Steps leading to the temple mount
Christ would have gone up these steps to enter the temple


Where it is considered Jesus was born

Day 7 Bethlehem, Western Tunnel tour, Church of the Holy Sepluchre.

After talking with Melyn and Kyler we decided it would be o.k. for us to go to Bethlehem to the church of the Nativity. There is a big wall that has been put up to seperate the West Bank and the State of Israel. We had to park our car and then get a taxi to go in. As we talked to our taxi driver he explained how his family lives in Bethlehem and he lives in Jerusalem, he compared the wall to the Berlin wall, it really made me sad for his family. As we drove through you could see how Bethlehem had really been built up and had great potential but is now becoming delapitated. Our taxi driver set us up with a guide, we were happy to have someone who could tell us about the church. There is a square just outside the church called manger square, this is where people gather on Christams Eve. There are different churches within the church itself, Armenian, Roman Catholic, and Greek orthodox. Constatine's mother originally had the church built in 333 A.D. (they have some idea of where Christ was born because Herod had a church built over the area) She had "the manger" removed from the site and sent to Rome. The church was destroyed later, but they say they have unearthed part of the original floor. It was rebuilt again in 529 A.D. and is the oldest working church. It is divided into different sections, the newest is the Roman Catholic section, 120 years old. Our guide took us down some stairs, where they have an area marked by a silver star, which shows where Jesus is born. Then to the right is an area where they say the manger was. It is really decorated so you have to really look to see that you are in a cave, there are balck smudges all over the walls. Our guide then took us to see where the Christmas bells are. (They ring them on Christmas day) He then took us to an olivewood shop. The craftsmanship was amazing but the prices were a little steep, the shopkeeper wasn't very happy with us when we didn't buy much. Our taxi driver took us back to our car and we were on our way. It was really cool to be able to see, but again you could definitely feel that people were concentrating more on the place then the miracle of Christ's birth. We then went back to our favorite spot, Jaffa gate. Here we entered once again to go to the Western Wall so we could take our tour of the underground corridors (they weren't really underground back in Christ's time). It's a little interesting that these tunnels exist, because technically the arabs own the homes in Old city Jerusalem. It turns out that they secretly started digging underneath. When they were discovered digging the Arabs weren't to happy, but after a while they came to some agreement. The tunnels run the length of the Western wall up to wear Mount Moriah is. At one point they say you are right outside of where the Holy of Holies would have been. They had found a stairway leading to it right when they were caught. As part of the agreement they had to seal of the entrance to the stairway. Jackson talked to the tour guide and asked if it would have been the staircase that a priest would have taken to leave the Holy of Holies if he had an impure thought and had to leave, the tour guide said they believed that it was. They had a really interesting rendition of the way they would have built the tunnel. At one point he told us we were standing right on top of where Mount Moriah was. The kids had fun going through the tunnels. Afterwards we went to the South side of the temple mount, called the Davidson Center. Here you can see where they have done excavations uncovering streets and places where shops would have been, they also had uncovered steps leading up to the temple entrance, it was amazing to walk where Jesus literally would have walked. We were also able to walk on part of the ramparts of the southern wall. We then headed to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre hoping to see it during the day. It really wasn't too much lighter inside, the church is divided into different sections as well. Many christians believe this is golgotha, where Jesus was crucified and buried. Constatines mother Helena also had this church built to comemorate Jesus' crucifixtion and resurrection, there is a structure built within the church where a rock is that is believed to be where Jesus' body was placed. It was orignally built in 350 A.D. but destroyed in 1019 A.D. then rebuilt. I guess the church is divided and there will be fistfights among the clergy if anyone steps over the lines, they literally have steps that are designated as whose is whose. It is a really dark place in terms of light but also spirit. Jackson and I both felt uncomfortable being there, there was such a difference between the garden tomb and this church. We really didn't stay long just enough to look at the different murals, we thought about going into the structure but there was a line and I just didn't get a good feeling about it. Again I was really glad for the knowldedge I have. We then headed to Shaban's. He is such a nice guy. After getting last minute things with no idea how to get it all home, we headed back to the apartment to pack and get ready to go. I was a little nervous about going through all the security to get home, but in the end it was actually not to bad. In the end. Jared and I went to our coach seats and Jackson and the boys ended up in business on the way back. It was a 13 hours flight to Atlanta and 4 hours to Salt Lake, we finally got home a little after 24 hours. We had such an amazing time, I hope my boys are able to take from this experience for the rest of their lives. I hope you have enjoyed traveling with us. During our trip we had difficulty knowing what language to use to say thankyou, Hebrew is Toda and Arabic is Shukran. Considering the political differences it something you wanted to be careful with. A lot of times we found ourselves just saying thank you. So toda for coming along with us and shukran for your comments. Shalom!

