Pyramids or camel safari anyone?

We spent a glorious week in Egypt and I absolutely loved it. I hope to return there someday because it was such an amazing experience.
I have so much to say, but writing it down in a couple of blog posts just won’t do it justice, so I’m sorry. Once again, you’ll have to wait for more details until I get home!

After several orientation meetings telling us to never drink the water - only drink bottled water and be wary of what we ate along with being safe by going everywhere in a group of four with at least one male and remember to bring toilet paper and lots of hand sanitizer because the bathrooms aren’t as high quality as we’re used to…(you get the point) we finally left Sunday January 23rd.
We stopped at a few archeological sites in Israel – Tel Beersheba (Genesis 21-21, 1 Samuel 9:1-3) and Tel Arad (King Solomon’s time) we spent the night at Kibbutz Keturah. Monday we crossed the border into Egypt and I got a pretty sweet stamp/sticker in my passport! We spent most of Monday in the bus until we reached Cairo that night and watched the Sound and Light show at the Giza Pyramids!!!!
Tuesday January 25 we went to the pyramids and took tons of pictures and toured the valley temple by the Sphinx…it was surreal. Everyone was so excited and kept mentioning checking something off of their bucket list. Heck yes. And just so you all know, the pyramids really are as amazing as you might think – even more so. They are huge and hearing all of the work and engineering that went into building these magnificent structures gives you an even greater appreciation for them. We also went to a papyrus factory and saw a demonstration on how they made a papyrus sheet. It was a cool demonstration and I was in the very front! We took a plane to Luxor and stayed in the Sheraton Hotel for a couple of days.

Luxor was definitely my favorite part of Egypt. Wednesday January 26th we went to the Valley of the Kings. We weren’t allowed to bring cameras, so I didn’t get any pictures. It was so much fun touring the tombs there. We got to go into King Tut’s tomb and see his sarcophagus…and his mummy! He was such a short, small little man. Granted, he was only 18 when he died, so that could have something to do with it. That was a really cool part. We went into 3-4 tombs and I was in awe for every single one. The hieroglyphs on the walls were my favorite part. So much work and detail was put into each wall or column or ceiling or anything! And some of the hieroglyphs were so well preserved that they still had their color. I can’t even imagine what these tombs must have looked like when they were originally created. We toured a few more sites, then returned to the hotel for lunch and a falukah ride across the Nile to our…camel safari! We each rode a camel for about 45 minutes around the country of Luxor. We rode in a train and had so much fun laughing and talking to the boys who were pulling our camels. My camel ended up last in the train because he was taking his sweet time! The boy pulling my camera would pull and tug and yank on the rope and get no where! Finally the camel got moving and we jogged a little bit to catch up. Let me tell you – riding a camel is nothing like riding a horse! Ha ha It was so much fun though.

Okay – that’s about half way through the trip, so I’ll give you a little break and continue later. ☺
I love you all!

Garden of Gethsemene

Hello friends!

Today was our Sabbath Day and it was such a great day! I felt so close to my Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ and I know with all of my heart that this gospel is true.
Church was amazing, but I want to tell you about the Garden of Gethsemene.
I joined a group of friends and walked a ways to the Garden of Gethsemene. In the middle of the garden is the Church of All Nations, and it's a pretty big tourist spot. (This makes sense and is a good thing because it means that people are coming from all over the world to see the area where Jesus Christ suffered for our sins.) But, the thing about this garden is that it's not very private or conducive to pondering and reflecting.
Well, across the street but on the same side of the street, is another garden surrounded by a wall. There is an iron gate in front and a sign on top of the gate that says "private." This garden is reserved for Mormons (and probably other people, I don't know all the details). I was with friends a couple of days ago, and apparently you go up to one of the gardeners/gate keepers at the garden across the street, and when you tell them you're a Mormon, they get out a big, iron key, and open the gate for you. When I found this out, I became so grateful for those who have gone before us and created such a good reputation as to allow us to enter this private and sacred place.
As soon as you walk into the garden, you see a good number of olive trees. These trees are fairly tall, with thick, knotted trunks. The olive tree leaves are a lighter green with a tint of silver, and if you look carefully inside the holes in the trees, you will see notes that people have written and hidden inside. There are also several places where lots of little stools or benches are set up for group meetings or gatherings. You can also climb up a little walkway where a amphitheater lets you sit and look out on the city.

