Waiting at the Post Office. for some reason I loved this place... 

Emily mailing her letters :) what a cutie!

Streets of Jerusalem. I liked the Palestine flag that was painted on the wall

Outside Lion's Gate (see the lions on the top left?) 

Mosque and the Dome

Love this... we went exploring on the roof above a church!!! Tyler always has a knack for finding awesome secret places.

Just started raining... this was the day before it DUMPED SNOW all over Jerusalem!

Tyler's new best friend, the librarian of this wonderful hole in the wall book store. She was a Jewish woman who immigrated from California. 

Outside the Dome of the Rock. Muslims are able to wash themselves before entering their holy shrine. Hopefully this gentleman didn't mind the photo!

My great friend Emily! I finally got a good picture in front of the Dome of the Rock! What a spectacular building! 

The crew.

Field Trip to Qumran; the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. This is an ancient city where Essenes practiced their secluded worship. 

Cave 4 where most of the scrolls were found. Two bedouin shepherds discovered the cave, while chasing after their lost sheep. You tell me how the sheep got up there.

mikVAHHHHH! Giant ritual bath (think like a baptismal font, only not at all the same purpose) The Essenes would wash themselves multiple times a day in these baths, and the city of Qumran is FULL of them... there's got to be at least 50 of these from small to large. This was the biggest one we saw!

MASADA! This used to be a palace of Herod the Great, but after his death and after the Romans began taking over Israel, the Zealots (Jewish extremists) took over the palace and used it as a fortress hide out. They fought hard, but the Romans built a siege ramp and were about to overtake the city. BUT, these Jews were not about to be subject to Roman rule... Their motto was "Live free or die," and instead of being taken over, they had a mass suicide where a few men killed the women, children, and others. Then the remaining 12 cast lots to decide who would kill the others and fall on his own sword. When the Romans got to the top, they found the lifeless city.

Hebrew Torah scribe. He was working while we watched him artistically scratch the characters. 

He wrote our names and the Seely family's too!

HUGE cistern at Masada. Beno and Tyler down there like lil ants. Great for singing.

At Masada. Tyler and I were in different field trip groups, so we snapped pictures at random times whenever we could!

some buds. The two boys on the right are cousins! Lindsey was my roommate!

oooooh how romantic :)

President Woods was my New Testament teacher! Great man.

We encountered a small jungle

secluded waterfall hike... I can't remember what this place was called, so that will have to do!

My jerusa-mates. Emma, Lindsey, Jules, and I. Emma was so kind and taught me priorities, I watched Lindsey go through the process of deciding to serve a mission (Now she's called to Mongolia!), and Jules inspired me to play the violin!

THE DEAD SEA! the rumors are true: you do float, and it tastes like death!

So happy to throw away this old swimsuit! It had definitely seen better days, and the dead sea took the rest out of it!

Poor little guy, never had a chance.

Check out the white boarder on the Sea- that is all crystallized salt! The edges are like broken glass shards... the Dead Sea is actually dying. It won't exist for too much longer!

THE LAST PICTURE. a little underwhelming, maybe. But this was the last picture, before I lost Tyler's camera!!! Argh, I'm still kicking myself: We missed the pictures of the last week of the trip! (snow storm in Jerusalem, last week of Christ's life, saying final goodbyes... y'know nothing too big or important!)

I will forever remember my time spent in the Holy Land. It truly was a sacred time and place to be. Sacred, not only because Christ walked there... but because I believe, as we all represent Him, He still walks here. People of all beliefs make this City Holy, Sacred, Sanctified. It is a place of faith and sacrifice. A land of love and peace, even when scared by hate and war.

 I found solace in the small moments of quiet reflection and as I read the scriptures and studied Christ's life. There are many feelings and moments of my time here that will be treasured memories. Gratitude is the only word to describe my feelings as being able to participate in this program! I am so grateful to those teachers who taught me of the Bible and ancient history, but even more, who taught me how to love God and be examples of Christ. SO many wonderful people that I was able to study with here, and who I still am blessed to know and be friends with! I am grateful for Tyler, who spurred this whole journey with his adventurous spirit, and who I was lucky enough to be side kick to this whole trip! ;)

Shalom is Hebrew for "peace."

