Best. Day. Ever.The day began bright and early with breakfast at 6:30am. Sister Chadwick had coached me prior to leaving the J.C. so I knew exactly where to start my breakfast: granola and yogurt. Oh, it was delicious and definitely contributed to my chipper attitude about being up so early. I am not usually one to grumble at the early hours of the day, but this morning was slightly different. More than anything, I just wanted to relax on the beach, but that wasn't an option; I had a full field trip day ahead of me!
It all began with a boat. When Brother Judd told us we were going to take a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, I immediately thought of some kind of ferry, but the boat waiting at the dock to take us across the sea was definitely not a ferry. Rather, it was a wood.....ship, for lack of a better word. I was so excited to get out there on the open water. It was a muggy and foggy morning (that happens with high humidity) so it wasn't completely clear but it was still plenty beautiful. I took a lot of pictures out on the water, but what would you expect? A moment like that had to be documented! Halfway through the ride, the atmosphere calmed as the boat crawled to a stop for a devotional. We began by reading Luke 8:22-25, the account of Christ calming the stormy sea and the fears of His disciples. We then read Matthew 14:25-31, the account of Christ and Peter walking on water. Each of these stories occurred on the very sea I was sailing across, probably in a location near to where the boat had stopped. Christ calmed the storm, He walk on water; the feelings that flooded through me are difficult to describe, but I can testify to you that I know Jesus is the Christ, that He did calm the raging seas and walk across the water to His disciples. We ended the devotional by singing "Master, The Tempest Is Raging". Could anything have been more appropriate, more perfect?
The boat docked in Ginnosar, a small farming village at the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee. In 1986, a drought caused the Sea of Galilee to recede, exposing an ancient boat on the muddy shoreline. Aided by a world authority on ancient sailing crafts, members of kibuttz Nof Ginnosar excavated and preserved the boat. Constructed largely of cedar and oak, the ship had several other woods, including willow, hawthorn, and Aleppo pine and was dated back to between 100 BC and 70 AD. The thought that came to my mind after hearing its approximage age was, "THIS COULD BE PETER'S BOAT!!!!" The odds are that it wasn't Peter's boat, but it is highly probably that Peter would hav used a boat very similar to it. How cool is that? There is so much history in this area of the world, most of which revolves around the Savior, Jesus Christ. This boat is just a part of that history, but it is still pretty cool!
Our field trip led us to theMount of Beatitudes, the place where Jesus gave his famous Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5 of the New Testament. We began by gathering together as a clas to discuss and share our 'favorite' Beatitude; nearly everyone stood up to share why their favorite was their favorite. At that particular time, 'blessed are the meed; for they shall inherit the earth' was the Beatitude that meant something to me. When I think of the word meek, I am reminded of a scripture - Mosiah 3:10. In this scripture, we are admonished to become as children: meek, submissive to the will of God, humble. If we humble ourselves before God, becoming like children and doing His will, then we will inherit the earth - the promised Celestial Kingdom. It is all so amazing. I took some time to wander the grounds of the church alone and to think about Christ's Sermon. The last verse of Matthew 5 says 'be ye therfore perfect'. The commandment to be perfect hsa been given to all men, but no man is perfect. We all make mistakes; we slip and we fall. But that is why we have the Atonement, why we have the Savior. After all we can do He makes up for the rest. There is a quote by Brigham Young that reads "...if they do the very best they know how, they are perfect." God does not expect us to be perfect in all of our doings; he does, however, expect us to do our very best in everything we do. We need to turn to Him and repent with a real intent and a full purpose of heart, do our very best, and trust in Him. He won't leave us alone. On the mount, there is an Italian church that was built in 1937 as a domed octagon to symbolize the eight Beatitudes; it illustrates many of the principles from the Sermon on the Mount not only by this architecture, but also in its artwork. It was very calming to walk through it, to look at the artwork, and to continue to remember the lessons my Savior taught on this very hill.
Continuing on with our day, we visited the two churches at Tabgha. These two Twentieth Century AD churches replicate (in site and in style) two Fifth Century AD Byzantine churches commemorating two important New Testament events. The first of the two churches honors the miracle of the fishes and the loaves, while the second - Peter's Primacy - honors Christ's appearance to the Apostles, in which Jesus shared a meal with them and commanded Peter to "feed my sheep". The churches were both really beautiful and I really enjoying walking through them and reading through both of their 'stories' on site.
