The Final Days of Turkey

Friday we went to Sardis and Bursa!! Sardis was a pretty great place that had a lot of mosaics still in place on the remains of the synagogue. The gym there was huge and fun to explore. I liked it because it didn't have as many tourists.

The toilets of course!

The massive gymnasium

AJ and the dandelions

Becca, Me, MJ, Angie

Then we went to another Temple of Artemis (different guy, same name) and it was surrounded by mountains that were gorgeous. The columns of the temple were huge and thick. It would take at least 6 Cali's to go all the way around one with my arms stretched out wide. There were also puppies there that were adorable. Turkey is a pretty sweet place. All the dogs have tags on their ears indicating that they don't have diseases. Everyone takes care of the cats and dogs in the streets which is cool to see. It's not that way in Jerusalem.

This picture needs no explanation

We drove, just like we always keep doing, to another ruin site: Thyatria. I remember nothing about that place because we were finally with the other class and I was so excited to see my friends and tell them stories and what not. So I actually don't even know why we stopped there and didn't take one picture. Whoops. 

Then we drove, even further than before, to Bursa. We had just enough time to go to the Bazaar and Silk Market before dinner. It wasn't as good of a Bazaar as the one in Istanbul but I did luck out on a skirt and had some fun there. 

After dinner I talked with Brother and Sister Woods for a little bit. Brother Woods is one of our religion teachers and our Branch President. We play card games and ping pong with them all the time. They are one of those couples that you want to be when you grow up. They've devoted their lives to serving the Lord and each other. They are so in love and it's fun to see that. They still act like newlyweds and it's adorable. They give me hope and make me excited for the future. They gave us some marriage advice as we talked after dinner. They said the most important thing they would tell us would be that we choose how in love we are with our spouse. We control our happiness and if we "fall" out of love or not. It reminded me of what President Monson said of "Choose your love and love your choice." Love them and develop that love more through serving them. They're awesome examples here. 

Then me, Jordan, Alex, Karren, Whitney, Becca, AJ and Nick walked around outside our hotel. We watched a soccer game with some people outside and looked out over the city. It was a great day, but a lot of driving on the bus. It was fun too see the country of Turkey, but I definitely caught up on a lot of sleep.

Saturday, October 12 was my last day in Turkey and my heart broke. But it was a good day! We even got to sleep in til 7 which was incredible! That felt SO GOOD! We went to the Grand Mosque in Bursa which was a neat place. It was right by the Silk Market.

Then we drove to Nicaea which is a beautiful lakeside town. We visited a mosque there that has been a museum and is now a mosque but sounds like they might turn it back into a museum again soon. It was the cutest little town to walk through and gorgeous right on the lake!! I loved the lake shore. It was crazy to think about what happened here. It was at the beginning of the apostasy and didn't have revelation so they met here to determine what the doctrine should be aka the Nicaean Creed. We skipped rocks on the shore and had a great time there. 

Then we drove to an outlet mall on our way to the airport and only had 20 minutes so we did some serious speed shopping. Then we got on the airplane to fly home to Jerusalem. What a place to fly home to and to even call home. I feel so blessed! But I am definitely going to miss Turkey with my whole heart. It's my favorite place I've ever traveled. My heart was definitely left there. I have to return there soon! I have learned so much from this place and changed a lot even from just the beginning of the week. I love Turkey!