This is the view from my room's balconey overlooking the Old City. The closest buildings are part of the Palastine neighborhood that we live next to. I can't remember the name at the moment, but all the little kids hang out at the lower gate of the center waiting for us to leave and come play with them. I haven't actually played with them, but they adorable!

Another view from my balconey. On the left side of the photo behind the hill you can see a small portion of the golden roof of the Dome of the Rock.

This is me...hanging out in the Old City. This street has no special significance that I know of. I just walked down it.

Via Dolorosa is a street in the Old City that is thought to be the street that Jesus Christ carried his cross on his way to be crucified. Many times pilgrimmages will be stopped at different stations along this road. They also do their own walk as Christ did, so once in a while (at least so I hear, I haven't actually stuck around to watch) they'll have a procession and they will carry a cross down the street.

This is me in the Garden of Gethsemane. At this portion of the Garden of Gethsemane it is actually very small and you cannot walk through the garden. They have 8 Olive trees which stand as the only witness of Christ's suffering in Gethsemane. There is a church just to the right of where I'm standing in the photo called the Church of All Nations or the Basilica of Agony. A group of the JC students (me included) got to surround the altar and sing "I Stand All Amazed". It was an awesome experience to hear the song ring out echoing through out the church all in praise of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Jerusalem: First Impressions

First of all, after way too many hours of traveling I've made it to Jerusalem! I'm all unpacked and I love being in the BYU Jerusalem Center on Mt. Scopus. Yesterday as we drove into Jerusalem we came in the north side and it was amazing to look over and really take in that after so many months of preparation I was finally here!

Today, we had a walking tour through Jerusalem. We left through the lower Jerusalem Center gate and made our way through East Jerusalem. Our center is between two Muslim neighborhoods, and is just below Hebrew University, which it seems rather funny to have the Mormons right in the middle. So anyway, East Jerusalem is the older parts of the city marked by crowded traditional buildings, while West Jerusalem is the newer very modern of a city part of Jerusalem with the Old City right in the middle. We made our way through the Damascus Gate into the Old City and it was amazing to think that those walls have been there forever and ever. The Gates are not exactly the same gates that Christ would have walked through because the old roman gates are now below walking level, but the gates we walk through are still pretty darn ancient. In the Old City we walked along the Via Dolorosa which is the road Christ supposedly carried the cross on, and then we made our way to the Holy Sepulcher. The Holy Sepelcher I found fascinating, because even though it is the Christian sect of town, there is still so much division. The Holy Sepulcher is divided by three different sects-- the Catholics, the Armenians and the Orthodox, which we were surprised to find out they would have full on fist fights in the church around the area where Jesus Christ was said to be buried over who has the right to be there, or who has the right to walk through the doors first in a ceremony. We did not get to stay long so I will definitely be going back so I can wait in the long line to see Christ's tomb, but it was such a great preview of what I have yet to see!

We left the Old City through Joffa's gate and into West Jerusalem. To an extent West Jerusalem and East Jerusalem seem like different worlds. I wish I could articulate how they seem so different to me. It's not just that West Jerusalem is modern and new. Overall the design of buildings is very much the same with the white stone, and there are more skyscraper-like buildings in the West Jerusalem, but the environment just feels different. I think the best way I can think to describe it is West Jerusalem is like being in a big city like New York where you don't know anyone around you and no one knows you. While East Jerusalem still looks and feels like a big city, but it is more intimate....perhaps it only feels that way because the streets are generally narrower. Whatever the case, Jerusalem is amazing!

Well, that's a little bit of why my life is an adventure.

Why am I excited?

How could I not be excited?! In fifteen days I will be getting on a plane and flying to Israel. I will be living in the BYU Jerusalem Center for four months where I will have the opportunity to explore the city of Jerusalem, visit Turkey and the Sea of Galilee. This past weekend I had a friend ask me, what am I most excited for. My first thought was how can I possibly be excited for just one thing. I had a million things run through my mind such as I'm going to live in the Holy Land for four months, I get to travel to Turkey which I had never imagined myself doing, I will be able to learn about Islam and Judaism by living in the heart of its culture, I'll be learning Hebrew, I get to go on a field trip to a different historically and religiously significant sight every week and so on and so on.

But what I am most excited about is that I will be studying Jesus Christ and getting to know him as I live in the land that He grew up in and loved. I am going to be studying the Bible, and learning about Jesus Christ's life, while I get walk the same streets that He walked. I can sit in a grove of olive trees that is similar to one that Christ would have sat in while he taught His followers. I have been learning about Jesus Christ my whole life in Sunday School, seminary and now religion classes at BYU. I've read all the Bible stories. I know that Jesus Christ died so that I may return to heaven to live with my Heavenly Father again. He gives me hope, comfort and strength on daily basis. I am excited to explore His doctrine in depth. I am excited to strengthen my relationship with Him.

O Jerusalem by Greg Olsen (I have no rights to this photo)

I know this is an opportunity of a lifetime and I plan on soaking up every moment of it. This is why my life is an adventure