UPDATE AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT.

Dear friends. I wrote this post the night before I went to Jordan. After spending a fair amount of time on this, about five minutes before I was about to post it, the internet at the Jerusalem Center decided to crash. It was also the time when I was going to e-mail everyone back that I hadn't e-mailed back yet. Anyway, the moral of the story is that I couldn't do that before I went to Jordan. But now I'm back from Jordan (it was amazing, by the way), and it'll take me a few days to get that blog post up. So for now I'll post what I was going to before I left! Here it is, everyone. Enjoy!

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I'm going to Jordan tomorrow but didn't want to leave you guys without an update before then, because I'll have so much to add afterwards! So here's a quick update that touches a little but on everything but doesn't do anything justice. Since I last updated, I have:

Explored (and played with long exposure) in the Tomb of the Prophets. This place was really cool because they gave us candles to explore the tombs! Best half a shekel (about 15 centers) I've ever spent. We only had a few minutes to play with long exposure because it was closing, but this was the best picture we got. (BYUJC PRIDE!)

A picture of myself with my candle in the Tomb of the Prophets:

Watched fantastic sunsets. My friend Amber had the fantastic idea to start "The Sunset Club." My favorite picture I took was of my friend Ashley. It's a simple silhouette photo but I just love it.

Visited various areas in the Shephelah. This included visiting the Valley of Elah, where David slew Goliath. It was an all-day field trip, and we visited so much more than that, as well. I just loved it all. But here is a picture of my friend Becca and me slingling stones at each other in the Valley of Elah, using the type of sling David would have used.

My friend Emily's scriptures and sling in the Valley of Elah.

Trekked through Hezekiah's Tunnel! This was one of my favorite activities so far. We sang songs like, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" and "Lead Kindly, Light" while we were walking through and it sounded awesome. It was just an all-around awesome experience.

The tunnel was a little small for me (I was bending my knees quite a bit in this picture), but it was perfectly Becca-sized! (Becca is about 5'1").

Trying to get the water in the picture:

Steph, I took this picture just for you, so you had better see it. It's me doing yoga outside Hezekiah's tunnel. My friend Dallin was apparently very concerned I was going to fall. (Not that he has anything to base that fear on....*cough*....)

I don't know what I like about this picture of Meeshell and me. It's kind of a weird picture of me. BUT. I'm posting it anyway because I like it. Haha.

Gone on a field trip to the Partition Wall. It's not even particularly far away, but we took a field trip to this. I was feeling rather ill this day, but the wall had tons of graffiti on it, so I took a picture. The graffiti was in English, because English-speakers are the target audience. This was my favorite quote on the wall.

Wandered through the Tomb of the Kings. There's something about tombs in Jerusalem. They're neat. Here's a nice, heartwarming picture of me lying down in one:

So that's that! It's a quick summary of what we've done in the past few weeks. We've done so much more, but that's a general catch-up for you! I need to go to bed, because I leave for JORDAN in 5 hours! Exciting! So, while I'm gone, enjoy this last picture of me being happy, because I was exploring the Old City:

I love you guys. Have a fantastic week!

Missing My Tumblr Blog, Part II

"I know of no other practice which will make one more attractive in conversation than to be well-read in a variety of subjects. There is a great potential within each of us to go on learning. Regardless of our age, unless there be serious illness, we can read, study, drink in the writings of wonderful men and women. It is never too late to learn."

-President Gordon B. Hinckley

Shalom from Israel, everybody!

(Pictured above: Me in the Mediterranean Sea.)

Sorry I haven’t updated recently – it’s been a crazy couple of weeks. So much has happened, it would bore you to hear about everything. So I will share with you some of the highlights.

One highlight was from this past Monday – a large group of us (70 of us, to be exact), took a trip to Tel Aviv, and it was fantastic. Yes, there is a lot to do in Tel Aviv, but try to guess where I spent all 8 hours of my time there. If you guessed at the beach, you would be correct.