Streets present during Christ's time

Western Wall tunnels

Day 6 Masada/Dead Sea/Riding a camel

So we decided to try our luck at going to Masada. We decided the worst that could happen would be that we would turn around. We woke up to rain once again (sorry that I keep mentioning the rain, but when all of your activities are outside it makes it tough) We stopped at the local grocery store and grabbed some things for lunch, then headed out. We are starting to get to know the city pretty well now, so it's not so bad trying to get to where we are going. Jerusalem is in the mountains which is why it's getting rain and colder. We started our descent and after a little bit hit sea level. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth, we started seeing markings after that showing how much lower we were going. In the end we were about 300 meters below which I believe is 1300 feet. It is 50 miles wide and 11 miles across and has a beautiful blue color which surprised me. The Sea is divided in half lengthwise, Jordan is on the East and Israel on the West. It really is a desert with nothing growing. Soon we came upon the sign for Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. Next we came upon some water coming across the road, they had road workers there directing traffic luckily it wasn't bad so we were able to get through. There were a lot of clouds but no rain and was much warmer, probably around 60 degrees. We continued winding our way in all it took an hour and half to get to Masada. What is Masada you might be asking at this point. Here is the short answer. Masada is a palace/fortress built by King Herod (the same king who wanted to kill Jesus) He built it on top of a mountain, kind of like the mountains in Moab. It was very luxurious with a swimming pool places to entertain, he was the ultimate food storage person, he made a water system where there was a way to collect water and keep in huge cisterns. This helped with all the bath houses he had, he also had huge storage rooms that were loaded with food and weapons. This was considered his winter retreat. It was very difficult to get to. After Herod died the Romans took it over and had a garrison that lived there. During the Jewish revolt in 66 A.D. some of the Jews decided to take over Masada because it wasn't guarded very well. A few years later when the Romans decided to enslave the Jews and destroy the temple and city, attention was turned to Masada. The Roman empire couldn't stand knowing that the Jewish people were in control of Masada. (there were 900 men women and children) It was a great place for the Jews to go because it was so fortified and had so much food and water that would sustain them even though Masada had been built almost a hundred years earlier. A legion was sent to Masada to take it back over, (you can see the remnants of their encampment) The problem was that they couldn't get to it, so they decided to build a big ramp to the top. They used Jewish slaves knowing the people woundn't want to harm their own. After the ramp was built the Romans brought battering rams up and starting trying to set a huge wooden door on fire. It finally worked and the Romans knew the next morning they would capture it. That night the Jewish people came together, one of their leaders told them it would be better to commit suicide then to taste slavery. Lots were cast (they believe they found them) as to who would do the actually killing. There were 10 chosen, after everyone had been killed they cast lots again to see who would be the remaining one who would kill the rest and then run himself through with his sword. Very interesting but sad story. Afterwards the Romans came expecting a battle the next morining and were surprised to find no resistance. Masada was then occupied by the Romans once again and then left quiet until the Byzatine era. During the youth movements after World War II excavation began and they discovered and began conserving Masada. The reason the story of Masada has lived on is because of man named Josephus Lativius who wrote a history of Masada and what happened. It was interesting to see how big and lavish it was, it was literally built right on top of the mountain. Today you can climb up to it or take a cable car, we opted for the cable car. They have rebuilt some of the ruins but distinguish between new and old with a black line. There is a part called the Northern palace where there are three platforms jutting out. After looking around we came back down and decided to get something at the snack bar, there was a group of highschool age kids there on a field trip. While I was getting my food one of the boys said something in english about the American woman, I turned and he motioned me over. He told me that the snacks were to expensive, I told him he was right but I was hungry, he then said, "I have a sandwich you can have." I told him that was sweet but I was o.k. one of his friends then blurted, "He thinks your beautiful" I laughed and told them, "Shhh my husband is over there." Next thing I new I was surrounded by all of these youth, they started asking where we were from, what are we doing here. All the boys started surrounding, soon some girls came over and started talking to me as well. They started asking me to say words in Arabic and would giggle, I guess I was saying things like, "you are beautiful" and some words that were slang (but not bad the girls assured me). They were so sweet and friendly when it was time to go they all wanted to shake my hand and say "Nice to meet you." It was really fun, they were really exuburtent but really well mannered. Next we headed to a place call Ein Geve. This is a swimming spot for the Dead Sea. The sun came out and the weather was warm. We didn't bring our suits thinking it would be cold. They boys and Jackson rolled up their pants and started wading in the water. It has such a high salt content that you can float (just like the great salt lake, but more salt) The water is very clear near the shore and a beautiful Hawaiaan blue. Salt has formed on the rocks around, the water feels really different kind of slimey, but it's not slime it's the salt. We then headed back home, on our way home we passed a guy that had a camel standing at a gas station on the side of the road. We stopped and asked if the boys could have a ride, Jared decided he didn't want one. When the camel gets up he goes end up first so you tip forward, it's an interesting ride. We then stopped at a pottery area where there is a huge amount of clay pots, and other things (just like at a garden center back home) I was able to get some nice pieces for not so much money. It was a little weird to stop because we were still in the West Bank but you really can't tell a difference, (except of course by the border crossing) along the way back home you would see tents and shelters that were really dilapitated. You would see people herding their goats or sheep. The boys had a great time running around the ruins of Masada and throwing rocks in the Dead Sea. Tomorrow we plan on going to the Western Wall Tunnels, and finishing our tour of the Holy Sepluchre that we started on our first day here, then it will be a stop to see Shaban for last minute items and then home. It's been such a whirlwind tour, we definitely could have used and extra day or two, but have seen quite a bit.

Bennett on his Camel ride

Jared and Isaac having fun in the Dead Sea

overlook on Masada

Day 5 BYU Jerusalem Center, Mount of Olive/Gethsemane, King David's tomb, Upper Room

