Living in the Holy Land-- week 3

My first experience in the Old City went as follows; big Palestinian man: You marry a rich man?"
Me: "well that would be nice?"
Palestinian man: "I give you 10,000 camels AND a donkey!"
Unfortunately, I had to pass on his offer, but only because I don't think I would have anything to do with 10,000 camels. It was tempting though.. haha. Well, it has been three weeks and I have learned a few things. 1. When someone says, "special price for Mormon" that it is most likely a way higher price than normal. 2. Make sure to have your blinds shut because you never know when men from the Israeli army will be on your balcony looking in your window, "watching out for and guarding the pope". Lastly, on a more serious note, Jerusalem is a city with 3 prominent religions that spend the majority of their lives worshiping God (or Allah). I am humbled and in awe of their dedication. Once classes started, I quickly came to the conclusion that the school work here was going to make BYU Provo look like a piece of cake. I have honestly 100 pages to read every night but on the bright side, I think I have learned more in 3 weeks here than I have in months of my other classes last semester. I also feel like I am constantly growing spiritually and intellectually. The other day my mom said, “Rach, this experience may put a part of your social life on hold, but will be a time to really grow spiritually”. I feel like she couldn’t have been more right. Already my testimony has grown, I just feel so blessed to be a member of the church. I think I really lucked out to be LDS. In the following post there are pictures from our trips to the City of Jericho, the Garden Tomb, Nabi Samuel, Mount of Temptations, Old City Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives and just other random pictures (for example, me trying to kiss a camel..? J )

We went to the Mount of Temptation in the Judean Wi lderness where Satan tempted Christ after he fasted in the Wilderness for 40 days. The women had to have their heads covered and it was quite a hike up to the mosque at the top. At the top of the mount, there is a Greek Orthodox Mosque that supposedly has the rock that Christ fell on after fasting for 40 days. We are sitting on King Herod's bathtub..no big deal. ha ha this was Herod's winter fortress in Jericho.
The Judean Wilderness. It's amazing to think of all the people in the Old Testament that traveled through it.
I have always wanted to kiss a camel up until the moment I got an inch away from one and saw it's mouth.. As you can see in these 2 pictures, I just couldn't do it.


The Prophet Samuel’s Cenotaph (a marker saying where he was buried) by the Benjamin Plateau. On the main floor of the tower, there is an Islamic Mosque, in the basement, is a Jewish Synagogue. It was a very windy day if you couldn’t tell. I made a big mistake in wearing a skirt, I definitely learned my lesson.
Here were just messing around before church. It was a good day at church; I got my calling as a Youth Sunday School Teacher and Relief Society Piano Teacher. I hope the youth can learn something from me. Oh and I think me and Steph have a little too much fun if you couldn’t tell..

Our whole group was able to go to the Garden Tomb on Shabbat. Everyone left but a small group of 5 of us and we stayed and read John 20 when Mary found Jesus outside the tomb. It was incredible that while we were reading, we were looking at that exact tomb we were reading about.

I’m on the Humanitarian Service Committee here and one of the service projects I am heading is volunteering at the Women’s hospital to help feed the newborn, premature babies. I have been able to go often and I love it there. The last baby I fed was 2.3 pounds! I think its good practice for someday being a Newborn ICU nurse.
I’m sorry this picture is somewhat blurry but take a guess which great mount is behind us? The Mount of Olives! Can you believe Christ came to that exact mount and will do so again? I know I went a little overboard on the enthusiasm but I really love that I can look and see the Mount of Olives right outside my window.Behind us is the back side of the holy site; The Western Wall. At the beginning of Shabat, (which starts on Fridays at 6:30 p.m. and goes until Saturday evening)the Jewish Sabbath, our group went to the Western Wall which is somewhat equivalent to a Mormon Temple, except even a bigger deal for them. They believe the wall is the closest place they can be to where God literally stood. They write prayers on little pieces of paper and fold them up and put them in little creases in between the stone of the wall. They also bring their prayer books and pray and sing their devotion to God. The men and women are completely split. The women wear all dark clothes and if they are married, they wear a scarf on their heads. The men either wear Kefas, black hats or large blag furry hats depending on their degree of Orthodox Judaism. I was able to dance with some Jewish young women and even touch the wall. It was a humbling experience. I went with a friend to watch the mens side (which is a lot bigger than the womens and there is more dancing compared to the crying on the womens side) and our group happened to leave! The security of the Jerusalem Center freaked out when they finally found us.. haha dad it was bound to happen, let's be honest here.

The Jerusalem Center(or as the locals call it, ‘the Mormon University’) at night time. It’s an amazing building; I recommend anyone and everyone to visit as some point in their lifetime.Simply put, I love kids. I swear no matter what country I go to, by some invisible force I find them. Mom and Dad- Africa is NEXT! :)

First days in Jerusalem!

In this picture, we are getting ready for the 12 hour flight from New York to Tel Aviv, Israel. We left Tuesday morning at 9 and got there on Wednesday at 5. The plane was eye opening for me, there were several ultra Orthodox Jewish men on it and they would stand up frequently during the flight and start praying (which involved swaying back and forth and ignoring anyone who tried talking to them). We were supposed to sit by them but because we are girls, they refused and sat somewhere else. I knew from that first flight that it was going to be an eventful 4 months!
Hello Jerusalem! The building in the middle of the trees towards the top is where I live. The Jerusalem Center is gorgeous, and the view is incredible.
This is the patio of my room with my roommate, Stephanie. We walk out to an overlook of the whole city. I can't describe to you how pretty it is. All throughout the city are tall towers that have speakers so the Muslim prayer call can be heard throughout the city. They pray 5 times a day, my personal favorite is the one that occurs at 4 a.m. Let's just say I am an early riser now because of it.

This is the view at night and I still can't believe I am here.

This is the Damascus Gate, which is the main entrance to the Old City.

At first we were a little intimidated by the Israeli Army who were everywhere you looked. But as soon as we started talking to them, they were really nice, they even wanted pictures with us. The women are required to be in the army for 2 years, the men for 3 years.

After church on Shabbat (which is on Saturday here), we went to the Garden Tomb where they say Jesus resurrected from. I was able to go into the small tomb and I was really humbled to be there. The tomb and the area around it had a calm, peaceful atmosphere and I left feeling especially blessed to have had that experience.