I got there early with a smaller group, but more students joined us as the day went on. I sat at the opposite wall from the entrance and looked out at the garden. I posted some pictures, and as you look at them I want you to put yourself in them. I snapped a shot of my friend reading a book, so put yourself in her shoes. When you read about our Savior suffering in Gethsemene, put yourself where she is, and reflect on what Christ has done for you.
I want to bear my testimony that Jesus Christ lives. He suffered in Gethsemene for me and FOR YOU. He loves us so much and because of what he did, we can overcome any weakness we have. In fact, we're expected to come unto Christ and overcome these weaknesses. DO IT. Coming unto Christ and giving up your sins will change your life - I promise.

Jericho and the Judean Wilderness

Today we had another field trip and we went out to the West Bank to Jericho and the Judean Wilderness!!! It was pretty much amazing.
For those of you who haven't been studying your Old Testament quite as diligently as I have...(I have Old Testament 5 hours/week, so it's okay if you're not. ha ha) Jericho is a very important place. In Joshua we read that the great wall of Jericho was knocked down through the power of God. His servants were given very simple, but specific instructions and they listened and obeyed and were blessed. Sometimes we think that the instructions Heavenly Father gives us are kind of silly or too simple, but when we adhere to his counsel, we are blessed with success and God's hand is seen in our lives.

From Jericho you can also see the Mount of Temptation, which is part of the Judean Wilderness. Now, we don't know exactly where in the wilderness Christ was tempted by Satan, but I included some pretty great pictures so you can get an image in your head of what the setting was.
One thing that is cool to have experienced is that when going from Jerusalem to Jericho, you go down (literally) 850 feet below sea level! Jericho is almost the lowest place on the entire earth that isn't covered by water. (I think there's one or two other towns right by the Dead Sea.) So when you're going to Jericho from Jerusalem and vice versa, your ears pop! This is good to know because Jesus Christ gave the following parable: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead." (Luke 10:30)

This brings me to the Judean Wilderness! There is a long expanse of wilderness that people used to travel to get back and forth from Jerusalem to Jericho/Jericho to Jerusalem. This journey is where the parable of the Good Samaritan occurred. When we got to a lookout point in the Judean Wilderness, we had a lovely devotional, sang some hymns, and talked about this parable. One lesson we learned is that the people who passed by the poor man on the side of the road were good people who were off to do various things. They might have even been priests off to work in the temple at Jerusalem. What a good thing to do. BUT sometimes we have to put good things on hold to take care of more important things right in front of us. Hopefully we can all keep this parable in mind and apply it in our own lives.

Well, I have so many more stories, but not enough time or space to share them, so you'll just have to wait until I get back. I love you all!

-Audryn-

P.S. The picture including me and my roommates has the Mt. of Temptation right behind us. So cool! And don't you like my artsy picture of the colorful jewelry with the Judean Wilderness behind it? :)

Nok out!

Picture 1 - me outside the entrance into the room where the Last Supper occurred!
Picture 2 - taken today when walking through the Old City - these are the kinds of streets we walk through every day!
Picture 3 - Zedekiah's Cave - do you see how big it is?

Hello friends!

I've officially been here for one week! It seems like I've been here forever...and yet not. Time is like that I suppose.

I have seen so many cool places already and I wish I could tell you everything, but I'm afraid a lot of things will just have to wait until I get back. I've taken hundreds of pictures though. I can only imagine the project it will be to edit and organize my pictures when I get back. Good thing I'm graduating and going home!
Mondays are usually field trip days, and this last Monday was our first field trip! It was so cold outside! We separated into two groups depending on who your religion teacher was. We went to several places:

1. Seven Arches Hotel overlook
2. Augustus Victoria Church of the Ascension
3. ancient site of Gibeah (King Saul's palace used to be there!)
4. Nabi Samwil (It's an old fortress turned into a Muslim Shrine because people believe the prophet Samuel was born there - we were informed that this was incorrect and Dr. Chadwick pointed out on the horizon to the place where he was born!)
5. Hebrew University (It's across the street from the Jerusalem Center and has a nice bookstore where we can buy school supplies, shampoo, conditioner, etc.)

