Change

I feel like I'm taking over the family blog-but at this point I don't know if it's worth it to even start my own, so unless anyone has any objections I'll just keep writing on here. I wasn't planning on blogging today but I felt like I should share some of the things I have been studying and learning in class.

Just to keep in the back of your mind: what is one characteristic about yourself that you wish you could change? (not physical, something deeper than that)
I am reading in Samuel right now about all the great prophets and leaders that ruled Israel. The other night I read 1 Samuel 12:20
20) "Fear not; ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart." Reading that verse, I thought about how comforting it is know that even though I am a sinful person, I am invited to stay close to Him. Reading on in verses 22- 24
22)"For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. 23)Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way. 24) Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things He hath done for you."
Not only am I invited to always serve the Lord but I am promised that he will not forsake me. Although we are sinful people, He will not leave us alone. This idea has been prevalent in my thoughts the past few days and then I went to class today and what I learned enhanced the things I have been thinking about.
In 1 Samuel 10, Saul is anointed as king and in verse 6 it says that he "shalt be turned into another man." Verse 9 says that"God gave him another heart." The Atonement has the power to change a person's nature and turn it into a more Christlike nature. Like the people in the Book of Mormon during the days of King Benjamin who said (Mosiah 5:2) " the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually," Saul was changed into a new person. We are able to become new creatures in Christ because there is not ANY aspect of our natures that cannot be changed through the Atonement. You can change that part of yourself that you are not happy with. It may take days, or even years to make changes but because of the Savior, we can continually progress. I know that the Atonement has the power to change us. I also know that change is one of the hardest things we go through in this life. It takes work. It takes a lot of effort. It takes persistence. But, I know it is all worth it. In order to become more Christlike, we have to change daily.

Things at the Jerusalem Center are great. We've had a laid back week after all the craziness last week. Time to catch up on homework and some sleep. Today we had our humanitarian project which always turns into a huge dance party in the warehouse. Have I mentioned that I love the people here? I wish I could bring everyone home with me so I could introduce them to the people I love at home. Tonight is movie night, "Death on the Nile" which will be great because it takes place at a site we have visited. Tomorrow is church and I get to see my primary kids again and we'll probably end up at the Garden of Gethsemane after church. I hope everyone is having a great week! Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Egypt

This past week was one of the most amazing weeks of my life. There is not one thing we did that I didn’t absolutely love. Although we were in Cairo during all the craziness, we were safe the entire time, our security guards and Jerusalem Center leaders kept us safely away from even the possibility of any danger. Unfortunately we were not able to go to the Citadel or the Cairo Museum but we were excited to be in Egypt during this historic time. I have grown to love the people in this area. I love Egypt so much! I’ll go through the details of what we did each day on this trip of a lifetime.

Sunday: Day 1

I have only been on this study abroad program for 3 weeks but I literally feel like I am a different person. I have changed and grown more in the past month than I ever thought possible. My relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is more amazing than I ever could have imagined. The first day of our trip was spent on the bus with some stops at some biblical places where we were able to see the ruins of some ancient temples. Towards the end of the day we got off our buses and stopped at the sand dunes. I can’t even describe this place- the sand feels like silk it is so smooth and everywhere around it looks like there are huge spoonfulls of sand plopped down on the ground. We had about half an hour to play and run down these giant hills of sand and it felt like we were running down clouds- the sand was so smooth and we were running down so fast that most people flipped over themselves at the end of the hill. After our playtime we were invited to go off somewhere we could be completely alone in the desert and wait until we heard a bell ring to open up a piece of paper we were given, then fill out the paper until the bell rang again to round us all up. I looked around the desert and thought about Lehi and his family wandering through this land and wondered how they found food, water, or knew which direction to go. As I sat by myself looking around I prayed to my Heavenly Father about all the questions I have in my life right now. I had a conversation with him and poured out my heart- my worries, fears, and confusions. Then I heard the bell ring and the paper invited us to read 1 Nephi 2: 4-5.

After reading that scripture I was overcome with the spirit and realized that just as the Lord led Lehi and his family and guided them to where he wanted them to be, he will lead me and be with me if I put him before all else. I can’t explain in words how that made me feel but all I can say is that I felt so much peace that I have been looking to feel for quite a long time. After writing all my feelings down we were invited into small groups to sit around a bonfire, sing hymns, and share our testimonies. Through this experience I realized how important it is to spend time on my own when I can talk to my Heavenly Father without the influence of the world around me. I can honestly say that night was one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had and I could have sat there alone with my Father in Heaven for hours- the time went by too quickly.

