Holy Week in the Holy Land.

Since the very beginning of this Jerusalem Study Abroad, I have been documenting my feet everywhere I go…or I at least have tried. I did it with the intent of a scrapbook page or a blog post dedicated to all the places my feet have walked. This week, I documented my feet with a very different purpose in mind. This week, I walked the path of my Savior as He entered Jerusalem triumphantly on Palm Sunday, as He climbed the stairs up to the temple, as He performed the Sacrament in the upper room, as He prayed to Heavenly Father beneath an olive tree on the Mount of Olives, as He carried a cross on his back through Jerusalem, as He was laid to rest in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, and as He appeared to Mary after He had been resurrected, triumphant over death.

Palm Sunday Service at an Episcopalian Church

Palm Sunday Walk: Path from the Church of Bethpage into Jerusalem.

Temple Mount: The stairs Christ climbed to get to the temple.

The Upper Room: Possible site of the Last Supper.

Via Dolorsa Walk: Path from Christ's trial to His crucifixion mount. 

Holy Sepulcher: Site where Christ is believed to have died, been anointed and laid to rest. 

Never before have I appreciated the last week of my Savior’s life with such gratitude in my heart. And as I sit this Easter morning looking out my balcony over the city of Jerusalem I am in complete awe of my life, my Savior, and how real His life now is to me. 

This morning I woke up at 4:30 am to get ready and walk up to the Garden Tomb for the English Easter morning sunrise service. There I stood, in the midst of thousands from every continent around the world, singing to Christian rock music, listening to the words of the Gospels as men of old told the story of Christ’s resurrection, looking at what might have been the tomb that Christ was laid in, as the sun rose and the Jewish Sabbath ended with the resurrection of my Savior. I cannot express in words the Holy Ghost that filled my whole being. My Savior lives. He suffered, bled, and died for me and now…He lives.

 The Garden Tomb: Possible site of Christ's Resurrection.

He atoned for my sins, pains, and weaknesses and through Him I am able to return to my Heavenly Father and forgiven of my sins if I turn to Christ with a contrite spirit and a broken heart. My theme for this year has been to make my hands like those of my Savior, to strive more to be like my Savior in all that I do. As I study and learn of my Savior here in the Holy Land, my desire to be more like my Savior has grown so much stronger than I could ever imagine. I testify that my Savior lives. He walked a literal path that I have followed here in Jerusalem, and he perfectly exemplified a path of righteous that I will follow the rest of my life. He is my elder brother, my Savior, and Redeemer and His grace is sufficient for you and me, no matter how inadequate we may feel. He loves us and has opened the door for us to have eternal life with our families. Oh how grateful I am for my Savior. He is the rock of my foundation and I have never been so excited to bear his name on my nametag as I go out on my mission in 58 days. I have never been so exquisitely happy-the gospel is real and with that knowledge, I have purpose, meaning and fulfillment each and every day of my life. And I say these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, my Savior, Amen. 

Side notes from last week that I never blogged about:

1. I stalked Obama one afternoon last week when he came to meet with the Israel Prime Minister. Of the four possible routes his motorcade had to pass to enter the King David Hotel....we chose the wrong one. Still strange to think I've been closer to the President of the United States half-way across the world, than I ever have been in the United States. And yes...we met some Secret Service men. That was all sorts of delightful (Security was EVERYWHERE).

2. We went on a field trip beneath the Western Wall to all the hidden tunnels built when King Herod extended the Temple Mount. Crazy cool. (Extra side note: I adore KC.)

3. We adventured to Southern Israel to snorkel in the Red Sea!!! Biggest successes of the day...I swam in the Dead Sea, I touched a fish with my toe, and I finally learned how to skip rocks. I owe you big time Preston!

4. Our field trip to Bethlehem, where Christ was born, was exquisite. My favorite part wasn't the actual Church of the Nativity, but instead the Shepherd's fields. Our devotional and testimony meeting sitting where the shepherds herded their sheep the night our Savior was born was beautiful and filled with such a great spirit. 

5. I may be obsessed with Arabic graffiti and the darling Jessica captured a bit of my obsession perfectly. 

6. We found the way up to the rooftops of the old city. You can walk/run/dance/jump/parkour across them all. LOVE IT. Oh and yes...we finally found Lina's too. Best hummus I have ever had. Oh my word, I could eat that everyday for the rest of my life and not be sad.