It was kind of exhausting, but so cool to see places where events took place in the Bible! Everything becomes so much more meaningful and understandable when you've actually seen with your eyes the places where these biblical stories took place.

My Old Testament class is by far my favorite class. The professor is fantastic and he knows so much! His main point every day is that the Old Testament tells us stories about IMPERFECT people who can STILL make and keep covenants and return to our Father in Heaven. I think that sometimes people get so bogged down with their imperfections and faults that they forget that we have a loving Heavenly Father who will always keep His promises. And what has He promised us? That if we try and USE THE ATONEMENT, we can return to Him. This is a beautiful principle and I'm just falling more and more in love with the Old Testament. I can't even imagine how fantastic the New Testament will be in a few months. Wow.

One thing that I've heard from people who have come here before and from the professors, is to get out of the city whenever you can and see the sites! Don't get trapped in the Jerusalem Center doing homework or just hanging out with people. So, hopefully I can go out most afternoons. We usually have class in the morning and then at 4:00, so that leaves a few hours in the afternoon to go out and then we can do homework at night. (And boy is there a lot of homework!)
Today I went out with a few friends and we went to David's Tower and the room where the Last Supper took place. We wandered around the Old City until we finally exited through Zion's Gate and found David's Tower. Today was absolutely beautiful - my favorite day so far. The skies were blue and we all went out in t-shirts because it was perfect outside. We went into David's Tower where David is buried and there was a men's side and a women's side meant for praying. (Men and women are separated everywhere you go.) The room for praying and worshipping was pretty small, but it was neat to see it.
Going to the room of the Last Supper was wonderful. The room has a vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows. There were 10 or 11 of us and we all sat and sang hymns while contemplating what happened in that room. I still can't believe that I'm here where Jesus Christ was. I - LOVE - IT.
At this point, the group split in half and some people stayed in the city and others, including me, went back to the Center. We took the long way back and went through the Old City. On our way, we stopped at a small grocery store and bough some AMAZING ice cream bars called Nok Out. I got oreo flavored. So worth it.

Tonight we're having a forum address at 7:30. Every Wednesday they have a guest speaker that usually talks about modern issues and whatnot. I'm pretty excited. Then it will be lots of reading before I go to bed!
I love and miss all of you!

I forgot to tell you about yesterday! I went out with a group of people and we went to Zedekiah's Cave. It's Jerusalem's largest cave and it's directly underneath the Old City. It was pretty cool. I couldn't take very good pictures, so feel free to look it up online for more details. It was pretty big though!

-Audryn-

Dome of the Rock

Saturdays and Sundays are different here because Saturday is the Sabbath, which means Sundays are Saturdays. It's kind of messing me up, but we'll see if I get used to it.
Church was really cool. We have sacrament meeting in a huge auditorium that looks out on Jerusalem. During choir practice before church, our branch president told us to really think about the words. Then he looked turned around and pointed to different parts of the city saying that Jesus carried the cross on his back on a road in this area, then he was hung on a cross in that area, and the garden tomb is over there...That's amazing! I am in the city where Christ walked. I can't even believe it. I think my testimony and awe will just grow as I get to know more of the history and hear more stories. It was a pretty cool feeling.
The branch isn't made up of just students, which I originally thought it was. People from all over are welcome, and there are some other families who live here permanently - for example, one man works in the consulate, so his family (including his 5 kids) are here for 2 years. Imagine growing up in Jerusalem!
I was also asked to be in charge of singing time for senior primary, which I absolutely loved. I have found my calling in life! Singing and kids. Per-fect. I had so much fun. The lesson for sharing time was about feasting on the words of Christ. The boys were being silly and saying that you couldn't eat your scriptures...or maybe they would try...but then one boy said "That wouldn't be kosher." Oh my stinking gosh. Funniest comment ever.

