Galilee continued..

Another neat site was Gamla- a Jewish city besieged and destroyed by the Romans. It was so cool to walk around this hill and be able to see and imagine a real city and civilization from the first century AD. You could see a break down in the wall that the Romans made to get into the city and the smooth round rocks thrown by the catapults. 5,000 Jews committed suicide by jumping off the pinnacle of the hill.

We went into one of the synagogues- and you could really imagine and live history in your mind through your eyes there. It was SO cool.

A site that I fell in love with was a little, humble, run down church in Nain- to honor the raising of the widow's son.
We read from Luke 7 of the compassion of Christ on this widow. We were taught that coming from Capernaum, Nain is 25 miles away. The mercy of the Lord really hit me as I was brought to realize and understand that Christ probably walked all throughout the night to come to that widow. He was aware of her, He knew and loved her, and came to bless her with the aide that she needed through her faith and His mercy. Reflecting on my own life, I can vividly see countless accounts of such miracles of personal magnitude throughout. I was again struck and overwhelmed with awe and gratitude for such unwarranted mercy for me.

Another unreal, and yet VERY real site was Megiddo, or "Armageddon". Reading from Revelations, Joel, and Zechariah about the event that will take place here in the last day made it a very impactful site. Imagining and realizing the horror that was surely come to pass in the world in the last days- but especially at this very site made me SO grateful for the prophets of the past and present and for revelation that helps us prepare for what is to come. Reading again of all the destruction to come and so often feeling it come more and more near should logically be a scary thing. I felt no fear as I was reminded of these impending events. I even became excited for them- and I know that those feelings of peace of surety can only come through faith and knowledge of the Savior.

I love learning of the past, living the present, and looking towards the future with a faith and trust in the Lord with the joy and sweet peace that it brings despite all the turmoil and darkness that constantly surrounds us.

Another fun experience was to walk through the shops, cardo, bath houses and tel of Scythopolis- an important crossroads Roman city that certainly the apostles would have traveled through.

This is part of the bath house- hot water would flow through this and steam everything. It looked and sounded divine.

Caesarea Philippi was another place of reverence and inspiration. It's one of the sources of the Jordan river, and right where Peter tells Jesus, "Thou art the Christ". We read from Matthew 16 and talked about Jesus as the "Living Water". Some return missionaries stood up and shared their experiences of declaring that Jesus is the Christ- and I was AGAIN absorbed with the burning desire to serve a mission and to add my testimony to the world that

Jesus is the Christ!

We sang the primary song "Give said the little stream" and as we did, I noticed a cute European couple standing next us, listening in very pleased. Afterwards, a few of us starting talking to them, and it ended up being exactly who I needed to talk to.

This man and woman were from Austria. They had loved the tune that we were singing and we gave them the words and taught it to them. They were very excited to learn that we were mormons and were anxious to tell us why they love the mormons. They became emotional as they told us about their destitute situation after World War II. They said that they had nothing- absolutely nothing. When the church humanitarian services sent them food, they said that all that they had- a block of cheese that kept them alive was because of the mormons in Utah. They gushed gratitude for those meager and simple rations of cheese and hope that the mormons had brought to them in those times. They wanted to thank the mormons for their help, but had nothing. The church said they did not want any repayment, but would love to be allowed to be recognized as a religion there. This event is the reason that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints in Austria today. I was touched by their humility, determined to better contribute to such causes, proud of my heritage and name, and thankful for modern day revelation that institutes such programs as the humanitarian aide that I know that the Lord truly directs and oversees.

Galilee

I'm ridiculously jet lagged... and since I have so many other things to do at 3 am... I want to share a few more details about the glories of Galilee.

Our 10 days spent in Galilee were consecrated as sacred opportunities to seek a greater understanding and relationship with our Savior. It was filled with rich study of the New Testament, exploration of sites of His ministry, and many hours of private and quiet communion with the Spirit on the shore.

Being able to sit at the shore of the Sea of Galilee with feet in the same waters that my Savior had calmed and walked on brought a new reverence and meaning to the passages that I read during those days. We had 3 hour or so long classes on the gospels and my perspective and understanding of the sequence, reality, and undeniable significance of everything Jesus Christ performed and taught became even more real and sacred to me.

We went to Caesarea Maritima- the ruins of a city built by Herod on the shore of the Mediterranean. It was here that Phillip and Peter preached, and where Paul was brought to Felix and Festus. As we read from Acts 23-26 of Paul's bold testimony of the Christ in the face of persecution, I was again consumed with missionary zeal. This place held the great words and burning testimonies of the Lord's apostles. I left there determined to act as Phillip, Peter, and Paul at all times- to always testify of the reality and truth of the Savior.

