this is just to check to see if this blog is still usable?

Last thought about Jerusalem

I wrote this to a friend who is currently at BYU Jerusalem, right before he left:

“Jerusalem won't be amazing or incredible when you first get there, it's beautiful, but it won't mean anything to you yet. Jerusalem became such a time of personal revelation for me. I never felt closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ than I did there. My prayers and scripture study were so meaningful, because each day we were focused on learning and all the learning you do there focuses and testifies that Jesus is the Christ and that the scriptures are real. The church will just get truer to you every day. I developed a relationship with Christ there, and not just a relationship but a friendship, which is so precious to me. My balcony became a holy place for me, one of the holiest places for me in the Holy Land because that is where I studied my scriptures and watched the sun set each night while listening to the call to prayer and contemplating life and received many answers and communed with God. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we don't stop much to "look up at the stars" and "Be Still". Jerusalem allowed me to "look at the stars" and "Be Still" each day, take full advantage of that. If you read your scriptures, write in your journal, and pray each day to learn what Heavenly Father would have you learn that day, you will walk away from this experience with no regrets and with a heart so full of gratitude and with a testimony of fire that will guide you for the rest of your life. You'll never study your scriptures the same again. Take full advantage of every opportunity you have to learn. This is a semester for you. You don't have a job, you don't have a cell phone or easy social networking access, you're cut off from the world quite a bit. No one knows who you are, you have to get to know people. With all of those circumstances combined, it really forced me to get to know who I am, who I really am and made me think about what I want in life. You will get to know yourself in ways you didn't think possible. You will come back a changed person whether you like it or not, but you decide how much you will let Jerusalem change you.”

Jerusalem changed me. It was an incredible summer that I will never forget and one that truly changed my life. I will never read my scriptures the same again. My heart really is so full of gratitude for this experience and has left me with a burning testimony. I want to take that and share it with those that I will teach on my mission in North Chicago. I will never have an experience like that again, but I know that I can find Christ each day in the scriptures. I can re-create that holy place, my balcony, where I read my scriptures and found answers, each day when I read the scriptures and pray. We do not need to see to believe or to know. I have seen these places though and it only adds to the belief and knowledge that I gained by study and prayer, something that we can do anywhere, not just in the Holy Land. I've thought about Jerusalem every day since I've been home, and I'm sure I'll think about it every day for the rest of my life. I found myself there, because I found Christ. The knowledge I have of Him and the atonement, and my relationship with Him and Heavenly Father are the treasures I walk away from this trip with and the greatest treasures I have.

Special thanks to the family and friends who helped me get to Jerusalem and who helped make this experience possible! Thank you SO much for your help! This experience has meant so much to me and one that I hope will bless not just my life but others too.

New Testament: Last Week of Christ's Life

Lazarus's Tomb in Bethany with Brother and Sister Allen- love them!!
Church commemorating Mary anointing Jesus's feet.

Same church showing the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, with Kristen and Kary. Our "triumphal entry" into Jerusalem. We even saw a lone horse on the way, it wasn't a donkey, but it was neat to think about Christ's entry along the same path we were taking.
The Upper Room.
Prison where Christ was kept.
The picture of the man in red is Christ, showing how He would have been bound, sitting in this prison.
Where Peter denied Christ.

Garden of Gethsemane. by Trisha Zemp
Me and Mandy studying in the Garden of Gethsemane on a Sunday afternoon. Last Sunday at the Garden of Gethsemane.
At first this was a brown garden, not pretty in the summer but it was after I studied the atonement and really gained a testimony for myself that Gethsemane became one of my favorite places in the Holy Land.
At the devotional we had here, a talk by Elder McConkie, "The purifying Power of Gethsemane"
was shared. Here's an excerpt:
“The atonement of Christ is the most basic and fundamental doctrine of the gospel and it is the least understood of all our revealed truths. Many of us have a superficial knowledge and rely upon the Lord and his goodness to see us through the trials and perils of life. But if we are to have faith like Enoch and Elijah we must believe what they believed, know what they knew, and live as they lived. And now, as pertaining to this perfect atonement, wrought by the shedding of the blood of God- I testify that it took place in Gethsemane and at Golgotha, and as pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God and was crucified for the sins of the world, He is our Lord, our God, and out King. This I know of myself independent of any other person. I am one of his witnesses and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears. But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way. God grant that all of us may walk in the light as God our Father is in the light so that according to the promises, the blood of Jesus Christ his Son will cleanse us from all sin. "
We all must have a testimony of the atonement "independent of any other person."

