'tis good to be engaged

We've sure enjoyed it, at least

Yep, this girl is officially crazy about that guy

Thanks, Mikki, for taking our pics - more and more to come!

a fairytale

Once upon a time, in a busy place where planes flew to and fro, there waited a young man with a heart that was beating, beating, beating.

Surrounded by a family that had adopted him years before, he told them of his nerves and sought their advice. "Go hide," his adopted Mother Susie said.

 And so he did, in a little side cafe - still nervous, still waiting.

The rest of the family waited, too, but in the wide open where all could be seen. Their sister, you see, was coming home from a faraway land, her long trip over and her time foreign far spent.

They were very excited to see her again. Clearly. 

 The girl arrived, just about on time, and she ran excitedly to greet them. 

 Four months away from her best friends was just about right - she had learned much, but missed her family much more by the end.

"Everybody - let's take a picture!" called Annie, the girl's oldest sister. 

So they gathered together

...every single one.

 The girl did not know that every one of her very best friends was in the picture. She hadn't the faintest idea that truly - the person she had hoped to see most - had been hiding in the corner cafe and that silently, sneakily, he had crept into the picture. 

All the girl knew was that it was good to be home,

 her family was the greatest, 

 and she - what the...

 "Are you kidding me?!" she exclaimed in a mixture of shock and surprise. 

 "You're here?! Ohh! Are you real...?" Those were the girl's words exactly as she slapped the boy to and fro.

For you see, at first sight of her long-lost, best friend, she thought this was a dream - a fairy tale - something too good, too perfect to be true. 

But no, the girl realized, this was

real life.

 

So happy, the two friends were, to be together again. 

And after July 29, 2011, never ever ever will they be apart. 

The End .
...this fairy tale has just begun.

'tis been a bit

oh where to begin with this smidgen...

First of all, I'm home of nearly three months now. Weird. 

But weird is good, for all the word really means is "strange and/or unusual."

It was strange to think of coming home, those last few days in Jerusalem. There was a surreal feeling in the Center and the city - our time was really ending? We had really been in Israel for four months, and now we were going home? Excited, a little nervous, but feeling fulfilled, too, we spent our last days following the Savior's last steps as closely as possible; we stayed together in the largest huddle of friends wandering our city; we cried a bit and said "goodbye."  

A few of my favorite last moments and messages:

"Do not go back to fishing" 

- Elder Jeffery R. Holland, the JC Upper Auditorium, 4.16.11

We were more than privileged to have Elder Holland stay with us at the Center during our last week as he was on assignment in the Middle East. The day after his arrival, our Sabbath, he kindly made room for us at the end of his busy day as he spoke to us personally in the Upper Auditorium as the lights of Jerusalem glowed behind him. Here is an excerpt from my journal entry that night. I hope the spirit and power of his very personal, very moving message to us can be felt through these few words...it was an hour I will never forget.

'What does being that disciple really mean, kids?' asked Elder Holland with a power that stilled the room. "It means you will walk through Gethsemane. It means you will cry His tears. It means you will suffer injustice, and you will summit at Calvary. Can anything less be expected from one that stands in the place of Jesus Christ on earth today?"

Elder Holland forcefully called on us to never go back to who we were, to what we were. "Don't you ever go back to fishing," he nearly demanded. Read John 21. After Christ died, not knowing quite what to do, the young, tender apostles simply returned to Galilee to resume their previous profession of fishing. The days in which they did so were unsuccessful. It wasn't until the Savior returned, calling them to him on the shores of Galilee (just like He did at the beginning of His ministry) that the apostles had any success at all. Then of love the Savior prepared them a breakfast meal, and there He asked Peter: "Do you love me?"

Christ gave Peter three opportunities to answer Him - three redemptive answers for Peter's recent three denials - and the Savior's admonition to Peter's "Yes, Lord, I love you," was "Then don't ever let me catch you fishing again...Feed my sheep" (John 21:16).