One of the top sweet moments of this trip for me was sitting in a little boat on the Sea of Galilee. It truly was here that the Lord called His apostles to be "Fishers of Men", where He calmed the storm, and where He walked on water. These are such common stories and I have always believed them- I have always known that He performed these miracles. Yet, as we were reading these stories from the New Testament... and as I looked out onto the sea.. and as the Spirit spoke to me... I gained a deeper understanding and belief that Christ truly has control over my life. I recieved direct answers to many of my questions that day and came to a mucher stronger faith and belief that Jesus Christ can, has, and will calm my troubled seas.

I had the honor of singing "How Great Thou Art" accompanied by Kathryn on the violin, and the splashing of the water on the boat. It is very difficult to adquately describe the tender and overwhelming feelings felt there that day. As I was trying to sing, I found myself seized up with emotion and struggling to sing.
"When I shall in humble adoration, and there proclaim, My God- How great Thou Art."
and I was filled with even deeper gratitude and awe for my Savior. I walked off that boat with a greater ability to wholly and truly trust in my Lord.

We saw the ginnosar boat- found in 1986 on the shore during a drought. It is speculated to be from the same time that Christ would have spent His days in Galilee and would be very similar to that used by Peter, Andrew, James, and John as fishers.

We went to the Mt. of Beatititudes and read from Matthew 5-7 the Sermon on the Mount.

Sitting there on that beautiful hillside looking over the landscape of encompassing hills and the lake... I could totally see why Jesus chose this place to teach these sacred truths and give this beautiful commandments. The Spirit felt there made everything so clear- my perspective became black and white. I left there not understanding or desiring to live any way but to love my enemies, to continually hunger and thirst for righteousness, to become meek, to be an example of Christ and abide by every law Christ ever gave.

One of my favorite sites was Capernaum.

A frequently mentioned place in the scriptures as the home of Peter and the location of the synagogue that Christ taught in. It was hard to capture it in pictures... but there are the same basalt stones that formed the very 1st century AD synagogue that Jesus visited- the same stones that would have seen and used in His life. It is speculated that the building of this synagogue may have been funded by the centurion that had sought for the miracle working of Jesus. It had a 4th century synagogue built on on top of those stones.

Capernaum was the little town that jesus raised Jairus' daughter, healed the woman from her bleeding illness, healed the Centurion's son, and many more miracles. As we read the Matthew 8 and Luke 4 accounts of Jesus casting out and unclean spirit and teaching that He was the Son of God in this very synagogue a sweet peace overcame me as I realized that I was being taught in the very same place that Jesus Christ Himself taught. I didn't need to be there to learn these truths or to know that He had come and performed great works in Capernaum- but, as it's been said, "the visual aide sure helps!"

Shabbat Shalom

I couldn't have asked for a lovelier last sabbath here.

• Church was so edifying. I can't believe the wisdom and strength that constantly surrounds me. Not to mention that we have a spectacular view of the old city (My Old City as I like to refer to it in my head) in front of our eyes the entire time.
• I spent the afternoon in the garden of Gethsemane. That fact alone is an amazing one.
• While we were walking down to the garden I heard the chilling sound of many, many angry voices in unison and realized that somewhere nearby in the city a riot was going on. The hatred I could hear and sense filled me with such sadness. At the same time as the shouting I could hear the bells of the church of the Mary Magdalene. The sky was apocalyptically gray and the wind was a little cruel, and I was on my way to the spot where the most sacred and important event in the history of the world took place. The whole scenario was a little bizarre. But as I sat in the garden I thought about the peace that a knowledge of what happened in that place brings to me. And I thought how desperately I've come to love this place and its people and how I wish they would accept their Savior and partake of that same peace.

Anyway.

• 
  
  This evening we had the triclinium last supper experience in the magnificent auditorium. They had a table set up like it would have been at the last supper, to recline and eat with the right hand. We read John 13-17 outloud and had some beautiful music. Kali and I got to sing with our friends Teren and Jon, with Amy on the piano and Molly on the violin. Besides the fact that I seem to be extra emotional these days anyway, this song touches me so deeply every time I think of it.
  
  
  

Here are the words:

"Lamb of God"

Your only Son, no sin to hide.

But you have sent Him from your side

to walk upon this guilty sod

and to become the Lamb of God.

Your gift of love they crucified.

They laughed and scorned Him as He died.

The humble King they named a fraud,

and sacrificed the Lamb of Go

O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God,

I love the holy Lamb of God.

O wash me in Your precious blood,

My Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

I was so lost, I should have died,

but You have brought me to Your side

to be lefd by Your staff and rod

and to be called a Lamb of God.

O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God,

I love the holy Lamb of God.

O wash me in Your precious bloodm

'till I am just a Lamb of God.

