I would like to personally thank my beloved Mavericks for a spectacular game last night, especially the one and only Dirk Nowitzki. It was all too wonderful to see the Heat get taken down. Congratulations on a wonderful season, and I am greatly anticipating what next year will bring. GO MAVS!!!
Today we went back to the place where it all began, where David was King, where Solomon reigned, where Hezekiah prayed in faith to the Lord and was miraculously saved from destruction of the Assyrians. Jerusalem wasn’t always located within the walls that have surrounded it since the 1500s. When David conquered Jerusalem, the city was actually south of where it is located today, surrounded by three valleys: the Kidron, the Hinnom, and the Tyropoeon. As time passed, the population grew, expanding the city. By the time of King Herod, the city had moved farther north. Today, David’s Jerusalem is known as the City of David. Rightly named, don’t you think? It was to this city that we ventured.
It all began with the best 3D Movie Attraction I have ever before witnessed. We giddily pulled on our 3D glasses to watch this movie on the construction and defense of the City of David. I am honest when I say it was the best movie attraction I have ever witnessed. Tourist videos are generally dry, boring, and full of poor animations. This was different. The music caught our interest, it was short and to the point, and it carried with it a good story. From the movie, Brother Muhlestein took us to overlook the city as well as to talk about a few excavation sites. While these areas were informative and interesting, they were nothing compared to what came next: Hezekiah’s Tunnel. Hezekiah’s Tunnel was constructed to connect the city’s two water sources, protecting them from attackers. (Water was a hot commodity back then!) The curving tunnel is over 530 meters long, and I got to walk through it. The water got to two to three feet in some areas. I was wet; I was cold. And yet, I still trudged on. There were many pictures taken (as seen above..haha) and no cameras lost. It was a successful tunnel excursion. Our travel through the City of David ended with a brief visit to a limestone quarry, and then we were released to stay in the city or go back to the J.C. As you may guess, I stayed in Jerusalem and visited a couple of places with my friends Kymberly and Jenny.
Our adventure began with a special guided-tour to the Straight-Seam and Pinnacle of the Temple Mount. We also walked up to the Golden Gates, where we discussed Christian-Jewish myths about the gate. (Apparently the gates were sealed by the Jews after Christian revelation was given that Christ would return through the gates….or so it is told.) From there we went to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. We went to an overlook of the Western Wall and Temple Mount. The view was amazing. We then went to the Temple Institute. If there was anything in Jerusalem that I would tell people to avoid, it would be the Temple Institute. It provided us with great information about temple objects and how the temple was constructed, but it wasn’t anything more than we could find in the Bible or learn in class. Twenty-five shekels was too steep a price for so little information, but at least we got it done! With the Temple Institute done, we decided to go back to the Jerusalem Center. On the way back we stopped at the post office so that I could get stamps and so that Jenny could pick up her package. Now that was exciting.
The rest of the day was fairly quiet. I spent some time fine-tuning my paper for Islam and hung out with a few friends. For Family Home Evening we had an intense game of Boggle. Jason and I were busting out words like there was no tomorrow…until Jefferson cheated! That was unfortunate, but we brushed it off and will get our revenge!! It was a fun way to end the night. It was a really fun day. And although I got sunburned, again, I would do it all over again (perhaps without the Temple Institute though).
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