in the land of studly men.

Billionaire-genious-philanthropist-playboys like Tony Stark? Or maybe green-angry-violent-indestructible-hulks like Bruce Banner? What about thoughtless-proud-hammer-weilding-demigods like Thor? Maybe I'd prefer the polite-cryogenically-frozen-super-soldiers like Steve Rogers?

Are the Iron Mans, Hulks, Thors, and Captain Americas of this world real? Are there any real men anymore? 

Studs.

Well....some more than others :)

Men like Joshua...taking down whole cities. Men like Samson...well he was all brawn and no brains, so maybe not so much... But men like David! Taking down the beast Goliath when so-called men like Saul cowered in fear...

Do real men exist?

Maybe. Just maybe. ;) 

This last week or so I have spent exploring the lands of these hero men. 

First stop: Jericho. 

Herod's winter palace

And the walls came TUMBLIN DOWN!


"And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour." (Joshua 6:2)

Elisha's Spring

"And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land." (2 Kings 2:21)

Jericho: the oldest city of the world!

.....get it! old! knee-slapperrrrrrr

Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene

Shavuot at sunrise 

The Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif

The perfect place to meditate.

And while desparately searching for more heroes.... I got hungry. Giant apple??

More hero country??? The Sorek Valley: home of Samson. After all...he 

was sooooooo strong. Just a little dense...

"And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine."  (1 Samuel 17:40)

(Brook at the Valley of Elah! Followed by some intense stone-slinging!)

"And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him..." (1 Samuel 17:49-50)

(Tel Azeka overlooking the Valley of Elah)

David = Stud....at least for a time right?

Location of the Lachish Letters. 

Blake = Assyrians

Brooke = Israelites

too bad the Israelites lose Lachish....

Ancient olive press!

Tombs. YEAH we're zombies!!

D-wight. Pics in every tomb we see.

So..... 

I searched throughout Israel, and I finally found some real men. 

THE AVENGERS!

boo-ya!

best. day. ever.

Türkiye

i'm home from turkey! no, i did not eat any turkey while i was there, but i had my share of eggplant goulash, meatballs of all sorts, desserts saturated in syrup, lentil soup, and bread to last a lifetime! some more delicious investments on my part where the baklava and goat milk ice cream....here's my pistachio baklava. delishhhhhhh!

but aside from the food...turkey is AWESOME! i mean REALLY AWESOME! i couldn't have asked to go anywhere better! we visited sites from the pauline epistles as well as several of the cities that john writes to in the book of revelation. 

we began in istanbul...

with a boat ride up the bosphorus straight :)

 topkapi palace!

 a beautiful istanbul sunset :)

and on to troy.... 

 where hector was supposedly killed....we can't always keep it g rated here...

THE trojan horse! ok maybe it's not completely authentic...

 and assos. favorite. 

during paul's missions he would have travelled through troy as well as assos, miletus, and ephesus...sites that we were able to stop at on our trip!

but on to pergamon! 

john the revelator wrote to the people of pergamon in rev. 2:12-16 

and ephesus. oh ephesus.

 another site of paul's ministry! 

 the library at ephesus...don't we look studious???

"We are the muses.

Goddesses of the arts

and proclaimers of heroes. 

Heroes like Hercules.

Honey, you mean HUNKules!"

john wrote to the people of ephesus as well in rev. 2:1-6 

paul spent three years ministering to the people here in ephesus, and he would have been in that very theater.  we even re-enacted acts 19....quite entertaining. what with evil spirits, exorcists, and an angry mob you can imagine the raucous we caused! 

church of st. john the beloved...and his grave................... :P

now for priene! so beautiful!

sardis.

 also one of the cities john mentions in revelation.

 the gymnasium at sardis... i work out! 

so does camila!

and our tour guide fatih!

karen and i were about to jump ship while on our way back to istanbul...but brother jackson caught us. lame!

istanbul one final time!!!!

in front of the hagia sophia with blake!

i swirled my finger all the way around...14 years of good luck! 

 and the blue mosque!

many pictures...i know...and i could have posted so many more you know... but turkey is just plain amazing! the history here is incredibly. not only is it rich in WORLD history, but also the history of the gospel of Jesus Christ. and i am so grateful to be able to increase my testimony as i travel throughout this land. He is teaching me....so much. 

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him...

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God...

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual."

1 Corinthians 2:9-13

on a journey...where?

and yet another tremendous week in the Holy Land.... 

each day is not only an adventure, but it's a learning experience. i feel like i am growing each day...learning more things about myself and about what i want from life. i see so much of who i want to become versus who i am at this very moment...and what path lies in between. one step at a time, and i'll make it there someday! plus... i know that my time here will come to an end too quickly, as i'm closing in on three weeks already! but this week has been fabulous! i leave for turkey in two days, and i'll be gone for a week!

oh. so guess what....

VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!

you better believe it :) this crew=unstoppable!

matisyahu forever!

Lag BaOmer

festival in west jerusalem...bonfires lit all around the city to commemorate the life of Rabbi Simon bar Yachai

we women weren't allowed to dance, and you can see the crowd of women up against the wall of the building...the men were dancing below. but we decided to hike up to the overlooking patio for a sweet view of the fire and dancing!

outside the abdin mosque, the roomies and some worshipping muslims

pool of bethesda, where jesus healed the lame man on the sabbath...probably one of my favorite sites so far. absolutely beautiful...and the crusader chapel nearby--wonderful. we ever got to sing together inside, and were followed up by a group of romanians who sang so strongly but beautifully :) it was a wonderful way to worship and remember.

Carl Bloch's depiction of the healing at Bethesda

It was said that if the waters of the pool started to bubble, the first man in would be healed. 

"A certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 

Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath."

John 5:5-9

ruins around the roman baths at Bethesda

me and d-wight. just a-climbin some ruins...

joseph ludlow, you are just too cute. why do you have to be 13?? ;)

dormition abbey....second favorite stop of that day. an absolutely beautiful place...where the virgin Mary was buried. absolutely beautiful!

"So what can I be? What can I be? We can be what heavenly parents designed us and intend us and help us to be. How does one fill the measure of his or her creation? We do so by thrusting in a sickle and reaping with all our strength—and by rejoicing in our uniqueness and our difference. To be all that you can be, your only assignment is (1) to cherish your course and savor your own distinctiveness, (2) to shut out conflicting voices and listen to the voice within, which is God telling you who you are and what you will be, and (3) to free yourself from the love of profession, position, or the approval of men by remembering that what God really wants us to be is someone's sister, someone's brother, and someone's friend.

I bear my testimony that each of you has a purpose. It is different, it is distinct, it is divine. God lives. God loves you. And I do, too. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."
(Patricia T. Holland, wife of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, in a BYU Devotional titled "Filling the Measure of Your Creation.")