Golgatha. Notice the skull on the right side, coming out of the mountain.

Garden Tomb, my favorite place in the Holy Land. The spirit is always present here, it feels like walking on temple grounds.
Inside the temple grounds.
In front of the empty tomb.
I wrote in my journal that day “We are here at the garden tomb. My heart has never been so full of gratitude for the knowledge of the atonement that I have. It fills me with hope and hope for those around me. This is the greatest blessing I have from coming here this summer is my testiomony and knowledge of the atonement. He didn’t fail me that day on the cross and He never will. He had all the power to stop what He was going through and give up but He didn’t. Because He did this, I know He is my truest friend. I haven’t seen his body but I have seen the tomb. I’ve seen where He walked. He is real. The reality of the Savior and His impact on the world is something I’ll take away from here. I know He lives! I can feel it! He rose from this tomb! I know that with all my heart.
If we don’t share this knowledge, that He rose from this tomb, then His sacrifice would be in vain. My knowledge of the atonement is what I want to take to the people in North Chicago where I will serve a mission, it is the hope that the atonement provides for each of us in our lives that I want to share with them.
Elder Holland in his talk “None were with Him” said:
"But Jesus held on. He pressed on. The goodness in Him allowed faith to triumph even in a state of complete anguish. The trust He lived by told Him in spite of His feelings that divine compassion is never absent, that God is always faithful, that He never flees nor fails us. When the uttermost farthing had then been paid, when Christ’s determination to be faithful was as obvious as it was utterly invincible, finally and mercifully, it was “finished.”18 Against all odds and with none to help or uphold Him, Jesus of Nazareth, the living Son of the living God, restored physical life where death had held sway and brought joyful, spiritual redemption out of sin, hellish darkness and despair. With faith in the God He knew was there, He could say in triumph, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little version of that path—the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are. Truly the Redeemer of us all said, “I will not leave you comfortless. [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide with you].”


The "Last Week of Christ's Life" field trip was one of my favorites. I was able to come to know Christ better and understand the atonement and His sacrifice for us a little more.

This is the message that everything in the Holy Land testifies of: That Jesus is the Christ, that He suffered the atonement and that the atonement is real. I hope and pray that we will each let Christ into our lives and we will let the atonement work for each of us and not let His suffering be in vain.

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the church of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon is true, we are led by a prophet today and I know with a surety that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Christ. This is the most important thing I came away from the Holy Land with, my testimony of Jesus Christ, His atonement and my personal relationship with Him and Heavenly Father. It is my greatest treasure.

New Testament: Sea of Galilee

Bethlehem - crypt where Christ was born at the Church of the Nativity
The spirit was felt as we sang Christmas hymns of Christ's birth and reflected on the important events that had taken place there so many years before. I loved the spirit we felt in Bethlehem. It was mind boggling to think that we were actually there, in the place where an event foretold of for thousands of years and where the life of the single most important person who ever walked on this earth, began.
We were in the West Bank, just over looking Bethlehem. We reinacted the Christmas scene and sand different Christmas hymns throughout the manger scene. Then Steven, a guy in our group, told a story about a Mong refugee family that had been living in refugee camps in Thailand for the past 25 years. They had been told for these 25 years that there was "no room" just like there was no room at the inn for Mary. These refugees had been lost and taken out of their homeland for so long. He told of their first Christmas as Christians and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They had never before celebrated Christmas and he and his companion got to share in their first Christmas. Christ was persecuted and a refugee himself, but yet He is the greatest refuge that we all have. He told us about the joy these people now had in their lives because they had found refuge in Christ. Their lives now were full of love and light, something they hadn't experienced before. All of us have acted out the manger scene since we were little, but never before had it ever had such meaning or reality as we overlooked Bethlehem and felt the spirit of Christmas on this July evening. In the hymn "Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem" a line says " if meek souls will recieve Him still, the dear Christ enters in". We can recieve Christ in our hearts each day if we allow Him to and we have to let him in each day.
Sea of Galilee

Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee
The boat we rode on while crossing the Sea of Galilee
Bethany and I on the boat, crossing the Sea of Galilee

We had a devotional on a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee. Our thoughts were focused around a talk from President Hunter “Master The Tempest Is Raging” I’d like to share a few highlights from this talk. He says Our faith should remind us that He can calm the troubled water of our lives, just as he did the Sea of Galilee. “To those anxieties I think the Father of us all would say “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And of course that has to be faith for the whole journey, the entire experience, the fullness of our life, not simply around the bits and pieces and tempestuous moments. At the end of the journey, an end none of us can see now, we will say “Master the terror is over, Linger Oh blessed Redeemer! Leave me alone no more.” Speaking of Christ he says “His ship was tossed most of his life and at least to mortal eyes, it crashed fatally on the rocky coast of Calvary. Peace was on the lips and in the heart of the Savior no matter how fiercely the tempest was raging. May it so be with us- in our own hearts, in our own homes, in our nations of the world and even in the buffetings faced from time to time by the church. We should not expect to get through life individually or collectively without some opposition. “Whether the wrath of the strom-tossed sea or demons or men or whatever it be, no waters can swallow the ship where lies, the Master of ocean and earth and skies. They all shall sweetly obey his will. Peace be still.”
These words touched my heart as we crossed the sea of Galilee. I know that Christ has the power to calm the seas of our troubled times. Those times will surely come but if we turn to Christ we can have peace and be still.
Brother and Sister Skinner and me, St. Peter's Primacy

Our teacher, Brother Skinner, Andrew Skinner taught about the compassion of Christ and bore testimony of Him. He related John chapter 21 and said that this story is the essence of Christ. The root word for compassion in Hebrew is the word womb, He learned compassion at the feet of His mother. This chapter is after the resurrection, He comes back to visit the apostles. He sees them in need, cold, hungry and wants to teach and provide for their needs. The essence of Christ’s being is to warm those who are cold, feed those who are hungry, and cares about even our economic circumstances. He told the apostles where to fish. He worries about us, even our jobs, and wants to provide for us. If we listen we will hear Him tell us where to cast our nets. We will hear him say “cast your nets on the right side and you will be blessed immensely” We were there at the spot that John 21 took place. Brother Skinner told us you will never have a greater friend than that of the Savior. He also said that his knowledge of the Savior is the most precious knowledge he has. This testimony from my professor who is a scholar of history and the scriptures, for him to say of all the knowledge he has that his knowledge of the Savior is most precious to him, deeply touched my heart.
Group shot at Capernum, where Christ performed much of his ministry and many miracles.
Synagogue at Capernum

Steven and I at Nain

One of my favorite spots in Galilee, Nain. Nain is a Galilean village and the site where Jesus raised a widow’s son. We had a little lesson about it and I learned a lot. In the time of Christ, they buried people the day they died. Christ was there, by the time the child had died, this meant that He had made the journey during the night, walked the 25 miles from Capernum, around the Sea of Galilee, to Nain. This was right after healing the centurion’s servant in Capernum, so he had to have left that very afternoon or day and walked through the night, knowing that he would be needed the next day when this widow’s only son would die. This teaches us so much about the compassion that Christ had for others, especially women and children. He knew that this widow would be left completely alone without her son, so he made the extra effort to perform this miracle for her. This also taught me that Jesus prepared to help this women, before it was even needed, just as we must always be preparing ourselves in every way to be available to provide service and be a tool in the hands of the Lord, whenever it is needed. Caesarea Philippi
Caesarea Philippi
Caesarea Philippi

This is in Mat. 16:13 where Christ asked his apostles “whom say ye that I am” and Peter answers for all of them “thou art the Christ, the son of the living God” Jesus then says “blessed art thou for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven.” The spirit revealed this to Peter and the other apostles. This was personal revelation for each of them. Christ then says “thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church” rock here meaning revelation and symbolic of Christ. This church is built upon revelation. Joseph Smith received personal revelation, the 1st vision which was the foundation or rock of his testimony. We have prophets who receive revelation for us a church but each member of this church is guided by a personal conviction and personal revelation which is the foundation of our testimonies. Christ is the stone of Israel, the rock, the foundation of each of our testimonies. This great passage of scripture took place here at Caesarea Phillipi where this bed rock is the foundation of Mt. Hermon. In the winter it snows and then it melts and water literally comes from the bed rock and it flows into living waters which we can see. This is symbolic of Christ being our foundation and being the living water where by we receive strength. Again, everything in the Holy Land testifies of Christ and Christ used the physical structure of the land to testify of Him.