Well we knew a storm was on it's way, but I didn't think it would be a hurricane. Last night the wind was blowing really hard and there was tons of thunder and lightening and tons of rain. It seems we have gotten somewhat over our jetlag, we woke up at 8:00 a.m. We needed to be gone by 9:30 to get to church so we hurriedly got ready. Now you are probably wondering about the day of the week at this point, church is held on Saturdays to go along with the Shabbat (jewish sabbath). It reminds me of how things use to be growing up, empty parking lots in shopping malls few people on the roads, it was really easy to get around because there wasn't really any traffic. (shabbat starts on Friday night when you can see the third star in the sky and ends at sunset on Saturday they don't believe in driving cars on the sabbath)The center is located just above the Mount of Olives on the East side of Jerusalem. It was built in 1988 after alot of hard work getting the officials of Israel to let them lease land to build on. Frank Ferguson who is a retired partner of FFKR (Jackson's firm) designed the building and the partner who is over Jackson now helped on the project as well.Google BYU Jerusalem and there is a 10 minute video you can watch that they actually show people when they visit the center. It was raining really hard on our way there, I knew that the rain was a blessing, but I really wanted a family picture with Jerusalem in the background and the rain wouldn't help. We drove up to the school and found a security guard there, we told him we came for church and he let us through a gate. There was a walkway leading to the doors with a big trellis with vines growing. There is another gate you walk through with a neat circular design and fountains on either side. We asked where the chapel was and they pointed us in the right direction, they hold it in the auditorium. There is a huge organ with pipes and tons of seating, the best part is the big windows that go the expanse of the back wall, the view is of the old city, Dome of the rock and the east gate, (which is sealed) is what you are looking at the entire time. They have a branch here, where most of the people work at the consulate, there are also the families of the professors teaching, so there were some kids but not tons. Our opening hymn was "Come Follow Me", they made announcements and then went onto the sacrament, it was an amazing feeling to look at and see the tower that shows where king Davids tomb is (upper room of the last supper, supposedly) and realize that you were looking out to where Christ taught the disciples about the sacrament, and then to look out at the Mount of Olives and Gethsemane. The tears started up again, and all I could think was how grateful I was to be here having this experience. There was a new deacon passing the sacrament for the first time and the President of the shool told him what a great job he had done. Isaac whisped over to me that he thought he knew the boy, I shook my head, and Isaac said "he looks just like Zach." Well the President had called him Zach, I had met he and his mom at a science fair and when I saw her I realized that Isaac was right. Small world. The talks given were so amazing. The students meet with the branch so the speakers were the students. The first girl spoke about obedience, she talked about Abraham obeying Heavenly Father when asked to sacrifice Isaac, again my eye was drawn to the Dome of the Rock (mount Moriah), she then talked about how when we choose not to obey that Heavenly Father will punish with the least degree, but when we chose to obey he will give us the most. I kept thinking of my decision to stop working, I felt that this talk was just another confirmation to me that I was doing what I was supposed to. She gave a great quote that said, "We obey not because we are blind, but because we see."

They then had a musical number by the students, they sang "A marvelous work and wonder" near the end they merged it with "The spirit of God" it was so powerful, I always think of the pioneers when I hear that song, but now I will also think of Jerusalem and how Christ's work continues. The second talk was on faith and the holy ghost. She talked about how fear is the opposite of faith and how the Holy Ghost helps us to have faith. They then had a musical number where a girl played "I Stand all Amazed" on the violin and was accompanied by a man playing the piano. Really beautiful. The last speaker was a student who talked about humility. He talked about how being humble was to take compliments kindly but to not boast. All the students did an amazing job, I was really impressed. After Sacrament meeting Isaac went to verify if that was the Zach he knew and it was, his father is a professor at BYU Idaho and is teaching at the center for a year. We took the boys to their classes and then headed for Sunday School in one of the classrooms. Next was Relief Society where the topic was Missionary work, we had a really different discussion then what others might have had, considering the students have to sign a contract that they will not talk about their religion. One of the sisters whose husband was called to play the organ (Jackson's mission president will be taking his place next month) talked about when they were set apart they would be blessed to preach the gospel. She said she thought in her mind, did He (stake president) read the rules? He then explained in the blessing that it wouldn't mean they would proselyte but touch the lives of many through music. One of the students then talked about the responsibility they have to keep the spirit at the center so those who enter can feel of it. I was really impressed with the students knowledge. After Zach told the boys to come to his place and they went running past a sign that said no visitors past this point. We waited for them to come back, in the meantime one of the sisters asked us about our stay and what we had seen already, I told her we wanted to go to the mount of olives but didn't know if it would happen because of the rain. She mentioned that she hadn't seen it rain like this in the 3 years she has lived here, another student said she has only seen it rain once since she was here (december). So I guess we brought the rain with us. I felt guilty but found myself praying that it would just stop for a minute so I could take some pictures. We went down and got the boys, Zach was disappointed he really wanted to play, but being "Sunday" we couldn't say o.k. but asked if he would take us on a tour. But first I wanted to get a family picture, I looked out the window and found it had stopped raining, I told everyone to run outside and we grabbed one of the students to take a picture. It was freezing but we got it, I then quickly started snapping pictures, the center is so beautifully done. I kid you not as soon as I took my last picture and went inside, it started raining again. Did I mention how Heavenly Father listens to us? Being on the eastern side of the city we got our first look at the Eastern gate this is the gate that Jesus is supposed to enter upon His return. It has been sealed, I find it interesting that the people who did this think that would keep Christ from returning. Next Zach took us on a tour and I felt really bad when we had to leave, he begged for us to come back tomorrow so he could play with Isaac. We are supposed to go to Masada, but I guess when it rains like this it will close the roads down because of flash flooding, so I told him if we couldn't go we would try to come by. Next we left for the Mount of Olives, it was raining again and the wind had kicked up it was probably around 40 degrees. There is a church (of course) called the church of all nations on the sight. We entered the gate and found ourselves in a grove of olive trees. They have determined that these olive trees are more than 2,000 years old. It is a really peaceful place, the rain really started coming down, so we went to the church. Inside it is really dark and there are mosaics everywhere. The storm grew worse and it started thunder and lightening, we stayed for awhile, Jared came over to me and whispered, "I'm scared" . There was someone praying with a group of people and I guess it made him uncomfortable. We got our rain jackets on and our umbrellas (which were starting to break down) and went over to the "grotto" where they say Mary and Joseph are buried. It is in a crypt below ground, you have to walk down a bunch of steps, there are laterns hanging over head but not lighted at the bottom people can light a candle and pay tribute to Mary, I found it a little strange. We ran back to our car, remember I'm in my sunday clothes so in a skirt and a white one at that, thank goodness for my long rain coat. We then decided to go to King David's tomb. This is the David who fought Goliath, and was dad to Solomon. Here they have an "upper room" believed to be where Jesus had the Last Supper. I found it interesting that there were no windows, it would have been nice to have a guide at this point, but figure we know the story and it doesn't really matter where it happened. It was nice to see what an upper room would have looked like. By now we were wet, cold and hungry. So we headed back to the apartment. Melyn and Kyler headed to Cyprus for government business so we are on our own again. It was so nice to be with people who believe as we do. Jerusalem is full of all different religions it makes your head swim a bit, but it was so nice to go to a place that I could feel at home and relaxed. Everyone was so nice and inviting. I told the students how lucky they were to have this opportunity and that I hoped my boys would be able to come someday to have this experience.

