So today has probably been my favorite day! Today we went to the Garden tomb. This is were many people, including the Latter day Saints, believe Christ's tomb is. It was amazing they took us on a tour around and then let us go into the tomb. Our tour guide was very cool. He was really funny and you could tell that he had a testimony of the Savior which he born in his own way at the end of the tour right before he let us go into the tomb. I felt the spirit so stong here. More than any where else that i have been. After we all had a chance to go into the tomb we moved over to another area and we sang some songs together. It was really neat. There were tons of other people there looking at the tomb and there was a group of people from Nigeria and when we started singing How Great Thou Art a lot of them started singin with us. One of them even same and video tapped us singing with his camera. It was really neat. The thing i loved the most was that the spirit was so strong there. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that he loves us so much that he died for us on the cross and that He rose again on the 3rd day. I know that it is through him that we will live again. I am so thankful for the testimony that i have of him. I am so thankful for the opportunity that i have to be here in this wonderful place. The pictures that i have below are of the entrance to the garden tomb and the tomb itself where we believe is where the Savior laid. "He is not here for He is risen"

Today since we couldn't go into east jerusalem or the old city we decided that we were going to go to the Biblical Zoo. Really its just a regular zoo but its really cool. They have a lot of really cool animals and they are in really wide open spaces so you don't really have to look through a cage at them. It was a lot of fun! Probably my favorite thing was the chimpanzes. The really close picture i have is because one of them was right up against the glass and everytime we would knock on the window it would knock back at us. Or if we made noises at it it would knock on the glass. I don't know if it was playing with us or if it was really annoyed with us but it was really cute and fun. We saw a lot of other cool things of course lions, tigers, giraffes, elephants etc. We also saw vultures that had just barely been fed. It was cool but a little gross because they were ripping apart these big rats. One of the cool things was that there wasn't a fence between us and the vultures. They could have flew out right into our faces if the wanted to. I thought it was pretty cool. Some things is the zoo i thought were a little different. The picture of me and the door is of one of the snakes like cages. Usually they will make their cages like habitat with rocks and tress and stuff but this one was like a western scene. I thought that it was too funny so i took a picture. The other picture is of me and my Amazing roomies Emilie and Breanna in front of the elephants. On Sunday i leave for Egypt so after tomorrow i won't be blogging because we can't bring our laptops with us. That's alright because i will have a lot of stories to fill you all in on when I get back.:)

The pictures below are me in front of the dome of the rock and a picture of the western wall where the jews go to pray. I explain more about it below. :)

hey so you are probably wondering what in the world are these pictures. yeah they might seem kinda boring just looking at them until i tell you what exactly they are. So i have to give you a little back ground first. So as you may know the city of jerusalem has been destroyed more than once and everytime it was rebuilt they would just build on top of the old foundations so a lot of the Jerusalem that Christ would of walked on is actually underneath the Jerusalem now. One of the things that is still remaining is the retaining wall from the platform that King Herod built to build the temple on. The reason why it is still remaining is because the wall was really really really high. So because it was built so massive there is alot of it that is underground that you cannot see. The other day we went on a tour of what is called the kotel tunnel. This tour takes you through a tunnel that walks you along the western wall of the retaining wall that is underground. The western wall is a very sacred place to the Jewish people because it is the closest thing to where the temple would have been when it was still standing. Jews come here to pray especially friday nights to bring in the Sabbath or what they call shabot. Over here there day of worship is on saturday. The pictures below show a model of what the temple mount would of looked like when King Herods temple was built. The picture with the guy, which was our tour guide named yonathen, is a picture of the western wall that is underneath the ground. The other picture is us walking through a area that was carved out by water. The pictures do not do it justice. This tour was one of my favorite things that i have done so far.

