Picking Olives!

I am so happy. We picked olives... the Holy Land. This may not be a big deal to some, but I LOVED it. We took an hour to pick the olives in a small part of the center. We had an absolute blast. All the plants are covered with a chalky dust and these trees were no exception. We got dirty from squishin these olives with the dirt mixed in, maybe even some olive wars (definitely not started by one of our teachers wink wink)

Walking outside of the center!

The old olive tree in the middle with the newer ones on the outside

The typical shot outside the gates!

Kim, Jocelyn, Megan, Malia, Allison, Lisa, Jessica, Meredith, me and Anne

Nataie and I!

This is where I live... aahh It's amazing.

We got a picture with Brother Muhlestein!

For some reason it was just so happy to be out in these trees and be picking olives. Maybe it was because I associate Christ so much with Olives.  Brother Muhlestein bit into an olive and immediately had a nasty face and couldn't get over the taste, told us not to even think about trying one they were so gross. Of course I was going to after that. So I did, just to make sure he was right and sure thing! They are so bitter and nasty tasting! When he bit into it red juice gushed down his hand... from a black olive? I've never seen it. There is some amazing symbolism in this.

We're pressing the olives next week so I'll explain in detail about the symbolism then.

At lunch we found a twin banana! So cool.

At forum (which is pretty much "Family Counsel" for everyone in the center) Brother Jackson our director casually said he got an email from Elder Holland this week. (Oh yeah, no big deal, right?) He sent us his love and wishes he could be with us (so do we!). He was a major reason for this center being here. The local director of the center, Mr. Hayet is meeting with the first presidency this week and we sent this card with him! They will get to see my name! I'm just a bit excited.