Jordan River

    On our way out of Jordan we took a nice little stop at the Jordan River. I'm not going to lie, it was not exactly what I was expecting (you'll see what I mean in a second.) When you picture Christ's baptism, you think of a large open river with people lining the banks waiting for their turn. Or at least that's what I always imagined. Well, here they had a spot where people would have come to enter the river in ancient times. It had steps leading down into the water, a little covered area, and at one point a memorial to some Mary. Now, the river only fills it during the rainy season (which is now) but even then a lot of time the river never reaches it.

Here's a picture of what it looks like when there is water in it

     Alright folks. Here it is! The big reveal! Are you ready for what the Jordan River looks like for reals!?

Look at those excited face! We can't wait to see it!!

And there she is! In all her glory. Probably not what you expected either huh?

If you look at the top of that wall, you can see a rectangular sign. That marks the level of the river in 2013. You can see how much it has dropped. Who knows how large it was during the Savior's time. 

     

    When we first got to the spot where we could sit by the river, there was a big group there getting baptized. It was really neat to just sit there and watch that. It was a little different than how we do it. They were all in swimming suits with white t-shirts on and would go into the water and dunk themselves 3 times. At one point, one of the ladies took off her white t-shirt and just had on her bathing suit. She was older and a little heavier and wearing a bikini. We'll just say that more of her backside was showing than would be culturally acceptable in America let alone in Jordan. Actually she was in Israel because they were on the other side of the river. The little Muslim teenage girls who were sitting next to us couldn't contain themselves. They would giggle and laugh and kind of look away every time she turned around. It was pretty funny. 

     Although I don't feel like I had any huge ah-ha moments at the river, it was still a great experience. This is one of those times when I can relate to Nephi who said, "behold, I, of myself, have dwelt at Jerusalem, wherefore I know concerning the regions round about" (2 Nephi 25:6). Reading the story of Namaan this last week in Old Testament suddenly made a lot more sense. If the prophet told me that I would be cleansed from washing in this river, I definitely would have thought he was crazy. I don't think anyone is coming out of that water cleaner than they went in! It's times like that when I am once again reminded of what an amazing opportunity I have here.

Until my next adventure,

Lindy