Tommorrow ? Hopefully Masada, where Herod built a great palace into the mountainside and Jews took refuge from the romans in 70 A.D. We are also hoping to see the Dead Sea and rub mud on our hands since it's too cold for our bodies.

Mount of Olives

East Gate Sealed (the gate is the point in the wall that raises)


Entrance to Center looking away from the front doors


Upper Room last supper

BYU Jerusalem Sign

Day 4 -Capernaum, Nazareth, Meggido (Armageddon)

So we woke up today around 6 a.m. wow it was nice to sleep in! When we looked through the blinds we saw blue sky, but could see some clouds coming. En Giev is considered a kibbutz, which means that a small community works together and shares the profits, (garden, fishing, so forth) It is definitely low season this time of year, the bungalows are set up for sunbathing and swimming, ours slept five nicely and had a little kitchen. Our view looked over the lake, after taking it easy for awhile we finally got up and got ready for breakfast (included in the price) when we walked out the door we found the clouds had already started coming across the lake, so much for a nice day. Jared asked Jackson if their would be pancakes and Jackson said "yes" I raised my eyebrow at that. In Egypt I had the experience of a Middle East breakfast and there were no pancakes involved. We entered the dining room and found a buffet laid out which consisted of:

Cereal(not the sugary stuff)

Cream of Wheat

Eggs- hard boiled and omlet style except it was just the egg

Crossaints with chocolate syrup

lettuce with sliced carrots

cucumbers

sliced tomatoes, and baby tomatoes

baby corn

olives (greek)

cheeses

hummus

cottage cheese

Juices

breads

At first the kids didn't know what to do we got them started with some cereal and then they opened up and tried some other things. You know that taste of vegetables straight from the garden? That's how these tasted, the cucumber was really sweet, and the crossaints were to die for. After breakfast we walked out and found the clouds in and threatening rain. When we first walked out of our room the temperature was balmy, now it had dropped 10 degrees. The interesting thing about the Sea of Galilee is that there are seashells even though it is fresh water.

So I had a few requests for rocks, but figured seashells would work too. Just as we left to go looking for seashells it started to downpour. We ran back to the room and tried to wait it out but it wasn't happening, so I put on my raingear and Jared braved the weather with me so we could go looking for seashells. Being in Primary I have been trying to think of what I might be able to bring back to the children that wouldn't cost me tons. As I picked up each shell, it suddenly dawned on me that a seashell would be the perfect thing. I had brought gallon bags to collect rocks, so with a vegence I started stuffing them with shells (I needed at least 100) I also picked up rocks, luckily I brought some tupperware with me because I figured I would be bringing back breakables, so hopefully they last. Soon it did stop raining for a moment and Jackson and the other boys finally joined us. Next we headed to Nazareth, you have to climb a hill out of Galilee at the top there is a breathtaking view of the city and lake. On the way we went through Cana where Jesus was at the Wedding Feast and turned the water to wine. Apparently there is a beautiful chapel here that is called the Wedding Chapel. Many people come and propose and get married here, unfortunately we weren't able to take the time to find it.(read Jesus the Christ "from Judea to Galilee; the miracle at Cana in Galilee) Nazareth is in an interesting place, you actually have to travel down into it and then back up to get out. It's like San Francisco, there are a lot of arabs that live here, which is a sore spot with many Jews. This is where Jesus grew up and prepared for His earthly mission. The Catholic Church has a basilica here called The church of the Annuciation, which pays tribute to God telling Mary she would bear the Christ-child. It was built in the 1960's, and is built upon older ruins of another church. Nazareth is a very busy place, we found a parking area and then walked up to the church. Next we were off to a place called Nazareth Village. It is like This is the Place Heritage Park, where they have built a village that would have been like Jesus' time. Every place you look there is a building in Nazareth so it's amazing that nothing had been built on this land, a hospital nearby owned the land and the YMCA bordered it as well, a doctor at the hospital thought of the idea to create the village, when they started excavating they found a winepress and other things showing this to be the ruins of an old village. They date it back to 1st century, (I find it a little too convenient) in any case it's a really great place to see what a working village would have been like. You can google nazarethvillage.com and see more. We took a tour with another tour group, they were from Indiana and were so sweet with the boys. At first I'm sure they thought "oh great!" but in the end all of them came up and said how much they enjoyed having them with them. On the tour we learned some interesting things, (it is a Christian organization so they referred to parables and other religious things which was nice) there were olive trees where they talked about how the trees are a sign of hope, even if the tree is sawed down it will begin to sprout up shoots and begin to grow again, next he talked about the threshing circle, he explained that they would gather the harvest and then would have to wait for a really windy day with the wind blowing in the right direction to be able to get the "good fruit" or grain, they would use a type of fork and throw it into the air the good grain would fall to the ground while the chaff would be blown away, he compared it to the trials going on in our lives and talked about the wind has to blow in the right direction for good things to happen. He then talked about the wine press and that this would have been a big event and celebration. He explained that they would have to press the grapes with their feet because if you pressed it with anything harder the seeds would break open and cause the juice to go bitter. He then talked about that because they lived on a hillside they would use terracing, which means, the would have to build a rock wall and then add soil, it would take a year just to prepare the area and the whole community would share this area, each family would recieve 1/4 an acre of their own to grow. He also talked about the watch towers, during the time that things were ripening the men would take 3 hour turns keeping watch over the fields, the towere couldn't be to high because then they wouldn't be able to see the foxes trying to eat the food and if it was too low they wouldn't be able to see the birds. The men would stand with whips and crack the whips to keep the birds away. There was a man there acting as the watch guard we took a picture with him. Next he talked about a cistern, the difference between a cistern and a well, a cistern collects rain water, where a well is from a spring. We then went Hannah's house, she was weaving a blanket and showed us how she would take wool from a lamb at make it into yarn, they would then dye the yarn with onion skin, saffron, and other things to create color. We went to a working Olive press where he explained the first and second pressing was the good oil used for eating and then the rest of the pressing was for oil lamps and other things. they would use different weights. The heaviest would be for the end. Even the seeds contain oil. He talked about the word "Gethsemane" and how it means Olive Press and compared it to the Savior's suffering for our sins. We then went to a replica of a synagouge, it was interesting to see after visiting the ruins at Capernaum. The inside of the building was surrounded by steps that people would sit on, and the person teaching would be in the middle. During Jesus' time they had weekly readings from the 5 books of Moses. They would schedule it so within a year they would read all five books. They had 6 people do this and then the 7th person would be someone asked to stand up and read from the prophets. They would read from scrolls that were kept in a pot. He talked about the day when Jesus read a verse from Isaiah and talking about the Messiah coming and saying today that prophecy is fulfilled. The guy giving the tour was probably about 20, he asked the pastor of the group to read from the New Testament (not our version) After Jesus said this the clergy became upset with him and sought to kill him. The guy giving the tour at this point said, "I always wondered growing up why they would get upset with him, but as you read this verse it talks about how the word would be spread to the gentiles and I finally figured out that it was because they didn't want the gentiles to recieve the gospel" It took all I had not to raise my hand and say "Can I give you another explanation" again I was so greatful to have been taught that the reason the clergy were upset with Him was because in the version of scripture we have that verse talked about the return of the Messiah and when he said today that prophesy is fulfilled he was incinuating that he was the Messiah, the clergy couldn't believe that this man who had they had seen grow up in their town would have the "audacity" to say that He was the Messiah. I really wanted to explain this to the tour guide, but felt that since we were tagging along I didn't want to start a discussion especially if the rest of the group believed the same way this young man did. We then ended the tour and they gave each of us an oil lamp.

