07 August 2011

Happy free day! I did not want to wake up this morning, but I didn’t want to waste away the day in bed like some people. I have only so much time left before I have to go back to the United States, and I want to make the best of them.

The morning began in an obnoxious manner. It was more difficult than it should have been to get a group together to leave to the city. However, after waiting around for about twenty minutes, I finally got my group together and left for the Old City. (My group consisted of my favorite people: Ashley Wilkinson, Andrew Null, Julie Rencher, and Kymberly Stone.) We decided to begin our day by visiting the Temple Mount for the last time before we head home and take plenty of pictures. Well, plenty of pictures we did take. It was fun to walk around the Mount and take pictures together. We ended up on Solomon’s Porch where Ashley really got into the mood; she enlisted Andrew’s help to reenact different Biblical accounts from Acts. It was fun to watch and the action was caught by her beautiful camera.

From the Temple Mount, we chose to make our way to the City of David to make use of our National Parks Cards…by going through Hezekiah’s Tunnel – again. You simply cannot go through that tunnel enough times. It is always a new adventure! The water was much higher and much colder than a couple of months ago, but we didn’t let that stop us. With amazing speed Kymberly, Ashley, and I (Julie and Andrew decided to go through the ‘dry’ tunnel) sloshed through the water to make it to the end of the tunnel. There were times when we turned off our flashlights and ran into the walls of the tunnel (it’s very narrow in there….I wonder how big, fat people go through – there must be a weight limit!) but it was all in good fun. I may have a bruise in the morning but it is definitely worth it. We exited the tunnel and found Andrew and Julie fairly close to our exit! We took a new path/tunnel back up to the top. We had no idea where we were, or where we were going! But we were pleasantly surprised when the tunnel let us out across the street from the entrance to the City of David. It is amazing what can happen when you walk underground! You lose all track of direction.

We spent the remainder of the morning and early afternoon in the Jewish and Christian Quarters. In the Jewish Quarter, we took a load off of our feet to eat lunch, chat, and relax. Ashley and I chose to get our lunches at the Holy Bagel – delicious. I chose to get a bagel with a sun-dried tomato and feta spread; it was a good choice! We also got a few different pastries to share (including a chocolate éclair which immediately reminded me of my loving father). The Jewish Quarter has remained my favorite area of the Old City. While the other areas are fun and exciting, the Jewish Quarter is relaxing and provides a calm atmosphere; it is just a nice place to sit back and smell the roses. We finished up the morning in the Jewish Quarter and then made our way to Christian Quarter Road to pick up a few souvenirs and other items. I spent most of my time chilling in a chair outside of Shabon’s shop and watching the passing people; there are some very interesting people in the world…that’s all I have to say about that!

At this point in the day, our group split. Andrew and Julie left with people who were in Shabon’s and Ashley, Kymberly, and I made our way to West Jerusalem. On the way, we decided to stop in at the Mamilla. It flooded my mind with thoughts of shopping with my mom next week! I am definitely looking forward to that. It has been far too long since I have been to a good mall with my mom and bought a few things just for myself. We mostly just window shopped and took a few pictures. We did wander into a jewelry shop…where I happened to find my wedding ring. It is absolutely gorgeous! And I want it…or something similar when I find a man! Haha…anyways… As we left the Mamilla, we decided to go to Independence Park and chill before we had to be at Waffle Bar for dinner at five o’clock. We spent the next two hours or so sitting on the grass and taking pictures and laughing and talking. It was nice to just have some girl time. It never feels like we get enough of that because we always have boys with us!

A group of eleven of us met up at the Waffle Bar to celebrate Ashlyn’s twentieth birthday. The Waffle Bar has become one of my favorite places in Jerusalem to eat! I shared a Laffa Toast with Ashley and had a Hot Carmel Apple Waffle for dessert…oh my gosh. It was amazing! And it tasted like apple pie! (Dad, you would have loved it!) We were all stuffed by the time we left the restaurant…but it was well worth it. There is nothing better than a waffle for dinner/dessert! We split up again when we left the restaurant. This time it was Ashley, Morgan, Crystal, and I. We went to the ‘puzzle store’ and spent the next twenty minutes or so trying to solve the puzzles. We didn’t get very much done…those things are so tricky! But it was fun. We grabbed a taxi back to the Center at seven o’clock so we wouldn’t be late for a final ‘class’ meeting. As a class, we decided that we wanted to meet with Brother Muhlestein one last time to thank him for everything he had done for us. It was a short but sweet meeting. We shared different experiences that we had and just thanked him for all he did for us. It was a good experience.

Dr. Chadwick had a Book of Mormon lecture scheduled for nine o’clock this evening, but I couldn’t stay for all of it. I had other things I needed to do (like take a shower) before eleven o’clock rolled around! As it got later and later, I got more and more excited! However, my excitement burst at about 9:45p when I received an email from my dad of three scanned letters from Elder Michael Watson! I was so happy that I couldn’t stop smiling for a few hours. He is doing really well and is still as excited as ever to be a missionary. He has now been out for nineteen months; it is crazy how quickly time has passed by (but also exciting). The evening just continued upward when I FaceTimed my family for about an hour. It is always nice to talk to them on the phone but it is even better to actually see their faces! It got me really excited to actually see them in a few days!! We didn’t talk about much…mainly, we just chatted like always. They also talked to Dr. Chadwick for a little bit; I had intended for them to talk to his wife but apparently she had gone to bed! It was just a nice way to end the night…to hear their voices, to feel of their love, to see their faces. I have an amazing family. I am so thankful that I can be together with them forever.