"Oh, Galilee..."

"And when I read the thrilling lore of Him who walked across the Sea, I long, oh how, I long once more, to follow Him in Galilee."
-Each Cooing Dove, old LDS Hymnbook

Well, my friends, I'm back, and it's time for an update. It's hard to describe how amazing Galilee was to me. We spent 11 days there. 11 days studying the Savior, in the place where He spent His public ministry. Some nights I sat down by the beach, looked up at the stars, and realized that Christ would have spent time looking at those same stars from that same place 2,000 years ago. I found myself wondering - what would Christ have thought of as He looked up at those stars that He created?

Also, I thought of how the place where I stayed for 11 days was the very place where, in all of Christ's creation, He decided to stay for His public ministry. He could have chosen anywhere in the universe for Himself to go. But He chose that very spot. It was unbelievable to me.

The field trip experiences were amazing. We visited so many places, there's no way I can talk about them all in one blog post. We had six all-day field trips and one half-day field trip as well. On days when we didn't have field trips, we had long 3-hour classes studying the New Testament, and when we weren't on field trips or in class, we had time to study the New Testament on our own, swim in the Sea of Galilee, or just spend time with friends. It was an unbelievable experience that I'm pretty sure I will never have again in my life, and I am so grateful for it.

It's hard for me to explain what Galilee meant to me. Hopefully I'll get a chance over the next few months to talk to any of you who want to hear about it, and if I do, I will be able to share with each of you how my testimony of the Savior grew while I was there. But I do want you all to know that my testimony did grow, and that I know that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ lived, that He lives, and that as we look to Him for direction in our lives, He will not abandon us.

I do want to share a scripture that came to mean something to me while I was there.

One day, while we were in Capernaum, we were reading the "Bread of Life" sermon that the Savior gave in John 6. It was given in the very synagogue where we were sitting. In it, Christ taught some hard doctrines that many of his followers couldn't understand. He taught them things such as, "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him" (John 6:56), "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh..." (John 6:51), and "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him" (John 6:54). Of course, this all makes sense to us in context of the sacrament, but to them it made absolutely no sense.

John 6:66 shows us the response of those who were bothered by the sermon because they did not understand it. It states, "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." The ensuing conversation is what meant the most to me: "Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:67-68).

One of these days, I'll share the reason that this scripture means so much to me with any of you who want to know it. It is actually very powerful. But, in short, at the time that we read it, I made a firm commitment to base the foundation of my testimony on my Savior. I thought to myself that there will be many times in my life when I won't understand a doctrine or teaching, and I will want to go away because of that teaching. I know that there are many people who probably will go away because of it. Even people who are close to me might go away. But I thought to myself about how hard it would be to have the Savior look at me with sadness in his eyes, saying, "Will ye also go away?"

At that moment, in the synagogue in Capernaum, I made a deal with myself that if the time came for me to make a decision about whether or not I will go away from the Savior, I will respond, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life."

Me at the synagogue at Capernaum:

Anyway, the time has come for me to share pictures. Thanks for reading, guys. If you have any questions about anything, just ask. I'm happy to talk more about any of my experiences in Galilee if you want to know them. It was just amazing. Here are the pictures:

My friends Kayla, Megan, and myself overlooking the Sea of Galilee from Mt. Arbel (the cliffs of insanity!).

Emily, Troy, Becca, Becca, and myself overlooking the Sea of Galilee and the Evangelical Triangle:

Me on the Sea of Galilee:

A good picture of me on the Sea of Galilee. :)

Me on the Mt. of Beattitudes. [One day, while riding in the bus, our teacher was telling us how to follow along on the map with where we were going. He said, "Then we're going to turn right at the Mt. of Beattitudes -" and then he paused to add, "How often can you say that? 'Oh, you know, just turn right at the Mount of Beattitudes....'" It was hilarious.]

 Me after hiking to the top of the mountain in Gamla:

My friend Becca and me after church in Tiberius. I got to play the piano and Little Becca got to lead the music for Sacrament Meeting during church in Tiberius at the Branch House. How neat is that? Brother Muhlestein mentioned that in the dedicatory service for the building, Elder Holland had said that if Christ had a home branch, the Tiberius Branch would be it. Kind of cool to think about.

The tower of chocolate milk bottles built by my roommates and myself. Ein Gev, the Kibbutz we stayed at, had amazing chocolate milk. Chelsey told me that if we didn't drink the chocolate milk every day that we would be an ungrateful swine. So here, Chelsey, is our chocolate milk tower after only 3 days. (I wish I'd gotten a picture of all the bottles at the end. We even have a bottle missing in this picture which we had accidentally thrown out. So sad.)

