The Final Countdown

Wow, these last few days (especially today) have been incredibly rough.  I just said goodbye to majority of the students as the went to the airport. Luckily there is still a group of kids that are leaving at 2 am so I have company but man, I lost it today saying goodbye to everyone. But these past few days have been an incredible spiritual experience as we finished off the life of Christ sequence. 

 We started off at the Garden of Gethsemane where we had a testimony meeting and devotional.

 This is the chapel that was built in the grotto where the three apostles slept during the atonement.

 This the church of flagellation which is the church that portrays the scourging that happened to the Savior. It is also the 2nd stop on the Via Dolorosa so where Christ picked up the cross.

We made a pit stop at the pool of Bethesda, where the man was healed by Christ because he had no one else to help him into the pool. The picture is of the underground cistern which could have been a possible location of the man.

The next day was my good friend Jess Sloan's 23rd birthday so we celebrated out in the city. We first broke onto the rooftops in the Old city and we found this cool ceiling vineyard.

 While walking up some random street we found this hole in the wall bakery and these kids gave us a good price for hot bread. They then proceeded to give us a tour of their home. I had never seen the inside of any of the houses. It was small and rundown but I learned some cool facts like; the houses are owned by the churches in the area, the church will renovate the houses, it is passed through generations, andif you sell your house it goes for 2-3 million! Location, location, location

 This is Sloan at our favorite SamBooki bakery!

 We found some time for urban shoots

 Then went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

 I also made the best purchase of the semester, it was a John Cena shirt. John Cena is HUGE here in Israel (he is a WWE wrestler in the states) but all the kids wear his shirt so we had to get one.

 Last night we had a slideshow of the entire year and then received our shirts for the semester. We had time to take pictures with our friends. These are the girls that I have spent pretty much all my time with, we are the "shack pack"

 good friend kimbo Hoffman

 "The crew" well like half of the crew, but the people I hung out with 24/7

 Adam and I

 Adam, Rob, Linds, and I

Canton

Man, I am going to miss these kids like crazy. This experience exceeded all expectations. I am so sad that it is coming to an end but I know all good things come to an end. Now I am excited to go back and share my experiences with everyone. I am also excited to have like 20 new best friends back in Provo. Let the next adventure begin

Never Stop Exploring