Wise Words from Aladin

So sometimes we meet a lot of awesome people as we are wandering around the Old City. Thursday as we were coming back from the City we stopped off at the money changers...Aladin! He is a pretty funny guy, and asks me everytime if I play basketball. Anywho this time as we were leaving he gave us some wise words of advice...

"Live your lives and love it while living for good, and don't be afraid of death"

I love all of the little random life lessons that I seem to learn everyday here. Also...we met this cute little girl named Annie while we were getting shwarma's in the city. One of the only Arabic words I know is helwe...which means beautiful. So I tried to tell her she was beautiful, but she just smiled really big at me and laughed.So cute.

Annie...and delicious shwarma! :)

This Actually Happened...

This is Alvin wearing my skinny jeans. Enough said.

Look at that face...he is so precious.

Best Parents Ever

Since I am too far away to do anything for my dad this Father's Day, I figure that this meager blog post will have to suffice as my gift to him. So dad this post is dedicated to you! BUT... I am also going to dedicate it to mom as well because I missed my Mother's Day blog post because I was in Turkey. So really I am going to invent my own holiday here and call it Parent Day (although it already exists apparently on the 4th Sunday of July...but who really celebrates it? I am still taking credit for inventing it). Anyways...there are so many things that I could say about my parents, but to avoid being to long and boring I will condense it to just a few lines of what I love about both of them.

Mom - I can't even describe in words the impact that you have had on my life, and the impact that you continue to have! All I can say is you are one of a kind, and everyone who knows you would agree. I don't know anyone with a more dedicated and caring attitude. I hope I can be even just half the mom that you are one day!

Dad - Thanks for always being the person that I could come to with any problem. You always help me to put things into perspective and help me remember that things will work out for the best. You are the kindest, most gentle, and most patient person I know. You have always told me that I need to find someone with a good heart, so if I can find someone just like you then I think I will have accomplished that!

Thanks for being the best parents ever! I feel SO lucky/blessed to have been born into your family. So much so that I feel bad for all those people who didn't have you guys for parents...no offense to anyone else. But thanks for everything mom and dad. I LOVE YOU!

I just love them.

Sometimes I Make Silly Choices...

So...this past week I was somehow convinced to go on a no sugar-diet. Say What? It’s so true that you never really know just how much you want something until it is gone. Except in this case I actually do know how much I want sugar all the time. Anywho...it may or may not have lasted only like 4 days. But still...the whole time I just wanted chocolate. Or a delicious waffle from the waffle bar... 

Banana Boom waffle from the waffle bar. Mmm. Also I love Rachel Ely.

Neot Kedumim

For our field trip this week we went to Neo Kedumim—a biblical landscape reserve. So basically we got to go back in time a little ways and experience some biblical life. We tested out our sheep/goat herding skills, crushed some hyksos, and made pitas and lentil soup! A valuable life lesson from our herding expedition can be found in John 10:4...

4) And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

Sheep follow the shepherd whose voice they are familiar with and can trust. Similar to us, it is easier to follow our Savior’s example when we recognize and know how his Holy Spirit speaks to us individually. I am so glad that I was able to be reminded of this wonderful gem of knowledge!

Me, Alyssa, Goat, Alvin, Becca

Snorkeling in Eilat

For our free day this week we went to Eilat to go snorkeling! It was fabulously fun and hot... I saw some super cool fish...and I got to hang out with some really awesome people for a whole day. I love my life! I also got to hear all about the wonderful life of Alvin Green on the bus ride home...definitely a highlight.

I love Dana and Alyssa!

Gethsemane

Last Sabbath I finally got to go and visit the Garden of Gethsemane! I have been here for a month and a half with the best intentions of going almost every Sabbath, but somehow things kept coming up. But I finally went...and it was great! I still find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that I am finally getting to visit all of these places that I have just had to imagine in my head ever since I was little. The Garden of Gethsemane in particular has always been a place, though, that I have struggled to picture in my mind. What Christ must have felt and gone through is just way beyond my comprehension. The whole time I was there I had these verses from the Gospel of Luke running through my head, especially verse 44.

 41 ) And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,

 42) Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

 43) And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

 44) And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

I can't even fathom how much pressure and pain it would take to cause blood to come from every single pore of Christ's body, and it breaks my heart to think that my sins added to his pain. I am so grateful that he performed the atonement, though, because it provides us all a way to be forgiven and to one day return to live with our Father in Heaven again. As Professor Huntsman would say... I just love Jesus!! 

Gethsemane!

Zoo-in it Up

This past Sunday we decided to be adventurous and make the long trek across the city to the Zoo! And when I say that we made the long trek I actually mean we took the bus...but still it took a little while. Anyways it was great. We saw a ton of strange animals that I had never seen before, as well as a lot of really interesting looking birds.

Trying to be birds... (from left to right: Becca, me, Natalie, Rachel, and Rachel)

We also saw some kangaroo-ish animals! When I was little my dad used to call me karen kangaroo, so naturally I had to get a picture with them...

They are small...but there they are in the background! (Hannah, me, and Natalie)

After the Zoo we went to West Jerusalem to a Farmer's Market type thing called the Shuke. I got a doughnut, a chocolate eclair, another mysterious but surprisingly delicious baked item covered with nuts and chocolate, and gelato! Then at dinner I had two pieces of chocolate cake. Mmm. It was definitely a good day.

We Love Jon Schmidt!

Today was SO great. It was great because it was the Sabbath and the Sabbath is always great, but mainly it was great because we got to see JON SCHMIDT perform at the Augusta Victoria Tower. It was crazy. We were just sitting in Relief Society and our president casually announces that he is doing a concert tonight in Jerusalem. I was so excited! I am most definitely a huge Jon Schmidt fan. I love his music. I have dedicated countless hours trying to learn "All of Me" (my favorite), "Tribute", and "Waterfall" among others. Cool thing is he played all three of those tonight :). Anyways...who knew that I would get to hear him play all the way in Jerusalem! Life is fantastic. Thanks Jon for taking time out of your tour to play for us...it was greatly appreciated!

We were sitting right behind him at first!

After the concert