Monday: Day 2

Things I learned on my first day in Egypt:

· It is completely normal for people to stand at the median or on the side of the freeway

· At least 20 people can cram into a van

· Most people live in apartments and when they purchase them they are also required to put their own windows in, so every apartment complex has different decorations outside each individual home

· Camels are completely common

· The lines painted on the road are “for decoration”

· At least 3 cars can fit into 2 lanes

· Holding a child while driving with your wife holding an infant in the seat next to you is just fine

· Don’t be surprised if someone exits a bus on the freeway

· There is a reason we don’t drink Egyptian water-large dead animals in the Nile

· 300,000 stones make up the Great pyramid with some weighing 30 tons

· most bathrooms don’t have toilet paper and cost money to use

· hot chocolate means hot water with a dash of cocoa

Tuesday: Day 3

The Giza pyramids are even more amazing than I imagined. I was giddy with excitement- I think my friends were slightly embarrassed by me. Each individual limestone is HUGE! I was amazed! 100,000 people worked on these pyramied and 10,000 people died during the process. We were able to go into the middle pyramid which was also a really neat experience. Other items on the agenda: statue of Ramses II, sphinx, papyrus factory (I got the neatest papyrus for my future home), and buffet meals. The pyramids and sphinx were so cool- I found myself all day wishing that my family could be there with me to experience everything that I was seeing. I love you guys! We took a plane that night to Luxor.

Wednesday: Day 4

We went to the Valley of the Kings and saw 4 tombs- the hieroglihps are incredible. We also saw the mummy of King Tut- a lot smaller than I imagined. The highlight of this day was our sail boat ride across the Nile (by the way our hotel was literally on the Nile) and then a camel ride around the city of Luxor. My camel was so nice- his name was Alababa, my guide was also very nice- maybe a little bit too friendly. Most of the other guides were younger so I chatted with them instead, they named me Shakira. The camel ride was so neat because we were able to go through the city and see the people, wave to children as we passed by, and look at the beautiful land. That night we went to the shuuk and did some shopping- I bargained and got a 2 dollar scarf which I was very proud of. One of our market friends that we met gave my friend some advice on how to win me over and told him to buy me for 100 camels. The next day when my friend went back this man asked him if we were together yet. He also set up Kaitlin and another one of our friends. Gotta love the markets. In that night I was proposed to, told I have beautiful eyes, that I look like an Egyptian princess and surrounded by about 4 men who wanted to take a picture with me (don’t worry I hurriedly got away and stood by our friend who was our protector for the night).

Thursday: Day 5

This day wasn’t that great. We didn’t really do anything that exciting and everyone was dying of boredom…Just kidding. Another day filled with adventures! We left our hotel on a motorboat and sat on top looking around this amazing city. We arrived at the Carnak Temple and saw one of the seven ancient wonders of the world- 134 columns that are enormous in the Carnak Temple- another day I’ll tell you how they were constructed-pretty ingenious. We also went to the Luxor museum and took a carriage ride that day. The afternoon was spent relaxing and by the pool- nice to get some sun ( I have a great tanline from all the modest clothes I’ve been wearing). That night we got on a sleeping train to make our way back to Cairo- we crammed about 10 people in a tiny room to play games- oh the memories.

Friday: Day 6

Our train arrived in Giza at about 5:30 and our day began. Because of the riots, we were not able to do what we had originally planned so we made our way to the Red and Bent pyramids and went inside of the Red pyramid. We had another day around the hotel (there was a curfew in place that started at 6) and took advantage of the down time to take a nap. That night we had a great Sacrament meeting in the conference room (which was used later that night to fill with cots so people could sleep since they were not allowed to check out and leave the hotel at night).

Saturday: Day 7

As a result of all the chaos in Cairo our faithful guides got us on the buses and left (we were always kept far far away from the possibility of even being in danger, extra precautions and the guidance of the spirit). We took the bus to St. Catherines where we would spend the night ( on the buses all day) and had a great night looking at the stars and learning from Brother Muhlestein about Moses 1. We went to bed early that night in preparation for the big day on Sunday.

