in His footsteps: lights and pottage

On Tuesday (June 17) we got to go into the Old City at night. This is normally against the rules because of security reasons and the Old City pretty much shuts down at night so there isn't anything to see anyway. But this night we received special permission to go into the city at night in order to go to the Festival of Light and oh it was a sight to see! The city is magical all on it's own but it was spectacular at night with all the lights up! We ran around the city like a bunch of crazies pumped up on excitement!

It was also cool because this week I was reading in 1 Nephi 4 which is when Nephi returns to the city at night. "And it was by night; and I caused that they should hide themselves without the walls. And after they had hid themselves I, Nephi, crept into the city." It was pretty cool to be thinking about the fact that this was the city that Nephi crept into at night and we were just wandering the streets of this city at night too. Luckily there was no Laban to slay! :)

For our field trip this week we headed to Neot Kedumim on Wednesday (June 18). Neot Kedumin is a biblical landscape and nature preserve. It is an attempt to recreate the physical setting of the Bible. We drew water from a well, herded sheep, smashed hyssop and cooked lunch over a fire. Our lunch included making pottage, like what Esau sold Jacob his birthright for!