And it. was. fantastic. I have no regrets. It was such a relaxing day, and a nice break from classes. We just went, had fun, played in the water, played on the beach, relaxed, and had a good time. It was one of my favorite days thus far.

(I didn’t have my camera with me that day, so all photo credit goes to my friend Ashley.)

But, beyond what we are doing on our own, we are going strong with Field Trips and with Service Projects, as well as so much more! A few weeks ago, we had one of my favorite Field Trips thus far, to a Bedouin Community down in the Negev Desert. The Bedouin Community we visited actually had an organization (SIDREH Lakiya Negev Weaving) that was partially supported by the LDS church, which provides opportunities for support to Bedouin Women. It was really neat to visit the organization.

Our guide for the day, a Bedouin woman herself, was very neat. Her English was fantastic. She went to college and got her degree in Middle Eastern Studies and is actually working on her Master's Degree as well. This month she gets to travel to America and fly on an airplane for the first time! She will be participating in an Arts Fair in Sante Fe. She loves working for SIDREH because she feels like she is actually making a difference for those she cares about, and I believe she truly is making a difference. This woman was inspirational.

(Our guide on the right, with another Bedouin woman in the background.)

One of the most interesting things about the community was how the houses were put together. They couldn't build lasting houses because Bedouin Communities are not recognized as legal villages by the Israeli Government, so every day their houses risk being torn down. As a result, Bedouin villages are filled with what could be better defined as shacks. It's really sad, but there is a lot of progress that can be made and is being made. Overall, it was a very eye-opening experience.

(Me in the Bedouin Community. Note the "houses" in the background).

Another one of my favorite activities from the past couple of weeks was a service project to Princess Bosma Preschool. I was particularly looking forward to this project because I have been homesick for my nieces and nephews. I’ve missed them like crazy. But the kids at this preschool were great.

For being how young they were, they were all pretty good at English! The teachers had to translate for us a lot when were trying to help them do activities (Playing leap frog was their favorite activity, by the way. Who would’ve thought?), but they knew all sorts of poems and rhymes in English and loved to show off to us.

One of my favorite children was named Hassn. Whenever we were playing a game, he was so enthusiastic about wanting to play with us. I think he and I actually ended up being pretty good pals by the end of the day. :) Before he left preschool, he came to find me just to tell me goodbye. And then, after we left the preschool to walk back to the BYUJC, he was waiting in his family’s car to leave, and he got out of the car and ran over to me to say goodbye again. I just loved him.

(A picture of me with Hassn).

Another one of my favorite kids was named Musa. He was in a wheelchair, so he couldn’t do everything that the other kids could do, but I think he was my favorite to play with. He was so happy and smiley the entire time.

When I first walked over to Musa, I knelt down to say hello. Without even talking to me he just grabbed my hands and smiled at me. He was so happy. One thing he and I did together was paint his face so that he would look like a lion. Afterwards, my friend Meeshell told him to go “rawr!” and he loved it!

(Musa and me “rawring” at the camera.)

Musa was just fantastic. So was Hassn. I absolutely loved getting to go to the preschool to play with these children.

Other highlights from the past few weeks:

The Kotel Tunnel Field Trip, a trip through the tunnels by the Western Wall. This trip was a midnight field trip, because that was the only time we could get a tour for, but it made it that much more fun. We felt like Indiana Jones, exploring the ancient ruins under the current city ground. We even got to walk on the very ground Christ walked on, as well as see the largest human-cut rock in the world. They still don’t know how the Jews moved a rock so big and put it as part of the retaining wall for Herod’s Temple. When the Romans destroyed the temple, they even tried to get rid of the rock and just couldn’t do it. They tried chipping away at it, but just gave up and ended leaving it there.

(a picture of my friend Jess and me in front of the rock. It weights 450 tons!!!!).

I have two funny anecdotes from this Field Trip.

