Coffee Toast

10/8/11

**prepare yourself, I get spiritual here**

My morning started off very interesting.  At breakfast they had toast next to what appeared to be cinnamon and sugar.  I got really excited and toasted some bread and let some butter melt on top then i threw on some sugar and a ton of cinnamon.  Then i got back to my seat and took a huge bite of my toast.  Instantly i spit it out into a napkin and ran up to get some juice.  The "cinnamon" was actually ground coffee.  Needless to say it was not very appetizing, especially with the large amount i had put on my toast.  Sharsten, my roommate, was dying laughing at my and that is when coffee toast was invented.  Don't try it.  

After getting some real breakfast in my we headed down to Corinth.  Now Corinth was the section I got to study in more detail and teach the rest of the class all about Paul and what he taught the Corinthians in his letters.  For you spiritual people ill give you a little background.  Paul counseled the Corinthians about their immorality.  Sexual sin was a major problem in the areas surrounding the city.  He reminded them how they need to keep their bodies clean and pure and also how their body is not theirs to destroy because Christ bought and paid for them through the atonement.  He explained how they need to remember that life continues after death and they need to remain steadfast and immovable and live no differently than if you were in the presence of God.  In the end he explains how trials in life are hard but in the end they make us stronger people.  Everyone has temptations and trials but they make us who we are today.  For me this reminded me that if we pay attention to whats happening around us we can watch for signs of trials and better prepare ourselves for whats about to happen.  As you know we are never given anything we can't handle, sometimes we just have not properly prepared.  If your interested in further exploring Corinthians some good scriptures are 1 Cor 5:1-6, 1 Cor 3:16-17, 1 Cor 6:19-20, 1 Cor 15:55-58, 2 Cor 2:1-5 & 8-9, 2 Cor 12:10

Back to Corinth...We started off at the canal which connects the Ionian Sea and the Aegean Sea.  It was such a far drop down there.  Mike dropped a rock and after about 15 seconds it finally make it down to the water and made a loud pop sound.  

Then we headed out to the ancient city of Corinth.  We started out on the site.  There was yet again a temple to Apollo along with an Agora and many city walls.  Although many ruins are very similar I believe you can still find so much beauty within each one.  Just as others find beauty in art from a museum I love these ruins.  

Afterwards we headed to the museum which contained artifacts they found on the site.  There were many statues and pottery.  Much of the same things are found within these ancient cities.  The statues were very beautiful and intricate.  Many of them were of Apollo.  Again Yolanda was getting sassy with us.  I took a 5 minute video of her rambling on about nonsense and yelling at us to shut up but I had to delete it for space on my camera.  It was rather boring information so don't worry your not missing much.

We then headed to the Mycenaean civilization which was not too much farther away.  Our first stop there was the supposed burial tomb on Agamemnon which was their king.  (if the name sounds familiar, it has come from the Iliad and Odyssey)

Following this we headed to the museum of the artifacts.  This museum had TONS of pottery.  Yolanda was telling us about the different ways they used the pottery.  To store oil, mix wine, feed babies, etc.  There were also many cool swords and things they have found in tombs.  In the end Yolanda kept talking and those of us who were bored of her talking headed out and sat and waited for her to be finished. 

Now it was time for more ruins!  We started at the world famous Lions Gate.  Then we headed into the Mycenaean ruins.  Their ruins were some of my favorites.  They had the place on the top of the hill with the city surrounding underneath.  It was very beautiful.  

As we headed back to Athens we had the opportunity to listen to a conference talk.  *beware more spiritualness*  We listened to Elder Packer's talk.  He was talking all about the youth today growing up behind enemy lines.  His talk has been my favorite I have heard so far.  I have only heard around 6 but I loved Elder Packer's.  I'll just point out a few things that touched me, but I would encourage all youth to re-read his talk when it comes out.  

      *If the adversary takes control of you, only you have the key to get out of it

      *You will not make a major mistake without first being warned by the holy ghost

      *Be trustworthy and surround yourself with people who strive to be

      *look forward to doing it right...follow the principles and we will be watch over and protected

      *and most importantly to me, the world DEPENDS upon the youth today, they depend on us.

His talk was so powerful to me.  He talked a lot also about blessings being dependent upon the "if".  If we do this THEN will we be blessed.  It's such a small word but has great power in our lives and determining the outcome of it.  He also talked about how the outcome of the battle was not a question but to me the out come of the war is not in question.  The battle is within ourselves.  For we may not win the battle, but we will always win the war.  We need to win our own battles in order to help our father in heaven win this great war that was started millenniums ago.

When we got back from our day of touring we were let loose for dinner.  About 12 of us headed out on the town.  We decided to explore the city and we took the metro to into the main square.  We found some interesting restaurants and I ended up having Korean food.  It was very good and interesting at the same time.  Tomorrow were headed to the Parthenon!