Samson, Goliath, and Slingin' Stones

The last week and a half has been extremely busy, and there are still a couple of midterms to go. It is sad to think that I am hitting the halfway point in so many of my classes. Time is going by much faster than I have planned on, but that's just life isn't it?

Oh, and I want to shout out to my little brother Mckay! He will be serving as a missionary in the Utica New York Mission and will be leaving April 4th (sadly, two weeks before I come home). I am so proud of him. The new and improved Elder May :)

This blog post is mostly just commentary on some pictures because I have lots more to do tonight, but I hope you enjoy!

Here is a picture of the Garden Tomb that sits not very far from the green hill Golgotha outside the city wall. We sang hymns while sitting on some benches nearby. A group of people from Asia and another from England came close to the tomb, and when they heard us singing, they began to cry. I t has been wonderful to meet so many faithful people from around the world.

We finally were let into the Garden of Gethsemane by the tenant. He wouldn't let us in the last couple of times, but this most recent time there were fewer people and he was in a good mood. I made sure to get some leaves from one of the trees to bring home. Anybody know of a good way to store leaves properly? 

This is near the Valley of Elah, where David slew Goliath. It is also near the place where Samson slew the thousand men with a donkey jawbone (I don't know how much I believe that is literally what happened, but it was interesting to talk about nonetheless!). I am slinging a small round stone at a hillside nearby. I got good enough to throw a stone about a hundred yards, though it is really hard to aim anywhere but forward, and nobody got hurt ;)

This shot is me looking from the Mount of Olives west to the Temple Mount, or Haram al-sharif as the Muslims call it. In between me and the Dome of the Rock is the valley of Kidron, Gethsemane, and two cemeteries.

I am standing in the Jordan River. We were not far from Jericho when we crossed it, so the water is far downstream and less clean than the pictures in LDS scriptures. It was complete with flies and stagnant water. It is someone near here that Jesus was probably baptized. We sang hymns, and there were even some white doves that flew over in a timely fashion. It was a peaceful and serene experience to be there. I liked that it was not as pristine a location as I had initially thought, because it made it all the more real that Jesus was willing to go below all things and show obedience to the Father by being baptized. I am grateful for His perfect example of humility, and it is remarkable that a perfect King would do all that He did so that He could show us the way.