Sunday: Day 8

Our wakeup call was at 2:30 and we started our hike up Mt. Sinai at 3:30- the stars were incredible and it was great to walk up with my friends and get to know everyone. When we got to the top we took pictures, sang hymns, and watched the sunrise together- what a beautiful morning. (PS, I dont know that I have ever been that cold- the top was windy and FREEZING) We learned from Brother Muhlestein about the events that took place at Sinai and the love God has for His children. I love learning from him! I feel so grateful to have made this hike and had the experiences that I hope never to forget there. We drove home that day and arrived to rain and happy greetings from the Muhlestein family in Jerualem- it was nice to sleep in my own bed and be back with my great roommates to catch up on an eventful week.

Means of transportation for the week: bus, train, taxi, carriage, sailboat, motorboat, plane, camel, hiking, walking, shuttle

Food for the week: meat, potatoes, bread, and rice (fresh fruits and veggies were not allowed)

The pictures are all a jumble because I didn’t have time to organize them, but I’ll try and explain each of them. (and I haven’t updated my blog account yet mom, sorry!)

My roommate Rachel and I on Sinai (excuse the tired eyes, we started the day early)

My girlfriends with sweet Brother Muhlestein on Sinai

Carriage ride with Chelsea, Rachel, and Danielle

At the bottom of one of the pyramids with some of my closest friends

This actually isn't from Egypt- it is at the Garden of Gethsemane after church one day which was another great experience. Me, my roommate Rachel, and my other friend Chelsea.

I don't know who has the other pictures of my on the camel- but here is the one I have with Alababa and my guide, Mohammed.

Sweet little boy selling things at the market- I paid him a dollar to take a picture with us. I couldn't help it! These kids melt my heart.

Kaitlin and I with the Great Pyramids in the background- how cool is that?!

The Great Pyramid- just to show you how big it is. Nathaniel, Brock, me, Stephen.

Jumping pic at the pyramid

I love this one- me and my roommates. yes, we are always that happy. I don't think I stopped smiling all week.

Our sphinx pose. Faith, Jess, me, Donovan, Kaitlin, Jeanelle

Passport stamp for EGYPT

most adorable kids ever, their parents were more than willing to let us take a picture with them at the Luxor Temple. I just want to take all these kids home with me.

Tel Arad- one of the stops on the way to Egypt- love these girls.

The Perfect Day

Every day I say "Today was the best day ever." Today was such an incredible Sabbath. It started out getting ready and laughing with my 3 amazing roommates- I am so blessed. Kaitlin always makes us laugh, Rachel is so sweet and genuine, and Jess says that funniest things and is definitely not a sheltered wierdie :) We went to breakfast and I had some delicious fresh fruit and Jerusalem whole grain cereal. Then we went to choir practice where we sang a beautiful arrangement of "High On a Mountaintop" for the prelude. In preparation for the sacrament we sang the song "Thy will, O Lord, Be Done" which is hymn # 188 if you want to read it. It is a beautiful hymn and even more beautiful to sing as I looked over the city where the Savior lived. Sacrament meeting was amazing. One of my favorite thoughts was a scripture shared in a talk Romans 8:16-17. We are all children of a Heavenly Father! I know it!
Primary was incredible-thank you to everyone who gave me help for sharing time- I used everyones ideas! I love children so much, they were so involved with the sharing time and gave me insights I had never thought about, we even learned about the "grass plates"
I also gave a spiritual thought for our primary leadership training, one of my newest favorite scripture stories is of Joshua (after going to Jericho and seeing where the walls fell down). Joshua 1-6 is some of my favorite scripture. I shared the scripture in Joshua 1:9 about the Lord giving us the strength that we need to fulfill the callings we are assigned to. Then I talked about the Savior blessing the and praying for the children one by one in 3 Nephi 17. I just love primary so much!
After the meeting we went to the Garden of Gethsemane and I sat there for almost an hour thinking about how blessed I am.
Then we came back to eat dinner outside overlooking the city, did our visiting teaching, got hometaught, packed for Egypt, and ended the night with Catch Phrase and a whole lot of laughing. I love my friends. I'm so excited for Egypt-hopefully when I get home I'll be able to put some pictures up.
Thanks to everyone that sent me an email! It always makes my day to see emails from people other than my professors who are just sending me assignments. I love you all! I know my Savior lives and I know that he loves me and all of you! Have a wonderful week.

Pictures to go with Jessica's Post

Help!

