Samuel Ellertson

My brother Bryan and his wife Suzanne were blessed with a new baby boy, Samuel Ellertson. He was born 11/17/09 and was signed over for their adoption a few days ago. I couldn't be happier for these very deserving parents. they have been so patient through the ups and downs of adoption and are finally blessed with a new addition to their amazing family....i can't wait to meet little sammy!

i'm alive

don't worry i'm alive. i just spent 11 wonderful days in the galilee and can say that i am a new person. however, i am so happy to be home. :) (in jerusalem) p.s. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Josephine Marolyn Mills

My amazing sister Lara had her baby on friday and will now be a mother of 3 under 3. what a rockstar! Josephine Marilyn Mills was born on November 6, 2009, 3:10 p.m. 7 lbs. 5 oz. 20 inches. I love her already and I haven't even met her yet!



p.s. she did the whole thing with out any pain meds...like i said rockstar.

cat (ding) i'm a kitty cat

one thing that i didn't know when i came here was the fact that jeru is infested with cats. including the center. usually stray dogs can be found in bigger cities but not here. it's so bad that we have named some of the regulars including: diseasy, trachy, dr. seus)...and... all of the females have utters. like i said i love everything about this place.

so little time...

This is my view everyday. A few days ago as we drove back from our field trip in Jordan, we drove over the mount of olives and descended into jerusalem below us. the sun was setting and lit everything up so beautifully and i couldn't help but feel a wave of emotion for this place. it feels like home. i love the huuuge variety of people, the sudden change in weather from dripping sweat to needing a rain jacket, the view from which the center looks out upon perched on the mount of olives, my peers here at the center (who are some of the most christ like people i've ever been around), i love sabbaths here, i love being able to tell exactly which quarter of the old city you are in based on it's cleanliness, i love falafel and gelato, i love how i feel like this place is the center of the world and you can never run out of things to do, i love walking everywhere, i love ben yahuda street, i love the oasis food and eggnog desserts, i love doing the same run everyday, i love how old everything is and makes american history seem like a new born baby, i love my professors and forum speakers, i love brother brown and his scarcely seen smiles,i loooooove the call to prayer and most of all i love the color that has been added to the black and white stories of the scriptures through being here. i never want to leave. (except to see my family) :)

israel

i finally have a break in school before we cart off to jordan so i figured i could update my blog. literally this week has been non stop, no breaks, no free time. with 3 midterms to study for, a few assignments and classes i have felt very deprived of sleep and...a real life.. anyways we have had some fun stuff lately. we went to yad vashem which is the israeli holocaust museum which was so moving. from the architecture to the videos of survivors testimonials, the whole experience was very sobering and humbling. but it was when we went into the childrens memorial at the end that i felt my eyes start to hurt and couldn't hold back the tears as i put myself in their position. i tried to comprehend the trauma of never seeing my nieces or nephews again and wondering what mass grave their little bodies lay in and the fear must have consumed them before. the setting of the memorial is an almost pitch black room in which you circumambulate around a flame that is reflected on mirrors. while you walk in almost complete darkness, a mans voice very plainly states a victim childs name, home country and age. the whole ambiance and experience was unlike anything i've ever done.


whhhew...on a lighter note we had arab culture night a few nights ago and it was one of the funnest nights we've had here at the center. the night started out with a father and son singing for us the call to prayer. calling for prayer is a tradition that has been in their families for 500 years! it was so beautiful. then they demonstrated for us the prayers that they pray 5 times a day. after the performance we went and had a beautiful banquet that had ethnic palestinian food and dessert(i had two plates don't judge). oh and while the father and son were performing the call to prayer we had sheets of paper with the translation of what they were saying. one thing that i have learned here is how similar christianity and islam really are. this was reaffirmed as they sang and basically bore testimony of allah and mohammad. it's no wonder these people are so devoted to their religion. five times a day they are reminded that there is no other God but allah and that they need to hasten to prayer. that would really keep your faith at the front of your mind. anyways the food was wonderful and then we had the best part. some palestinian folk dancers taught us their dances. i don't know what it is but there is something programed deep in my brain that makes me so happy when i dance. i'm not very good at it but at any kind of dance, i lose my inhibitions (in a good way) and leave feeling very euphoric. so this dancing is basically jumping up and down a bunch but i left doubled over in pain because my abs hurt so bad from laughing and my cramped brain felt so enlightened. so i don't necessarily have the feet but i definitely have the heart for dancing. well i'm off to bed to get ready for sabbath (can't say sunday cause sabbath on a saturday) tomorrow and dream of meeting Elder Holland tomorrow night at his fireside here!

oh and mom this ones for you: today i went to the israeli museum and saw the isaiah scroll of the dead sea scrolls and i thought of you (obviously)! i'll post an illegal picture later!

likening

today in my ancient near east class we studied about the relationships of prophets of the old testament to the kings that ruled over israel. how prophets would warn and prophesy against the ancient israelite kings but the kings would choose which prophets to listen to if it was in their favor. right after class i happened upon the talk given by elder oaks just yesterday to byui students about religious freedom, specifically regarding the ruckus surrounding prop 8. my good friend molly here, who's mom teaches at byui, said that this talk was given in response to the speech president obama gave to the homosexual community a few days ago. she then informed me that his talk is the churches official stance on homosexuality. i couldn't help but immediately tie this back to the ancient kingdoms of israel and see what happened to these civilizations who did not hearken to the prophets voice. i also found myself very comforted that our church leaders are not afraid to voice the will of the Lord. what a good example they are of standing firm and not swaying with with winds of change that seem to have swept the nation in the last few years.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/religious-freedom