Salalah, Oman

After visiting the mosque and ship yard, we spent an hour in the local market (gotta love those markets!) We then headed for the airport again to fly to Salalah. We're finally in the region most likely to be "The land which we called Bountiful". It's gorgeous. It's lush and green with palm trees everywhere. You can see why Nephi referred to this as a land of "milk and honey". We'll be exploring this area for the next 5 days. Stay tuned....!

Ancient Ship-Building

After our visit to the mosque, we headed for a seaside village where construction of an ancient ship is underway. The original ship wreckage was found in the Indonesian waters several years ago. (I can't remember all of the details.) Marine archaeologists were very interested in the ship design. After a lot of work, it was concluded that the ship was originally built around the 9th century in the Omani area. This project is being sponsored by National Geographic and headed by an American marine archaeologist. It's of great interest to our Lehi journey because the ship was built with local materials and made without any nails. The planks were tied together with coconut reeds and cotton. The ship yard showed the means by which the planks were bent. When this ship is finished, it will sail to Singapore. The whole project is being documented and should be a great one to follow.

Muscat, Oman

There's no way I'm going to be able to do justice for this most amazing mosque. It's one of the largest and most beautiful mosque in the world. We felt we were on very sacred land. It's only open to the public for a few hours in the morning. Arab men are required to go to the mosque 5 times a day to pray (usually for 10 minutes each time). Every village has it's own mosque. This one is the main one in the capital city of Oman.

The Great Mosque

More Pictures

After our 4 WD adventure, we made our way to Petra, Jordan. This canyon was only just rediscovered in 1812. It flourished during the ancient incense route. Walking through this narrow canyon reminded me of the Zion's Narrows. Much of the landscape of the country of Jordan reminded me of southern Utah.

WOW!!! What a day!

We a had very short night in Aqaba, Jordan. This is Jordan's only seaport. Crossing the Israelie/Jordanian borders continually takes our group from 1 to 2 hours to clear customs and immigrations. Our tour operator, Warren Aston, has done an amazing job at negotiations. Everything was always arranged ahead of time, but when we reach border patrol, they always pose an additional obstacle to overcome. I have to say our group has been an amazing group of people to travel with. In spite of all the obstacles, there has been absolutely no "murmuring" from anyone! This general area was where the Lehites would have passed on their way into Arabia and where the Valley of Lemuel must have been. We arrived at our hotel around 10pm and then checked out and boarded our bus at 7am. We drove down the eastern coast of the Red Sea and got as close to the Saudi Arabian border as tourists are allowed. We then headed inland to explore the amazing dunes and mountains of Lawrence of Arabia's Wadi Rum. We did this exploration in 6-4WD trucks...racing against each other across the dunes. The scenery was spectacular! We had so much fun!

Day 4...to be continued

I'll be out of touch for a few days...so stay tuned, okay! Tomorrow we visit Petra, take a swim in the Dead Sea, then board a red-eye flight to Muscat, Oman. We land at 7am...collect our luggage, clear customs, and then it's off to a seafood port and a ship yard. We check into our hotel at 10am; just in time to freshen up for church at 11am! (This schedule was definitely put together by a man! ) They don't have to do makeup and hair! Oh well....it's been a great adventure, and I've gained an even deeper appreciation and testimony for Lehi's journey.

M

This is a replica of the portable tabernacle used by Moses and the Children of Israel during their journey through the wilderness. This was thrilling to see! It was just built about a year ago, so it was even a first for our tour guides. It's standing in the area near the Ancient Timna Copper Mines. The mines are important in Lehi's journey, because it is felt by the scholars that this is where Nephi learned how to work with metals.

T

The rest of our day was spent taking a road trip down The King's Highway along the Dead Sea. It was like traveling down Highway 1. We stopped at Qumran to see where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Mostly what we were taking in was the type of terrain that Lehi's family would be crossing through when they left Jerusalem. Their journey truly was a Journey of Faith!

Another market picture.

Day 3: Another FULL Day!

We started our day at the Old Jerusalem City Market (click on the link to see a video of the market). Shopping at a foreign market happens to be one of my favorite things to do!!! It was colorful as always. I bought some scarves (like I needed another scarf!), but you've gotta buy something! Mostly, I checked out the foods. Of all things, they had great baklava!

We ended our day at the BYU Jerusalem Center! It was a beautiful, peaceful, ending to a very hectic day. We ended up arriving there much later than we had planned, but they graciously welcomed us. We got to go on a tour, and the organist graciously stayed late to give us an organ recital. It was amazing!

This picture is looking from the

gardens into the auditorium and the organ.

When you sit in there, you have an

unobstructed view of Old Jerusalem.

Most of the women still wear head coverings here. They don't have to veil their faces anymore. This scene is very typical of life on the streets.

Our day was FULL again. We visited Bethlehem, the Shepherds' Field, and walked the streets of Old Jerusalem.

Dome of the Rock

To show respect, we covered our arms and wore scarves over our heads while walking on these sacred grounds.

This week is the Festival of the Tabernacles. (click on the link or refer to your BD for more info). For the Jewish people, this is a very holy day.

This picture is of the Western Wall where men and women come to pray (click on the link to view a live video stream of the Western Wall). The men and women are on separate sides. Generally, before they leave, they write names for blessings on small pieces of paper and stick them in small crevices in the wall (much like a Temple prayer roll).

I made it!

Oh, dear, hard to figure out what it's saying!








Hi everyone!

My luggage and I made it here...that's a good day of travel! The flight was full, but I had an aisle seat, so no complaints. It took us 11 hours. We landed around 5:00pm local time. I'm 9 hours ahead of Utah. It took quite a while for my luggage to come up...mine was last, of course. After an hour of waiting I started to worry a little, but it finally showed up. It took our group of 30 another hour to clear customs. By the time we boarded our bus, the sun was setting, so we didn't get to see much on our drive into downtown Amman.

When we arrived at our hotel, there was a wedding in progress, which was great to watch. We had some dinner and then it was straight to bed for a 5am wakeup call.

After breakfast, we boarded our bus at 6:30am to go "up" to Jerusalem. It was only a 45 min. drive to the Israeli Border. We past by many biblical points: lands where the Moabites dwelt, Mt. Nebo (where Moses could climb and see Jericho and the promised land), and we got a feel for the Judean wilderness (where John the Baptist is likely to have grown up). It is a barren land! Northern Utah is an Oasis compared to these biblical lands!

Once we reached the Israeli border, it took us 2 hours to clear customs and cross the border into Jericho. Everything is hard to do here and requires lots of patience (including getting on the internet!). We haven't had the internet in our rooms, only in the hotel lobbies, and finding an outlet is the next challenge. I'm very spoiled at home!

Our first full day was exciting and exhausting. Exciting because everywhere you turn and look, you're reminded of a parable of Christ's ministry. Exhausting because there's so much to take in, and I was still under the influence of jet-lag. I didn't want to miss anything! We were walking on sacred grounds at every moment, visiting the Garden of Gethsemanae and the Garden Tomb. In each place we would have a small devotional. Scot and Maurine Proctor have been our spiritual guides...reading scriptures, telling stories, singing hymns, and sharing testimonies. Fortunately, in both areas, we were able to find a small sanctuary area for our group to be alone and experience the sacredness of the moment.

It was an amazing day! More to come tomorrow.