# 1) This field trip was very unique for me on account of how badly I needed to go to the bathroom. When we went, I had been sick for a few days. So, that night, I determined I was going to flush the sickness out of me. As a result, I drank an entire 2-liter bottle of water that they gave to us. That's right, I drank 2 liters of water. The only problem was, I drank it about an hour before we left, and I didn't have time to let it go through my system, like I thought I would. As a result, it hit me during the field trip. That's right. I've never had to go to the bathroom so badly in my entire life. It got to the point where I didn't even want to move. But it's all right! I made it. As we were exiting the tunnel, I definitely led the group so I could leave first. I felt like I was going to explode, but I didn't, and am still alive.

Funny anecdote # 2)  For those of you who don't know, our teachers are in our Branch here in Jerusalem. As a result, I am the Home Teacher of my Ancient Near Eastern Studies Teacher (Brother Chadwick). The Kotel Tunnel Field trip was on the 31st of the month. My companion and I hadn't met with my teacher and his wife yet. We had tried to set up appointments, but appointments kept being rescheduled. So, that night, Brother Chadwick had given us an orientation on the Kotel Tunnel so it would be beneficial to us. Then, at about 11:45, as Brother Chadwick and I were standing outside the Western Wall, I turned to him and said, "So......Brother Chadwick....Is there anything I can do for you and your wife?" Haha. He got a kick out of it. I also gave him a short lesson on what the Western Wall was, as well as the Kotel Tunnel, just in case he didn't know about either of those things.

So those are my stories for the Kotel Tunnel field trip!

Another trip we went on recently was to Neot Kedumine, a place to learn about Biblical Landscapes. This field trip was really cool. We spent 6 hours going through this giant reserve, filled with plants and animals that are found in the Bible. I believe they said that every plant found in the Bible could be found at the reserve, as well as a good portion of the animals. I thought this field trip might end up being kind of boring, but it was so much more interactive than I expected. We got to draw water from wells, make our own Zatar, reenact Biblical stories, make our pita, shepherd sheep, see how olive oil was made in ancient times, saw how the threshing floor worked and got to thresh wheat ourselves, see an ancient cistern, see how ancient waterwheels helped to store water, AS WELL AS learning about plants and how they played into the Biblical stories.

(Shepherding Sheep)

 (A donkey! I took this picture for Chelsey. It reminded me of Small One!)

 (My friends Ashley, Jenny, and Lizzie are the epitome of style.)

(Julie and Ariel being Naomi and Ruth)

(A Torah Scribe reading from a 200-year-old handwritten Torah).

Sorry for the severe lack of pictures of myself at Neot Kedumine, but I just thought everything else was so interesting that I forgot to take pictures of me. I’m sure others did, though. But you get the point.

So that’s that! This is an update on what’s been going on since Turkey. Sorry for the lack of updating for a while. We had midterms so I thought it would be counterproductive to update my blog instead of study, and that just put me so far behind on my blog. But I will definitely try to update more often from now on! I send you all my love and hope everything is going well wherever you are!

Missing My Tumblr Blog, Part 1

"Oh, my dear young brothers and sisters, these are the days of your probation. This time is a precious window of opportunity to prepare for your future. Do not waste this time away. Get out a paper and pencil and write down the things that matter most to you. List the goals that you hope to accomplish in life and what things are required if they are to become a reality for you. Plan and prepare and then do."
     -Elder M. Russell Ballard, Be Strong in the Lord, and the in the Power of His Might, March 2002.

The Garden Tomb

I went there again today. It was a peaceful, spiritual experience. It was one of those experiences where the spirit was almost palpable. The first time I went it was super crowded and busy, with people all over. This time, I went with a group right before it closed on a Thursday evening, so the crowds weren't nearly as large, and it was very peaceful.

We attached ourselves onto a tour group that was going through, and it was really interesting to hear things from a non-LDS perspective. One of my favorite things that the tour guide spoke about was actually the story of Abraham and Isaac. When Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac, the Lord commanded him to go to Mount Moriah, which is traditionally the Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock stands today. But what I learned in my tour today is that the Dome of the Rock is just the south end of Mount Moriah. The whole of what Mount Moriah once was actually extends all the way to Golgotha, which is on the North end. The guide told us that sacrifices were typically completed in the North, meaning that when Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac, it was more likely to have happened near Golgotha and the Garden Tomb than at the Dome of the Rock. This was neat to me, because not only is Isaac a type for Christ, but he was a type for Christ in the very place where Christ Himself completed the sacrifice and rose again. It was just a neat gospel insight for me to make.