It was humbling to be in Elder Holland's presence for an extended period of time. He is an irony: a normal, humble grandpa, and yet - as we all know - one of the Lord's powerful anointed servants who today stands and speaks for Him. We ate a few meals with him when he was in the Center. Every student flocked to where he sat, eat of us hungering for any story, any counsel he had.  Here are a couple pictures from dinner on his last day:

And one of the big group just afterward, out on the patio with the city for a backdrop. Beauty.

Privileged kids, eh?  I think so. 

The Western Wall and the Dome were my picks for the last visits of the city on my last day. Of course, the places of the Savior's life - the Garden, the Tomb, the Upper Room - were prioritized for time above everything else, which is why we had full-day field trips both Monday and Tuesday to visit and be in those places. I wish I could describe what I felt as I moved from place to place and thought about Jesus Christ during those days. You do a lot of walking in Jerusalem...a lot...so I pulled out my little copy of "The Living Christ" as we stepped from place to place and memorized the document. That was a powerful experience for me. Now whenever I recite those beautiful words, I find myself in Old Jerusalem following my dear Savior.
Blessing.


Back to Wednesday, our last free day, spent at the Wall and the Dome. 
This is what we did:

 

Sara, me, Lindsay, Lauren

First we "Jewish" people watched. 

I'm not sure which one of my sweet JRu friends snapped this pic, but blessings be upon whoever did. I love this picture. This is exactly what we looked like that day; little huddles of JC kids all over the ground at the feet of the Wall. I still remember how I felt looking at the wall from looking at this little picture: 

truly grateful

amazed that I was there

 inspired to better worship

excited to enter a temple of God actually functioning on earth today

Then we "Mulism" people watched.

And we were watched by the Muslims.

I mean, a group of Americans that large, arrayed so...artistically...just hanging out at the Dome of the Rock. We were a sight. 
We were quiet - always respectful, of course. The Wall and the Dome taught me so much about culture and people and loving differences between us. These distinct icons of culture both confirmed, too, that even with differences there are "constants" - values of mankind that must be upheld: respect, communication, collaboration, belief. 


My time in Jerusalem ended, but my time with it has not. I think of it often. I've cried a little for it, I cannot tell a lie. Certain songs, a particular sunrise, a familiar JC face across campus - they all provoke that hot prick behind the eyes. Particular scriptures, old journal entries, finding old notes from dear friends tucked within the pages of my Bible - each still take me on the thousand-mile journey far from here to that place of hills and valleys, one not so dry as believed. It's good to think back. And it's been good to turn forward, so much sturdy truth and hope behind me. 


"Brethren, shall we not
 go on 
in  so great a cause? 
Go                
                                                   forward
and not 
backward   
Let your hearts rejoice, 
and be exceedingly glad
Let the earth break forth into singing. 
Let the dead speak forth 
anthems of eternal praise to 
the 
King Immanuel,
who hath ordained, before the world was,
that which would
 enable us
 to redeem them out of their prison; 
for the prisoners 
shall 
go 
free."

Doctrine & Covenants 128:22

That was the first thing that came as I thought what the last thing might be that I could say to you, dear Jerusalem. 

Don't go back to fishing.

Love one another.

He lives - the prisoners shall go free.

Thank you for the things you taught.

finding virtue

Clockwise from me: Rachel, Heidi, Chelsea, Stacey, Megan, Kelsey, Jenny

"Young women, in a world ever growing in moral pollution, tolerance of evil, exploitation of women, and distortion of roles, you must stand guard of yourself, your family, and all those with whom you associate. You must be guardians of virtue."
- Sister Elaine S. Dalton, "Guardians of Virtue," 2011 General Young Women Meeting

I am unsure of how I can start this one...my head and heart are swimming with thoughts and things. My strides in the streets of Jerusalem are shortening, my time here steadily creeps to an end. This experience has changed me - completely - but why, I've been wondering.

Thought leads to thought, memory follows memory, and I draw the conclusion for my change at this: I have further discovered virtue, and in the process I have found more of me. 