Eric, Anne, Rachel, Mariah, me and Camille at the Mt. of Transfiguration

Mariah, me and Camille at the Mt. of Transfiguration
Mt. of Beattitudes

Where Jesus gave his sermon Herold B. Lee said “the beatitudes are a blueprint for perfection.” Christ was a master teacher.

Thoughts on the Sea of Galilee:
There is a different feeling here then any other place in the Holy Land. Here and the Garden Tomb and are places where you can just feel that Christ has been there.

Journal entry from the last night at the Sea of Galilee:
Brother Brown started off our testimony meeting with Christ’s last night in Galilee. Christ didn’t go to the pub, nor party on his last night in Galilee, but surely He spent it serving and blessing as many as He could. How must He have felt, His last night here, where He was surrounded by all who loved Him, His followers and closest friends, knowing that He would face critics and mockers in Jerusalem and knowing the task that He must perform. He was asked to leave all He loved, His home, His safe haven. He must have felt scared. But He did it. He knew He had to do it, and so He did. He faced His fears and carried on with perfect faith just as each of us must do but He always carried Galilee in His heart.
I don’t want to leave Galilee. I have felt such a peace here and have never felt closer to Christ then I do here right now. But I know that I have to leave, I have to face the world, the critics, the mockers, temptations. But I know that I can because Christ did it and knows what it is like. He faced the ultimate ridicule, mocking, pain and sorrow. Because He made it, I can too. Heavenly Father will be there to guide me and Christ has shown me the way to make it. I know that all things are possible through Jesus Christ because of the example He set. I will forever carry Galilee in my heart just as Christ did.
I am so very, very blessed to have the knowledge that I have of Him, to know of His life. I think it is a miracle that I can come to know and feel of a person’s presence so very vividly, that walked this earth 2000 years ago. It is incredible to me that I can feel so powerfully of His presence on these shores, that He did indeed walk here, on this water in front of me, that He did healed the centurion’s servant, the leper and cast out devils in Capernum just north of where I’m sitting now, that He gave the beatitudes on a mountain north west of me, that He raised a widow’s only son from the dead at Nain just south of me, that Peter bore witness that He is the Son of the Living God and Christ revealed that He is the rock of our foundation at Caesarea Phillipi, just east of me. I am literally surrounded in every direction of proof of His existence and His miracles and ministry. I felt confirmations of that as I visited these places these last ten days. He is so very real.
His lived to fulfill His mission and perform the atonement so that each of us can have peace and joy in this life and the next. His life would mean nothing to mine though, if I don’t act upon the things I have felt and have come to a knowledge of in these past ten days and throughout my life.
The greatest lesson I’ve learned in Galilee is of the compassion Christ had for others. After becoming a resurrected being, He comes back to Galilee to visit His apostles but He doesn’t just come to visit them, He makes dinner for them, there on the shore. His apostles are on the Sea fishing, coming in late, cold, hungry and exhausted, so what does he do? He has dinner prepared for them, even as a resurrected being, He is still worried about the well fare of His friends. He cared enough about a lonely widow to walk all through the night to be there at Nain when her only son passed away, He was tired from performing miracles that very day, but still did it. He led a perfect life of humility, compassion, service, charity and love. I want to be more like Him. I want to live my life so that others will know Him through me, I want to receive His image in my countenance.
I have come to know Peter better while being here too. I can not believe the faith that Petter had to even step foot out of that boat and to actually walk on water. He only started to sink when He took His focus off of Christ. We must never loose out focus, but even when we do, Christ is there to save us, to lift us up. Christ can calm the tempests and storms of my life just as He did the waves in front of me. I know that. I felt His presence last Monday as we were on a boat on the Sea of Galilee. These waters and waves obeyed His voice, He controls them still just as He does the sea of my life. I don’t ever want to forget the things I’ve learned here and will pray each day that I never do. I will always keep Gailee in my heart, just as Christ does, and just as I will always keep Christ in my heart as I face the world and face the troubles of life, I will always be able to rely on Him.