Anyways, I'll leave you this video of Gordon B. Hinckley bearing testimony of Christ. I love President Hinckley. And I love Christ. So this video is just all-around good. :)

The text from the video:

"Just outside the walls of Jerusalem, in this place or somewhere nearby, was the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea where the body of the Lord was interred. On the third day following His burial 'came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

'And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it…

'And the angel … said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

'He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay' (Matt. 28:1–2, 5–6).

These are the most reassuring words in all of human history. Death—universal and final—had now been conquered. 'O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?' (1 Cor. 15:55).

To Mary, the Risen Lord first appeared. He spoke to her, and she replied. He was real. He was alive, He whose body had been laid in death. Small wonder that when Thomas later saw Him with His wounded hands and side, he exclaimed in wonder, 'My Lord and my God' (John 20:28).

Never had this occurred before. There had been only death without hope. Now there was life eternal. Only a God could have done this. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ was the great crowning event of His life and mission. It was the capstone of the Atonement. The sacrifice of His life for all mankind was not complete without His coming forth from the grave, with the certainty of the Resurrection for all who have walked the earth.

Of all the victories in the chronicles of humanity, none is so great, none so universal in its effects, none so everlasting in its consequences as the victory of the crucified Lord, who came forth from the tomb that first Easter morning.

Those who were witnesses of that event, all who saw and heard and spoke with the Risen Lord, testified of the reality of this greatest of all miracles. His followers through the centuries lived and died in proclamation of the truth of this supernal act.

To all of these we add our testimony that He who died on Calvary’s cross arose again in wondrous splendor as the Son of God, the Master of life and death."

-President Gordon B. Hinckley

TURKEY.

Okay, as promised: my blog post on Turkey. There's no way I can remember everything that happened, and honestly, some of my favorite things that happened just couldn't be captured on camera. But I will try to describe those in detail, so there's no need to worry. And I took pictures of just about everything else.

I learned some amazing lessons this trip. I made some amazing friends. I feel like my class and I got so close. At first I was upset that my group was going to Turkey instead of Egypt. But then I talked to my friend Keri who went to BYU-Jerusalem last semester, and when I told her I wished I had gone with her, she looked me in the eye and said, "Jefferson. You weren't supposed to go to Egypt. Heavenly Father knew you'd be going to Jerusalem, and He knew you'd be going this semester. If you were supposed to go to Egypt, you would have gone." I knew she was right.

And truly, I had some amazing experiences. I saw an ancient theater and library at Ephasus, I  experienced an earthquake in Hierapolis, I went inside the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophya, I tried all sorts of food I never thought I'd try, I took various boat rides, I rode a boat between two continents, I had a gladiator duel in Troy, I watched the sunset over the Aegean Sea, I felt like Indiana Jones in an underground Roman cistern, I saw the "cotton castle," Pamukkale, I spent four hours in natural hot springs, I saw the most beautiful views and countryside in the world, I went swimming in the ocean, I went swimming in pools, I had a dance party on the beach, I met some amazing people, and so much more. Honestly, it was amazing. But here were my three favorite parts that WEREN'T captured on camera:

3) The bus rides. Goodness, these were so much fun. I can't even describe. If you want to know the behind-the-scene details you have to ask me personally, because I refuse to reveal them on my public blog. But it was a blast. My teacher, Brother Judd, is hilarious, and he started a competition on the bus, saying that whoever could get the best picture of themselves with me while I am asleep on the bus gets a prize. So the constant joke on the bus was, "Jefferson....go to sleep...." It's hard to explain over the computer. But it was hilarious. Trust me. Also, dance parties, getting to know people, playing games with the entire bus, singing Disney, karaoke, Bulent (our tourguide), class lectures, making friends, and so much more made the bus rides fantastic. And seeing as we spent a good 8 hours each day on the busses, it was good that I had so much fun on them.