Virtue is naturally an abstract thing, I think. Initially it's hard to grasp and see and create. But as I have been around my friends here, especially my JC girls, virtue has become clear, emulative, and real. During these last months I have seen these women around me consistently act in accordance with commandments - especially the simple ones of service, prayer, and study - and watched the Holy Ghost dictate their lives. These girls are letting the Lord make them into masterpieces; it is seen in their bright eyes, optimistic faith, and high goals. I have been more than influenced by their love, more than impressed by their purity. Sister Dalton's most recent request for virtue's defense can and will be met with these true, beautiful women. Having stood among them and been taught daily by their lives, I find myself forever changed, perpetually blessed, and ever committed to virtue. 

once upon a field trip...

in a Middle Eastern country, Kelsey and Jeni were sick (clearly). It appeared that the two girls might not be able to fulfill their adventuresome dream - seeing the great Nabatean city of Petra - but oh how appearances can be deceiving...

Fortitude prevailed, and with the support from friends both

 new

and old,

(Mark is literally supporting me in this pic)

they made their journey down through the old canyon city

 

 and eventually reached their destination in one piece: the infamous Treasury, the rocky resting built for the great Nabatean king, Araetas IV.

(Pause for background: the Nabateans were an ingenious people from Northern Arabia. Arateas IV reigned during the life of Christ. These dudes definitely deserve an award for creative architecture)

 Their exit from this historic place is an even better story for a better setting, but let it be said that the two girls - so sick to the stomachs but healthy at heart - were a very lucky, happy pair to see this petrified city in stone.
(And yes, of the three days of rainfall that Jordan receives a year, we were there to enjoy one of them. Loved it)

End of story - Jordan was quite an adventure! It was undoubtedly the most "Middle Easternish" country of the grand three I have been privileged to visit. As foretold, I was a little sick girl for a chunk of the trip, but what's foreign-country living without getting a sick sometime, eh? Luckily Kels and I were blessed with enough of a recovery to enjoy Petra, the prize of this field trip.

Aside from this ancient city, Jordan brought us the largest Roman theater in the Middle East; Machaeus - the hilltop whereon John was beheaded by Herod Antipas; and Mt. Nebo - the site of Moses' transfiguration. It was a solid, packed final field-trip vacation as a JC kid. Lucky are we!

misc. jerusalem

I love Jerusalem! Here are just a few randoms from some recent adventures at the Center and in the city. My heart has already started to hurt a little as I think about the upcoming crossroad that will divert my path from walking in this place and with these people...but if this was the best experience of my life, it'd be the last, eh? Good times have been, but with the experiences from Jerusalem behind me, the best times are ahead.

The peaceful Garden Tomb on a springtime Sabbath afternoon

My attempt to recreate Elise's classic landmark photo, standing on the Mt. of Olives with the Kidron Valley between me and the Dome

Three cheers for Cub Scouts! Our latest activity: ship building with cardboard and duct tape.

Caleb the Cub Scout, Rachel, me, and Jess, up on the 7th floor lawn after dinner

The classic JC get-up: cargo pants/old jeans + some sort of white baggy shirt, men's v-necks are undoubtedly the most popular

The Triple Gate entrance to Solomon's Temple on a field trip last week. The Savior would have entered through these very arches

Painting at Princess Bosma - a neighboring school for disabled children. BYU kids have been painting the school's walls for the last few years, so now the halls and rooms are dominated by imaginative murals 

One of these 'staches is not like the other one!..."'Stache Greg,' affectionately called so at the JC, was one of the creative minds behind our mural. Kaitlin, the designer of this very classy 'stache collage, was another

The city that Denise and Jeni built!

Sweet Meg, me, the Dome, and the encroaching storm

Last Friday night's dinner special: yummiest sushi ever on Emek Rafaim, West J's street of eats. Emek Rafiam is a required site for visiting for one of our classes - no complaints here!

Dearest friends: Jenny C, Kev, Madi, Meg, Greg, and Addie Cakes

The Jeni's/Jenny's of the JC - so lucky to share the name with this girl

Three heavenly weeks are ahead, baby! No regrets.