Good Sabbath to you all. I'll be home so so soon!

God is love.

He Lives.

And that's what I'll never stop singing.

Jordan continued...

We then proceeded to the citadel of Amman, the original "Philadelphia". We saw more Roman ruins (ya.. not a big deal... just another day in the neighborhood. ;) )

We saw ancient relics such as..

Dead Sea Scrolls.

It was hard to remember all that we saw there... because my memory got glazed over by a random and unfortunate event.

Anna could tell you better... I didn't see it.. but there was a man from Spain... probably in his mid-60's that had gone beyond this railing to sit on the cliff to look over the beautiful city of Amman. As he got up.. he lost his balance and fell backwards and pummeled down the cliff. People ran to me because I had my "nursing bag" (aka- fanny pack of bandaids and tylenol...) to go down and help him. I don't remember what happened next... but suddenly I found myself at the bottom. This was a very lucky man and a very stressful situation. There were Jordanian security guards yelling at him trying to get his name... and he was so flustered... and in pain. He turned... and I was very surprised to see his ear dangling by the bottom of his earlobe. I realized that.. I didn't have quite enough bandaids. He was breathing... seemed to have broken his hand, collar bone, and a rib- but he was a lucky man. I was such a flustered, confused, and helpless little girl in that situation... doing nothing but trying to calm him down and speak english. I was so frazzled and left there with a renewed ambition to jump into my career and become a competent nurse.

Then... on our way back... we stopped by the revered Jordan River.

It was kind of dirty... overpopulated with tourists... but when we were able to find a quiet place as a group and to read of Christ's baptism straight from the scriptures and sing hymns... it was a sweet and sacred experience. I left there reaffirmed and grateful for baptismal covenants and determined to better keep mine.

Jordan was an overall beautiful country. It had the feeling of happy, loving, and humble Palestinian neighborhoods on a large scale.

From the short glimpse that I got.. Jordanians are kind and sweet people that truly love each other, their country, and their king.

Uh oh... I've been so bad about keeping my part of this account. I could apologize for days... but I'm just gonna jump into it. Starting with Jordan.

So.. we went to Jordan!!!

We stopped by Mt. Nebo- where Moses went up to and the Lord showed him the promised land. (Deuteronomy 32:49)

I suppse we make quite the spectical of ourselves... 40 young adults singing hymns to ourselves- we look up and find tourists crowding around- mistaking us for attractions. Gotta love tourists.

We stopped by an Arab village called Madaba and saw the old map of the Holy Land. A mosiac dating back to 527-565 A.D that has been a very important reference to the format of the ancient Holy Land and events.

Explored Nimrod, an old crusader castle. Yup. SO cool! Epic Acorn battle between buses ensued from the tallest tower.

...mosied on into a beautiful mosque- Abdullah. BEAUTIFUL.

...witnessed a sweet ruinion of Anna and Shea. (which made us all ridiculously happy. We love Shea.)

Oh... have I mentioned PETRA yet?!!!

It was such a magical experience....

I felt like I was frolicing through a picture book!

It was such a carefree, sponatious, and beautiful day that I couldn't have possibly created in my own imagination

Then.. we went to Jerash- which contain some of the best preserved Roman ruins oustide of Europe!!

Whistle while you work

I realized yesterday that Snow White and I have quite a lot in common.

1. We have many woodland creature friends

Sheep friends in the Zurim Valley

Galilean Toad

Big black bird in Masada

Matriarchal She-goat at Neot Kedumim Bible Lands Reserve. We had to herd her herd as a group activity, and she took a liking to me. Guess whose group had the fastest time? Oh yeah. That's right. Follwed me implicitly.

Feral Cats at Ein Gev, Galilee. (DON'T LOOK, DAD!)

The Kibbutz chef gave me his hat and I had to make good use of it.

Wild Baby Ibex at Ein Gedi National Park, right by the Dead Sea. Incidentally, Ein Gedi translates as "spring of the kid." This was my kid. He loved leaves, and I loved him.

perhaps you can't tell from the picture, but his horns were quite sharp.

2. We have much work to do.

She had to clean up the cottage, I have to study for finals. And try to make the very best of my last week (MY LAST WEEK!?) in the Holy Land.

I lied, though. I can't whistle very well.

But I'm going to do a lot of catch-up blogging before I go home. Until then... Happy Hannukah!

Some upcoming highlights:

Bethlehem at Christmas time

Spectacular student talent show and christmas concert

Perhaps (finally) something about Jordan (The Hashemite Kingdom of)

The Separation Barrier

Adventures in the Old City

Adventures in Palestinian homes

Med Sea, Red Sea, Dead Sea

Lessons and epipheries.

Love you all,

Banana