Today was our last day traveling—thank goodness! Boy I’m so worn out. It was a super good day though. We got up at about 2am and took the short drive to the foot of Mt. Sinai, then hiked up. I’m proud to say that I was in the first group that made it to the top, and we did it in about 1hr. and 25 minutes =) (I was with Jenna and Jordan) It was actually pretty cold on top, I’m glad I brought my sweater (yes, I actually was cold haha). We stayed up there for quite awhile—I think we were up there for a good three hours or so at least. I was surprised—there were TONS of people up there! Brazilians, Colombians, Europeans, Oriental, and even some Orthodox priests dressed in their attire! It made it a more special experience though. We got to sing a few hymns up there, and it felt really neat. When the sun came up it was wonderful—I wish I could capture its beauty on film but alas; it was (obviously) just brilliant in person. Definitely an unforgettable experience.
We had a short devotional on top with our classes. Bro. Judd talked for a little bit, and then he opened it up to the group. I had a couple interesting thoughts as I was up there contemplating: 1) when Elijah said that the Lord wasn’t in the wind or the lightning/thunder(?), I understand better what he means—the wind was super loud up there and thunder would’ve echoed off the peaks to create a defining sound. Instead, the Lord speaks through the still small voice. A very appropriate metaphor for Elijah’s situation. 2) I was also thinking about Moses; it wasn’t the easiest hike to get to the top (the switchbacks weren’t too bad, but the staircase at the end…whew!), and he did it when he was old lol. But, he did it (and he did it multiple times) to commune with the Lord. I thought it was a neat analogy to how we should always work to get to the temple, and I’m glad I can feel that same peace in the temple without having to climb Mt. Sinai every time.
After the devotional we took a few more pictures, and I took the stairs route straight back down the mountain (I was part of the first group to get to the bottom too lol). We finished at St. Catherine’s monastery at about 8 or 9, waited for some others to get finished, and went back to the hotel to take a shower (with only a dripping facet—not exactly what I would’ve hoped for after how much I sweat lol). I think I pushed myself a little too much and my calves were still hurting for quite some time after that, but it was worth it =)
We had lunch at our hotel (the Morgenland—I got to sleep on the floor the night before, by the way haha but Jake gave me his blanket so the tile wasn’t so bad actually) and then hit the road. We went through the border again (which took FOREVER and it was ROASTING hot in that building…) they thought I had a weapon or something so they detained me for awhile but it didn’t turn out to be a problem. We drove back up through the Negev desert and had dinner at another Kibbutz close to the one we’d been at before (they gave us French fries! and free ice cream—it tasted heavenly lol), then went back to Jerusalem. Somehow the bus pulled off a dance party in the aisle of the bus as we drove and our teachers were DJ-ing (which was entertaining of course lol), it was fun. It felt AWESOME to get home. Now I just have to catch up on homework and everything haha. Till tomorrow!
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