Ann Madsen, a professor at BYU gave a talk about her experience in Galilee. She said this:
"I know you cannot travel to Israel to duplicate my Galilee experience. How I wish you could! But just as surely as he walked that shore, and that I traced his footsteps there nearly two thousand years later, you must have your own sweet encounters with Jesus Christ. Your experience will differ from mine. You must find him in your own way and in your own place. "
We can each do this through the scriptures.

Exodus of the Children of Israel Cont. (Jerusalem in Review)

Ramese II. This pic goes along with the Egypt post.

Karnak Temple. (Pic with the Egypt post)

Tel Beersheba
This is where Abraham dug his well and affirmed it by covenant, left here to offer Isaac on Mt. Moriah, and where Jacob spoke with God. A four horned altar is also found here, one that was condemned later because it was Pagan. There is so much history at Tel Beersheba- we stood where Abraham once was!

View on top of Mt. Sinai, after sunrise.
Sunrise on Mt. Sinai.

Moses stood here on top of this mountain where he received so much revelation but also so much ridicule and temptation from Satan. Satan tried to get Moses to forget who he was. One of my class members asked my group the same question and I ask you “What is Satan doing to distract you from reaching your highest potential and becoming your best self and to forget who you are?”
As we were on top of Mt. Sinai I also recorded this in my journal
“When we started the hike, we could see the starts and the milky way so clearly, they were so bright, I’d never seen them as bright. But as the sun rose they faded away, over powered by the glory and magnitude of the sun. The sun provided us with so much warmth on top of this mountain and it gave light and life to everything around and unfolded a spectacular view of the Sinai wilderness, of rolling mountains for miles.
Christ is the overpowering glory that lights each of us. He is the light in my life and the source of happiness and strength that I draw from just like this earth from the sun. Everything testifies of Christ, every sun rise whether on Mt. Sinai or back home testifies of him.
Heavenly Father must have loved his children so much to make this earth so beautiful. If He is aware of this desert, He is surely aware of me, my concerns and desires and I know He loves me and He does each of us.

Wilderness of Zin
Sede Boker is a lookout of the wilderness of Zin. This is where Moses sent spies to scout out the land of Canaan during the exodus of the children of Israel. While all the other spies came back scared of the "giants" they saw, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones to come back faithful to the Lord and believing that he would help and protect them. I love their example of pure faith and believing that anything is possible with the Lord on their side.

The Red Sea with Aubrey and Jenna

Going to the Red Sea reminded me of Elder Jeffery R. Holland's talk "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence"

Speaking of revelation he shares the scripture:
I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. "Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground. "[D&C 8:2–3; emphasis added]
Speaking of receiving revelation, Holland compares it to the children of Israel at the Red Sea.
Fear can play a paralyzing role in receiving revelation.
That is exactly the problem that beset the children of Israel at the edge of the Red Sea. It has everything to do with holding fast to earlier illumination. The record says, "And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid."
Some, just like those Paul had described earlier, said, "Let's go back. This isn't worth it. We must have been wrong. That probably wasn't the right spirit telling us to leave Egypt." What they actually said to Moses was, "Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? . . . It had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness" (Exodus 14:10–12).
And I have to say, "What about that which has already happened? What about the miracles that got you here? What about the frogs and the lice? What about the rod and the serpent, the river and the blood? What about the hail, the locusts, the fire, and the firstborn sons?"
How soon we forget. It would not have been better to stay and serve the Egyptians, and it is not better to remain outside the Church nor to reject a mission call nor to put off marriage and so on and so on forever. Of course our faith will be tested as we fight through these self-doubts and second thoughts. Some days we will be miraculously led out of Egypt--seemingly free, seemingly on our way--only to come to yet another confrontation, like all that water lying before us. At those times we must resist the temptation to panic and to give up. At those times fear will be the strongest of the adversary's weapons against us.
After you have gotten the message, after you have paid the price to feel his love and hear the word of the Lord, "go forward." Don't fear, don't vacillate, don't quibble, don't whine. Nobody had ever crossed the Red Sea this way, but so what? There's always a first time. With the spirit of revelation, dismiss your fears and wade in with both feet. In the words of Joseph Smith, "Brethren [and, I would add, sisters], shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!" (D&C 128:22).
The last lesson from the Lord's spirit of revelation in the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea is that, along with the illuminating revelation that points us toward a righteous purpose or duty, God will also provide the means and power to achieve that purpose. Trust in that eternal truth. If God has told you something is right, if something is indeed true for you, he will provide the way for you to accomplish it.
I loved being reminded of these lessons as we went to the Red Sea.