We then started for home, Meggido or Armegeddon was on our way so we stopped but were to late to go in. This is a big hill that many battles have taken place on or near, and is said to be the spot where the last battle will take place before Christs comes and at the end of the Millenia.

It's a very green hill (right now) with lots of yellow flowers. We then continued on our way back to Jerusalem, not having enough time to stop at Cesearea (ruins of roman city on coast) but was happy with our day.

Tommorrow

Church at the BYU Jerusalem Center

Mount of Olives

Gethsemane

Guy at the Watchtower

shores of the Sea of Galilee


Meggido (Armageddon)

Sea of Galilee

This is going to be a tough post because we did a lot today. So I'll try my best. We had two ways we could go West Bank Highway 90 or Highway 6, yes I know gasp! at going to the West Bank but let me alay fears, first the people we are staying with work for the embassy and the embassy allows them to go (but not to Bethlehem) second you have to take it anyway to get to Dead Sea/Masada (going in a couple of days) 90 is a lot quicker and closer to our route so 90 it was. The landscape is very desert like, nothing growing. There were oasis here and there, we drove past Jericho and sang the song, battle of Jericho, at points we were right up against the Jordan border. We also went by Gilgal where the children of Israel stopped after the parting of the Jordan river (yes I mean Jordan river not Red Sea look it up, that happened too) It was nice to get back into Israeli territory again where we had to show passports again to enter. The one nice thing about it being rainy season is that everything is very green and flowers are blooming, red poppies, yellow flowers, purple, really pretty, we saw a shepherd herding their sheep and stopped at McDonald's and ate.(I know, but we needed fast and easy) We then continued onto to Yardenit where the Jordan meets the Sea of Galilee, this is where it is believed Jesus was baptized. So beautiful, we went down to the water and sang When Jesus Christ was baptized and I like to look for rainbows. We then continued along the lake to Tiberius the biggest city on the sea, it's a little resort down. We then continued on to Tabgha where a church is located that gives homeage to the feeding of the five thousand there is also a church close by where it is said Jesus appeared to the disciples after He was resurrected. They were fishing in a boat close by but not catching anything, a man told them to cast their nets to the other side of the boat, they did so and caught so many fish they couldn't pull it up, they then realized it was Jesus. Jesus then ate supper with them, in the church there is a rock that they believe they ate at. This was my favorite part of the day because both Jackson and I could feel the Holy Ghost while sitting there testifying to us that this really happened. We didn't want to leave but time was ticking so next we went to the Mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount (Assigned reading Matthew 6?) Here there is another beautiful church kept up by the Catholic Church. We brought our scriptures and took turns reading the Sermon on the Mount. A cute nun walked by and smiled at us and told us we were doing good, "teach your children" she said. Close by there is a small valley with rocks all over you could invision the savior teaching very easily at that spot. The Church has a beautiful view of the Sea. Next we went to Capernaum. This is where Peter, John and Andrew lived and where the Savior said "I will make you fishers of men" In Jesus the Christ Elder Talmage states that the whereabouts of Capernaum are not really known, but here there is a synagogue that dates back to 3rd century and they believe that it was built upon remains of another one. In any case the ruins give a good idea of what the synagoques would look like, they say the remains of Peters house are close by. The sun was just setting here and was really beautiful. We had a great day, talking to the kids about Jesus and the miracles he performed. We then headed to a place to stay on the Sea called En Giev, this is where the BYU students stay for 2 weeks when they come, I don't blame them it's a beautiful place! I have to relate a story from yesterday that I forgot to tell, when we were at the Tomb Jared came over and asked me where Jesus was buried, I told him we just saw it, he said "no, now in our day where is He buried," I stopped and said remember we just talked about how He was resurrected, Jesus isn't buried anymore He is alive, Jared got frustrated with me, "I know but where is he buried?" Finally I said, "Jared if Jesus is alive, why would He need to be buried>" Suddenly recognition came to his face and he looked at me and said, "Oh so he is living in Heaven right now." It was interesting to see him go through the process of realizing that the Savior was resurrected, it's actually something I'm working on with the Primary kids right now, helping them to get to know the Savior. Anywasy I know this is a quick explanation, but my battery is running low and I only have so many internet minutes, if I could I would spend 2 weeks up here myself, just beautiful! By the time we got in it was time for dinner, we could go spend a lot of money on food the kids wouldn't eat or just go to the minimart and see what we could find, so at the mini mart we picked up pita bread, peanut butter, pringles, hummus and a couple of apples, I know we should be eating all the different foods but where we can save money on making our own and put more towards souvenirs I'd rather have the souvenirs. We do try and eat out at lunch though and do make the kids try the foods. Isaac has found he loves hummus.