 Shalom, Jerusalem. 

May the God, the Creator of us all, Our Heavenly Father, continue to bless his children who live in this land. 

At Meggido- the supposed site of the future Battle of Armageddon!!! I was just getting ready to fight! 

"THE END IS NEAR"- my rock art, inspired by Armageddon 

This day was awesome- we visited sites right along the Israel- Syria- Lebanon border... These were old trenches that had been in use as Israel and Syria fought over land borders- The Syrians really wanted control over Tel Dan which has a huge water source. Israel ended up controlling this land. 

Climbing up Nimrod's Castle- favorite site in Israel! This was such a fun Muslim built Castle that is HUGE- it has all the works: dungeons, a keep, secret stairs, huge towers, posts to defend, siege walls, OOoooooooOOOooooOOooooohhhh it was SO awesome. We ran around playing Lord of the Rings music and quoting the movie "TO THE KEEP! FALL BACK TO THE KEEP!" ...."SO IT BEGINS" hahaha it was really a blast!

Gorgeous view of Galilee's green hills off the top of the keep at the castle.

In Haifa - 3rd largest city in Israel. This is a Bahai Palace with immaculate gardens that we DIDN'T get to walk through- biggest let down. haha

The couples. On the shoreof the Mediterranean at Ceserea Phillipi 

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Theater flying

Ceseara's views- Herod picked a great spot to build his port town on!

Seashell Angels! 

Sitting on a wall in the Jewish Quarter, overlooking the ancient City of David

Catching Fire movie night!

 Bet She' an (pronounced shawn) with SHAWN!!!

At Bet She'an, city partially destroyed by an earthquake! We really tried to get in touch with history.

Ancient Pottys. They still had to go back then too.

With the Seelys!!! Sister Seely said "We'll just adopt you on our row" :D I sure love them, they are an incredible example of discipleship and hungering for knowledge. Brother Seely teaches our Ancient Near East class, and I am always excited when he goes with my group- because I KNOW we're in for some sweet stories!

In Nazareth- at the church of the Annunciation. There are depictions of Christ from countries all around the world. This was my favorite, because I loved the intricate mosaics, and the gold. 

My best friends- Brooke and Emily! On a mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee! This was the first day of our 12 day trip to the Sea of Galilee and many surrounding areas in Northern Israel.

Beautiful views!

We took a boat ride across the Sea- Which really should be called a Lake; since it's so small and landlocked.

Ahoy me mateys! 

So many awesome people I get to spend time with :D

Model shots on the Sea... Jonathan wins I think.

We sat on the Mount of Beattitudes- I felt very much like the Carl Bloch painting! We shared our testimonies regarding the principles in the Sermon on the Mount... This was a favorite moment- to feel the peace and look out at his land... This is what I pictured when I pondered coming to Jerusalem. Figuratively sitting at the feet of the Savior and learning what He has taught us. I shared my testimony of the verse in Matthew 6:33 "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God!" I know that when we put the commandments of God, the pursuit of His Holy Spirit, and our faith in His son Jesus Christ FIRST- above all things of the world... we are blessed with understanding our lives more and feeling more fulfilled in them! I love hearing testimonies of the Savior here too- those from the friends and teachers in my class, and also seeing the testimonies of other worshipers who come to these places seeking the same peace. 

Church of the Beattitudes- it is 8 sided, one for every admonition the Savior game in the Sermon.

This isn't just ANY fish, no, this is a Galilean fish. And I ate the whole thing... even the eyeballs!!!

Hiking in the Golan Heights

Beautiful Waterfall! It was really refreshing to see water and green, in the middle of the dry desert. 

... and yes! We jumped in! Along with 25 other INSANE people! It was SO frigidly cold, but now I can say on my blog.... "I swam in that one waterfall, on that one hike, in the Golan!" haha yaaaaaaay.