The Jordan River, where Christ was baptized.
Judean Wilderness
This is what the children of Israel crossed as they made their way into Jerusalem. As they crossed the river Jordan it was symbolic of baptism and as they progressed through the Exodus, the various places they came too were symbolic of the different degrees of glory, Jerusalem representing the Celestial kingdom.

I loved being able to follow the Exodus of the Children of Israel. We were able to cross in 2 days, what took them 40 years.
Here are a few more lessons from the Old Testament:
-Heavenly Father knew that Abraham had the faith and potential in him, he made Abraham do what he did though to prove to himself and to recognize the potential in himself.
-We can liken all scriptures unto ourselves, even the Old Testament.
- I never enjoyed the OT and now I love it! I found heroes in the scriptures that I never had before.
-Going to the Holy Land made the scripture so real to me
-I remember thinking specifically one day “wow, the church get’s truer every day” and it's so true!
-The geography of the holy land even testifies of Christ and everything in the OT is a type of Christ or symbolically testifies of Christ, even the Exodus of the Children of Israel and many miracles that happened along the way.


The dead sea has the highest salt concentration of any other body of water on Earth, at 33%. Utah’s Great Salt Lake has 22% and for comparison, the oceans have a salt content of 3%. The geography of the Holy Land is the same as the geography of Utah, dead sea, salt lake, river Jordan only opposite, the children of Israel made their exodus east, the pioneers made theirs west and there are great similarities in both of their exoduses. There is great symbolism is the Dead Sea being 1417 feet below sea level and one of the lowest places on earth because the Jordan River, where Christ was baptized flows from the Sea of Galilee into the Dead Sea. Christ was born in Bethlehem of lowly circumstances, baptized in a river flowing to one of the lowest places on earth whose water came from the Sea of Galilee where he performed miracles and leads to a sea of salt and from there we have symbolism of salt which we know acts as a preservative and adds savor and is symbolic of Christ.

The Dead Sea was so fun, gross to swim in, but way fun!

Jerusalem in review : Egypt

Hello everyone! I'm so sorry for not keeping my blog updated. The last few weeks we were there were crazy with finals and getting in as much of the city as we could. I wanted to wrap up my trip before I leave for my mission though, so I'm going to give a review of it all. These pictures and comments are what I shared with the Yuma stake once I got home. I started the presentation with the Old Testament and the Exodus of the children of Israel and ended in the New Testament with Galilee and the last week of Christ's life. I'll do the same here.

Day shot of the BYU Jerusalem Center, our home for 16 weeks and the most amazing summer!