We took tons of pictures today but it takes forever to load my pictures because they are so big so I'll try and add more when I get back.

tommorrow Nazareth and back to Jerusalem

Rock where Jesus had supper with disciples where He bestowed the priesthood upon Peter.

Church of 2 fishes and 7 loaves, look at the floor the tiles depict a basket in the middle and a fish on each side, very famous. They believe the table was used during the handing out of food.

Jordan River, so peaceful and beautiful

Capernaum snynagouqe

Mount of the Beatitudes Church

First I just wanted to start off with my experience at the Western Wall yesterday. As I watched people go to the wall I would see them kiss the wall and lovingly pat and rub it. As I walked up I thought maybe I would feel the same way (not kissing or patting but be affected) while I touched the wall the thought came to me, "This is just a wall, how lucky I am that I know of actual temples to go to and worship in." I looked at the people that take this pilgrammage and how they come to this wall, and realized they didn't know what I knew. I thought in my mind about going to the temple and pressing my hand against and reveling in it's awesome power. Now I'm not advocating worshipping the building itself, obviously it's what happens inside, but I will never look at a temple the same way again.


Today we started the day at 5:00 a.m. not to bad, we were awakened by Jared crying that his throat hurt, poor guy, and then the local mosque started calling for prayer, there was no way we were going to get back to sleep. Kyler and Melyn came home early last night, so we asked Kyler if he wouldn't mind helping to give Jared a blessing. It set my mind at ease and really helped him. Our itinerary had to change a little bit, because looking at the weather today and tomorrow would be our only sunny days, then it is rain for the rest of the stay and possibly snow! We decided to drive and park at Jaffa gate instead of walk (too much complaining from the kids yesterday) which turned out really easy. Today we came armed with a plan on how to get around the city, so we weren't wandering aimlessly. We were told yesterday the Dome of the Rock would be open from 8:30 a.m. until 11:30 because of Jared's blessing and trying to get reservations set up for other things, we left late, so by the time we got there it was already closed. We had planned to go out an exit from the Dome of the Rock that would put us out on the other side of the city at the Pools of Bethesda. So now we had to go to plan B. The Dome of the Rock would open for 1 hour at 12;30 and it was 10:15, so began walking towards the Pools of Bethesda, from yesterday we had a pretty good idea how to get there, but once again took a wrong turn. We found ourselves wandering the residencial area of old city. You would look through doorways and see stone steps leading to courtyards, so cool. Finally we figured out what we did wrong, all the while we were keeping our eye out for the Church of the Holy Sepluchre, but still no luck, I was beginning to doubt it's existence. Finally we found our way to the pools by following another tour group (finally caught on, just follow the groups)
What a beautiful place, it's actually called St. Anne's Basilica, it was built in honor of Mary's mother and the birthplace of Mary. It was so nice to walk into a big open area, (the streets are so narrow you get claustraphoic) The basilica is renowned for it's acoustics and special echo. We listened to a group sing, after they were down there sound still kept reverberating. Down below we went to a cave/crypt, where they honor Mary. The same echo is made there, so we sang "I am a child of God" and "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam" it was really awesome. Next we went to the Pools this is where Jesus came upon the parapalytic man. It was said that when the water would ripple the first one into the pool would be healed from their illness, because he couldn't walk he could never make it in before anyone else. Christ came upon him and asked "Wilt thou be made whole?" the man responded that he didn't have anyone to help into the water before the others. Christ saw that the man was fit for this blessing so He said, "Rise, take up thy bed and walk!" (read Jesus the Christ chapter Lord of the Sabbath,;the healing of a cripple on the sabbath. What a great opportunity we had to partake of the spirit the dwells there, it really is a peaceful place. We then explored the Roman Cisterns built later in 200 A.D. By this time we found ourselves short on time, but starving, in my frommer's book it gave a suggestion for a great place to eat Hummus and pitas. We tried following the directions but ended up at the same place we had the Baklava, we sat down to order, but the guy wanted $9 for a hot dog, I told him I thought that was pretty expensive, he got a little upset and said, "this is no american hot dog" at that point I told him I couldn't pay that much and left. I was pretty proud of myself, usually I'll back down but I knew I was being taken advantage of. We started heading towards the entrance to the Dome of the Rock (same entrance for the Western Wall) and suddenly came upon the Hummus place. We walked in and he explained they served hummus with falafels and other things. We sat down and they brang out, a plate with pickles, french fries, warm pita, hummus and these brown round balls of something. I looked around not sure how to proceed but no was eating. Now for those who have never eaten these things together I will share with you how it works, so you don't have to have an embarassing moment like myself. I blame it on jetlag, by the way. You are suppose to rip the pita in half forming a pocket then stuff it with the hummus, then the brown balls (falafel, I thought the actually sandwich was a falafel) these were filled with some sort of rice and spices, then you add the tomatoes and onion mixture and pickles. very good! I unfortunately started spreading the hummus on the pita itself and putting things on top of the pita, I thought the falafels were some sort of desert (silly me, but in my defense I never had one) the guy was really nice and patient and finally came over to give me a lesson, so embarrassing. Needless to say he got a good tip. We then headed to the Dome of the Rock. This is located on what is believed to be the Temple Mount, Jews actually aren't allowed to go here because it is considered so sacred. The Dome of the Rock is believed to be Mt. Moriah where Abraham took Isaac to sacrifice him, it is believed that on the rock was where this sacrifice would have taken place. Islamic tradition says this is the spot from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to view paradise during the Night Jouney. Tradition holds that when the Prophet rose, the rock tried to follow, and although it failed, the cave beneath the rock was formed. Footprints of Muhammad are pointed out on the rock. The different colors represent certain things, white:purity,cleanliness; yellow: sand, Blue;sky; and green; paradise. There are 52 window panes on each big window and the gold was last updated in 1994. There are small edidfices dedicated to different prophets, Christ has one, Elijah as well. There is also a big drinking fountain where people can get water. No one is allowed inside at this time as well as the other to Mosques on the premises.