The Moment You've All Been Waiting For

Hello, or Marhaba as they say in Arabic! If you've been checking my blog, and again and again been disappointed by the lack of postage, I apologise. I just feel like for the most part there is so much to do here and so little time, and when you live about a 15 minutes walk from the Garden Tomb or the Garden of Gethsemane, blogging doesn't seem like much of a priority. I don't make any promises about the amount of blogging I will be able to get in, but I do promise to try harder to blog more often. Well let me tell you a little bit more about my life here in Jerusalem. We left the Salt Lake City airport at approximately 8:30 a.m. on January 3rd, 2012. As the plane lifted off, and I felt the wheels leave the ground, I realised that my journey was really beginning! After about a 5 hour flight full of thumb twiddling, trying but failing to sleep, and two rounds of airplane snacks, we again decended and set our wheels on the landing strip of th JFK airport in New York. It felt pretty good to be on land again and be able to move around instead of sitting between two sleeping strangers. Our layover in New York was scheduled to last for 6 hours so needless to say, there was some time that needed killing. My cousin Jon and I decided to go with two other boys that were also headed to Jerusalem as well, to get some dinner. After forgetting breakfast and only having had two packages of airplane cookies and a cup of orange juice, my stomach was pretty anxious to get some food. We looked around at different options of places to spend our dough and get some grub, and eventually decided that Wendy's would proabably be the least expensive of our over priced options. On our way there, we ran into a boy I worked with when I was in 9th and 10th grade and that I hadn't seen in about 3 or 4 years. Crazy huh? Of all places and of all people, I run into Freddy Romero at the JFK airport on my way to Jerusalem. Funny happenstance. We finally made it across the massive airport to Wendys and one chicken sandwhich later, I was one poorly tasting sandwhich fuller, and about 6 dollars poorer. Isn't it great that JFK tripples the regular Wendy's menu prices by about three times? Well the time finally came when our layover ended and the next leg of our journey was about to begin. We went through security for what seemed like the tenth time that day and settled into our seats of our home for the next 12 hours. Thankfully my seat was on the isle this time. Some of the highlights, good and bad, of the flight included two meals, unlimited drinks, uncomfortable seats, questionable pillows, packaged blankets, girl next to me getting sick and throwing up in the bathroom, being able to sleep for a couple hours after a tylenol p.m. and eventually landing in Tel Aviv! Goodbye U.S., HELLO ISRAEL! We met our teachers at the airport and boarded buses that led us to our new home for the next 3 and 1/2 months. I couldn't divert my eyes from the windows of the bus as we were making our way through the city. Things that seem to be nothing but a normality to me now were so foreign to me then and I just wanted to take every single second of it in. Our teacher got up and announced that we would soon be arriving at the Jerusalem Center but to be looking out our windows to the right, and we would soon get our first glimpse of the old city. Sure enough, as the hills broke their unity, there was the shining gold dome that is so recognisable to so many and is often what this incredible land is identified by. The hills joined together again, the view was gone, we drove around the corner and there, straight ahead, was my new home. For those of you who have been here, you know that the Jerusalem Center is an incredibly beautiful building. So unique, and unlike any place I've ever been or seen before. I love it here. I was very worried before I came that I would have a very hard time and be extremely homesick, but thanks to blessings and prayers, I haven't hardly felt homesick at all. I feel at home here. I know that here is where I am supposed to be right now. One of my favorite days so far was last Saturday. In Jerusalem, the people of the Jewish faith view Saturday as their Sabath which is what the Jerusalem center does as well. It was incredible to sit in church on Sunday and look out at the beautiful city. Being here seems so unreal, but at the same time, it feels so normal and right. I know that sounds really cheezy, but it's just a really hard feeling to explain and I don't know if I have the ability to put it into words. Last sabath was fast and testimony meeting which was incredible. A local member got up on the stand and I recognised her first thing. She is a Palestinian woman named Sahar who knew and developed a relationship with my sister when she was here about 2 and 1/2 years ago. She talked to the students about how if we were feeling lonely, or sad, or missing our families, to just know that we are home here and that we need not miss our family because we have a family here. I really enjoyed what she