! haha

Pirate and Cat. Yes we are pro!

Then to top off the season we went to Jordan!! Oh my Jordan was awesome!! First day we went to Mt. Nebo where Moses saw the promised land but was not able to go in. It was way cool! The view was awesome!!

Top of Mt. Nebo looking into the Promised Land

Then we went Madaba where the oldest map of the Holy City is! It was sweet! It is this huge mosaic on the ground of the entire holy land! Sweet stuff!

Oldest Map of The Holy Land

Then we went to Machaerus where Herod had a palace and where John the Baptist was held in Prison and eventually beheaded. Way cool actually!! The view was spectacular!! Then we drove to Petra and got to our hotel and crashed in bed!! haha End of Day One!

Ellen and I at the top of Machaerus!!

Everyone takes pillar pictures so I decided to too!!

Day two of Jordan was Petra and I don't even know what to say about that other than it was freaking awesome!!! Best thing ever!! I loved Petra! It was seriously the sweetest thing ever!! Big Play Ground too!! haha loved it!! After Petra we saw a Crusader Castle then drove to Amman for the night! For Petra, lets do the pictures do the talking!

Brandon and I being Legolas and Aragorn- "They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard!"

Me in the Sik!!

Jackson and I infront of the Treasury!

Yup that's me!!

Emily and I!!! Love her!

Allison and I are riding camels!!!

Whooo party people!!!

Sweet arch thing we found while exploring the King's Tombs!

Treasury!!

Top of a huge cliff looking out to Petra!!

The next day we went to the citadel, the Jabbok River, and Jerash!! It was sweet!! The Jabbok river was way cool and we had an awesome devotional and then Jerash is the most well preserved Roman city in the region and it was sweet!! Loved it!

Me at Jerash!!

Look at that sweet city!!

Jabbok River!

Hand of Hercules from the temple of Hercules at the citadel!

Theater at Jerash

Then we came upon the last day! We went to the theater and odeon in Amman then we headed to the Jordan River to the traditional site of Jesus' Baptism! It was so incredible!! The spirit was so strong! Loved it! I had an awesome time in Jordan! It was a party and I learned so much! It was such a great experience!!

Theater at Amman!

Brandon and I at the theater!

Yea, not sure what we are doing, We are acting at the theater!!

Ellen and I at the Jordan River!

It's been a while!

Last Sabbath Lauren, Amy, Katherine and I went to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations for a little bit before  watching the Saturday sessions of General Conference. I love going to the Garden of Gethsemane. There are a few benches that we just sit on and look into the garden and write in our journal or just even sit and reflect. There are usually a lot of tour groups from all over the world who come through the Garden as we are sitting there. It is cool to see all of the different people that come through!

Me in the Garden of Gethsemane

The next day a bunch of us got up early and went to the Western Wall because it was the last day of Sukot, a Jewish holiday. This last day is the 'whacking of the willows.' And they will whack the willow branches against the ground as they pray. So we went to watch and it was way cool. Then we went to the City of David for our field trip. We went through Hezekiah's tunnel and the Pool of Siloam! It was super sweet!

At the Western Wall- you can see their willow branches.

Me at the city of David. Eyes closed. Whoops!

Then on Wednesday Ellen, Emily, Kayla, Jaquel, Rosie and I went to Absalom's Pilliar! It was way fun! On the way there, there was horse and so Rosie asked to ride it! It was awesome! ha then we went to the pilliar and then just walked around the Jewish cemetery. It was way chill and way fun!!

Jaquel on the horse!! Ride um cow girl!

Dome of the Rock and Absalom's Pilliar

This Sunday we went snorkeling in the red sea and it was crazy awesome! There was some sweet reefs and lots of cool fish! We even saw an octopus!! Monday we went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum and then had a holocaust survivor come and talk to us which was awesome! This week and next are finals so we are swamped with homework!! But we all are looking to the light at the end of the tunnel when we only have 2 classes!!

Shephelah, Shephelah! Goliaths Dead!

This Monday we took a field trip to the Shephelah! The Shephelah has 5 Valleys, first we went to the Sorek Valley where the story of Samson happened, so we did a little skit there, that was hilarious!

Pretty much I'm just as strong or stronger than Samson. Just don't cut my hair!

Then we went to the Alah Valley which is where David and Goliath met in battle and young David slew Goliath with a sling and a stone. The brook (with out water now) is still there where David picked up five stones. Then we tried to use slings and it was pretty dangerous, but i did descent if i do say so! ha

Do you see that good form. I could kill Goliath. Just sayin.

Looking out to the Alah and Sorek Valleys 

 Then we went to the Guvrin Valley were there were lots of under ground caves for their wine presses and dove holdings. We also went to the bell caves there which were sweet. The caves were carved out in the shape of bells and they look way freaking cool.

In the Bell Caves

Last we went to the Lachish Valley were you can still see a siege ramp there from when Sennachrib took Lachish. It was a way awesome field trip and was fun to explore around in the caves and the ruins!

We went exploring in tombs and I am a mummy. A good one too!

Ancient Lemurs!

Last week we took a field trip to Jericho, "the oldest city in the world." Honestly there wasn't much there but it was cool to be there all the same and actually see the oldest man made structure in the world. The Tower of Jericho is dated around 9000 BC! Crazy! Jericho is also 800 ft below sea level, so we partied under the sea!!

