We celebrated the Sabbath today (Friday) because here in Jordan, a Muslim country, Friday is their holy day. The leaders of my church have said its fine to coordinate our Sabbath with the weekly holy day of the predominant culture, so here in Jordan that is Friday. In Israel it’s on Saturday. Which means I just had a six day week, and next is going to be an 8 day week, because of how our itinerary is laid out.

I’m so tired, and we’ve been going to so many places, that I can’t actually remember what we did. I will have to look at some photos to know. I’m loving this trip, but I would also love to have a true rest day, or at least a rest afternoon. The constant push to hurry on to the next site has worn me to the place where I am short on patience and temper. I don’t know what to do about it.

This morning we went to the place where some think John the Baptist baptized Jesus. It was neat to see some people there to be baptized in the Jordan River. That would be kind of cool. Apparently even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints baptizes new members there, which surprised me. Good thing the Israeli and Jordanian governments treat the water for pathogens, so people won’t get sick from the water. It’s still pretty muddy looking though.

I’ve loved seeing all the different churches at these places. They are all so unique, and many of them are thousands of years old, or they are new buildings, acting as conservators for ancient ruins of churches. One area that we visited today is historically famous for their mosaics on the floors of churches and other buildings.

Falling asleep now. See you tomorrow!