Back for Real

So I have been MIA for quite a while. Actually since October 11th to be exact. Apparently I got really excited about my Egyptian tour guide tooter (that's probably the only vivid memory I will have of Egypt when I'm an 80 year-old woman. Who needs the pyramids when you have Islam the Egyptian tour guide?) Since then I have neglected this little blog of mine.


Let me just explain in the ultra-condensed version why I have been MIA to the world.


For the past four months I have spent my time frantically studying the history of Israel for midterms and finals, scribbling notes about Masada or Petra while we are on field trips, and writing fifteen page (single spaced) papers for my Islam class. 


For the past four months I have learned how to survive on pita, rice, and chicken for week-long periods. Thank you Egypt and Jordan. (*fun fact* coke is how you survive.) 


For the past four months I have also been walking through the streets of Jerusalem, testing every gelato shop, ice cream bar, or chocolate I pass by, eating pita and hummus, sampling assortments of gummies (you can buy these little treats on virtually every street of Jerusalem's Old City. Yes there are swarms of flies eating the same gummies you end up buying and yes they are left uncovered at all times and are probably touched by dozens of unsanitary hands daily. and yet we still love them.) Okay, although this entire paragraph is dedicated to food I promise my whole life doesn't revolve around food. (I just have to keep telling myself that.) Missing in Action.


For the past four months I have acquired eleven new siblings (our professors' kids) and have been making friends who will forever be some of my best friends. Hence, I have been MIA.


For the past four months I have been learning about my Savior Jesus Christ and the power of the Atonement. I have been studying the New Testament on the shores of Galilee and have spent every Sabbath going to my favorite place in the world, the Garden Tomb to write in my journal.

Our last night in Jerusalem one of our professors explained that once we left the center to return to the U.S. all the heating would be shut off, the lights would go out, and the halls would be empty. Without students in the center, the center is nothing more than a building on the side of the Mount of Olives. It is the light of students who help make the center the sanctuary it has become. 

Now I'm back in my bedroom in Holladay, Utah and the only visual thing to remind me of Jerusalem is the beautiful nativity I bought in the Old City. Yet, I feel like everything in my life right now reminds me of Jerusalem and I love it. My professor gives me hope that although we have all left the Jerusalem Center it will never really leave us.  


So sorry I have been MIA....I'll try to be better from here on out.