2) The people. Not only did I grow close to the people who were in my group - I gained a love for the Turkish people in the mere week that I was there. The people in Assos had so much experience and wisdom. There were also people who didn't speak English at a carpet-making factory that we went to, and we got to help them, and it was such a neat experience. Our tourguide, Bulent, was one of the funniest people I have ever met. Other people were fantastic as well.

One of the neatest experiences I had was our only night in Ephesus. It was my friend Becca's birthday, and I gave her a phone card so she could call her family. The only problem was that we had to find our way into the city so that she could find a pay phone to use it. After some problems communicating with the man at the front desk, an 18-year-old bellhop, who spoke very little English, offered to take us into the city. He walked us all the way there, for 5-10 minutes. I believe his name was Aytuk. I wish I'd gotten a picture with him. He was 18, just finishing up high school, and working at the hotel for a summer job. With his broken English, we talked a lot about ourselves. It was his first week at the job, and he was so kind and considerate. He had a light in his eyes that just took me by surprise.
While we were trying to figure out Becca's phone card, we met yet another man who, once again in broken English, tried to help us to the best of his ability. He was so nice, and did it so selflessly.

A third person that was met that night was a restaurant owner named Deniz. He. Was. Hilarious. My friend Kerri Allyson and I talked to him for a good twenty minutes while Becca was on the phone with her family. He was so.funny. He had other customers to attend to, of course, but something in him made him want to just talk to us. He likes techno music, running his restaurant chain, and meeting people. And he loved talking to us. He did some break dancing for a bit, tried to teach us how to break dance, taught us some Turkish phrases like, "I miss you so much," "I love you so much," and "kiss my a**." HAHAHA.
Why do I tell you about all of these people?

Because I was sad that I couldn't share the gospel with each one of them. Honestly, I was. But in a way, it strengthened my testimony. Hear me out. With each one of these people, I could see a light in their eyes. I wanted them to receive the gospel. But, Turkey is 99% Muslim (there are more mosques there than churches in Utah Valley), so not only was I not allowed to teach them the gospel, but in a sense they weren't ready. This was so hard for me. Later that night I was talking to my roommate about it, and he helped me realize something that strengthened my faith. He told me to channel my love for these people, and my desire for them to receive the gospel, into faith in prayer. When Elder Pieper was here, he told us that it would take a bigger miracle for the countries that are predominantly Muslim to receive the gospel than the miracle that it took for the gospel to be taken behind the iron curtain. I want so badly for these people to receive the gospel. But I know they can't. So I will strengthen my prayers. I know that one day they will be able to receive it, for the gospel will be preached to all people in their own tongue. I know that one day, each of these people will have the opportunity that I want so badly for them to have. But for now, all I can do is pray for them. I really did have a love for each of the people I met while I was there. I just want for them to be able to receive the gospel.


 1) Sacrament Meeting. We had Sacrament Meeting in a bar. Seriously. And let me tell you, this was one of my very favorite parts of the Turkey experience. The guys preparing the sacrament actually prepared it on the bar. Haha. We had Sacrament Meeting on a Friday night, because we wouldn't have a break on Saturday (our regular Sabbath) to do Sacrament meeting, and Sunday was our travel day. So we had it on Friday night. The only problem was that we had to find a place in our hotel to do it. Our hotel was rather small, and the two biggest rooms were the restaurant and the bar. The restaurant was already serving customers so we went to our only option - the bar.

At the time, the bar was closed. We received permission from the hotel owners to have a church meeting in there. Brother Judd and Brother Chadwick stood guard at the door while Brother Muhlestein conducted and Brother Jackson presided. It was amazing. It was taking them a while to find bread to use for the sacrament, so we just sang hymns until everyone got there. It invited the spirit so strongly.

After the men preparing the sacrament finally came, we had our meeting. We started with yet another song, an opening hymn, had our announcements, then did the sacrament. For our sacrament hymn we sang hymn # 169, "As Now We Take the Sacrament," which is actually my favorite hymn. Not just my favorite sacrament hymn, but my favorite hymn.

