Sorry for the slacking on the blog. We have been in Galilee for the past 10 days and it was absolutely amazing!
Day one: We spent the first day driving from Jerusalem to Galilee making a few stops on the way. We went to Beth She'an, Nazareth, and Arbel. Beth She'an had some great ruins. In Nazareth we saw the Church of the Annunciation and the Synagogue Church. Arbel had a great view of Galilee.
Day two: First field trip! We started the day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. We stopped in the middle of the "sea" and had a devotional. After the boat ride we went to a museum and saw a boat that was found in the Galilee and was dated to around the time of Jesus. Then we made our way up to the Mount of Beatitudes. It was absolutely beautiful- looked just like paradise. Then we went to St. Peter's Primacy and Capernaum. St. Peter's Primacy was the place of the "do you love me then feed my sheep" conversation between Peter and Jesus. In Capernaum we saw a synagogue that was built on the foundations of an older synagogue- potentially one that Jesus may have taught it.
Day three was cold and rainy. We spent the day in classes and watching movies.
Day four: Only a half day field trip. We went to Gamala part of the Golan Heights. Some of us tried to find a waterfall. It was rainy and muddy and very foggy. We found where the waterfall was supposed to be but unfortunately we couldn't see it. Then we went to Qaztrin and saw some ruins from a Talmudic community.
Day five: another class day
Day six: Shabbat. We had later church on Shabbat so that we could use the small chapel in Tiberias. It was a beautiful chapel and on the way home we went to the River Jordan. It was a beautiful view as the sun was setting and a great time to reflect on the Savior and his baptism.
Day seven: Class... this might have been the day that we had our midterm but I definitely blocked that from my memory.
Day eight: I honestly can't remember what we did. I think it was Mount Tabor, Nain, and Megiddo. Mount Tabor is one of the traditional sites of the transfiguration. It was a great field trip but I honestly don't remember what day it was.
Okay... because I can't remember the days here's a list of the things that we did.
-pictures on the shores of Galilee
- Tel Hazor
- Tel Dan
- Banias
- Muslim fortress/castle
- saw some great mosaics
- Acre/Acco
- Chorazin
- Sepphoris
- Haifa
- Mt. Carmel
- German Templar Cemetery which holds the graves of some of the missionaries that were in the Palestine mission
We came home yesterday afternoon. It's weird to call the JC home now- especially since I'm only here for a few more weeks. While we were gone the service couples had decorated the center and there a bunch of trees decorating the top few levels of the center. Our wonderful chef Achmed also had prepared an amazing Thanksgiving dinner for us including turkey, sweet potato marshmallow casserole, and stuffing. It was all delicious and was a sweet reminder of how blessed we all are to be here and the wonderful people that we are surrounded by.
Galilee was really amazing but it came with it's own challenges. Although I would have enjoyed a trial free vacation it was a great time to reflect on the atonement and how it has affected my life. I had some wonderful epiphanies while being there and just pondering over what I was going through. In the end it was a great blessing to be able to put my trust in my Savior. I was able to walk in places or in the air space of where Jesus walked and saw many of the places that Jesus spent a lot of his mortal ministry in. It was an amazing trip but it's great to be back in Jerusalem.
Count down: 3 weeks
Day one: We spent the first day driving from Jerusalem to Galilee making a few stops on the way. We went to Beth She'an, Nazareth, and Arbel. Beth She'an had some great ruins. In Nazareth we saw the Church of the Annunciation and the Synagogue Church. Arbel had a great view of Galilee.
Day two: First field trip! We started the day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. We stopped in the middle of the "sea" and had a devotional. After the boat ride we went to a museum and saw a boat that was found in the Galilee and was dated to around the time of Jesus. Then we made our way up to the Mount of Beatitudes. It was absolutely beautiful- looked just like paradise. Then we went to St. Peter's Primacy and Capernaum. St. Peter's Primacy was the place of the "do you love me then feed my sheep" conversation between Peter and Jesus. In Capernaum we saw a synagogue that was built on the foundations of an older synagogue- potentially one that Jesus may have taught it.
Day three was cold and rainy. We spent the day in classes and watching movies.
Day four: Only a half day field trip. We went to Gamala part of the Golan Heights. Some of us tried to find a waterfall. It was rainy and muddy and very foggy. We found where the waterfall was supposed to be but unfortunately we couldn't see it. Then we went to Qaztrin and saw some ruins from a Talmudic community.
Day five: another class day
Day six: Shabbat. We had later church on Shabbat so that we could use the small chapel in Tiberias. It was a beautiful chapel and on the way home we went to the River Jordan. It was a beautiful view as the sun was setting and a great time to reflect on the Savior and his baptism.
Day seven: Class... this might have been the day that we had our midterm but I definitely blocked that from my memory.
Day eight: I honestly can't remember what we did. I think it was Mount Tabor, Nain, and Megiddo. Mount Tabor is one of the traditional sites of the transfiguration. It was a great field trip but I honestly don't remember what day it was.
Okay... because I can't remember the days here's a list of the things that we did.
-pictures on the shores of Galilee
- Tel Hazor
- Tel Dan
- Banias
- Muslim fortress/castle
- saw some great mosaics
- Acre/Acco
- Chorazin
- Sepphoris
- Haifa
- Mt. Carmel
- German Templar Cemetery which holds the graves of some of the missionaries that were in the Palestine mission
We came home yesterday afternoon. It's weird to call the JC home now- especially since I'm only here for a few more weeks. While we were gone the service couples had decorated the center and there a bunch of trees decorating the top few levels of the center. Our wonderful chef Achmed also had prepared an amazing Thanksgiving dinner for us including turkey, sweet potato marshmallow casserole, and stuffing. It was all delicious and was a sweet reminder of how blessed we all are to be here and the wonderful people that we are surrounded by.
Galilee was really amazing but it came with it's own challenges. Although I would have enjoyed a trial free vacation it was a great time to reflect on the atonement and how it has affected my life. I had some wonderful epiphanies while being there and just pondering over what I was going through. In the end it was a great blessing to be able to put my trust in my Savior. I was able to walk in places or in the air space of where Jesus walked and saw many of the places that Jesus spent a lot of his mortal ministry in. It was an amazing trip but it's great to be back in Jerusalem.
Count down: 3 weeks