Today was a free day and just about everyone went out into the city. I went with seven people: six girls and one guy. That poor guy! The girls wanted to go shopping, so he was kind of stuck with us for awhile. I actually didn't buy anything, which I was pretty proud of. I'm kind of nervous about that whole bargaining thing, so I'll have to watch a little bit and see how it's done. We basically just wandered around for awhile. We were going to go to some museums, but that didn't work out. I want to re-visit places and go to specific sites after I know some more history and they have some meaning. But! We did go to the Dome of the Rock!
The Dome of the Rock is a Muslim Shrine, but according to Jewish tradition, the rock inside is believed to be the stone where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. Amazing! Can you even believe that I am IN THE PLACE where so much has happened. I'm still in shock.

Well, I have to get to bed. Mondays are field trip day and we leave at 8:00 am sharp!

-Audryn-

Picture 1: Me in the back doorway of the Dome of the Rock. Don't you love the mosaic walls?!
Picture 2: The Dome of the Rock

First tour in Jerusalem!

Okay - now for a bit of information about Jerusalem!
The Jerusalem Center is amaaaazing. It is eight stories and has a cafeteria called the Oasis, a gymnasium and workout room (which I really should use soon), women's and men's dorms on the 3rd and 4th floors, classrooms, a couple of auditoriums, an art exhibit, a computer lab, a game room with a snack bar...the list goes on! And that's just inside the center! The best part is the view. There are windows everywhere and you can look out on the city in all it's glory - it's fantastic. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I will soon! When I'm done with this post, I'm going to go out on the balcony and play around with my camera. I'm pretty excited.
Yesterday we had a walking tour of Jerusalem! We went out in groups of 6 or 7 and wandered through East Jerusalem, the Old City, and finished in West Jerusalem.
Sadly one of the first things I noticed when I walked out on the streets was all of the garbage! Holy smokes! The city cleans the streets every now and then, but up against the houses there could be an awful lot of garbage.
East Jerusalem is the Arab/Muslim side of the city, so the women wore scarves that covered their hair and wore clothing that covered their whole body. The men were bare headed though. When we got to the top of the hill, we walked through some streets known as the Safe Triangle. Our tour guide, the branch president's wife Sister Ohman, explained where it was safe to go and where it was not safe to go. We were also told to keep our pockets empty and our bags at our front so that we did not get pick-pocketed.
After East Jerusalem, we went to the Old City. The Old City is surrounded by a wall and there are several gates to go through. The Old City is definitely my favorite. It's cool seeing all the vendors and what they have to offer. We weren't buying anything yesterday because it was mostly a tour to get us acquainted with the city, but quite a few of the vendors recognized us as BYU students and shouted out a "Hello BYU!" I guess BYU students really do have a reputation to maintain here and we have to be careful to keep it up.
We exited out a gate on the opposite end of the Old City and came into West Jerusalem. West Jerusalem is the Jewish side, so we saw men wearing the little hats called kippahs and women sometimes wearing scarves in their hair but tied turban style instead. West Jerusalem seemed much more modern and reminded me of a lot of big cities in the U.S. We got there before our buses did, so my group bought ice cream with the money the Center gave us. Boy oh boy do I love ice cream!

The rest of the day was spent struggling not to take a nap, which I successfully accomplished! We had a few more orientation meetings and then did homework. I went to bed pretty early, but sadly I woke up at 4:55 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. Jet lag is tough stuff! Hopefully I sleep in a little later tomorrow.
Today was also our first day of classes! I had Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. So great! I'm absolutely loving the classes because I get to learn so much about the Bible in so many ways. It's great.