As I was sitting on the floor of the bar (there weren't enough seats), preparing to take the sacrament, I just had such an amazing, spiritual experience. I wanted to make myself better than I was. I wanted to be a better person, and I wanted the gospel to be spread to all people. I felt closer to my Savior, something I never thought could happen in a bar. And I felt closer to the people around me. I felt the spirit so strongly in the bar that evening.

After the Sacrament, Brother Muhlestein had asked three people to bear their testimonies. It was so spiritual. Everyone seemed to bear testimony about something they had learned on the Turkey trip, and it seemed as though other people had had the same feelings about wanting the gospel to go to everyone. As they were bearing their testimonies, people were passing in the crowded streets behind us. Everyone was moving at a rushed pace. And in 2-3 minutes time, about 100 people would pass the window, which was more than the number of people sitting in the room. Turkey is a country of over 70,000,000 people, and I was just thinking about how badly I wanted each and every one of them to at least be able to hear the gospel, and feel the joy that I felt in that room that day.

At the end of Sacrament Meeting, we sang "I Am a Child of God" as our closing hymn. It was beautiful. During the closing prayer, you could hear so many people crying. Everyone had felt the spirit that day. None of us except for the men preparing the sacrament were dressed in Sunday dress, we had spent 8 hours on the bus that day, and we were in a bar, but it was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. It just goes to show that, in a very real way, Christ holds to His promise when He tells us, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." His presence really was felt that day, even in the most unorthodox of places and situations. It was amazing.

Anyways, those were probably three of my favorite experiences that I had while I was in Turkey. Also a favorite was singing "All Creatures of our God and King," in front of a crowd of 200 or so people in Ephasus. It was really neat.

For the last part of my blog, I will post pictures that I took! I didn't have my camera during Sacrament, which was a shame. But I had my camera almost all the rest of the time. Thank goodness. So enjoy the pictures of some things I saw and some places I went! Everything really was so amazing. Sorry if this post was a bit long - I just wanted to share the experiences I had. I love you all!

 Me in front of the Blue Mosque.

A fish that I ate on the first night. You can see its teeth!

My first bite of Turkish Delight. On a moonlit night.

Me with some random sheep we found on one of our eight-hour bus rides. There was a cool shepherd who spoke no English who let us pet his sheep. I sanitized thoroughly afterwards, but it was super neat. I'm sure there's a gospel lesson in there somewhere.

My friend Amber and me after battling things out in a gladiator stadium in Troy.

My friend Sara Siddoway and me watching the sunset from a pier in Troy.

My friend Amber and me in front of the same sunset. I'm sorry. I couldn't help it.

Some people spelling Turkey in front of the sunset.

A woman in Assos.

One of the amazing views of the Aegean Sea from Assos. I could have spent all day in that tiny village.

Me overlooking the theatre in Pergammon. 

Me at the Asklepion.

Me in front of the Ephesus library.

Me in Pamukkale.

The mineral deposits at Pamukkale, whose name's literal translation is "cotton castle."

Amber and me with our tickets in our mouths....Bulent told us to....

My friend Becca and me inside the Hagia Sofya. It was so big you could fit the Statue of Liberty inside and it wouldn't even touch the ceiling!

I'm back!

Hello, blogging world! I'm back. I've returned from Turkey, and it was one of the best weeks of my life. I'll write an entire blog post about it later, but for now I'll leave you with this: I survived a 5.9 earthquake, slept in five different hotels, spent nights on two continents, followed the missions of Paul, saw about 4 ancient theatres, read the scriptures, performed hymns in front of crowds of people, had Sacrament Meeting in a bar, made friends with Turkish people, and so much more.

But, for right now, I have FHE and tons of homework tonight, so I'll leave you with this. Our Rabbi swears it's legit. This is sometimes how I feel I want to be after learning so much about other religions. I really love Islam and Judaism. But I also love being a Mormon, so I'll probably stick with that. :)