Bethlehem

Although we haven't finished our finals for Old Testament, Bethlehem is the beginning of studying the New Testament. Can I just say that I am SOOO excited for the New Testament. That is why I am here. I am so excited to learn more about Jesus.

I have been a little bit nervous to have Brother Huntsman. He is really loud and I am not the best at getting yelled at. However, he does love his students and isn't yelling because he is mad...it just happens. Anyways, he is just very different from Brother Harper. Both are amazing men and I am so lucky to have had such great teachers here.

We got on the bus, still feeling pretty nervous about having Huntsman. He started out by teaching us a little bit about the scriptures and giving us a bit of his philosophy. He really loves Jesus and it shows. When he talks about his family or Jesus he starts to tear up. He told us about he admires the women of the scriptures and knows that the majority of our class needs to understand the women and have those examples to look to. I teared up a bit at this. My favorite part about Old Testament was learning about the women. I get so inspired by their stories!

Then we headed into the West Bank and went to the Herodion. This is the place associated with Herod the Great. It is quite possibly where he was when the wise men came to seek out Jesus. Being here and seeing the geography around the area really brings a whole new meaning to the stories. Interesting fact. When the scriptures say that Herod killed all of the male children under 2 from Bethlehem he probably killed around ten or twenty children. This number is a lot smaller than I imagined. True, it is devastating for those families, but it isn't hundreds of deaths. Herod is seriously obsessed with someone taking over, and he didn't want the real king to take over.

Ancient cannon balls.  I think they are pretty cool looking!

With Marissa Ludlow.  I get to be one of her big sisters here.  She is absolutely adorable, although she tickles me ALL the time! :)

With Lindsay and Caleb.

Boy band picture.  Kaitlyn, Me, Lindsay (The lead singer), Lauren, and Katie!

Next up we went to Bethlehem University. We got a tour and got to talk to the students. It was interesting to see how education works. It was the first university to be open for Palestinians. Some students travel from Jerusalem to there everyday. This means that they have to go through security everyday. It can take two hours to go either way. What dedication to their studies.  It is so easy for us to get through security because of our American passports, and can be so difficult for them.

Love the colors of this church!

With our beautiful tour guide!  She travels 4 hours each day to come to school.  And then she missed part of a class to show us around!  How nice of her!

Memorial to the four students who have died for the university.  The first one was killed on this spot.  Having the option of education has been very difficult for them to get.

Then we headed to Manger Square to see the church that has been built at the traditional site of the birth of Jesus. It was pretty cool. There was a really long line to see a star on the floor of the church where the traditional site is but I wasn't willing to stand in the line. It is the traditional site, but a church floor and a long line isn't my way of worshiping His birth. So I wandered around the rest of the church and then headed out to do a little bit of shopping in the city.

On our way out we passed the security guards and they told us to stick to our group. (Had we left the main group because the tour guide was telling us information that I didn't think was important, yes. Was I okay with that? Yes. Was the teacher I asked permission to do so okay with it? Yes.) We walked up the street and were having a joyful time when Brother Harper and a security guard run after us and tell us to come back to the church. We felt like little kids who had just gotten into trouble. The rules were so not clear and we were confused. They literally marched us back into the church. We asked them if anything had happened in Bethlehem to make us nervous and they said "No, I just don't want to tell your parents that I lost you." I felt completely safe but apparently they didn't feel like I was safe.

Usually I am a rule keeper. No big deal. If they had told us at the beginning that we couldn't go on the streets then we wouldn't have gone. But when they walked us through the streets so we would know where we were and be able to make it back if we wandered off, I think that means that we were able to leave the group. They told us to either meet back at manger square or the bus garage. When they got mad at us they told us that no one in the group was allowed to leave manger square. Well then, how are we supposed to meet back at the garage. Urg! Furthermore, the fact that security told us we were okay, and then went and told on us and ran after us made me mad. I hate getting in trouble. It is no fun. It makes me sad, and mad. The end.

Melia Ludlow loves doing spiders on my back.  It feels delightful.

In the church with two of my fellow wrong-doers!

Right on the other side of the same cave that other stood in line for.  I think this is close enough...and prettier!

Then we headed to a shepherd field right outside of Bethlehem. Brother Harper and Brother Huntsman read to us Matthew 1 and Luke 2 and then we sang Christmas carol after Christmas carol. Then they gave us 15 minutes of personal time. During this there were a few herds of sheep that passed us. Our teachers said they couldn't have planned that if they had tried. This has probably been my favorite thing that we have done. It was so cold outside. It was so easy to imagine being a shepherd in the field at night. For me it was even easier to imagine being one of the angels who appeared to the shepherds, probably because that is my role in our acting out of the nativity story each year. I remembered when Belle, Olivia, Platte, and Madison were born. I was so excited and wanted to tell all of my friends my exciting news. I announced it in classes, overjoyed that a cute new little niece or nephew had joined the family. I was so thrilled that one of my sisters had just had a baby. With that in mind I could easily imagine being just as excited, if not more excited, being in heaven and knowing that my Brother, my Savior had just been born of Mary. I would have wanted to tell everyone! I would have wanted to be "Lo" and go tell the shepherds of the good tidings of great joy! How amazing!

What a wonderful experience!