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.