I've decided that I get more nervous speaking in front of kids than I do in front of adults..thats probably not good considering my major. On the other hand, I probably wouldn't be so nervous if I knew what I was doing. I conducted primary today and we had some leftover time in senior primary so I had to improvise for about 10 minutes (which seems like forever at the time!) I felt so awkward but one of my friends who is a teacher noticed that the kids all stopped talking and were just watching me while I was at the front- I was glad he noticed that because I sure felt dumb. Anyways, primary has been fun. But I need help because I have to give sharing time next week "I know the scriptures are true." I'm so nervous! My supplies here are limited but I want to make it fun for the kids and interactive. Any ideas for me?

On a side note, today is the Sabbath and we went as a group to the Garden tomb. While we are almost positive that we know where Golgotha is, we are not sure whether or not the tomb is the actual spot.but it was still amazing. The tomb we saw is empty and the tomb he would have been in is empty because He is risen! I love the spirit that is brought through music. We had the opportunity to sing some hymns while we were at the garden and it brought so much peace and love into our group. I know that the reason I feel so incredibly close to all these people already is because of this mutual bond and spirit that we have. I just love everyone here so much and the experiences that I am having. We also had a chance to go the Western Wall last night (stones from the Herodian people still make up part of the wall) to be with the Jewish people while they worshiped at the start of the Sabbath. Look up pictures of the wall-it's incredible. Everything here is.

Help me with ideas for sharing time if you have any- I would appreciate it! Tomorrow is our field trip to Jordan and a week from tomorrow we will be in Egypt!

Jerusalem

I don't have a lot of time to be on the internet, but we have some down time now without enough time to go into the city so I figured I should do an update. Jerusalem is amazing! I can't believe that it has only been a week since I've been here. So much has happened, I'm not going to even attempt to talk about what I have seen and the things I have learned. If you have specific questions about anything email me at jessbass91@gmail.com, I would love to hear from anyone and everyone :)
But I wanted to share some of the things that I learned in my Old Testament class yesterday. First of all, the teachers here are all incredible, they know so much about this land and are so eager to help us learn and get to know the culture and people here. Anyways, we were in Genesis studying about Abraham being asked to sacrifice Isaac. Before class started, Brother Muhlestein asked us to write on three separate sheets of paper 1) our greatest desire 2) our greatest ability 3) the most important person to us. He gave us the definition that an Abrahamic sacrifice is being willing to give up what means the most to you besides the Savior. He said that if there is anything we put out trust in besides God it WILL fail us. Therefore, God, because he loves us will help us to put him first in our life by making sacrifices. Then he asked us to hold out our pieces of paper for someone else to randomly select for us and that would be the thing we would have to give up or sacrifice. Mine was the opportunity to become a wife and mother. He said that even the most worthy goals and things that align with the doctrine of the church are sometimes asked to be sacrifice in order to put God first. I'm realizing now that writing this isn't nearly as powerful as when I heard it in class. But as I sat there thinking about what it truly means to put my Heavenly Father before every other person and goal I realized what that means. I know that sometimes we have trials and obstacles put in our way that are only meant to make us better people. We may not always know the reasons for the trials we go through, but we have to trust the Lord and put him before everything else in our lives.

I love you all! I'm having the time of my life and I am so grateful for this opportunity.
On a side note, not only do we take religious classes here but we are also being taught by an Israeli and a Palestinian to learn both sides of the political debates here. We are also taking a geography and history class about this land. I am loving all of my classes and especially the time I have every day to explore a new site in the old city. This is a wonderful place!
Oh, I was also called to be the second counselor in the primary presidency here. I'm still learning my responsibilities, but I'm really excited for it! Our primary president is the director's wife and she is so helpful in getting me adjusted to this new assignment. We have about 30 kids that are in the Jerusalem Branch of the Israel district. As I sat in primary last week listening to the sharing time I had a newfound appreciation for all my primary leaders that were patient with the rowdy kids during sharing time.

Isn't this great?

If you receive the New Ear each month, this should look familiar. Brandon and cousin Ryan were both attending conference for their first priesthood session. Jeffrey has since passed 8 years old and was there for the first time at the conference center. And we were attending for the first time since the mission and had our first mission reunion (our new favorite holiday...and it comes twice a year!) The boys ran into Roy Matsunaga, a former assistant from the AMM. So glad a real photographer was there to capture the memory!

Because I love my mom....

I'm posting on the blog. So here you go mom, love you!

