Jordan!

 Last week we went to Jordan! We had a mini vacation well needed after our finals and left to our neighboring country for 4 days.

Our tour guide throughout Jordan was Yosef (Joseph in English). He was great.

Our first stop was Mt. Nebo which is the place where Moses stood while looking out to the promised land.

"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan." - Deuteronomy 34:7.

We then went to a early church that had a mosaic on the ground which showed a map of Israel. It was the first time Jerusalem was shown and archaeologists used the map to find other places which is cool.

Next was Machaerus which was where John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded. It is cool to be sitting in the ruins of the place where the scriptures actually occured.

We got sick of boring stand and smile pictures so we tried something new haha.

And also took pictures of us beheading Dwight.

We were driving at the end of the day and it was the most beautiful sunset ever. We stopped in the middle of the road and all got out and took pictures.

We also got to go to a Crusader Castle in Jordan. And took a classic arch picture

 Back during Biblical times Northern Jordan was known as Amman and we went to some ruins, where there was a Temple of Hercules, which was HUGE!

Flexing like Hercules

Holding Hercules hand!

I wish I could see all these temples and cities back when they were newly made.

You do what it takes to get a good picture!

We love columns!

We went to the Jabbok River, which is where Jacob "wrestled" and saw God face to face. We had an amazing devotional and quiet reflection time which was really good and much needed. I love those spiritual experiences that bring me back to the reason why I am here and that I'm not just a tourist running around taking pictures but I am a pilgrim.

 The next day we went to Jerash, which is a big Roman city flourishing in ancient times. It makes up one of the 10 big cities of the Decapolis talked about in the New Testament, which is the biggest remaining one. It was huge! And so much fun.

We went to the hippodrome and had our own race like ancient times. Blake and I against  Dwight and Lauren. It was close but we slowed down and let them win of course!

Brother Ludlow showed us a secret door that took us under the temple ruins which was cool. 

We took lots of fun pictures during our free time at Jerash.

In a bird bath

I love Devery!

We went down and acted out the first scene in the Hunger Games. An Arab man on the stands was laughing and clapping for us.

We are so sick of stand and look pretty pictures so we tried some new things.

Just like always there are theaters and we went to a HUGE one! It was so much fun. There was an Arab band with bag pipes and drums and then students would stand in the middle of the stage and sing, even Brother Huntsman sung for us. It was great.

At the theater was an Arab band with bag pipes and drums and it was awesome!

We also went into a theater which was SO big and sang from the stage.
With Joe  a faculty student , who is the greatest ever.

My roommate Whitney and I!

I have the most beautiful friends ever!

 On our last day we went to the Jordan River, which was super cool, probably my favorite part of the trip. We read from Mark about Jesus' baptism and sang songs, especially the baptism primary ones.

I got water from the Jordan River to add to my collection!

 "And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there was a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." - Mark 1:5

I am so lucky and blessed to visit these places