Well, I love you all and I hope you're doing well!
-Audryn-

Luggage mishap

Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long...kind of. ha ha

So that last time I wrote was in the Austrian airport. Wow. That seems like years ago. It's amazing how weird this week has been. Those few days of traveling were kind of crazy. The flight from Vienna to Tel Aviv was a blur. I was so tired after basically not sleeping during that blasted flight across the ocean! I fell asleep pretty quickly, and woke up when they passed out lunch. I wasn't very hungry though and I fell asleep pretty quickly after I ate. I was so out of it that the flight attendant picked up my lunch off my tray and I didn't even notice! Waking up was hard though because it was so bright outside. I really wanted to be awake when we flew into Tel Aviv though, so I pried my eyes opened and looked out my window during our descent. It was such a beautiful site! We came in across the Mediterranean Sea and it was beautiful! Tel Aviv has a lot more skyscrapers than I thought it would. Anyway, we got into the airport and made it through the passport gates. That part was kind of scary. I was worried that I would get asked a ton of questions and not know how to answer them. But fortunately I went after some other BYU students went, so they lady knew what I was doing.
When we got to baggage claim, I picked up my big suitcase, but my carry-on was no where to be found! AAAAAH! A few of us had checked our carry-on suitcases at the Denver airport for convenience and to create extra room for the flight and they told us our suitcases would be in Tel Aviv BUT THEY WEREN'T THERE. We were all freaking out. Fortunately though, none of us who had checked our suitcases received them so they weren't just randomly lost, but were probably just not there yet. A few people hadn't received their big suitcases with their clothes/bathroom supplies/etc. and I felt pretty bad for them. But don't worry - we received our luggage last night and it was glorious!!! I've never been so happy to receive a suitcase before. And everything was there and still accounted for, so that was fantastic.
Anyway, you must all be bored with these entries about my trip to Jerusalem. But, because no one reads a long entry, I'll end this one and start a new one. :)

Vienna - Austria Airport

Hello Everyone!

Well, after getting pretty much no sleep Monday night, driving to the SLC airport at 4:00 am, passing the luggage test (my checked bag weighed 48.5 pounds) I met up with my fellow Jerusalem Center peeps and we flew to Denver, then Washington D.C. Dulles airport, and crossed the ocean to Vienna, Austria! The flights went pretty well. We only had a short delay at the Denver airport because there was a broken part in the plane! Fortunately they found it as soon as we boarded the plane, so we had to wait for about 30-40 minutes. I sat next to a nice Russian couple. A few times the woman leaned over and asked me what the captain/flight attendants had said. The woman was also terrified of flying, so the delay and random bumps that occur during a flight made her a little nervous.
We had about a three hour layover in D.C. which was nice because we ate lunch together as a group, and I had the chance to call a few people to say good-bye. No cell phones are allowed there though, so it was fun talking to all of you. :)
Our flight to Austria was slightly painful. I had slept a little bit in the previous flights, so when this 8-9 hour flight occurred, I was tired, but not to the brink of exhaustion, which is apparently the only way I can sleep in airplanes. I ended up switching seats with a woman who wanted to be with her family, so I sat in 17H, an aisle seat in the Emergency Exit aisle. I sat next to a guy named Daniel, who is from Germany. He did an internship in D.C. last year and was visiting friends for New Years Eve.
Needless to say, I got almost no sleep during that long flight, and I kept looking at my watch hoping that time more time had passed. My eyes were too tired to read or really concentrate on anything, so I watched THREE movies, and listened to music. My favorite part of the service received on the plane were the wet towelettes we received this morning. At first when I saw them passing them out, I thought the flight attendants were handing each of us napkins with a tong. I was a little surprised when it was warm and wet. (I had to watch other people to know what to do! Clearly I'm a world-wide traveler.)

The Austrian airport is certainly different! There aren't many chairs that we can find, so we're all sitting against a wall using Vienna's free wireless internet. THANK YOU VIENNA AIRPORT! We have a two hour layover here, so we'll see what I can catch up on.
I love you all and thanks so much for your support!

-Audryn-

Last day in the states

Hello everyone! A lot of people have asked about email/communication while I'm in Jerusalem, so I decided to start a blog. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update it while I'm over there, but I'll do my best to keep you posted!

Before I head out, I wanted to thank all of you for being such good friends. You have all supported me and believed in me. Although I'm completely terrified, I'm so excited to go to Jerusalem and the surrounding areas and walk where our Savior walked. What a special experience. Prepare yourself for a blog full of adventures, friends, sites, spiritual moments, and random facts/tidbits/stories. I will miss all of you dearly, but remember, I'M COMING BACK! Remember to live it up these next few months so you have something exciting to share with me!

-Audryn-