Karen

Well, I think its time that I started a blog for Chandler and I... I will be using the blog I made for our wedding announcement. So from now on go HERE to check for updates about our life together!
But just in case you didnt notice... I blogged my whole Jordan trip! I just used the emails I sent home while I was there, but it took me a long time so even if you just glance at the pictures it would make it all worth it. Just click HERE and scroll to the bottom to start from the beginning of the trip!

Ok, its been WAY too long! Now that school is dieing down I can finally start blogging again. I know it was so long ago that everyone is over it, but I want to blog about my experience in Jordan. I’m just gonna post my emails (not as detailed as my journal...) I sent to family and add some pictures with it. I will be posting it by the date I sent it so they will show up earlier than this post...just so they're in order. Anyway, I know everyone just wants to see wedding stuff….Sorry! Wedding pictures will come soon, heres a preview!

My last e-mail from Jordan. I’m so glad I was able to write about so many of my experiences over the last month, but there really has been so much more I wish I could tell you and show you. Ive been busy packing and doing last minute things so I haven’t had much time to think, but I wanted to share some thoughts from my journal as my “last letter from Jordan”. I figure I already write about everything in my e-mails so sharing a little from my journal wont be too personal. Please excuse the cheesiness…. This entry was written when I had some time to think while we were on a long drive through northern Jordan.

“As we drive through Jordan I see many sites that were very new to me when I first arrived here. The many groves of olive trees, the rows and rows of off-white buildings, and the people all around. A man, dressed very differently from where I was raised, is holding his little girls hand as he buys her some candy from the market, two little boys are riding their bikes down the street, and the women’s thobs (robes worn for modesty) blow in the wind with only their eyes showing through their head coverings as we drive past. There are many things I don’t understand about the beliefs and culture here in Jordan and it was a little difficult to adjust when I first arrived. But I do understand, better than ever before, that all people have a few very important things in common. We all have thoughts, worries, hopes, and dreams for the future whether we live in America or Jordan. Although people wear different clothes, eat different food, and have different forms of shelter all over the world, it all serves the same purpose. Its amazing to me that we can form connections with people from anywhere in the world, no matter how different we might think we are. Connecting with others brings such a powerful feeling. Whether it’s the connection you form with your spouse, a close friend, or a person from another part of the world who you may never see again. My experiences in Jordan have made me value these relationships we are able to form more than ever before. I have felt the spirit so strongly here as I meet the people and learn of their culture. There is an Arab proverb that states “the deeper you go into the desert, the closer you come to God”. During my time here in Jordan I have gained a greater testimony of the important truths we have in the gospel and I see better how God views his children and loves us all the same. The scripture in 2 Nephi 26:33 has come alive and its truth has rung in my heart as I read that “all are alike unto God”. I have learned so much from the Jordanian people. I have been exposed to a hospitality I never even knew existed, especially in the middle east. I have learned the phrases “ahlan wa sahlan (warm welcome)”, “mish mushkila (no problem)”, and “in sha’ Allah (God willing)”. Phrases I have heard almost everyday here in Jordan. I learned there are still people in the world who respect and uphold modesty and chastity. But truly the greatest blessing has been to feel so strongly in my heart that God loves us all the same. Its easy for me to believe the idea that God loves all his children the same when I’m surrounded by people who are generally quite similar to me. But being exposed to people who come from such a different background and belief it means so much more to me that there is a God who still loves us all. Its interesting to me that I have felt that truth so strongly while I have been in Jordan, among people where at least 92% of the population is Muslim and do not hold the belief that they are children of God. Yet I have felt so strongly while I have been here that we are all brothers and sisters and children of God. I want so badly to have “a love of God and of all men” as it teaches in 2 Nephi 31:20 and to follow the commandment that “he who loveth God love his brother also” in 1 John 4:21.”

I have had such an amazing experience this last month. It was a pretty short trip but I will definitely be glad to be back home! I love you and I’ll see you soon!

Love Karen.

I'm almost home!! Luckily we got to have lots of fun yesterday so the week really is going by fast. We went to wadi mujib yesterday...it was incredible!! maybe not so amazing if you’ve been to Zions and other similar sites in Utah...but I havent so it was great. We walked through beautiful canyons and swam over waterfalls. sometimes the current was so strong we had to hold onto a rope. It was so fun and the water was really warm.










