Week 7Weird realization…only two more months.  Shout outs  to my valentines  here in Jerusalem. I got a sweet dance at open mic night as well as very sweet letters from my roomie Alli and a good friend Steven.

SHOUTOUTS: Grandma/Grandpa Bourne, Hal, Cic, Nate, Sophie, Sammie, the PARENTS of course, James, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKEY!!Ashley and Haven- I love you so much! Oh and Celeste my love congratulations!


Sophie girl! It was so good to hear your voice! Don’t tell anyone, but I miss you the most (even ask my roomies) You sound happy and like you are having a wonderful time at school. Work hard my little girl, you are very talented and I can’t wait to get the video of you singing at Haven’s blessing in March (on your birthday..ten years old…stop growing up!) 


Spiritual Thoughts:1 Kings 8:60-61 “that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is none else, Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God to walk in his statues, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.”à
 All of proverbs 3-
 Proverbs 3:12 “for whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth”à Proverbs 3:25-26 “be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken”à
Psalms 51. This is David plea for forgiveness from the Lord. I think that we have all felt this pleading. (More holiness give me: “more sorrow for sin”)
 I think that we all need the obedience that Elijah has. The Lord basically tells him to go to some foreign land and says that a widow will take him in, so Elijah packs up right then and there and leaves. We need to give our lives to the Lord and let him direct them. Believe me, He knows more than us.
 We all know the story of the widow that takes Elijah in. 1 Kings 17:12 she welcomes him in, he asks for food, she says that she doesn’t have much. She was planning on making one last meal for her and her son “that we may eat it, and die” And yet this woman has faith and gives all she has to Elijah. As we all know she is blessed because of this.
 THIS WEEK   We had a great Sabbath this week. Ill just fill you in with some more spiritual thoughts . One of the girls spoke of faith. She mentioned how in the scriptures, when describing many, it says “by faith (insert name) did …” She had us think about if we were in the scriptures. What would it say about me? “by faith Katie…went to Jerusalem?” It is interesting to put yourself into the scriptures. I am taking a temple prep class and it is wonderful. They don’t teach us anything we don’t already know, but they say it in a more detailed way.. I don’t know how to describe it. Sister Brown spoke to us in this class and she talked about her and her husband she told us that one requirement for him was that he would have the same temple commitment as she did. This is so important and I encourage everyone who has a temple recommend to go as often as possible. You can only gain from going. 
There was a story told to us in relief society of three men in heaven. They all had to have an interview. The first man walked in and a man asked him to tell him all he knew about Jesus Christ. He told him and was handed a card and continued on. The next man did the same. When the third man walked in and fell to his knees saying “Oh my Lord, My Redeemer” I love this and I hope we can all strive to have a closer relationship with our Savior so when he comes we will know him and he will have no problem recognizing us.
 Another thought that snuck into my head was that we all decided to be here. We all supported Jesus up in heaven. I cant imagine our pre-mortal selves being told all of  the mistakes we would make. They wouldn’t believe it. We need to strive to be the best we can, so when we return to our father we will be clean and pure.   


I went to the Garden tomb on the Sabbath. I just sat in the tomb and the lyrics of I know that my Redeemer lives were playing in my head. I looked at the door and there is a plaque on it that says “for he is not here, for he is risen” 
We began the week with a wonderful field trip to the City of David. It was interesting to see ruins that date back to the time of David. We also saw (at area G) a house that probably one of “Nephi’s friends lived”. It was interesting to picture it however. It is very easy in this city to see the roofs and rooms of your neighbors. It was probably very easy for David to see Bathsheba. (nice name girl)
 A story that applies to all of us = If David was where he was supposed to be, he wouldn’t have been tempted by Bathsheba. Be where you know you should be. Keep your word.

We then headed over to Hezakiahs Tunnel. If you are ever here you must do this! It is the water system that empties into the pool of Silom (where the blind man washed to receive his sight) It is pitch black and at the beginning of the adventure the water went up to my…high high thigh. At some points I even had to crouch because the celing was so low. ( I felt bad for the over 6ft boys) Hezekiahs tunnel is where the soldiers came through to take over the city. I could only imagine a whole army single file with all their weaponry and torches crouching through this tunnel. It was probably really warm and stinky.

P

  Our finals are this upcoming week so we have been cramming in all that we can! We have like a 10 page midterm for our Islam class… its due the day of our final. (the midterm consists of material we have never even talked about…it’s a great class haha)  So this week I discovered that I had a sinus infection. I have never had one before so I really thought I was just dying. Our doctors here gave me some medicine and it is dong better. Just another week of meds and it should all be good. Of course my immense anatomy knowledge kicked in and I entertained myself imagining what my frontal and ethmoid sinus looked like.


    MAN SEARCH FOR MEANING THOUGHTS     Wow I really love this book and I encourage everyone to read it at least 3 times in their life . Today in my reading it was talking about how you can not dwell on the past. These people in the concentration camps dwelt in the past to make their present seem less real.   
  “But in robbing the present of its reality there lay a certain danger. It became easy to overlook the opportunities to make something positive of camp life, opportunities which really did exist. Such people forget that often it is just such an exceptionally difficult external situation which gives man the opportunity to grow spiritually beyond himself”    
 (speaking of being able to change thoughts to the future) “I succeeded somehow in rising above the situation, above the sufferings of the moment, and I observed them as if they were already of the past. “Emotion, which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise picture of it.”  
   “life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”“His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden”  
   “it was necessary to face up to the full amount of suffering, trying to keep moments of weakness and furtive tears to a minimum. But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.” now I know that we can not even compare our suffering to what these Jews went through but we can take this advice and apply it to ourselves 
    “what you have experienced, no power on earth can take from you”  
 “Human life, under any circumstances, never ceases to have a meaning”   
  “no one has the right to do wrong, not even if wrong has been done to them.”
I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES
I know that my redeemer lives - What comfort this sweet sentence gives
He lives he lives who once was dead - He lives my ever living head
He lives to bless me with his love-  He lives to plead for me above
He lives my hungry soul to feed - He lives to bless in time of need
He lives to grant me rich supply - He lives to guide me with his eye
He lives to comfort me when faint - He lives to hear my souls complaint
He lives to silence all my fears - He lives to wipe away my tears
He lives to calm my troubled heart - He lives all blessings to impart
He lives my kind wise heavenly friend - He lives and loves me until the end
He lives and while he lives I’ll sing - He lives my prophet priest and king
He lives and grants me daily breath - He lives and I shall conquer death
He lives my mansion to prepare - He lives to bring me safely there
He lives all glory to his name -He lives my savior still the same
Oh sweet the joy this sentence gives - I know that my redeemer lives


  I love you all so much and I want to let you know that this is the most amazing experience ever! I am learning so much about EVERYTHING. Keep being the amazing people that you are! I love you.:/katie