Capernuam was a crowded town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was the home of Peter and Andrew, and it became the home of Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. Many of the Savior's miracles were performed in or around Capernaum. After some of the townspeople of Nazareth rejected Jesus, Jesus moved to Capernaum and made it his base of operations for his Galilean ministry. Jesus made Peter's home His headquarters, where he undoubtedly preached on several occasions; Peter's house became Christianity's first church. Near to the church, archaeologists discovered two synagogues, one built on top of the other. The bottom foundation has been dated back to the First Century AD and may have been the very synagogue of Jesus' day, where he preached and he healed. We were given plenty of free time to explore the city and to read the many stories associated with Capernaum found in the New Testament. I still can't believe I am in some of the same places Christ was in...walking the same streets, entering the same buildings. It has been such a great chance for me to grow closer to HIm; to have truly felt His spirit more fully in my life.
We ended the field trip with a stop at Bethsaida, the traditional site of Peter's origin...however, many believe (including Dr. Jeff Chadwick), that this wasn't the real site. That information turned off many of our attnetion spans, but due to the heat, the lecture on site was kept short anyway - much to our relief!
We got back to Ein Gev at about five o'clock in the afternoon. Most chose to swim. I chose to finish a homework assignment. Very nerdy of me...I know, but I would rather focus on swimming and playing tomorrow rather than just studying. Plus, I got it all done and then some, and I had time to take a short nap! After dinner, I went on a jog through bushes, rocks, and sand with Jess and Kerri Allison; I was covered in thorns and stickers by the time we were done. Can you say painful? It was fairly fun, but not worth it. I guess I won't be running in Galilee like I had once planned. We ended up just talking near the end since running was too difficult - typical of girls, I know. Haha, but sometimes you just need a little bit of girl-talk. The rest of the night was spent at a bonfire on the beach! I haven't been to a bonfire since my freshman year of college. That wasn't that long ago, but it felt like it had been ages. We ended up singing a lot of songs - most of which were song we had learned at girl's camp or scout camp. It was a blast. We also played fun games like Big Booty and Tiki, Tiki, Tonga. I don't think I have laughed that much in my life; it was crazy. Oh! And a stick went straight through my brand new flip-flop while I was doing a dance around the fire! It was so depressing. Luckily, it wasn't a big hole, but the stick almost caused me to trip into the fire. If you think I have poor balance normally, imagine my balance with a stick in my shoe. It wasn't good, but I survived.
I ended up getting to bed later than I had planned, but there is only so much you can do about sleep when you are in Galilee. The conversations, the games, the experiences aren't worth missing for sleep. Sleep with come when I step back onto American soil. Until then, I will continue laughing and having a blast!
It all began with a boat. When Brother Judd told us we were going to take a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, I immediately thought of some kind of ferry, but the boat waiting at the dock to take us across the sea was definitely not a ferry. Rather, it was a wood.....ship, for lack of a better word. I was so excited to get out there on the open water. It was a muggy and foggy morning (that happens with high humidity) so it wasn't completely clear but it was still plenty beautiful. I took a lot of pictures out on the water, but what would you expect? A moment like that had to be documented! Halfway through the ride, the atmosphere calmed as the boat crawled to a stop for a devotional. We began by reading Luke 8:22-25, the account of Christ calming the stormy sea and the fears of His disciples. We then read Matthew 14:25-31, the account of Christ and Peter walking on water. Each of these stories occurred on the very sea I was sailing across, probably in a location near to where the boat had stopped. Christ calmed the storm, He walk on water; the feelings that flooded through me are difficult to describe, but I can testify to you that I know Jesus is the Christ, that He did calm the raging seas and walk across the water to His disciples. We ended the devotional by singing "Master, The Tempest Is Raging". Could anything have been more appropriate, more perfect?
The boat docked in Ginnosar, a small farming village at the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee. In 1986, a drought caused the Sea of Galilee to recede, exposing an ancient boat on the muddy shoreline. Aided by a world authority on ancient sailing crafts, members of kibuttz Nof Ginnosar excavated and preserved the boat. Constructed largely of cedar and oak, the ship had several other woods, including willow, hawthorn, and Aleppo pine and was dated back to between 100 BC and 70 AD. The thought that came to my mind after hearing its approximage age was, "THIS COULD BE PETER'S BOAT!!!!" The odds are that it wasn't Peter's boat, but it is highly probably that Peter would hav used a boat very similar to it. How cool is that? There is so much history in this area of the world, most of which revolves around the Savior, Jesus Christ. This boat is just a part of that history, but it is still pretty cool!