said and it really made the wheels in my head start to turn. There is a sense of community here unlike any I've felt before. I'm sure that if any of you have been here you will know what I mean. You meet so many new and different people, and maybe they are people that you would have never gotten to know at home, but here, it's just so different. You live with the very same people you have all your classes with. You see your professors at church. My Anchient Near East teacher is in the Bishopric and met with me this week to extend a call (I've been called to be a teacher for the sunbeam/CTR 4 class! I am so excited!). We see our teacher's families all the time in the center and eat meals with them on occasion. Those ambitious people who have enough will power to get up early in the morning usually are able to catch a glimpse of on of our Old Testament teachers in he gym... I think you get the point. It is a completely different environment here than I have ever been in before and it's strange, but I kinda like it. Also last sabath, a boy in our group bore his testimony and said that as he was sitting in the congregation he thought to himself "How many times will I get the opportunity to bear my testimony in Jerusalem?" After that I couldn't not get up. Wow, am I really here? Am I really this blessed? How has life gone by so fast? How has this happened? Well, in other news, it has been incredible, and quite the adventure exploring the Old City and seeing all there is to see here. I've been able to go to many places already including the Dome of the Rock, the Garden Tomb, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Old City. It's incredible but I feel like I should be more in awe. Most of the time I just have more of a content feeling, like things are just how they are supposed to be. I love it. I had a pretty cool experience that I would like to share with all of you super quick before I sign off. Last Monday we went as a class on a field trip to different overlook spots of the city to learn about the land and some of the things that happened in the places we were seeing. We were at one overlook called Haas Promenade that overlooks the Old City from the South. What a breathtaking experience. We opened our scriptures and read in the bible, in Genesis 22, where it tells the story of Abraham and how he was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. Our teacher told us how while he was traveling he came over a ridge, looked ahead, and saw Mount Moriah, the place he was commanded to go to sacrifice his beloved son. Our teacher told us that that Abraham came to the city from the south, and had a view very similar to what we were seeing. The Dome of the Rock sits on what was once Mount Moriah, and we could see it clearly from where we were. As I looked ahead I just tried to put myself into Abrahams shoes and tried to imagine even a fraction of what he felt as he stood in a place similar to where I was, looking ahead to the harded thing he would have to do in his life thus far. The thought was inconceiveable. We also talked about the similarities between our father in heaven and his sacrifice of his son, to that of Abraham and Isaac. Our teacher additionally brought up the point that God knew what Abraham would do, he knew that Abraham was obedient and would follow through with any command he was given. The purpose of the Lords request was for Abraham so that he could prove his faithfulness and obedience to himself. It was a really interesting discussion that I just really enjoyed. I love reading the scriptures and actually knowing what they are telling me and being able to recognise the stories. It's an added bonus that we are actually able to go and see many places that these incredible things happened. What an incredible opportunity! It really helps to bring the scriptures to life. Well life is great here in the Holy Land! School is a LOT more difficult than I expected it to be. I haven't been out of the center since Sunday because every spare minute that I am either not in class or eating meals, I am reading, reading, reading. We have been given SO much reading to do! Gosh it is so frustrating sometimes but I don't really feel like I have room to complain because of where I am. Well I'd better get back to my new reality. You may thing that a Study abroad is all fun and games but you'd be surprised how much hard work it entails as well. I have a take home quiz to do this weekend that I haven't studied for yet so I'd better go start working on that. I hope that everything is going great for all of you! I appreciate those of you who have sent me emails. Even though I don't always have time to reply, it always feels good to see that someone at home cares about me. Thank you for all of your love and support, I will blog again soon! Salaam!

**Also, just a disclaimer, I am not the best at spelling as you probably have noticed, and I am on a center computer so I don't have Google Chrome's help, so I apologize for all the spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes in this post.**