Week 2 BYU Jeru

BYU JERUSALEM

So I am going to start writing this blog to make it easier for the fam and friends to here about my stories out here in the Holy Land.

So I have officially finished week one of BYU Jerusalem. This past week felt like 6 months but in the best way possible. Here is a little overview of what happened.

• Surprise Surprise.
• Squeezing Lemons.
• Shepherds abiding.
• Street Sledding.
• Party on Sunday.
• Me vs The Neighborhood. 
• I love Jews.

K Lets do this!!

Surprise Surprise.

Well like I was telling my parents last week, 

Jerusalem was different than I expected.

When I thought of Jerusalem I thought of, well to be honest, the bible videos.

I guess I am not sure what I really thought it would be like

 but it is way different than i anticipated.

The Old City, Jerusalem, is packed with vendors almost everywhere.

Its hard to get a peaceful moment 

because the men are always trying to sell you something

and the teens are trying to pick pocket you. 

It was a little disturbing at first, I am not going to lie. 

But As time went on 

and as I have gone back again and again

 I have started to ponder. 

I have been thinking that Jerusalem, 

though a new city than the one Christ dealt with, 

is not much different than how it was with Jesus.

I think of the story when Christ rid the temple of the people selling things 

and how that is how it feels today.

Every church claims that this is where this event happened 

or these are the nails that pierced Christ. 

All are trying to get gain and sell us souveneirs and tickets. 

But just becasue there are worldly people in Jerusalem 

does not make it any less holy.

The thing is that Christ really did 

walk the streets at some point.

He really did suffer for our sins in Gethsemane.

He really did die for us on the cross.

And he really was put in a sepluchre somewhere in Jerusalem.

It all happened. 

As of the exact location, well to me, that doesn't matter.

We get caught up in these minute details

 that blur us from what matters most. 

I hope this doesn't come off like I am a Jerusalem hater.

I was just a little surprised. 

The vendor dudes are funny.

The teens are ballers.

The city is gorgeous.

And I am so so so pumped to be here

In church today these students sang,

There is Green Hill Far Away 

but they changed the words to

There is green hill near at hand. 

It was so amazing. 

That sums up my whole point. 

Man what a blessing to be here.

Squeezing Lemons.

So me and two friends,

(You always have to be in groups of 3 or more)

were exploring the streets 

and saw some kids playing soccer.

So naturally, 

I started playing

and this Mom comes out to watch.

She asks us if we wanted anything to drink

so naturally

 I said 

"sure some juice would be nice, thank you."

Well she invited us inside and got out some lemons

and then she proceeded to cut them

and squeeze them!

Don't worry Mom

of course I started helping her

right away.

It was cool. 

Then we just sat in her living room

and talked for 30 minutes.

I felt like a missionary again :)

Well she invited us over

tomorrow morning

to make falafels 

(this fried ball of...something)

which is going to be WAY FUN!

Her name is Nahala.

What a pretty name huh?

Nahala.

Shepherds abiding.

So every week we have the

sweetest oppurtunity to go

on a field trip and this week

we went to like five places.

They said this week was all about getting

oriented around the city.

So we stopped at a bunch of hills

South

East and

West of Jerusalem.

It was rad seeing all the angles.

And learning about all the history.

We then had the opportunity to go to 

and look over at Bethlehem. 

It was so close.

Just a hill away. 

Our teacher then read Luke 2:

And there were in the same country

 shepherds abiding in the field, 

keeping watch over their flock by night.

Then almost on cue,

some shepherds came walking up the hill towards us
with all their sheep.
It was so surreal.

Street Sledding.

So as you are going to realize,

I love hanging with the people.

Anyways we were walking home

and saw these kids

pulling eachother in these plastic carts

So Naturally

I ran up and started pulling them super fast

up and down this hill

the kids were going crazy

They then tried to pull me ha

The whole neighborhood loved it

Party on Sunday.

So the Sabbath is on Saturday here

So Sunday is now literally

a FUNDAY ha

Ive never had so much fun on Sundays

I like how the Sabbath is on Saturday here

It just proves to me, like earlier,

that it doesn't matter when the Sabbath is

but that we have one once a week

and rest from our labors

and think of God.

Sometimes we got caught up in the smallest things

and lose the big picture as i said earlier.

I think it is a true gift

to be able to discern from what really matters

and what is fleeting or menial. 

Me vs The Neighborhood. 

So walking home again

and low and behold a

Soccer game!

Number of players: 11

Average age of opponent: 7

Rules: none!

It was so fun just running around

The kids love us

I can speak hardly any arabic

so i just say "messi" for good job 

and they seem to get the point

They all love Messi

It was just so fun with all these little kids

running around

I don't know it just feels

like a good use of my time.

When we left they all chased us 

with their peace signs saying

goodbye

goodbye 

goodbye ha

Big B the Baller

They love the Peace sign

Goodbye Goodbye Goodbye

I love Jews.

So Before I came 

I had studied and taken classes

about Islam and the muslim people.

So since day one I have had the deepest

respect for them and their standards.

They way they lived their lives

and the principles they live upon.

Such an example to me.

But I had never really studied

or frankly known too much about the Jewish people.

So two quick stoires

1) I am taken a Judaism class 

and we have been learning about how nations

 would always conquer other nations.

And every nation had their own God or Gods they worshipped

Well one of those is the one we worship today,

the God of Israel.

Well our teacher taught us

about how when a nation was conquered

they would usually adopt the faith of 

the conquering nation.

the logic was, well their God beat our God

so their God is stronger.

So we will worship him. 

I mean to be honest it makes sense

back in the day.

Well he then talked about how Babylon took over

and the Jewish people were kicked out

and expected to adopt the Babylonian God

and they didn't.

They stayed true to the God of Israel

regardless if it seemed like he lost.

Then they go on to write in Psalms 137:

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth;
if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

How inspiring!

How faithful!
How loyal!
Man I love the Jews.

2) So we had the most amazing privilege
To go to the Western Wall,
In Jerusalem,
On a Friday night!
That is the time when the Jews celebrate 

the start of the sabbath.

Long story short

they hold the temple mount so sacred so

the closest they will get is to this wall

so they come here and pray.

Some say it is the holiest accesible place

for jews to pray at.

Well we get there and I am being super reverent.

I have my kippa on

and I am just observing.

There were so many people and it was night time

and they had lights on the wall.

It was all so cool.

Well then the people start making 

small circles and singing and dancing

It wasn't long before they asked me to join

So Naturally

I hopped in and started chanting prayers

and dancing around

It was so fun and they were so welcoming.

Later on they did a really cool prayer

where one guy went in the middle and yelled SOMETHING like:

Daveee Israel!

and then everyone chants

Hai Hai Israel! 

Well we repeat it a few times and then we dance around

and pick someone new.

Well after 2 or 3 times

the leader grabbed me and said

"Your next!"

So naturally,

I said ok!

He whispered in my ear

and I yelled in Hebrew

Daveee Israel!

and everyone chanted

Hai Hai Israel!

It was my favorite experience so far.

Friday night,

kinda chilly,

packed crowd,

powerful devotion,

People worshiping their God,

and there I was,

in the middle of this big circle of jews,

leading their prayer.

I was just overwhelmed by their kindness

I have never until that day

felt the spirit dancing before.

It was such an example to me

how they worshipped.

They were all so happy for the Sabbath.

Man I love Jews. 

Well that sums up my stories for week 2

Stay tuned next time

love

Stephen