(we hired a guide totally worth it) Would took the far exit we originally planned to take and decided it was time to find the Holy Sepulchre. We had been past almost all the stations so felt pretty confident it finding it. We had decided that since it was going to be bad weather on Saturday we would visit the Garden Tomb today. It is out the Damascus gate on the West side of the city. There were tons more people in this area, I grabbed Jared's hand and wouldn't let go, we left the old city and crossed the street, even more chaos, I was feeling a little unnerved, we saw the sign pointing the way, we walked through this gate and suddenly were in the most beautiful garden, there were all sorts of flowers, I wish I could name them, but just beautiful. As soon as I walked through I felt relaxed again. The Garden is taken care of by people from England, I'm guessing they are like couple missionaries who come for two months at a time. She told us we had come at a good time that no one was there, but some groups were coming. We made a beeline for the tomb. You have to walk down some cobble steps, with lush green plants and purple, red, yellow flowers blossoming. It's just as seen in pictures, we walked into the tomb. There is a small room (holds maybe 8 people at most) with low ceiling, called the weeping room. They have a gate up, to the left is a conclave area, it was shorter than I thought maybe 5 and 1/2 feet long then there is a speration and another to the right (crusaders later used the tomb for burial, they believed in trough burials so they dug out the shelves that would have originally been there.) I couldn't help having the tears come as I thought about those who loved Christ and had watched Him suffer on the cross, how difficult it would have been to watch. Then I turned and saw on the door a sign that read "He is not here for He has risen" and then my thoughts turned to the women finding the angel asking why they looked for the living among the dead. And then His appearance to Mary Magdalene. We were able to sit for some time just by ourselves comtemplating on the Savior's ressurection. The birds were singing and the sun shone brightly on the door, red gardenias were placed to the right. We soon heard a tour coming through so we decided we should hurry on to Gogatha (where the Savior is believed to have been crucified) This is a short walk away maybe 3 minutes I was surprised at how close it was. There a tour guide for the park starting telling about the signifigance. He spoke about how those who were considered criminals would have their bodies taken to be burned or buried in mass graves, but Joseph of Arimethea asked if he could take Christ's body to a tomb. We then followed the group to the next area, where the tour guide talked about how there could be a garden here. He said that because there was a short rainy season it would be difficult for a garden to thrive. After excavation they found a huge cistern below the grounds determined to have been built during Christ's time, it would hold a great amount of water. He then talked about the discovery of the tomb, it was unearthed in 1867 by a greek man who wanted to turn the area into garden area, but after trying to drill for water after one of his attempts he found that he came across the beginning of a cave, he asked a friend who was an architect to come and see if it could be used to hold water, the man told him to stop digging that it was a tomb. The man didn't listen and continued digging, but without water was unable to continue. We were then told that the original opening would have been about 4 feet tall but the opening was made a little taller and a door added by the Crusaders. During the explanation a group started singing "I know that my Redeemer lives" it was to a different tune but still brought me to tears. You could feel how sacred it was, I was really moved by the missionary giving the tours testimony at the end. He asked at the end to do as the women who first saw Christ were told to do, "Go and tell." After we were done, we thanked those who were in the big tour group for letting us come in on their group to listen. They were a methodist church group visiting from Mississippi, one of the group left and came and asked where we were from, he asked us what donomination we were and we told him Mormon, he was so nice and invited us to have communion with them. We declined telling him we had to get going, but thought it was a nice gesture. We didn't want to leave these beautiful gardens but wanted to get to the Holy Sepluchre Church before nightfall. Our friends told us to stop by and see a man named Shaban who had a store and would take care of us if we stopped in. It was on our way to the church so we stopped in. What a sweet guy, I forgot to take a picture of him, but will see him again later. I bought something there I swore I would never do, even living where we live now. I bought a BYU sweatshirt, in my defense it does have BYU Jerusalem on it, plus he had some awesome shirts that a student made up. We had a great time shopping it was so nice not to have to haggle because I knew he was giving us a fair price, (quite a bit less expensive) when we came in his shop we told him who we were friends with and he chuckled and said "I know you can't smoke or have tea or coffee" He then talked about how he loved the students that come to him, he even had a picture of him and Steve Young. After shopping for a little bit it was getting late, but we couldn't give up on finding the church. Shaban told us where to go, we followed his instructions but came upon a mosque, I kept going though hoping there was more, and lo and behold we finally found it. Unfortunately by the time we got there it was really dark and hard to see, so we took some pictures but plan to go back. We then headed back to our car came home and ate sphaghetti. Enjoy the pictures. (We did do some of the stations but some are in the church so I will give a full overview later)Tomorrow we leave for Galilee, I'm not sure if there will be internet so i might miss a couple of days but will catch up. We are going to

Tabgha, Tiberia, Capernaum, Nazareth, Jordan River, and maybe Ceasrea on the Mediterrean Coast.


> Golgotha or Calvary, it looks like it would be the two little holes to the right but the first eye is to your left and then the second eye is to the right then the nose in between

Garden tomb, if you look near the ground you can see a little curb, this is the groove the stone would have been rolled through to close off the door, notice the window to the right I believe that was added, part of the wall had to be rebuilt as you can see to the right of the door.

Pools of Bethesda to the right is the pool and far back where the wall is would be where the man sat and Jesus healed him.

