Welcome to the Galilee!


Here are a few of us hanging out on the 'beaches' at The En Gev Holiday Resort, where we stayed while in the Galilee. It is a resort run by a Kibbutz, and it's absolutely lovely. Behind us in the picture you can see these swinging chair things, which are absolutely divine. Many an afternoon were spent on those chairs listening to music, studying scriptures, doing homework, enjoying the sunsets, etc. It was such a fun week!



So, we left last Sunday and of course made the most of our drive to the Galilee. First we went to Tel Hazor, which is a site of an ancient Canaanite
as well as Israelite Temple. It was also the site
of me and Amie stuffing ourselves into the archaeology... We noticed the difference in the tels up in the Galilee right away, as they use basalt stone instead of the white limestone that is everywhere in Jerusalem and its surroundings. After Tel Hazor, we went to Dan, which is one of the northernmost points in Israel. It is an absolutely beautiful nature reserve with rivers, vines, waterfalls, and of course ruins. We walked around the natural springs and had a special class at the top about "high places". I'm really grateful that the time of altar sacrifice is over. After Dan, we went to Caesarea Phillipi, which is
where Christ talked to Peter about the rock of
revelation. We didn't get to go to the picture in the Bible Dictionary because that's like a 3 hour hike, but it was cool anyways. We ended our day at Nimrod's castle, where we had a fun photo shoot with the girls. Then we got to En Gev. Home sweet home.

The next day we took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. This is me and Amie being sailors. We took the boat out into the middle of the sea where we then stopped and had another teaching moment from Brother Ludlow. We sang relevant hymns and read stories from the scriptures which happened on or near the Sea of Galilee. It was so awesome to look out onto the waves and picture Christ and His disciples on a boat on the same water. I pictured Him walking on the water as well as other miracles that occured there . The sea was absolutely peaceful at the time, but later in the week we got rain and storms, so we were able to see what the sea could have been like when the apostles asked Christ to calm it. After we docked, we went to the "Ancient Boat" museum, which is where they house a boat that dates to the time of Christ. They found it in the dirt when there was a drought a while ago. It's now well preserved and really cool. After that, we went to the Mount of Beatitudes where we talked all about the Sermon on the Mount. It was such a beautiful view, and I know why Christ spent so much time teaching and ministering there--the area is gorgeous, and the people actually listened.



After the Mount of Beatitudes, we went to Tabgha, which is the site of a couple of churches that commemorate the fishes and the loaves. We got to see this actual mosaic which is really famous around here. There was this church, and then another smaller basalt church which commemorated where the resurrected Christ came and ate fish with His disciples and talked about feeding His sheep. It was so awesome to be at these places. Lastly, we stopped at Capernaum, the home of Peter and the site of many ruins and churches. There is one church which is built on top of Peter's real house where Christ taught. I'm not sure exactly how they figured this out, but it was so cool. (btw, in case you haven't noticed, Amie and i are trying to get more creative in our pictures b/c we take so many together!)

Another one of our field trip days we went to Gamla, which is a site on a mini hill where many people were killed or committed suicide. We climbed all over looking at the ruins. It was a very windy day, but we had a good time. We also stopped at the Qazrin village, which was which has special ties to the Jewish Talmud. That night, we got to go out on the town! Half of the group went out to dinner at a restaurant where their specialty is "St. Peter's fish". It comes out compelte with fins, tails, and all! Amie was brave and got the fish, but I, being a little more conservative, ordered pizza. I think I got most of the experience, though!

Here is a group of us the day that we took a hike through the Golan Heights. Though this was once an area of unrest and bombing, it's now one of the safest places in Israel (I forget why, but that's what our guide told us...). We hiked to two waterfalls and played and swam. It was fun, and beautiful! Once again I was impressed with the gem of a valley was in the desolation of the Golan!

Our last big field trip day in the Galilee was fun. It was very rainy and cold when we started at Mount Tabor, which is the site of the Mount of Transfiguration. Just as talked about in the New Testament, three churches have been built on this site--one for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. I loved going here after just reading the New Testament accounts and understanding the story better. After this, we went to Nain, which is where Christ raised the widow's son from the dead. There is just one little church there. Then we stopped in at an ancient synagogue famous for its mosaics. After that, we got suited up and went to Gan Hasheloshah, which is a swimming hole made from natural hot springs! It was so fun, and the water was warm, and there were really pretty waterfalls. Definitely a highlight. We ended our day at Beth Shean which is a well-preserved Roman city. This is where Amie and I once again tried to get creative with our pictures...We thought it would be cute to do handstands against some columns. Not successful.

We spent our spiritual Shabbat at the Tiberias Branch, which is housed in the only building in this country actually dedicated as a church. It was beautiful and had a great view of the Sea. Then we had a day of classes, and then headed home. On our way home, we stopped at some Rabbi tombs, and then at the Bahai Gardens in Haifa. K, I had never heard of the Bahai faith before, but let me tell you, they know how to garden. They're all about symmetry, so the gardners carry around tape measures and molds to make sure that the plants on the property are trimmed perfectly to scale. Because of this symmetry, though, they are quite stunning! Mom--you would have loved them. On this property is the Shrine of the Bab, where their first 'prophet/leader' is buried. It's the gold dome.

Then we left our beloved Galilee and its gorgeous sunsets to come back home... Only 12 more days here at the "Mormon University"!