Today we're doing some shopping downtown and tomorrow just last minute things we can think of. Friday we leave really late at night but because of the time change we'll be back in the America Saturday morning! I cant wait. haha, I said “the America”...didnt mean to do that... I really need to get back home. But I will definitely miss taxis. We have had so many great experiences with the taxi drivers. By great I mean memorable... driving in Jordan is so scary. Like you really do feel like you might die. I just got used to not looking anywhere when we're in the car. We always try to use Arabic words with them and I’ve had a few tell me all about the messenger Mohammad... "(taxi)you know what a messenger is? (me) like a prophet? (taxi) yes!! a prophet! Just like Isa and Abrahim" I have to bite my tongue not to tell them about my prophets... But I cant wait to walk places and not be the center of attention. We really make a scene wherever we go. EVERYONE stops and stares. I cant wait to "fit in" when I walk outside. And all the men have a comment also...usually welcome, beautiful, hi, hello, good evening, where you from...another funny thing about the men here is the male hair salons all over. They always have pictures of leonardo dicaprio and brad pitt on the front sign. But they are everywhere. and sometimes its spelt male hair saloon which is interesting... I'm trying to remember all the weird things that have become so normal for me... Well I have lots of pictures. I cant wait to be home soon. I want to eat lots of American food. and drink tap water. and take a shower thats a normal temperature. love you and miss you!!

Karen

p.s. la means No. Its fun to say. like la la la la la... I dont remember if I already told you this but its worth repeating...

Some random pictures

Celebration on campus:

Shopping Downtown:

This picture reminds me of the market place in Aladdin...

The shop owner really wanted me to try it on.... he wrapped me up

I promise the shop owner made me where this also...

fresh squeezed juice in Jordan is everywhere

Eating:

Our favorite "fastfood" Abu Jubara

Our instructor Elaine had a beautiful apartment and we loved having yummy dinners there!

The House and around town

Doing laundry at our house was always exciting, we flooded the kitchen a few times

shopping at the market

The computer lab at the school where I sent all my emails from

talking to Chandler on skype...my sunday ritual

This is going to be a long week. I am SO bored! But I didn’t get to tell you about the little weekend trip we took after we got back from our long trip. There’s a man in the ward, Salah Houran, who took us and some of the other BYU students from the Arabic speaking program on a fun trip. First we went to a castle that had a tunnel under ground. We had to use flash lights and it was like hundreds of steps below. It was cool. Then we went to spend the night in a really old village. Like 400 years at least... and they just got electricity last year. It was like some of the ruins Ive seen except people were living in them... and they made some hotels out of them so we got to stay there too!! It was fun except I woke up the next morning covered in spider bites. Theyre itching me right now... So then we went and hiked another wadi. The Dana Wadi which is a nature reserve and it had lots of cool caves that we climbed around in. Tour books describe it as "lush" but I dont know if I would go that far... there’s some trees...On our way home we stopped at a place to eat Manceff. Manceff is the traditional Jordanian meal which is rice with goat meat (usually the goats head is served with the meal...) and some weird fermented goats milk concoction. I like the rice...and a little meat. I actually do like the goat meat. just not too much of it. So it was a fun trip.

But I have to tell you more about Salah. He is one of the only real Jordanian converts. I think there’s like 4 in the branch and the rest are workers from the embassy. We had breakfast with him and he told us his conversion story. He grew up in a really poor family. Like they ate out of trash cans ("theres no shame in that" he added). He said he never dreamed of having a life like the one the church has given him. So he was working doing tourist stuff and he met people who were members and they gave him a book of Mormon (he was Christian) but he didnt really think anything of it. During this time he was really thinking of committing suicide. He said that he felt like such a huge burden for his family and he had planned out how much money he would be saving them if he was gone and he had a real plan to take his life. Then he came across the book of Mormon he had. He prayed so hard that he would find those people again and be able to learn more about the church. Of course he did find them and his prayers were answered. When he joined the church the government took away his ability to work. I guess in Jordan if you work in places like tourism you have to have permission from the government saying your in good standing. Because he joined the church they took away his ability to work. I guess they dont like the church? I dont really know that much...other then its a huge deal we're able to meet in a building every week...we're very lucky I am told. So members of the church taught him english and he was able to use his English abilities to make money. He then met an American girl who was visiting Jordan and they got married in the temple in Germany. They just had a baby, one of the first babies to be born under the covenant in Jordan (maybe THE first...in Jordan). It was so amazing to hear his story. He’s coming to BYU to get his Masters but then he plans to go back to Jordan. He said he thinks its important that his family be an example for the church in Jordan. it was so cool talking to him. He had a strong testimony of the gospel.
So thats my cool story for now. I dont know when I'll be on again...I'll try to think of something interesting to write! Oh, I have to tell you about "in sha Allah" Its a VERY common phrase here. It means "god willing". But you say it all the time. Like if you ask when will the war end? When will you see your family again? Are you coming to dinner tomorrow? All of those could get the response "in sha Allah". its very noncommittal but you cant really quesiton it. You just smile and say "yes... in sha Allah". I wish I could say it in America because I think it could get me out of a lot of inconveniant things... Like "when will you start working? can you make dinner? Will you speak in church?"...
love you and miss you!