Home Sweet Home

Time is one of the strangest things ever. I can't believe how fast this semester has gone. One of my friends said of our time in Jerusalem that the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. That is so true! We did so much and made enough memories for a lifetime, but it is over so soon. And now I'm back home in Preston. It's so nice to be home, especially for the holidays but I'm also feeling a little homesick for my home in Jerusalem.

The last week we went on a field trip walk of the last week of the Savior's life. It was a very fitting way to end our experience there. Many of the place that we went I had been to before on my own (with at least 2 other people of course), but it was nice to be there one final time in the order that Jesus was there for His last week. Our last day in the city we went to our favorite places one last time and said goodbye to the city. Thirty hours of traveling later, I was back in the States.

This was the most amazing incredible experience I've ever had. I hope I never forget it. I made the greatest friends, did the most incredible things, and grew closer to my Savior than I ever thought I would. I'm so glad that I came back during the Christmas season when I can honor His birth, remember His life and teachings and especially His Atonement and Resurrection. I have a very strong mental image of His life in my head. I love that. I'm going to miss being there so much. But I love being home with my family now, and I'm so grateful for the experiences that I had.

Floatin' The Dead Sea

Today was one of our last field trips (sad!) and the last one on a bus. But we went out with bang. We went to the Masada fortess first. All 80+ of us crammed onto a VERY small cable car (don't worry, there was a 3 foot ladder in the cable car in case something happened and we had to get down the 50 foot drop safetly) and were lifted up to Herod the Great's hanging palace. It was one of the biggest ruins we've seen. Built right on the edge of a huge cliff - pretty impressive. Hollywood made a movie about it in the 80's about when Rome attacted it after Jerusalem was destroyed. I haven't seen it yet, but remind me that I want to when I get home. I'm not going to lie though, I've seen more than enough ruins this semester to last me a lifetime.

From Masada we headed toward...the Dead Sea!!! I've offically been swimming in the three most amazing places on earth! This was one of the coolest things I've done. The sea is 35% salt - compare that to the 8% salt in the Great Salt Lake. We floated for about 2 hours in the sea and it was so fun!!! It is impossible to sink in that water and you literally just bob around. Walking in the water was pretty sweet, not quite as cool as walking on the water, but I'll take what I can get. :)

We ended the day going to a nature reserve where David hid out in the wilderness while Saul was trying to kill him. Then we went to Qumran, the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls (which I have seen) were found! Our teacher, Brother Skinner, is the smartest man I've ever met and he knows everything about Qumran. He was one that helped translate the Dead Sea Scrolls. He's great all the time but today he was especially good to learn from him. They gave us about an hour to roam around and explore the caves. I didn't find any scrolls, but I did find a cool looking sea shell. Today was so much fun! I love field trip days!!! :)

*I have to add in this funny story about the Dead Sea. So because it's so salty and toxic they told us that we can't swallow ANY of it and if you have any cuts it burns SO bad. So as I was swimming back toward the shore, a little splash came up and got in my eye. It was only one little drop but it hurt more than anything else! I couldn't even open my eyes. But I couldn't touch it because my hands had the salt water on them. They warned us that if we got water in our eyes, the best thing to do was to spit in it. So my friend Amber was next to me and she spit in my eye! Twice! It was so gross, but suprisingly it felt so much better! Thanks Amber!

Snokeling

So I realized today that when I actually come home, I think my life might seem really boring. I haven't written anything since Halloween because I really haven't had any free time. Between lots of field trips, a few classes, and a trip to the Galilee I've been going strong all month long. I'll write more about the Galilee and the trip to Bethlehem later, but I had to write a little blirb about today's adventure before I went to sleep.

We got back from the Galilee on Friday, Saturday was Shabbot, and today we left at 5:30 AM to the city of Eliot to spend the day swimming and snokeling in the Red Sea. Who am I? Seriously, how many people have been snokeling in the Red Sea of all places?!? It was beautiful there. The water was perfect and I spent all afternoon soaking up the sun on the beach (I didn't even get sunburned this time!) The fish were amazing! There were so many different sizes and colors. I saw a sea snake in the sand at the bottom, some swordfish looking creatures, and tons of fish near the coral reefs. I even got stung by a few jellyfish. Ok, so that part wasn't so fun, but it diffinately makes the story better. :)

All in a days work. Tomorrow we are going to Tel Aviv to see the sights around the city there. Oh man, what a life!