Words Cannot Express...

...how amazing the last couple of days have been!

Let's start at the beginning (a very good place to start). Thursday morning announcements...they were odd, only because our announcement sessions are on Tuesdays and we already had ours for the week. Little did we know that the administration had some wonderful news for us! They told us that this man

was going to arrive at the JC the next day, would be speaking at the district conference, and would be living in close proximity to us for three days! It goes without saying that after that announcement, there was utter pandemonium  DIEDER F. UCTDORF was coming!!!!!!!! There were many squeals and shrieks. The excitement level was through the roof. I heard many people start saying that they were going to look extra nice the next couple of days...you never know when you could be face to face with a Prophet of God, after all.

Cut to the next day, everyone is sitting in the Oasis surrounding the table reserved for Elder Uctdorf. It is unusually quiet, people are trying to contain their excitement. Suddenly, we see him! Everyone starts whispering and trying to sneak a peak at him without being overly creepy. Funny story, I was toasting a piece of bread in the kitchen area (that's usually what I have for dessert, toast with butter...it's goood!) when I hear Elder Uctdorf's voice behind me. I get so nervous that I promptly burn myself on the toaster. It's a pretty cool burn, I wear it with pride!

The next time we saw him was at district conference on Saturday. He and his wife, Harriet, are so cute! They would hold hands on the stand, and after her talk, President Uctdorf called her the sunshine of his life. They recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, and they are an adorable couple. His talk was so amazing...we were able to hear an apostle of God talk about whatever he felt like for 45 minutes or so. It was a really good talk, and it was interesting to see him speak. He was a lot less formal than General Conference. He made some really funny jokes and was just more relaxed. I had two favorite parts of his talk. 1) He quoted Harry Potter as scripture. That act alone was the single coolest moment of my life to date. 2) He bore his testimony that Jesus Christ is the Living Son of the Living God. You could tell that he KNEW IT! I love him so much because he really wanted us to know this. The spirit was so strong and I knew what he said was true. It was my favorite stake/district conference ever!

The last time we saw him was later that night. He was a speaker at our "Upper Room" evening. He spoke to us about the Savior and the Apostles. He bore his witness of Christ and of the Gospel. He blessed us. It was such a wonderful experience. The spirit was so strong, I never wanted to leave.

Just so you know I'm not making any of this up, EXHIBIT A:

You can see me directly up and to the right of President Uctorf's head. 

Yesterday (Saturday) was one of the coolest days of my life. I am so grateful for the experiences that I have had in Jerusalem, and having President Uctorf be there at the very end has contributing in making this semester one of the most memorable experiences of my life!

The Israel Museum

Once upon a time, I had to go to the Israel Museum for a class assignment. Part of the assignment was to take a picture in front of one of the artifacts. Well, being the overachiever that I am, I definitely had to take more than one. Enjoy the Israel Museum (at least the archaeology part)! 

Also, I figured that if I had to take pictures of myself in front of the artifacts, they might as well be interesting! 

So...The Rest of February Plus March

Well, I apparently dropped of the face of the earth...sorry about that. So here's February and March in pictures!

View from the Austrian Hospice in the Old City.

We had a passover Seder in February (about a month early)...it was really cool!

We had the opportunity to volunteer at a Women's hospital near the Center.

You get to see what my classes look like!! (It's not super exciting but...)

We got to go to the beach at Tel Aviv!!! It was a glorious day!!

I got to herd sheep at a Biblical Reserve!

  I ran a 10K in Jerusalem!!!!! I mostly did it for the cool shirt...but whatever I still ran the whole thing!

TURKEY!!!!

The Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque...it was gorgeous!

The first Turkish Delight that I actually liked!

Outside the Blue Mosque.

Outside Hagia Sophia.

Inside the library at the Topoki Palace in Istanbul.

This is Mr. Sparkle...He was always at the front of our class and made sure that no one got lost when we were walking places.

Cool Medusa head used as a base of a pillar in a giant cistern under Istanbul!

Outside the Grand Bazaar.

View of the Bosporus Strait from a boat!

Yeah, don't really know what's up with the water bottle...I think I was embarrassed or somethin'

I wish that I lived in Turkey and saw this everyday!

Crossing the Dardenelles from the Europe side of Turkey to the Asia side!

Sunset on the Dardenelles.

Well, neither of these wonderful people are me as there is no way in heaven or on earth that I can do a cartwheel, but it's still a supercool picture!

Me and my really awkward jumping pictures.

We were at the beach...It had to be done!

 

Pretending to be drunk at the Temple of Dionysus. I make a horrible drunk.

Church of St. Johns near Ephesus...this is an ancient baptismal font!

Yes, I was in the same spot that the picture in the bible dictionary was taken. Be jealous!

Stand in Holy Places.

Temple of Artemis in the rain...I was SOAKED!!

Inside the Hagia Sophia. It was BEAUTIFUL!

I succumbed...there was a McDonalds and it had real hamburgers and real fries. I regret nothing!

Inside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. According to tradition...the star thing on the floor is the exact place where Christ was born...it was so neat!

Shepherds fields. We went to the approximate area where the angels visited shepherds on the night of Christs' birth. It was beautiful. We had a devotional, personal study time and sang Christmas songs. It was a wonderful day.

We went to Eilot, a town on the Red Sea. It was 85 degrees and we bummed on the beach and went snorkeling. It was a really good day!