Oh so i forgot to tell you a little story that happened from the pretty church yesterday. We went up there and there was this little old nun that was walking around the church that was sprinkling water on the church blessing it. We walked up there and she wanted all of us to come to her and she sprinkled water on us to bless us. I thought it was so funny.:) We walk up to her and she sprinkles water in our faces.:)

Today during our free time we walked down to the old city and just went shopping. We hadn't been really shopping at all since we got here and we needed to get somethings. We had a lot of fun and at the end of my free time the grand total was 340. I bought like 3 skirts and a bag and a lot of earings. I also bought two scarves and some jesus sandols. I love shopping! That is pretty much all we did today besides going to our classes. On Sunday we are leaving for Egypt!!! so the pictures below are us in the markets down in the old city shopping and the other picture is one of the shop owners he was trying to convince us to buy a skirt so he was putting it on and showing us how they look. It was really funny so i asked him if we could take a picture and he was ok with it. :)

Today was a really neat day. We had a complete free day today!! so right after breakfast we called some taxis and had them drive a group of us over to En Kerem. En Kerem is where they think John the Baptist lived and where Mary came to visit Elizabeth when she found out she was going to bear the Savior. It was really neat going to this town. The church that we went to were beautiful. The town itself is more like a little village. It was very peaceful and calm there. i felt as if i had stepped out of the world for a while. It was very refreshing. It was very quiet there and i didn't see a lot of people except for the occasional nun or monk. :) We spent the entire day there. A lot of the time we were lost trying to find how to get to things but we had fun in the process. We had some very yummy gelato while we were there and right before we came back we got some pastrys. :) Before we went down to the city we stopped at the Haddash Hospital where they have the chaggal windows. They are 12 stained glass windows that represents each of the twelve tribes. They had an audio recording that we listened to that helped explain the symbolism for each window. I thought it was really neat.

Below is one of the pictures of the Chagall Windows in the Haddasah Hospital

These are pictures taken at the St. John the Baptists church in En Kerem.

We went to another church. It was a Russian Orthodox Church. We weren't able to go inside because it was closed which is too bad because from the looks on the outside i bet it was gorgeous inside.

Part of todays activities in En Kerem included going to the church of the visitation. This is a church that was built to commerate when after Mary was visited by an angel and told that she was going to bear the Christ child she went and visited her cousin Elizabeth. As we know Elizabeth was also with child. She was bearing John the Baptist and the babe lept in her womb when Mary came and visited. The pictures below are just 3 of the many picture i took. The bottom is statue of Mary and Elizabeth, the middle is a picture of me in front of the church, and the top is a beautiful picture of Mary holding the Christ child.

Yesterday we went to the rockerfeller museum which i talk about below and after we went there we went to the money changers and while we were there security from the Jerusalem Center called us and told us not to go into the old city because there was a demonstration going on at Damascus gate. So then we went over to Omars wood carving store. Omar is a shop owner who pretty much caters to the Mormons. His son went to BYU-Provo. We went over there and looked at his stuff which is beautiful! After that he took us over and bought us all fallafles. Fallafles are pitas filled full of veggies and fried chick beans and lots of other stuff. They sell fallafles everywhere kinda of like selling hotdogs in Time square. So he bought us all one which was really nice of him. After that since we couldn't go into the old city we just went back to the Center. On the way home i took a picture of the Graffitti that was on the some of the walls on the street that leads up to the center. The graffitti is there because of the conflict that is going on in the Gaza strip. It wasn't there like a week before we came to the Center. The othere picture is a picture of the Jewish market or what the teachers here call the Jewish Costco. This is where they go a lot of the time to get groceries for their families. You don't find regular grocery stores here like you do in the US.