The word epic is an interesting word. To me, it is overused, and I try not to use it lightly. But I decided that one of the few stories in all of history that can be seen as epic is the story of Elijah challenging the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings 18:17-39. It is one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament. So, even though I'm not as epic as he is, this is a depiction of me trying to look as epic as Elijah on top of Mt. Carmel.

Another attempt at looking epic. I just really love that story.

This is one of my favorite pictures that I took of the Sea of Galilee. I actually took this from a bus. The sun was reflecting off the Sea in such an amazing way that I couldn't miss the opportunity to take a picture. Three seconds later, we turned a corner, and I never saw Galilee look this beautiful again. I'm so glad I got a picture. It was a perfect example of the line in "Master, the Tempest is Raging" that says, "Earth's sun in the calm lake is mirrored."

My friend Amber and myself at the church on Mt. Tabor, traditionally the Mount of Transfiguration:

A picture my friend Kayla took on Mt. Tabor. I kind of liked it.

My friend Little Becca lying in a water trough, or manger, similar to the one that Christ would have lain in on the night He was born. (We all know the manger wasn't made of wood...Thank you, Chadwick...) (Also, "Do not sit on the antiquities!" -Brother Muhlestein)

Dan's "golden calf" being worshiped at Tel Dan:

The road to Damascus!

 

Me "Waiting on the Road to Damascus..." I guess I should stop that....

Me at Chorazine. The geography made me think of a scripture: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined" (Isaiah 9:2). (Eliza, this one is for you.)

Me at a cemetery where the first convert to the gospel in the Holy Land in modern days was buried, as well as where some of the first missionaries to the Holy Land since the restoration were buried. It was a very spiritual experience to be there.

My good bud Caleb and myself in a theater in Caesarea. He's my teacher's son, and clearly very cool.

Anyway. I am really going to miss the Sea of Galilee so much. So much. It is such an amazing place. On our last night there, four of my favorite people and myself decided to take some pictures by the Sea of Galilee. It was a good way to end the trip, and I am glad that I have these pictures from the final night. I love these four. (Robert, Emily, Kayla, Becca, and myself.)

The five of us again. I have many other friends here as well, some of whom I would have loved to have had pictures with on our last night there, but I don't know what I'd do without these guys. I'm glad I got these pictures with them.

I'd like to end by sharing the words of a hymn that has become more and more meaningful to me as I've spent more time here in the Holy Land. I don't remember ever even singing it before I came here. But it has come to have special meaning to me now, and a lot of that came from my time in Galilee. So I would like to share these words:

"Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide,
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into thy haven guide;
Oh, receive my soul at last.

"Other refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, oh, leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed,
All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of Thy wing."
-Jesus, Lover of my Soul

The Sea of Galilee

!الاردن

Finally, the post you've all been waiting for: My trip to Jordan.

Jordan was an exciting time in the life of the BYU-Jerusalem Students. We visited sites walked on by ancient prophets, saw churches built almost 2,000 years ago, explored one of the wonders of the ancient world,  saw the location of the beheading of the forerunner to Christ (John the Baptist), spent some time exploring downtown Amman, and stepped into the river where Christ Himself was baptized. Needless to say, joy was had by all.

This post will have a lot less writing than my post on my trip to Turkey. That one I felt I had a lot more to explain that couldn't be described with pictures. This one, however, I have quite a few pictures that are acceptable unto me. So here you go!

We started out by driving over the River Jordan. Where we drove over it, it was actually very small. It reminded me of when we went to Lake Powell when I was a youthling and Chelsey saw a puddle along the way and asked if that was the Lake. Haha. I actually thought it was going to get bigger. But where we crossed, it never did. I was slightly less impressed that Joshua led the Israelites through it on dry ground, but I'm sure it was still impressive. I mean, I definitely couldn't take an entire nation across it on dry ground. So props to Joshua.

The river:

It's crazy that this thing is the dividing line between two nations.

That day we Mt. Nebo, where Moses saw the promised land but wasn't allowed to go to it. A picture of me looking at the land of Israel from Mt. Nebo:

We visited an ancient church in Madaba, then finished the day in Machaerus, where John the Baptist was beheaded. It was actually beautiful here. Jordan is a desert country, but a beautiful desert. So here's a cute picture of my friend Becca and me at Machaerus. Look how cute we are:

Here's a picture of Machaerus with the Dead Sea in the background. So beautiful:

Then the drive to Petra was beautiful. I seriously love the desert.

Day Two, we visited PETRA. It means rock. And it's got beautiful rocks.

