Merry Christmas from Bethlehem!

Not very often you get to celebrate Christmas on the 4th of July! This was one of my favorite field trips so far!! We have started our New Testament study and I love it. First we started the day at Herod's summer palace. Herod's tomb was also here. We learned about how awful of a man he really was. It was actually pretty neat to spend the 4th of July here. We were able to talk about how grateful we are to live in such a wonderful country with leaders that we appoint. Our teacher shared an interesting story about when they were in Egypt last semester. He said they were talking to a man about the situation there and the man asked him what our country does when a president won't leave. He tried to explain that that just wouldn't happen and the man could not comprehend that. We are so lucky to have a stable system and while I love living in Israel, it often makes me realize how much I love the US. 

The hill behind us is Herod's Palace

We are actually sitting in Herod's pool.

We are thinking of starting a band... I think we will call it the Plain White T's. It's standard field-trip uniform. 

After Herod's Palace we went to Bethlehem University. It was very, very interesting to hear the things they had to say about the Israeli-Palestine conflict. We had the chance to talk to the students and get to know them. It was crazy to hear about their dating life and what is acceptable. We got their names and will find them on facebook when we get home!

This is where some believe the Savior was actually born

We made it to the Church of the Nativity. It was not at all what I had expected, in fact, I didn't really like it. It was turned into a very touristy area which was expected, but I don't think anything even resembled what it would have looked like back then. I don't mean to be so negative, I was really happy I got to see it and it is interesting to see how other churches preserve these holy sights. 

Another possible sight of the Savior's birth. 

By far my FAVORITE part of the trip. We were able to go out to this shepherd's field and overlook the city of Bethlehem. Possibly where the shepherd's were abiding the night of the Savior's birth. There were still flocks of sheep there and you could just picture Mary and Joseph coming into the city. We were given some free time to look over at the hillside and write in our journals. I thought a lot about the shepherds there and how sensitive they were to the Spirit. They were in such humble circumstances but so willing to run to Christ when they were visited by the angel. I also thought a lot about Mary and her situation. How difficult it must have been to be told that you are going to be pregnant without marriage, living in a small town and knowing that others will talk. I admire so much the way she responded to this calling, she just wanted to follow the will of the Lord. We were able to sing Christmas songs and listen to musical numbers. Those songs will have a whole new meaning to me now and I am so grateful for experiences like this one. 

Something else we learned while in this field... this is a possible spot of Ruth and Boaz! Also, David almost positively had his flock here... pretty amazing!