Septemnding

Well these weeks sure be flying by I tell you. I CANNOT believe we’ve only been here for a month, like where does the time even go?! I’m pretty stoked for October though- cooler weather, our Petra trip, oh yeah, and GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! Yup, es gonna be goood.

Kasey and I visited the Citadel this week so she could leave her boyfriend some notes before the Jerusalem center students would be visiting it. Ain't she just the cutest?!

This week, the BYU Jerusalem students got to come visit Jordan for a couple days which we were extremely excited about in our apartment because my roommate Kasey’s boyfriend is there this semester which means they were gonna get to see each other! #wuvtruewuv Our buddy Rohan and I most humbly accepted the invitation to accompany her in showing حبيبها “hubeebha” (her boyfriend) and some of the other students around and chilling with them in the hotel (we can’t travel in less than 3’s after dark with at least one male). I was super excited to meet Kasey’s dude AND ALSO THE HOTEL HAD 2 POOLS AND 2 HOT TUBS AND A BIG GYM and seeing as this AZ girl hasn’t been able to swim since we left the states (except for Wadi Mujib last week), I guess you could say I was looking forward to getting Kasey, Rohan, and I over to that hotel just as quickly as possible. Made for some pretty late nights but totally worth it. Good times.

Yesterday, we had a cultural day planned by our lovely teachers and it was also Ustaz Kirk’s birthday, so naturally we had lots of food and cake (yes those are separate, cake is not food) and each class had been working on a presentation of sorts this week so we all had to showcase those too. All of the groups got pretty creative and it seemed like everyone had a pretty good time, especially all our Jordanian teachers. They got a kick out of us! Of course, I’ll use any excuse possible to get dressed up and be silly so naturally I wasn’t too disappointed about having to put a lil skit together. Good times!

Last week we talked a lot about the Arab Israeli conflict in class and knowing that our hearts were going to be pretty heavy after all that, Ustaz Kirk included part of Isaiah 19 in our regular weekend translation assignment. I didn’t understand a lot of it in Arabic which I was pretty frustrated about, but we always break em down in class and then I went back and studied it in English and wow. 

21 And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it.
22 And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them.
23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.
24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:
25 Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

The Lord has promised to heal them as they become entreated to Him again, and that the Arabs and Israelis will someday be able to live together peaceably. That’s huge. Really meant a lot to me.

There are a lot of these here key decorations (this one’s attached to the shape of Palestine) with the wordعائدون written on it which means "the return" or "the returners." Many of the Palestinians here say that their parents/ grandparents who left their homes during the 1948 and 1967 exoduses, believing that they would only be gone for a short while, locked their doors and brought the keys so that they could obviously go back home. Many of them have those keys or a decorative key hung up in their homes as a symbol of their hope that they will again be able to return to their homeland. 

I kinda want one because looking at it just reminds me of Isaiah 19 and the fact that they may be without peace and access to ordinances and covenants now, but someday ان شاء الله، سوف عائدون الى الرَّب God willing, they will return to the Lord. All of them. The Jews AND the Palestinians. {عائدون They return.}They will understand the true identity of Jesus of Nazareth and will fall at His feet. The imagery of every knee bending and every tongue confessing that Jesus is the Christ gets me all choked up and just seems to ignite something in me. And if we think that that’s just naturally going to all come together and happen on its own, we should probably go back and reread some scriptures, because that’s definitely not how God has worked ever. We’ve got some work to do being His hands and helping bring about the fulfillment of these promised blessings. And that’s our job!! As the seed of Abraham and as those who have been blessed with the knowledge of the doctrine of Christ and the ability to make and keep sacred covenants, we are to be a blessing to the people of the world in bringing them His truths. The Abrahamic covenant has definitely been one of my favorite study subjects since the beginning of my mission; it's just so cool!

Sidenote- won't end up buying one of those lil key thangs cuz we have to cross the Israeli border in December aaaand they won’t let copies of the Q’ran etc come through, sooo didn’t think that the Israeli soldiers would necessarily love a decoration that’s about as pro-Palestine looking as they come either, even if I were to try and explain that for me it’s more of a symbol of a spiritual return rather than the physical one it’s intended for. I might make my own when I get home though!

Welp, I’m still in love with these people and trying just to soak it all in. Sometimes I still have to pinch myself and remember I’m ACTUALLY HERE! September has been incredible.