Türkiye

This past week was absolutely magnificent! I had the opportunity to travel to Turkey and see remarkable things. The terrain was beautiful- mountains, beaches, and plains. The people, culture, music and food were amazing too! However, it was not just these things that made this trip great; it was the way it changed me that made it so wonderful. I am so grateful for the remarkable blessing I have been given to travel. I wish I could describe in words how this has motivated me to become better. After seeing several different sets of ruins, I was reminded of the something I learned while visiting ruins in Central America."These ruins are ruins because they forgot Christ." This week I pondered how so many powerful civilizations could end in ruins and how I can avoid this ending in my own life. There is so much power in remembering. We must remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the ways He has enabled us to become better, the truth that He is our strength and that without Him we would be nothing. If we do not remember Him our lives will be empty, desolate, and vacant, just like these ruins.

 

Another thought I pondered throughout this week was, "What legacy am I leaving behind?" Each of these different civilizations left a legacy for people to follow, both good and bad. Their legacy has lived on for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years. Each of us ought to ponder what type of legacy we are leaving for our posterity. Our choices will affect generations to come, for good or bad. I hope to leave a legacy of love and light.

 

The lessons I learned this week are lessons that can be learned anywhere in the world. If we are open to the impressions of the Spirit, the Lord will teach us anywhere we are. As my professor Brother Woods says, "The earth is the Lord's chalkboard." He desires to teach us every day of our lives, even through the mundane, daily tasks we perform, but we must be willing to listen.

 

Below are pictures of the places we visited this week. I tried to select one or two of my favorite pictures from each site. I wish I could describe what I felt and learned at each site, but this would be a really, really long  post. Several of these places are places Paul visited and taught the gospel.

 



 

Sardis

Sardis

St. John's Church

Temple of Artemis

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Isle of Patmos

 

Troy

Troy

Miletus

Pergamon

Pergamon

Pergamon

 

Ephesus

Ephesus

Ephesus (check out your Bible, photo #31)

Ephesus

Galipoli

Gate to Nicaea

Bursa Grand Mosque

Hippodrome

Shelby and me holding jelly fish at the beach by our hotel

Assos (That's Greece behind us!)

Ayasofya Mosque

Blue Mosque

Outside of the Blue Mosque

Inside Blue Mosque (I wish you could see how amazing it is inside, this picture does not do it justice)

Boat ride on the Bosphorus

Constantine's Palace