night shot of BYU Jerusalem. by Trisha Zemp


The view from my balcony, the Old City. The Egyptians built the pyramids on the Giza Plateau because of the easy access to the Nile and used it to aid in the transporting of sandstone. The pictures I saw in books of the pyramids were beautiful but when we visited Egypt and I stood at the base of the great pyramid, I was in complete awe. I had never experienced complete amazement and wonder of this kind. I remember how I felt and tried to comprehend in my mind how the pyramids were built 4,500 years ago and still stand today, but I couldn’t. What bewildered me even more was that these buildings were already 800 years old when Abraham stood at their feet! As we crawled up the tunnel shaft into the sarcophagus room of the great pyramid of Kufu, I felt like I had been taken back in time. The dampness of the walls and staleness of the air made me feel as if I were an Egyptian worker, carrying treasures into the pharaoh’s tomb. It was a surreal feeling. I felt the reality of the Egyptians. Because I was physically at the pyramids, I could actually attest that they were in fact a great civilization. In class we learned that the Egyptians were obsessed with eternal life. Every where we visited and the more we learned about the Egyptians, the more apparent their obsession was. The pyramids surely testified of this. This experience at the pyramids along with visiting the Cairo Museum gave me my first experience of linking scripture, history, and geography.
The Cairo Museum impacted me in ways that I had not expected. All of the artifacts overwhelmingly pointed to the purpose of the Egyptians: preparation for the next life. I walked through the mummy room and saw the remains of these people who were once great rulers. I came to a stop at the mummy of Ramses II. Sister Thomas was there with me and said, “We’re all going to end up like that someday.” I stood there for a while and thought about what she had said. Ramses II could not take any of the temples he built, his physical strength, the golden chariots he drove or any of his power as pharaoh to the next life. In the end, he could only take his knowledge and deeds with him. Exodus 9:7 states, “And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.” The Lord created multiple opportunities for Pharaoh to humble himself but he never did. Ramses II took a hard heart with him into the next life. The image of this once all powerful being’s mummy stayed with me and stirred questions and thoughts within myself as I left the Cairo Museum. I questioned the hardness of my own heart and the actions I was taking to prevent its hardness. I realized that it is necessary to fill myself with the essential knowledge necessary to enter into the kingdom of God, knowledge the Egyptians wanted so desperately but only had portions of. I realized at that moment the importance of the temple. I realized why my parents have raised me in such a way that everything in our home has pointed me to the temple my whole life. Because of this realization, I developed a thirst for knowledge that had never before been aroused within me. This experience made me realize how vital my study of history and of the scriptures is. I realized that my understanding of the scriptures is crucial to my salvation and to better understand the scriptures I must understand history too. Since this experience, my desire to study not only the scriptures has increased, but also my desire to learn in general. I realized then that my learning will not stop after college or when I have children, but that I will be a student my whole life and for eternity. I do not think that Ramses II ever wanted to teach such principles of knowledge or be a witness of the power of God but that is exactly what he did for me as we visited other sites.
The Karnak Temple Complex was the other site that left me in wonder and awe. The detail and symbolism in every scratch on every pillar or brick was already overwhelming, not to mention the great similarities their temples have to ours and to see that they had so much truth in the ordinances and ceremonies they performed. As I was trying to take all of that in, on the way out of the Karnak Temple Complex, Brother Skinner brought to the attention of a small group of us that because this structure was built by Ramses II, Moses must have walked the very halls that we stood in. He reminded us that Moses was surely impressed with what Ramses II had built and must have had a great deal of respect for him because of his great power and authority. As pharaoh, Ramses II not only controlled the people as their commander in battle and in government roles, but he also acted as their religious leader and “god” on earth. With these things in mind, Brother Skinner quoted Moses 1:10: “Now for this cause, I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.” Both parts of this statement impacted me. First Moses says, “Now for this cause, I know that man is nothing.” Moses was raised among the pharaohs of Egypt, the most powerful men on earth at that time, and he boldly states “man is nothing”. He then adds “which thing I never had supposed.” He never “supposed” of men’s weakness because all he ever saw was their greatness. As I stood in the Karnak Temple Complex, where Moses stood, and repeated his words in my mind, I was overcome with the realization that God really is all powerful and that truly “man is nothing” in comparison with Him. Moses saw both the power of pharaoh and of God. I could think of no one who has ever had any more authority to say that than Moses did. If Moses could recognize his nothingness without the Lord, surely I could. I had this experience at a time when I was making decisions that were important to me. This humbled me and made me realize my reliance on the Lord, that I too am nothing without Him. This strengthened my relationship with my Father in Heaven and I believe was a crucial experience that gave me the strength to rely on Him and follow His will for me at that time with the decisions I was facing.

This was taken from our hotel, right along the Nile.

Stay Tuned!

Shalom! I just need to let everyone know that I still have more to update and more to add to many of the blog posts. We don't have tons of time here, but I'll do my best to keep it updated, especially as we study the New Testament the rest of the semester. We'll be in Galilee for the next 11 days and won't have internet access during that time. Now that finals are over and we only have two classes left, and my missions papers are filled out, I'll be working on this much more diligently. I have learned so very much since being here and want to share what I've learned with each of you so that it may strengthen your testimonies, as it has mine. I'm so excited to learn more about the life of Christ and study about Him, everyday for the next 11 days in Galilee and as Brother Skinner put it "we'll get to swim where Jesus walked." So stay tuned!!