Yesterday in our free time we went out to the Rockerfellor museum and you were not allowed to take pictures inside but there was this area in the middle of the museum that was open to the outside so we started taking pictures. i don't know if we were really supposed to but we did. It was really nice that day and i thought that this part of the museum was really pretty. In the pictures of course is me and my roommate Emilie.

sorry that it has been a while since i have updated my blog. so today we went on our first field trip. they took us around the outside of jerusalem so that we could look at jerusalem from different directions and learn the geography of the land. It was really neat because the geography of the land is the geography of the Bible. All the stories that you read in the Bible i am able to see where they take place. Below are just some of the pictures i have that i liked i have to many to stick on here. the one mosaic of christ was taken in the Victoria Augusta church that sits on the mount of olives. This is one of the places that people believe was where Christ ascended into heaven. In the church they had the little cut out thing and me and my roomie Bre decide we needed a picture. I think that the coolest thing that happened today goes with the picture of the woman herding the sheep. We were on top of this mount and my professor was telling us about the land and telling where certain things in theBible took place when all of a sudden they came up over the hill. The cool thing was that my teacher was about ready to tell us that it was probably on one of the hills near there that the shepherds were gaurding their sheep when an angel of the Lord came and told them that the christ child had been born. It was perfect timing. Way off in the distance behind them is the city of Bethlehem.
so i started my Hebrew class and it is really cool. i love all of my classes. Unlike other semesters i love going to them and learning from all of them. They are so interesting! anyways i love all you guys! i will try to do my best to keep this up to date for you!

hey everybody make sure and click on older posts to see the rest of my pictures!

So today after our two classes we were able to go into the old city of Jerusalem. I was so excited to leave. We left and walked down to the old city wall and went through Damascus gate. One neat thing about the gates that go into the old city is that they do not go straight in. You have to curve around to get in. This is for safety. They didn't want the gates to be something that someone could just ride straight into the city. Also it protected them if someone were to attack them with arrors etc.The group that i went with went to the Church of the Holy Sephlecure. This church is considered the holiest place in the entire world. I have pictures below. While we were there we met up with Brother Huff one of the Old testament teachers here and he explained what everything was. It was really neat. All the pictures below are the shrines that they built on top of the places that they thought were those places. They built this church over all the sacred sights. Back in Jesus time this place would have actually been outside the city walls of Jerusalem and would have been just dirt etc. This was really amazing to see. People come from all over the world just to see this church and to worship inside.

This is outside the Damascus gate into the old city of Jerusalem.

this is outside the church of the holy seplechure. this church is considered the most sacred place in the entire world.

This is the spot where they believe is where Christ was put up on the cross. This picture should have been switched with the picture below sorry

This is where they believe that Christ was nailed to the cross. this picture should actually be before the previous picture sorry

this is where most of the christian world believe was where the body of Jesus was prepared after being taken down from the cross before He was taken to the tomb. My professor Brother Huff told us that the stone is actually only 150 years old but people still come and worship this spot. they come and touch it with there hands and kiss it.

This is in the place where most of the christian world believe Christs tomb was. Usually there is a huge line waiting to get in here but we were lucky and there wasn't a line. You can't really tell but i am in this little tiny room that can only fit like 5 people in it and you have to duck to get in it. People come in and kneel down to worship here. Outside people light candles and leave them as a form of prayer.

shalom!
hey everyone! so today in the Sabbath here. since the Jewish sabbath is on saturday we have our church meetings on saturday too. actually sabbath starts for the jews at sun down friday night and goes until sun down saturday night. pretty much of jerusalem shuts down friday night and saturday. Church was really neat today. We had sacrament in the big auditorium that looks out over Jerusalem. i have to say that its kinda hard to pay attention when you can look out at the dome of the rock. It was really neat though. there is a little brach here in israel with a brach president. the students in the program make up most of the branch but there are a couple families that live here that come to the center for church. they work for like the american consulate and places like that. also the families of the people that teach here are here as well. there is also a family that is here because the husband is going to the Hebrew University. I guess the university is a very good school. i want to go over there and check out the campus. So because we are in a branch they give out callings. i got a calling to teach sunday school to the teenagers that are here. there is only like 5 i think and i think most of them are the children to the teachers that are here. there is even a nursery here. i am excited! its going to be fun!
in Relief Society the sister who taught lives in Bethlehem. for a long time she wasn't able to come to church because she is palistinian and Israel wouldn't let her into jerusalem because of that. Now that she has a UN job she is able to come in. She is a really neat lady. She is the only member in her family. i want to sit down and talk to her and find out how she became a member of the church. its really neat to learn the gospel in a place like this. Like i have said before i am excited to learn all that i can while i am here. Tomorrow i start my Hebrew class. i am excited about it. If you want to do me a favor and tell people that i do not have access to my facebook so i can't stay in contact with people that way and also either let them know about my blog or have them give me their email address. anyways love ya lots! talk to ya later !