Tower of Jericho!

Then we went to the Zoo, (I know, random!) But it was really fun! It was a kind of laid back zoo where in the lemur exhibit, you were in there with them and they were just walking around! It was crazy! It was a perfect weather day and it was just a great day to be out. In the zoo. In Jerusalem! haha

Lemurs- the one was definately King Julian status!

Zebras, Rhinos, Giraffes Oh MY!

Traveling in Turkey!!

Turkey is awesome! We went on an extended field trip in Turkey this past week and it was incredible! We left Sunday and on Monday we toured all around Istanbul! Our guides name was Yasemine and she was awesome! Istanbul is actually on two different continents because the city is on both sides of the Bosphorus Strait and the west side is Europe and the east side is Asia. The main part of Istanbul with all of the historical parts is on the European side. So we went to the ancient hippodrome, the Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace, the Basilica Cistern and then we went to the Grand Bazar. It was one of the most awesome days ever!

Me at the Blue Mosque

Next day we woke up bright and early again and left for Gallipoli. We went to the Gallipoli Battlefield Memorial.  This was the site of a famous WWI battle.  Then we took a ferry ride across the Dardanelles and drove to Troy. Troy was sweet. Even though they don't know if the story of trojan was is real it was still a cool place. Then we went to our hotel which was right on the Aegean sea and we went swimming in the sea and had a dance party on the beach and it was sooo much fun!! 

Trojan Horse. The real one.

Next day(Wednesday) we had a long bus ride and then went to Assos which was one of my favorite spots. Out in the middle of no where was this cute little town, cobblestone roads with little houses all the way up the hill with old little babushka looking women were selling there stuff. very quaint and cool! At the top of the mountain you look out and se the Aegean Sea and there were islands out there which were actually Greek Islands so in a way I have seen greece. Assos was founded in the 7th century BC and there a large temple to Athena was built (alot of it is in the Louvre in Paris) but some of the columns were still there and it was sweet!  On the return trip at the end of his third mission Paul stopped in Toras to preach. His companions  sailed from Troas to Assos while Paul walked the 30 miles overland. He and his companions probably stood right there and preached to the people of Assos! Way cool!! After Assos we went to Pergamom Acropolis which was sweet. You had to take a tram up the hill to get there, Here is the steepest teater and contained about 10,000 seats There was a temple of Athena and it was built on the terrace about the tehater. Then the huge Altar of Zeus was located here but it is all in the Berlin Museum. It also housed the second largest liibrary in the world only second to the great library of Alexandra. Pergamum was one of the seven churches of Aia mionor to which john addressed the Book of Revelation. 

Alta and Me in Pergamum

Next day we went to the Church of St. John and the Overlook to the Temple of Artemis. Justinian constructed the Basilica of John in Ephesus over the supposed tomb of John. But we understand John was translated. But from there, we overlooked to the place where one of the seven wonders of the ancient world was, the temple of Artemis. Then we went to Ephesus. Coolest place ever. They have only excevated 10% of the city and it was huge!!! We walked forever just seeing sweet thing after sweet thing. There is a huge theater there that could hold 25,000 people. THe famous Library of Celsus was built (3rd largest library) and the facade has been reconstructed. People took some of Paul's companions to the great theater where they cried out for two hours "Great is Diana of the Ephesians" and there was a riot. Ephesus was also one of the churches of Asia minor. Then we went to Miletus There is a huge theater there and Paul warned them of the postasy  and taugh the teaching of Jesus, it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Library at Ephesus

Me and Kassie at Sardis in front of the Gymnasium

 Then we went to the beach and swam in the Aegean sea again and then we watched the sun set and it was awesome!! The next day we left and drove to Sardis which was also one of the seven churches (PS I went to 5 of the 7 churches) there are remains there also of a large temple to Artemis also there is a huge gymnasium where they would practice for wrestling and where they had baths and to the side they have a huge synagogue!

  

Brandon and I at the temple of Athena in Sardis

Then we went to Thyatria which was famous for its prodcution of purple dye which is harvested from a certain shellfish in the Mediterranean. After Paul saw the man of Macedonia in a vison he went to Thyatria where he met Lydia who was a seller of purple. Then we went to Bursa and walked around the markets there, then we went to the grand mosque there which was awesome!! it has 20 domes!! 

The next day we we wento to Iznick or Nicea which was where the first and the last Ecumenical Councils were held. We went to the acutal church where the 7th one was held which was sweet. Then we went to the Hagia Sophia!! Which was the most amazing thing ever!! Sooo cool!!! It was incredible I loved it. Way cool architecture and the coolest mosaics from they byzantine period, Then we walked around Istanbul for a bit and got on the buses to come home and then got to bed 4:00 here but really it was 3:00 because of Day light savings. So it was a great time!

Me in the Hagia Sophia

Me in the Church in Nicea

Hagia Sophia

Turkey was awesome I loved every second and I am so grateful for the opportunity to go and see all of the cool architecture and sights but also for the opportunity to learn more about the gospel and the Bible. Especially the missions of Paul and the efforts of the church after the death of Christ. Turkey is great and I already want  to go back!