7. Old City field trips to a lot of places we have already gone on our own? Yes, appreciate the facial expressions. It was nice to learn more about these beautiful places though. 

Okay, yes...you've finally made it to THE END. Love you all. Have the best day. (And if you need a semi-opinated entry in your life, scroll down a bit to see what I posted yesterday about the Separation Wall.)

The Separation Wall

We went on a half day field trip yesterday to different parts of the separation wall in Israel that divides Palestinian territory from Israeli land. We had a guide, lots of information thrown at us, and three stops to make. And for the first time, the true crushing weight of the wall hit me.

I've been thinking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for three months now. I've taken an Israel class and a Palestine class here in Jerusalem. I've walked the streets between East and West Jerusalem and seen the dramatic changes between the neighborhoods. I've talked with Palestinians and Israelis. I've listened to my fair share of forum speakers who come every week to the Jerusalem center to discuss this conflict. I've read newspapers and written papers. And after all of this, I still feel as if I don't understand the entire issue at hand, but here's what's currently plaguing my mind about it all anyway.

So, there we were. 80 students, a few teachers, and our guide piling out of our tour buses to stop and learn more about the wall. There I stood taking photos, half-listening to our guide, reviewing New Testament apostles in my head, and feeling all sorts of exhausted from sleeping only three hours the night before. My head was completely lost in my day, my life, my world. And then like a slap to the face, I looked up and saw these three Palestinian boys to my right. The older boy on the bike was staring at us with a look of complete confusion. Maybe it's my own interpretation but I could see the wonder and disgust cross his face as he watched us. There we were, a large group of American tourists standing in front of him smiling for pictures with the wall, blissfully unaware of the harsh realities that were so real in his life because of that terrible dividing wall. 

I guess what kills me inside was that I was lost in the stress of something so little as a test. I was consumed in my own world, and I think that is the crux of all foreign conflict from an outside perspective. I was so far removed, even as I was standing in the land of that conflict! It's so incredibly hard to step outside of yourself and realize the stress and tragedy in other people's lives, to consider the trials others are facing because of something like ethnicity, religion, language, or family ties. There is no easy answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Whether it's a one-state or two-state goal, no one will ever be perfectly content with the solution if one is ever agreed upon. There are hundreds of men and women in the Israeli Knesset and PLO attempting to find a solution, thousands of Palestinians still in refugee camps, and 7.5 million people within Israel's borders with their own opinions regarding their rights, their home, and their family. There is no answer to this mess and things will only get worse from here if we postpone another solution and continue to allow Israeli settlements to pop up in Palestinian territory, just as more Arab countries get riled up and provide further support to the Palestians.

I have not, and will not pick a side to this conflict. Both are right, and both are wrong. I will however, make the effort to be aware of both sides of the issue and hope for a compromise. There are terrible things going on in the world around us. Someday I hope to be able to make a difference, maybe not in Israel but somewhere in the Middle East. And while I'm intimidated by it all, I've found my passion. Middle East foreign policy here I come. 

TOP 20 DELIGHTS OF TURKEY

(TURKISH DELIGHT...GET IT?)

[Or, if you prefer Jen Mae Joslin, Twenty True Life Turkish Principles]

1. In Turkey, both Asia and Europe have their claim on the land. You merely cross a bridge to get to the other one. This mix of cultures is strange, but strangely incredible. Throw in 3, 000 mosques just in Istanbul alone and you have a culture unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

2. In Turkey, ferries and sunset cruises are all sorts of delightful. Not only is it the perfect way to see so much of the country in a short amount of time, but it’s magical. How could it not be? Beautiful water, 81 of my favorite people, and funny birds that enjoy getting much too close. Hello divinity.

3. In Turkey, there are so many bodies of water just waiting to be touched. Let me refer to my list…We touched the Bosporus Strait, water from the Basilica Cistern, the Dardanelles, the Aegean Sea, and Lake Iznik. I LOVE THIS LIST.

4. In Turkey, it rains a whole lot. We luckily only faced two days of the insanely cold and windy rain…which is an accomplishment according to the weather reports. Oh, and this is delightful because pictures with umbrellas are just that much cuter.

5. In Turkey, there are just too many beautiful scenes to document. Here's a taste.

6. In Turkey, the Blue Mosque is actually gray…until you walk inside and the exquisite tiles leave you speechless. I fell in love in a heartbeat. And yes, the fun scarf styles were signs of respect in each mosque we visited.