Petra is one of the new seven wonders of the world. And it deserves it. Petra, a city built by the ancient Nabataeans, has canyons reminiscent of those in Southern Utah and was made famous by Indiana Jones: the Last Crusade. As was requisite, I sang the Indiana Jones theme song as I went through the famed "Canyon of the Crescent Moon." It was at this point that I had my actual first view of the city of Petra through the canyon:

As we walked through the end of the canyon, we had a magnificent view of the Treasury at Petra. It was not, in fact, a treasury, but a tomb. It did not, as far as I know, have the Holy Grail or a crusader knight inside, as in Indiana Jones. It was, however, even more amazing to see than the pictures can do justice to.

The Treasury:

After spending a few minutes at the Treasury, we continued our tour of other sites of Petra before we were given the opportunity to explore on our own. As we walked, I had my headset in, listening through one earbud with the other dangling by the ground. There were many little Bedouin kids walking around, trying to sell things. Suddenly, one of these little girls walked up to me and just put the extra earbud in her ear. At first I was taken aback, but then I realized there was nothing wrong with it, so I let her listen with me! Haha. She was so cute.

After about 20 seconds, a young Bedouin boy came up to me and asked, "You listening to music?" The little girl handed him her earbud, he put it in his ear, and excitedly exclaimed, "Ah! Music of the guide!" Haha! So funny. Right afterwards, he himself put the earbud back in my ear. My friend Kayla got a picture of me with the boy, but I don't have the picture, so I'll put it up when I have it. My friend Ariel also got one of me with the Bedouin girl. So I'll put that one up when I get it, too. :)

Afterwards, we had to continue with our tour, so I didn't have a chance to stay and talk with the children. About five hours later, though, when I was back in the same area, I found the same boy! His name was Abdullah. We talked in front of the Treasury, in both English and Arabic, for about 10 minutes. Generally kids don't care that I speak Arabic, but he seemed to enjoy it. I successfully impressed a 10-year-old. It was a lot of fun, though. I've never gotten a chance to talk to a Bedouin child before, and it was really interesting to hear about his life, about what he likes to study in school, and what he likes to do in his spare time. At the end, he gave me a postcard and let me take a picture with him. So here is my favorite Bedouin child, my friend Abdullah and me:

(PS. If you pay close attention in this picture, you can see two things of note: 1. My tanline. 2. My sweat line where my backpack had been. It was easily over 100 degrees that day.)

Anyway, besides spending time at the treasury, we spent most of the day exploring Petra. We had 8 hours in the ancient city. It was unbelievable.

The hike to the Monastery in Petra was one of my favorites. The hike was great, but the heat was merciless. If you look closely at this picture, you may note that this is, in fact, not a backpack on my back. I'll give you one guess to figure out whether or not it's a sweat mark:

If you guessed that it is, good work! But now here's a cool picture of me at an overlook of the Monastary:

(Chelsey, don't worry, I've gotten my hair cut since then.)

During the rest of our day, we explored caves, tombs, and so much more.

My friend Emily and me in front of some cool-colored rocks the Siq:

LOOK. THIS ROCK COLOR IS NATURAL. Neat.

We even got to meet the woman, Margueritte van Geldermalsen, who wrote this book, "Married to a Bedouin." Apparently she came to Petra on a backpacking trip, met a Bedouin man who invited her to stay with him, and was married to him a few months later. Parents, how would you feel if I did a similar thing and came back married to a Bedouin woman? Let me know....

Also, I got to ride a camel! Since I didn't get to ride one in Egypt, I was rather grateful I still got an opportunity to ride one. :)

A picture of my friends Diedra, Kayla, and myself in front of the treasury:

Another picture in front of the treasury. That place was so cool.

The rest of my Jordan trip was amazing as well. It included exploring the remains of Shobak Castle, visiting the ancient city of Jerash, eating a non-kosher cheeseburger in Amman, and standing in the River Jordan, where Christ was baptized. But for now, I need to wrap things up. I leave for Galilee in six hours, and I couldn't be more excited. I get back on July 21, so look for some more updates after that! Until then, I will not have my computer, but know that I'm thinking of you all. This entire experience has been the most amazing experience of my life, but at the same time I still look forward to seeing you again in a little over a month. You all are the best.

For now, I'll just leave you with pictures from the rest of the Jordan trip, as well as some things I have been up to since then. I miss you all!

Me in front of the River Jordan:

Me IN the River Jordan:

(My New Testament teacher's daughter was actually baptized here. HOW COOL IS THAT?)

