Jordan!

Guys I went to Jordan this week! We left Monday morning by bus and got back Thursday night in time for dinner. Oh how I missed the food from the Oasis...

Jordan was surprisingly beautiful. It's all desert but some of views were breathtaking with the expanse of sand and rock formations and the Dead Sea. 

A view of the Dead Sea on the way to one of our sites on Monday. 

It was really fun to be traveling by bus again. And I loved having Sister Strathearn teach us onsite throughout the week. I've had a lot on my mind these past few weeks and was needing some direction. It seemed like every thought Sister Strathearn prepared and shared helped provide me encouragement, direction, and answers to questions I have. 

Mount Nebo

Our first stop was a mountain top from where the Lord showed the promised land to Moses before he died. He was never able to go with the Children of Israel to the promised land. 

Here's the view of the promised land from the top of Mt. Nebo.

Mt. Nebo selfie with Emily, Danielle, and Mike!

Sister Strathearn taught us about how modern scripture has revealed to us that Moses, like Elijah, didn't die but was translated because The Lord had a work for him to do hundreds (Mt. Sinai - Christ's time) and then thousands of years later (Kirtland Temple - Restoration). She then referred to Christ's birth and how the light of the star that guided shepherds and wise men to his birthplace took thousands of years to travel to earth. Just like God had prepared a work for Moses and Elijah thousands of years in advance, and just like he prepared the starlight to indicate the birthplace of his Only Begotten Son thousands of years before, The Lord has a plan prepared for us. 

God sees my eternity. Do I allow him to help me become the eternal person he wants me to become? Am I doing the work He's prepared me to do?

Madaba

Next we went to a church in Madaba where a tile map of the ancient Holy Land is found. 

Our Jordanian guide Ayyad (Eddie) explained the map to us using this visual guide before going in to the church to see the real thing. 

This is looking at the map of the Holy Land from the east as if I was standing in the Mediterranean Sea. You can see Jerusalem (the oval shape just below the middle) and the River Jordan flowing Ito the Dead Sea near the top. 

This is the Christ the map is found in. The map is behind the red stanchions under the chandelier. 

Machaerus

This was my favorite stop on Monday! This is a desert fortress where John the Baptist was beheaded. There were so many aspects of that site visit that made it unforgettable. 

Machaerus is a hill in the middle of nowhere overlooking the Dead Sea. It was breathtaking. 

Almost at the top! The lighting was a bit tricky but this is a view of the Dead Sea from the top of Machaerus with Meghan.

After soaking in the spectacular view we sat down to get soaked in the Spirit (and rain) as we listened to the message Sister Strathearn prepared. 

She spoke about what Christ must have felt at the loss of John the Baptist, the greatest and most popular advocate of Christ and the man who baptized him. Christ wanted to be alone, perhaps in order to mourn the loss of his dear friend. He wasn't afforded that luxury. The people sought after him and what followed was one of the greatest miracles recorded in the New Testament - the feeding of the 5,000. Christ had a personal need and was presented with the needs of the people seeking after him. He had to choose who's needs to meet and he chose the people. He always chooses the people. 

I tried to imagine the cost of being the Savior. He had needs both physical and spiritual but he sacrificed them to help others. What cost am I willing to pay? Am I willing to give up my needs, have my will swallowed up in the will of the Father?