Walking the Walks and Talking about the Talks

Pic of the Post — Mt. Arbel

I had a wonderful experience with the class in visiting the Mt. of Beatitudes. It really is a unique and special place where the Lord taught many great truths. I walked out refreshed from the spirit and was greeted by one of these plaques in remembrance of the words Jesus spoke. Of all the letters to have fallen off, it had to be that one.

In Capernaum, Jesus' own city, there is a 4th century synagogue built upon the foundations of the 1st century synagogue where Jesus would have spent a large majority of His time teaching the people. It was humbling to know that Christ had been within ten yards of where I was standing, thousands of years ago.

When given the opportunity to eat a little bit of the Galilean tradition: fish. I was sure to not forgo the experience, regardless of how alive the fish looked or felt.

Did I mention that the Sea of Galilee is pretty? Pretty awesome?

On the boardwalk in Tiberius, I was on a journey to find a modest T-shirt that really embodied my countless character traits—this was the one that spoke to me the most.

This has been my home for the past five-six days. And will be for five more days. Enjoy and live vicariously through me. Did I mention the beach is maybe 100 meters from our little cabins?

After a spiritual Sacrament Meeting where the talks were centered on forgiveness and the Atonement, we men posed for a manly picture on the roof of the branch house.

Who says traveling gets boring? They need to get out more.

Sea-ing Galilee

 

What is said to be the highlight of the Jerusalem Study Abroad, eleven days spent by the Sea of Galilee. One visits numerous sites where Jesus Himself walked 2000 years ago and tries to imagine what life would have been like for those early inhabitants.

Nazareth, Capernaum, Mt. of Beatitudes... it's a blessing to be able to be hear and learn of the life of Christ while in the areas where he frequently taught the people. 

1) Going on a boat-ride across the Galilee and having a quiet devotional in remembering Jesus calming the storm. Never has the song Master the Tempest is Raging felt so real and personal to me. I'm grateful that the Savior is willing to still the storms of my life and bring me safely back to shore.

 2) The Sea of Galilee from the perspective of Mt. Arbel. From left to right is Capernaum, Mt. of Beatitudes, and Gamla, among others. It's amazing to think that Christ spent the majority of His ministry teaching those that lived along the coast and in the general area.

 3) Sunsets must have been as beautiful back then as they were there. A wonderful testimony of the Creator and His forming this earth so that we can enjoy it.

4) When the sun passes the horizon, one can think to the story of Christ walking on water and meeting the disciples out in the middle of the Sea. Peter, thrilled to see the Christ, jumped overboard and began to walk to Him. But, his fear overcame his faith and the Lord, just as He does with each of us, reached down and lifted him from doubt and despair.

5) No doubt, Christ must have spent hours contemplating about His mission and how to fulfill it. Wouldn't it help us to pause, and take time to do the same?

What better way to spend your time at the Sea of Galilee than with some of your best friends?

Ashlyn, me, and Kristal—trying to enjoy the view despite the beating sun.

Live in the present and enjoy life—that's what it's there for.

Cheers!

Joy — Feel Free to Wet Your Pants

We Named the Dog Indiana

Pic of the Post—Tel Gath

To start off our trip to the wonderful land of Jordan, we made a windy ascent up to Mt. Nebo, the place where Elijah left on chariots of fire and dropped his mantle to Elisha, the next prophet. Here we paid tribute to that great prophet by singing the Spirit of God Like A Fire is Burning. 

We moved on to Herod's fortress built at Machaerus, where John the Baptist was likely imprisoned and later beheaded at the request of Herodias' daughter. Shame on her.

Despite the hated man that Herod was, he made some pretty impressive places of residences.

And what you've all been waiting for—Petra, the place of Wonder. The image that made Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade the epic movie that it is.

A tribute to those great men of renown who took one Harrison Ford and transformed him from a crusty Han Solo to a sophisticated yet rugged legend—Indiana Jones.

Ah the camels. What an odd yet huggable creature. 

A splendid monastery can be seen after a somewhat grueling 600-ish stairs up a mountain. Completely worth the blood, sweat, and tears. And sweat.

I'm not going to spell this one out... but this might just perhaps contain a somewhat hilarious visual pun.

The high place at Petra—it's no wonder people would make the hike all the way to the top in order to get closer to God (but which one?!?) —the view is breathtaking of the surrounding land.

If you can think of anywhere else in the world that can beat Petra on the super-mega-bueno factor, I want to go there. But in all honesty, I doubt anywhere like that exists.