Shalom!
So we made it after 26 hours of travel time. Our trip started with a delay due to fog in Idaho Falls, but we were still able to make our connections. When we arrived in Atlanta we breathed a little sigh of relief when we saw our bags coming off the conveyer belt. In Atlanta while waiting for our plane to Israel we were given a little preview of what we would be seeing. Some of the men gathered together right by us and began praying (rocking back and forth reading from their scriptures) Jared kept staring at them, so we explained about what different religions do, I guess he and Jackson saw them do it again two more times while on the plane. Jared found it very interesting. Ben, Isaac and I were able to get business class tickets (working for an airline rocks!) for those who find this unfair to Jackson he'll be up front on the way back. (I'm not that mean) When we touched down there were cheers, one of the flight attendants made the comment "this is the only flight this happens on." We arrived at 5:30 p.m. Israel time (8:40 a.m. utah time) We slowly made our way off the plane and out towards custom, preparing for all the interregations we might be given. We walked up to a booth with a mid 20's girl, she looked at our passports, stamped a piece of paper and flirted with the boys. We then took the papers and handed them to another girl who let us into the baggage claim area. Luckily english signs were posted but our flight never came up, finally we noticed some people from our plane at a carousel that said Toronto. We got our bags (yeah!) and went towards the dreaded customs sign, (first stopping to get some shekels from the ATM) We walked through the customs door, a man was on the phone we looked at him he waved us through some other doors and lo and behold we were done. At this point we decided we should get some smaller bills so I sent Jackson off to buy something small from a store, he went to a bakery, when I asked what kind of change he got he showed me that he didn't have much. I asked how much the brownies were, he said 20 shekels (5 dollars!) each he bought four. I told him he was never going to live this down. Next it was to get our rental car, it was suggested to us that we would be o.k. driving to Jerusalem, we figured it would be better then the bus ride and cheaper (until we had to pay insurance, whole other story) I was very nervous about finding our way, but Jackson always seems to have a knack for finding our way so I put my trust in him and started praying. Let me just say prayers are answered. We only had to do one U turn and went straigt to the place we are staying. (Friend that Jackson worked with) We then got ready for bed at 10:00 p.m. and were promptly back up at 12;45 a.m. we then tried to go to sleep again. We woke up while it was still dark Jackson asked me what time I thought it was and I hopefully said 6:00 a.m. unfortunately the clock read 4:00 a.m. We all got up and had some breakfast and then sat around the table discussing events that took place in the bible and what we would be seeing that day. It was a great opportunity to teach the kids about the different prophets and stories in the bible, it was even better that when it got lighter we just had to open the blinds and point out and say "see right there is where it happened."

Today's itinerary
Sleep until 10:00 a.m.
11:00 walk 30 minutes to Jaffa gate (one of many entrances to the Old city of Jerusalem)
It rained on us the entire walk there but we were prepared with umbrellas and rain jackets
11:30 reach Jaffa gate head towards David Street
now David street is not really a street it's more like an alley (think Khan Kalili mom, dad and J)
lots of shops and shopkeepers saying "welcome, let me show you what I have" "looking doesn't
cost anything" "Welcome, Obama" "Where are you from"
If you do go into one, be prepared to haggle, we had one guy hanging on to both of our arms trying to get us to stay when we said no thank you. I did get some fun things like my red purse you see in the pictures.
12:00
Stop to eat right by where they just excavated Roman columns from the Byzatine era, we had pizza and calzones, I had a cheese and olive, Jackson had mushroom, sooooo good! The boys stopped and thanked the gentleman who owns the shop and told him it was the best pizza they ever had, it gave a cute hug to Bennett and was smiling from ear to ear, so fun. We then meandered our way to the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) I say meandered because we didn't have an exact map and had no clue where we were going, I enjoyed taking in sights and smells (reminicent of my stay in Egypt, it was strange to smell a smell I remembered from when I was 11 yrs old) The wall is actually smaller then I thought, it is divided into two sides one for men and one for women, Jackson and the boys put on paper Yamika's that are required. The wall is actually a retaining wall that was built when Herod's temple was erected (during the time of Christ) it is the only thing left, after the Roman's destroyed the temple in A.D. 70. It was so amazing to touch the wall, and see all of the little prayers written and placed in the walls cracks. We then decided to go to The Church of the Holy Sepluchre, where many believe Jesus hung on the cross and was buried. Again we couldn't find a place to get a map, so we began wandering (left our frommers book at the apartment) after a little bit we see a sign in the walkway that says 8th station (there are actually 14 stations you can follow that lead to the church, they represent different point of the saviors walk to His crucifiction. We figure we have to be close, suddenly a man steps up and asks if we need help, he unfurls a a little map showing where all the stations are and then suddenly shows us a map of the old city. We look at the map and find we have been going all around the church the whole time, by this time the kids are tired and asking when we are going back, we stop in a little shop and get some yummy Bakalava and hot choclate and then decide to head home and try again tomorrow, at least with a map.
Tommorrow:
Church of the Holy Sepluchre
Dome of the Rock
Bethesda Pools (where Jesus healed a man)
Upper Room (Last supper)

Things are going really well, we feel very safe. Hopefully we have better weather tommorrow!

Want to Come?
In two weeks we will be going on my dream trip to Israel. We've tried to go before but failed, so I haven't dared to really speak of it, even now I find my heart beating a little faster, in fear that it won't come to realization. We began our planning in September when we were at a work party and Jackson mentioned to me that a co-worker of his was getting married soon, and her new husband was working at the embassy in Jerusalem. He then told me she had given an invite for anyone at work to come and stay with them. I could feel my eyes grow big and my mouth form an "o" and then told Jackson that we had to take them up on their offer, regardless if they really meant it or not. At first it was just going to be Jackson and I and then I thought this might be the only chance for the kids, so we decided to bring Isaac and Bennett. We thought Jared might be to young, plus because he isn't 8 yet he wouldn't be able to fly "up front" with us. But then with the decision to stop working we decided to just make it a family trip. So on February 16 we will begin our great adventure. I ask if you would like to come along, because I plan on blogging everyday to let you know what we did for the day. I know not really the same as being there but I'll try to make it as interesting as I can!