don't jewish you could israeli folk dance?

On wednesday I donated blood! It was quite the experience doing it in Israel. We had to fill out the information that was in Hebrew, haha it was difficult. It was super chill in there and there were lots of food. We were trying to beat the JC record of 56 people donating blood but we didn't make it. It was fun though. I can now say I donated blood in Israel! How cool is that?

Wednesday night we met Elias Feinzilberg, a Holocaust survivor. It was the coolest opportunity. He can only speak spanish and hebrew so we had translators. He is 96 years old and he is the cutest man. He told us about his story. I was surprised how young he looks. I could pull off being 75. He was awesome. He was the only survivor in his family. In the first picture he is sharing a picture of his family. He survived 9 concentration camps. His story was so detailed. He remembered how many days he was at certain places and specific details. I was impressed, but how could he forget this horrible experience? He is an amazing happy man that has gone through so much. I tried to take notes on what he said. It's very long but basically he was separated from his family from the beginning. He talked about how awful the concentration camps were and the ghettos. He constantly said how little food they got. He said how well trained the nazis were and how some of the enjoyed killing. It's so awful. I can't even imagine. Elias says that people don't believe him when he tells his story. It's just so unreal. They made soap out of the human skin and had them wash with the soap. Elias was about 22 years old when the war started. About 5 years later the war was getting over. They gave them potato bags but they didn't know what they were for until they got to a river. The Americans then came a saved them. What an amazing story. The american said "you are free" and he said "but I have two SS behind me." Haha he had a good sense of humor. His son was there and it was cool to talk to him. 

After the war, many jews still died because eating shocked their systems. They then took them to an american camp were 10,000 people there. He worked in the kitchen there and that's where he met his wife. In the picture you can see his ink that says B1259. His wife didn't get inked. They said his wife didn't like talking about her story. I wish I could have met her as well. They were married in Germany. He had an uncle in Guatemala and they moved there and lived there for 22 years. They had two kids there and then moved to Jerusalem where they had 2 more kids. He has 7 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren and one on the way. It was such a special experience hearing him speak. He says this experience has made him have a purpose in life. He says "I won". He said "if the war would have gone on for one more month I would not have survived." After he found out his family died, he said was motivated him to stay alive was to have a family of his own someday. He is a very family centered man. I'm amazed how normal him and his wife's life was. They are so positive. He said what we could take away from this was to be good people. I think this is amazing. He is such an amazing example of hope and charity. He made a video for yad vashem. His family gives him strength. He has so much love for others, it was amazing meeting him.

                         

Thursday night we had the Passover Seder Meal. They have this ritual when they start the passover. It was a really cool experience. Our teacher Ophir led it. We had these books that we sang from and he told us when to drink the grape juice and food. We had the best food! Our chefs rock! The salmon was so good. People signed up to narrate and to sing. It was lots of fun. We even lifted Ophir up in a cheer. The boys rapped and it was so funny.

Brother Seeley postponed our midterm to wednesday so we didn't have our midterm on friday which was SO nice of him! So we decided to go out to West J. It was Dylan's birthday so we kidnapped him. We went to the first train station which is this abandoned train station. It was super cool! There is dancing every night and games and lots of food. The dancing was so fun! I definitely want to go back. i got a yummy smoothie and met some awesome people! It was fun socializing and playing games with people.

Forest Friday. This was accidental.

Friday night we had Israel dancing. This was seriously so fun. I loved it. We got in big circles and danced around. Our instructor was awesome. It was his 52nd birthday the next day so the boys lifted him up 52 times hahaha.

Today (sabbath) was awesome. I loved relief society which Becky taught. This week was really good even though I was sick the whole week. It's hard not to get sick here when everyone else it. It's going around. I'm finally getting over it so that's good. I'm trying not to take each day for granted. I just love it here. Everyone is so awesome. I'm excited for the adventures to come! It kind of makes me sad that it's almost half way to the end of the semester. It's going by way too fast!

yad vashem and lots of churches.

On sunday we had our Yad Vashem field trip. Yad Vashem is a holocaust museum in Israel. I don't even know how to describe it. It was such a moving experience. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside so I only have some from outside. It was rainy that day, which I thought was fitting cause it was a sad day. 

First we went to the children's memorial. These pillars are outside it to resemble children lined up and the tops are cut off to resemble their lives being cut short. The memorial was sad and showed the children's faces. We then walked into a dark room with lots of candles and mirrors. So all you could see was a bunch of lights that resembles the lives of the innocent children. It was really cool and touching. There were mirrors and so the lights went on for eternity, just like their lives.

After you get done with the museum you see this beautiful view which I thought was really cool.

The museum had many personal video stories, the history, documents, clothing, shoes, artifacts and photos from the holocaust. It was truly amazing and so sad. I liked how it recognized the people who weren't jews who saved lives. It's hard to imagine what I would have done if my family had to go through that experience. This experience made me realize how much the Lord loves all of us and how much Christ suffered for us individually.

Our professor, Ophir

It was homer's and megan's birthday!

playing in the rain

We then walked to Mt. Herzl which is where Israel's national cemetery is. We were all really cold and hyper so it was hard to concentrate haha. I loved taking pictures of the soldiers there.

Monday was our free day and we spent the day looking at churches, it was a pretty nice day out.

We first went to the chapel of the ascension where they believe Christ ascended into heaven after the resurrection. It cost 5 shekels to get in. 

We then went to the Church of the Pater Noster which has the Lord's prayer in lots of different languages. I thought it was really cool.

We then went to the Tombs of the Prophets which is the burial place for Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. It was really cool and we took lots of pictures with the candles. 

i got the whole dome in my hand.

This is the big cemetery for the jews. We then ate lunch at the jewish quarter and got some pastries and mint lemonade.

Panorama look out 

the ceiling

Our last stop was The Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu which is a Roman Catholic church. This is in commemoration of Peter's triple rejection of Jesus. The church was beautiful. It also cost money to get into but it was worth it. No one else was in the church and so us mormons sang hymns. It really fun. Some other tour group came in and started singing with us. It was cool. There were caves under the church which was awesome. 

Today we had a bunch of classes and I started getting sick yesterday so I need to get to bed! Leila Tov! (Goodnight in hebrew)