Our field trip led us to theMount of Beatitudes, the place where Jesus gave his famous Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5 of the New Testament. We began by gathering together as a clas to discuss and share our 'favorite' Beatitude; nearly everyone stood up to share why their favorite was their favorite. At that particular time, 'blessed are the meed; for they shall inherit the earth' was the Beatitude that meant something to me. When I think of the word meek, I am reminded of a scripture - Mosiah 3:10. In this scripture, we are admonished to become as children: meek, submissive to the will of God, humble. If we humble ourselves before God, becoming like children and doing His will, then we will inherit the earth - the promised Celestial Kingdom. It is all so amazing. I took some time to wander the grounds of the church alone and to think about Christ's Sermon. The last verse of Matthew 5 says 'be ye therfore perfect'. The commandment to be perfect hsa been given to all men, but no man is perfect. We all make mistakes; we slip and we fall. But that is why we have the Atonement, why we have the Savior. After all we can do He makes up for the rest. There is a quote by Brigham Young that reads "...if they do the very best they know how, they are perfect." God does not expect us to be perfect in all of our doings; he does, however, expect us to do our very best in everything we do. We need to turn to Him and repent with a real intent and a full purpose of heart, do our very best, and trust in Him. He won't leave us alone. On the mount, there is an Italian church that was built in 1937 as a domed octagon to symbolize the eight Beatitudes; it illustrates many of the principles from the Sermon on the Mount not only by this architecture, but also in its artwork. It was very calming to walk through it, to look at the artwork, and to continue to remember the lessons my Savior taught on this very hill.
Continuing on with our day, we visited the two churches at Tabgha. These two Twentieth Century AD churches replicate (in site and in style) two Fifth Century AD Byzantine churches commemorating two important New Testament events. The first of the two churches honors the miracle of the fishes and the loaves, while the second - Peter's Primacy - honors Christ's appearance to the Apostles, in which Jesus shared a meal with them and commanded Peter to "feed my sheep". The churches were both really beautiful and I really enjoying walking through them and reading through both of their 'stories' on site.
Capernuam was a crowded town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was the home of Peter and Andrew, and it became the home of Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. Many of the Savior's miracles were performed in or around Capernaum. After some of the townspeople of Nazareth rejected Jesus, Jesus moved to Capernaum and made it his base of operations for his Galilean ministry. Jesus made Peter's home His headquarters, where he undoubtedly preached on several occasions; Peter's house became Christianity's first church. Near to the church, archaeologists discovered two synagogues, one built on top of the other. The bottom foundation has been dated back to the First Century AD and may have been the very synagogue of Jesus' day, where he preached and he healed. We were given plenty of free time to explore the city and to read the many stories associated with Capernaum found in the New Testament. I still can't believe I am in some of the same places Christ was in...walking the same streets, entering the same buildings. It has been such a great chance for me to grow closer to HIm; to have truly felt His spirit more fully in my life.
We ended the field trip with a stop at Bethsaida, the traditional site of Peter's origin...however, many believe (including Dr. Jeff Chadwick), that this wasn't the real site. That information turned off many of our attnetion spans, but due to the heat, the lecture on site was kept short anyway - much to our relief!
We got back to Ein Gev at about five o'clock in the afternoon. Most chose to swim. I chose to finish a homework assignment. Very nerdy of me...I know, but I would rather focus on swimming and playing tomorrow rather than just studying. Plus, I got it all done and then some, and I had time to take a short nap! After dinner, I went on a jog through bushes, rocks, and sand with Jess and Kerri Allison; I was covered in thorns and stickers by the time we were done. Can you say painful? It was fairly fun, but not worth it. I guess I won't be running in Galilee like I had once planned. We ended up just talking near the end since running was too difficult - typical of girls, I know. Haha, but sometimes you just need a little bit of girl-talk. The rest of the night was spent at a bonfire on the beach! I haven't been to a bonfire since my freshman year of college. That wasn't that long ago, but it felt like it had been ages. We ended up singing a lot of songs - most of which were song we had learned at girl's camp or scout camp. It was a blast. We also played fun games like Big Booty and Tiki, Tiki, Tonga. I don't think I have laughed that much in my life; it was crazy. Oh! And a stick went straight through my brand new flip-flop while I was doing a dance around the fire! It was so depressing. Luckily, it wasn't a big hole, but the stick almost caused me to trip into the fire. If you think I have poor balance normally, imagine my balance with a stick in my shoe. It wasn't good, but I survived.
I ended up getting to bed later than I had planned, but there is only so much you can do about sleep when you are in Galilee. The conversations, the games, the experiences aren't worth missing for sleep. Sleep with come when I step back onto American soil. Until then, I will continue laughing and having a blast!
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