so yesterday they took us on a tour of the old city of jerusalem. it was really neat! they have all kinds of churches and shrines everywhere. We didn't have a lot of time so we weren't allowed to take pictures so i can't share pictures of what i saw now sorry. I am really excited to be able to go back and spend some more time there! its really amazing here!

Hello everyone!

not much has happened today. today was our first day of class so that was kinda neat. i am actually very excited to learn here. Its so different learning about the bible when you are living in the place that the bible talks about. classes are different here in that they are not on the same days or the same times like regualar college classes. one of the classes that i had today i am not having again until next friday. just a little more about where i am. the jerusalem center is owned by the church but the land that it is on is not. it is owned by israel and is leased to us. They only let us build it here on the agreement that we would not prosylite. there is a group here that there sole purpose is to make sure that nobody preaches to the jews. they sometimes will go up and ask you questions to see if you will start teaching them. they aren't mean at all and they wouldn't do anything to us but if one of us were to start teaching them then they could make it so we could no longer come to the jerusalem center. we are told if someone asks just to say that we can't talk about that and just leave it to that. it is the same with political issues. the people here like the mormons and they know who we are. hard to beleive huh? :) we are white and dress way different than they do. :) the other day when we took our tour through the old city of jerusalem this guy saw us and was like " BYU! from the east to the west byu is the best!" then he walked off and said Lehi Liahoni. It was pretty funny! so one thing that i will prbably miss when i go home is that five times a day they have a call to pray. it sounds like someone is singing in isreali and its being put on a loud speaker so the entire city can hear. when ever this goes off the muslims are supposed to pray. its pretty neat! the first prayer is at 5 in the morning. they are really good at keeping us save here. there isn't anything going on in Jerusalem but they are very precautious. i feel very safe in this building. its weird but cool. the director and assisant director and the people that run the center here are not LDS. they are muslim,jewish, palestinian and i think there is a christian here to. they are all really nice and its neat that they are here and we can get to know them. well gotta go! until next time! love ya!!! Christine

So the first picture below is a picture that i took from the porch off of my apartment. I love being able to look out of my room at Jerusalem. This isn't the best view of the dome of the rock but if i walk down a little farther i have a really good shot. The second picture is one of the pictures that i took when we were coming from the airport to Jerusalem. It is beautiful!

I am in Jerusalem!!!

Hey Everybody,
so i made it over to jerusalem. it was a very long 4 flights. i first few to denver then i flew to washington DC and then to Vienna and then to Tela Viv which is a half hour from jerusalem. It is amazing over hear. The center where i am staying sits up on the hill that looks out over the old city of jerusalem. i can see the rock of the dome from my bedroom. there is an amazing auditorium that looks out over the old city. It is beautiful here. i am excited for all the things that i will be able to do and learn while i am here. Tomorrow they are going to take us on a tour of the old city of Jerusalem. i am way excited!!! this is going to be really short because i am really tired and although you will be getting this at 12:40pm it is 9:40pm here. i love all of you and i will right more when i am not suffering from jet lag.

I leave for Jerusalem in 4 days!!

The days are counting down. i leave for jerusalem in 4 days!!! my last day of work was today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was so excited about that! sunday i leave for Utah and then i fly out on tuesday the 6th. WOW!!!! i am starting to get a little stressed just because i want to make sure i get everything i need before i leave. i can only take one checked and one carry on and i have to bring everything because you can't find a lot of the stuff there and they are too expensive. Also things have gotten a little scary over there so i am afraid that they are going to keep us in lock down and we won't be able to go anywhere. that would really suck!!!!!!