Slaying giants

You heard that right. 

This week we slayed a couple giants, actually-- one in the form of a 10 ft. tall cardboard Goliath and another in the form of a beastly Old Testament exam (one was more successful than the other, I'll let you decide). 

This Monday's field trip took us to the Shephelah (aka the hill country of Judea) including the valley of Elah where the story of David & Goliath took place, ancient Israelite ruins, and some important valleys where some important battles took place involving important people who did important things. 

(I'm gonna ace this field trip class if you can't already tell)

I love love loved the weather on this day. It sprinkled on us a bit but mostly it was a beautiful day of thick clouds and soothing wind. Oftentimes my favorite part is just gazing out at the landscape and trying to imagine what it would've looked like in David or Samson or Samuel's time.

These pretty olive trees are everywhere.

Cute India!

Side note: this girl is superwoman. I think her talent for going to the gym at 5:30am is rubbing off on me because I'm on a 3-day streak !!! (my past roommates should be floored right now). 

There were people who lived UNDERGROUND anciently and we got to walk through their cities. 

Caves are cool.

Sweet roommate Sarah (also "tall Sarah" -- there are 4 in our group!), Emily, & I 

Tzaharayeem Toreem! Ma Nishma? Yofi.

These kids were the cutest and we got to practice our Hebrew. (Weston was the favorite though)

Ok HOW COOL is this?! An ancient olive press underground.

Restored cave writings.

Dr. Schade is one of the most knowledgeable professors I know and graded all 42 of our exams (8 essay questions each) in the same day! What a bro. 

Speaking of which: studying for dayyysss. 

The late-night essentials: quizlet, coke, & good company. 

Nate 2 weeks ago: "When am I gonna be featured on your blog?"

Wish granted.

He likes to steal my phone when I leave the room for 5 seconds.

And leave me gems like these.

Hahaha Kate!

Best advice I got before coming to Jeru: get out of the Center every chance you get. 

So that we did on a lovely Thursday afternoon! First stop: Rockefeller Museum. 

A new Homo sapiens friend from 100,000 years ago. 

There is something crazy about standing next to millennia of history. I found my mind racing with questions: What were their lives like? What struggles did they have? How did they build temples and create incredible masterpieces of art with such little resources?! What does God want us to learn from those who came before us?

Portrait mode courtesy of Elle's iPhone 7s. 

Pit stop to spend 8 shekels (that's like $2.50) on our favorite falafels!

And when in West Jerusalem... gotta pick up some gelato. 

Incense for sale in the Muslim quarter. The streets are smoky and the smells are strong. 

When visitors come to the Center on Saturdays for our church meetings, I am reminded again how blessed we are to be here. 

People come from all over the world to visit the Holy Land for a week.

They have tears in their eyes during our sacrament service as they look out over the Old City.

An elderly man from Germany bore his testimony today and told us to take advantage of every moment.

I had this overwhelming feeling that what I'm learning and experiencing here is going to bless my future family; I don't know how and I don't know when, but I know that these months of my life are going to be (and have already been) sacred, revelatory experiences. 

Now time to pack and go to bed early because...

WE'RE GOING TO EGYPT!! 

Next picture you see of me will hopefully be on a camel ;)