7. In Turkey, kissing is a whole lot more fun. (I have no idea how we took so many photos like this. There are more…I kid you not.)

8. In Turkey, I didn’t have my own camera (yes…I dropped my camera about a month ago). It was a bit traumatizing. But the delightful thing is that I have wonderful friends always ready to push me into any photo moment. Not only did they take 120394823 photos for me, they also took random artsy ones of me the whole week. Oh man, I’m one lucky girl. 

9. In Turkey, there are so many prime ballroom dancing spots. And with the darling Swag at my side…we always found an opportunity in this delightful country. (p.s. Swag-I LOVE INSTANBUL...note the "insta.")

10. In Turkey, Hannah and I were forced to suffer all sorts of pee fright as we ventured from public restroom to public restroom. Thank goodness we didn’t live during the Roman Empire.

11. In Turkey, I found it a whole lot of fun to demand people to drop to the ground in the middle of the street and take photos with me. People were just running to join me (Thanks for supporting my weird picture needs Spencer).

12. In Turkey, there is a famous and supposedly cool ancient city named…Troy. Turns out, the only cool part of this pile of rocks is the Trojan Horse…which was under repair. FUNNIEST PART OF THE WHOLE TRIP.

13. In Turkey, preaching the gospel to “fake” investigators to get some extra practice is way more fun. My favorite may have been walking through the streets of Iznik practicing street approaches with some of my lovely friends on the program. Or perhaps my favorite was being asked in Ephesus by a stranger what religion we represented. As I responded with ‘LDS’ and then quickly added ‘Mormon,’ the man smiled and said that’s what he would have guessed. I may have fallen head over heels in love with the idea of preaching the gospel…in the limited way we are allowed to on this program…in the same ancient city that the apostle Paul did.

14. In Turkey, we ate the most delicious food. From scrumptious rolls, to warm crepe-like pitas, to lintel soup, to warm apple tea, to the oh so tasty baklava. We seriously ate our way through Turkey that entire week.

15. In Turkey, they find it overrated to eat turkey. Say hello to our fishy friends. Don’t ask me why my fishy face was such a sad attempt (I’ll work on it). While I am not a huge fish fan so this isn’t a delightful tid bit…Ragan did wake me up on the plane and have me eat a piece of turkey while we were flying over Turkey on Turkish Airlines. How delightful is that fun fact!?

16. In Turkey, we ventured to a place called Assos. It’s mentioned in the bible and has cool ruins, but all you really need to know is that for that hour-I felt like I was at Lake Tahoe and it made me so incredibly happy (it may have been my favorite Schade devotional too).

17. In Turkey, we visited another site that is one of the many pictures in the back of our bible. We may have had a little too much fun finding the exact spot this bible shot of Ephesus was taken. Looks cool, huh?

18. In Turkey, I broke into song much too often…ranging from Hercules to Anastasia. At this particular statue moment, John and I were playing Herc and Meg. Love it. (And shhh don't tell anyone my leg is showing.)

19. In Turkey, gymnasiums are not quite the sporting facility we see them as now. Back in the days of Hellenism, they involved wrestling, oil, and boys that needed to wear a little bit more clothing. So naturally, the girls reenacted in Sardis in the freezing rain.

20. In Turkey, I found a beautiful fountain outside the Haga Sophia and Blue Mosque. On the first day I wasn’t aware that we would be returning to this exact spot the last day of our trip. So after we had walked past the fountain I mentioned that I was bummed I had missed my chance to make my Turkey fountain wish. Ragan pulled me away from the group and we sprinted back to the fountain. Luckily, we caught back up to the group and no one was really aware of our rebellious actions (This photo was a reenactment haha…and yes, I made a second wish).

BONUS DELIGHT: In Turkey, you can actually find delicious Turkish Delight. I know, I was surprised as well. So, you can trust me when I say that Honey Pomegranate Turkish Delight is divine. It’s also incredibly expensive. I suggest walking in with a nice smile to get a free sample (and then walking back in an hour later with a scarf and a pony tail to get another free sample. Mom, don't worry I didn't actually do it!).  

 THE END. 

Now we are back in Jerusalem beginning to study the New Testament...which is especially amazing during the final week of Christ's life. Can't wait to share with you all about that. I'm so blessed. Love you all.