Me with the greatest jar of Nutella I've ever seen in my entire life. I almost bought it. I kid you not:

Emily's chart of the kings in 2 Kings, as we studied for our Old Testament Final:

In the water after snorkeling in the Red Sea at Eilat:

The cutest picture you will ever see next to the Red Sea:

Celebrating the Fourth of July on the 8th of July (holidays work in weird ways around here):

(Picture taken on my friend Meeshell's camera).
Let me breifly mention that our fourth of July celebration was amazing. We had hamburgers, CHEESEburgers (non-kosher), Hot Dogs, STEAK, potatoes, french fries, grilled chicken, and all sorts of desserts. It was a real, American barbecue, with great music and tons of fun. It was unbelievable. I can't tell you how much fun it was to just sit back and be real Americans for a night.

Anyway, that's that. I really need to go now. I'm so excited for Galilee. I'll update you all on how it was when I get back! Until then, fare thee well.

Christmas on the Fourth of July!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY! Sorry it's a little late.

Now I know that many of you may be confused, but hear me out. Yesterday, in the United States, our country's independence was being celebrated. Simultaneously, here in the Holy Land, we had a field trip planned to Bethlehem. So, in addition to celebrating the birth of our country, I celebrated Christmas. In the West Bank.

How many people can say that they celebrated The Birth of Christ and the Birth of America on the same day? In a territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority? At the very least, I can.

And yesterday really did feel like Christmas. I had been listening to Christmas music all weekend, so I was more than prepared. In the morning I woke up, filled with excitement, and went on my cheery way to breakfast. Once there, I noticed that my favorite cereal (A CEREAL FILLED WITH NUTELLA GOODNESS) was not present, so I got a cookie cereal instead. However, when I filled up my bowl with the cookie cereal, what else should come out of the cereal dispenser except for my delicious Nutella goodness cereal?! IT WAS A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!

On the bus on the way to Bethlehem, Brother Muhlestein made sure we appropriately celebrated the Fourth of July. We sang "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "I'm Proud to Be An American," and the ever-moving "Star-Spangled Banner." We also recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Additionally, throughout all of our lessons during the day, Brother Muhlestein would occasionally mention how grateful he is for our country. It was a really neat experience. I had never celebrated the Fourth of July outside of the country before.

During our holiday in the West Bank, we went to the Herodian (a fortress Herod built), Bethlehem University, the Church of the Nativity, and Shepherds fields.

A picture of my friend Becca and me at the Herodian.

 The Church of the Nativity and Shepherd's Fields were definitely my favorite parts. A lot of people are skeptical as to whether or not the Church of the Nativity is actually the place where Christ was born, but to me it doesn't really matter. It just matters what it represents.

A picture of me in front of the Church of the Nativity.

A picture of my friends Jess, Kayla, and myself in the grotto where they believe Christ to have been born.

My friend Becca and me in a chapel that we sang in in the Church of the Nativity.

This church is 1500 years old. THAT'S SO OLD. It was really neat to see it. A lot of people don't like it necessarily, but I really did. We sang Christmas songs there and I just loved life. I love Christmas hymns.

Shepherds Fields, though, was my favorite part. Everywhere we go is for tourists, it was nice to go somewhere where no one else was, and have a spiritual experience. A large portion of our class helped our teacher's wife, Sister Muhlstein, make a Nativity movie that she's making with her kids. They acted the angel part of the Nativity story by all dressing in white and singing parts of a song. Here's a picture of them filming it:

Shepherd's Fields was mostly just an amazing experience because it gave me a chance to ponder the birth of the Savior. We sang some hymns, had a short lesson, and then time to think. While I was sitting there, I couldn't help but think of how grateful I was for the birth of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I couldn't help thinking that it wasn't just the angels at Shepherd's Field who were rejoicing. I think that every single one of us was rejoicing at that moment. That moment of Christ's birth is arguably the single most important event in history. Some might argue that the most important event should be the Atonement or the Resurrection, and it is indeed important that Christ suffered for our sins and that He lived again, but none of those things would have happened if it weren't for Him being born in the first place. I can't help but imagine it was an exciting moment. And today, I like to think that I'm still just as grateful for the birth of my Savior. Because He lived, and still lives today, we can each live once again, we can be forgiven for our sins, and we can all live with Him again. I'm very grateful for His birth.

Also, if you wanted to know what your feet look like when you wear sandals and you were told not to wear sandals on that particular field trip, I have an example:

So that's that! Don't you worry your little heads - I will post about Jordan soon. I'm about halfway done with that blog post, but wanted to post this one while it was still fresh on my mind. So you'll get the post about Jordan soon! Hopefully before I go to Galilee. I'll post about snorkeling in the Red Sea at Eilat too, hopefully, because that was so much fun. Basically what you need to know, though, is that life here is just great.