I've decided that college is a love/hate relationship. I love my roommates, baking, meeting new people, boys, late nights, student wards, my apartment, football and all the other BYU sports, and having the opportunity to go to the most amazing university in the world (at least in my opinion). I dislike (hate is too strong of a word) midterms, grocery shopping, drama, boys, cleaning, and long days at the library. But I mostly just love college. Sophomore year is even better than I thought it would be. I knew that we would eventually make new friends (since all our boys are out serving LDS missions) but I didn't realize we would get to know such great people. Our ward is fantastic-every Sunday we leave church saying "that was the best Sacrament meeting ever". It just keeps getting better. I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to study abroad next semester in Jerusalem. I am so excited to go, especially because my best friend, Kaitlin, will be going with me. But it's going to be sad to leave this great ward! I'm so blessed. Here are some of the highlights from the last couple of months.

Our ward Halloween roller skating party with some of our first and best friends.

Totally out of my comfort zone but it was so much fun. The boys did a great job of staying in character all night and making Zoe and I feel more comfortable.

Zoe and I as old ladies

roller skating

My beautiful roommates-kaitlin, zoe, me, ashley

Dad came to Utah for business and I convinced him to come to Provo on Saturday. We went to lunch with some missionaries (sad we didn't get a picture) and he got to come to the football game! It was so much fun.

Some of our "San Diego boys"

Happy Halloween!

"I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble comes looking for me." HPotter

Dwight Schrute:	Jim, could you please inform Andy Bernard that he is being shunned?
Jim Halpert:	Andy, Dwight says welcome back and he could use a hug.
Dwight Schrute:	Okay, tell him that that's not true.
Jim Halpert:	Dwight says that he doesn't actually know one single fact about bear attacks.
Dwight Schrute:	Okay. No. Jim tell him bears can climb faster than they can run. Jim! Tell him!

"Did you burn your nylons?"

I was reading in Isaiah this morning and thought about that question. (Bear with me, and I'll make the connection.) Funny question. Funnier that so many people are interested, but after 3 years in dresses, closed toed shoes and nylons, people have been asking. And while I didn't have an official-nylon-burning ceremony, it was wonderful to toss most of them into the trash and snug back into my jeans and t-shirts with absolutely no socks at all, my toes finally set free to get reacquainted with the carpet, grass, sidewalk and anywhere I want to wander. But I didn't get rid of all my nylons and still make occasion to wear them; most notably to the temple*.

At general conference, 5 new temples were announced. As always, it was thrilling, especially when the Tijuana temple was mentioned and there was a noticeable murmur of approval in the conference center congregation. Temples are coming closer to every people. I love that I can drop Jeffrey off at school and then be in the temple in 15 minutes. It's wonderful to go and see the parking lot full, the halls packed yet reverent. I just love that I can make the temple a regular part of my week. But with more and more temples, and more opportunities to be in them, I don't ever want that experience to become common.

In our world there are many people who hold nothing sacred and almost nothing is sacred to everyone. Temples are different. Temples are sacred for my people as are the things associated with them: our relationship with Christ, marriage, family, covenants with God. (To better understand our belief of temples, visit this link or just ask me.) Attending the temple represents the pinnacle of my worship of, dedication to, and love for Jesus Christ. It is the closest I come to Him. I want to feel the difference when I walk through that door-every time. And so, I want to make those occasions when I go 'holy', set apart, or in other words, sacred.

The beginning of this post started out light hearted enough, but it's turning into something else. And I don't want to be disrespectful with a topic so important to me and to many others by the associations I'm making.  I do want to point out that there are things I deliberately choose to do to help make preparing and going to the temple something special, something different. I wear my best Sunday clothes, including my nylons. It's not that I think everybody should do it or it's wrong to go if you don't have the 'right' clothes, but it's something for me. There are certainly other ways that I prepare myself to attend, but it's these types of conscious choices that help set the tone for me, that help me say to myself, this is not an ordinary thing you are about to do. This is extra-ordinary.  After all, it is the fulfillment of prophesy. And that is the connection back to Isaiah, who prophesied about temples in our day, or the mountain of the Lord, and standing in Holy places.

Isaiah 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the ^alast days, that the ^bmountain of theLord’s ^chouse shall be ^destablished in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all ^enations shall flow unto it.
3. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us ^ago up to the^bmountain of the Lord, to the ^chouse of the God of Jacob; and he will^dteach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of ^eZion shall go forth the ^flaw, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

(*or for a baptism or taking the sacrament-anywhere a sacred ordinance is being performed)