Master the Tempest is Raging

The Galilean Sea!!

Sitting on the Cliff overlooking Galilee

Every single day I have spent here in Jerusalem has been such an amazing adventure....but being in Galilee has added a HUGE cherry on top. A big chunk of Christ's ministry took place in Galilee, so it was great to really dig into the New Testament while we were there. The field trips were all so interesting. I loved going to all the surrounding towns where Jesus went and healed the sick, the blind, and performed miracles. When we first got to Galilee, we hiked up a cliff that overlooked the sea and a few little towns. It was such an amazing view. The Sea of Galilee is absolutely beautiful. It looks like glass...and it's always so peaceful looking. Actually, everything about Galilee is peaceful. I think the sun shines brighter and bigger in Galilee. When we were up on the cliffs, I remember looking around and seeing little tiny lilies growing around the fields, and then seeing the birds in the sky--- sound familiar? It made me think about that analogy Christ made in His Sermon on the Mount: "Consider the lilies of the field how they grow neither do they spin..."....how I was standing in the place that the analogy came from.

We stayed in a Kibbutz in Ein Gev. It was right on the Sea of Galilee. Our backyard was the beach! We had a lot of fun time out there on the beach....the late night bonfires and singing around the fire....it was wonderful! We got to go on a a hike guided by a guy named Eric, who lives on a kibbutz there in Galilee. We hiked almost all the way up to Syria! We went swimming under a little waterfall. It was freezing cold!! The weather was pretty chilly, so I was pretty cold before I even got in the water. I probably wouldn't have gotten in if my friend Tyler wouldn't have made a bet that I wouldn't get in the water before we started the hike.....I had to prove him wrong though, right? So I did! I got right in! Well, to be more precise, I slipped in. The rocks were really, really slippery, so I took two steps in the water and just slid right in. My body felt like it was burning because it was so cold. About half of everyone that went on the hike got in the water. It felt really good though once I got used to it, or maybe that was just my body being completely numb....yeah, that's probably what happened. 

Me, Eliza, and Liz exploring Gamla

Tyler pointing to my injured shin

The Gamla Hiking Through Mud Crew....sporting the 90's....You know.
Lizzy, Jeff, Shalyn, me, Liz, Cassie, Rebecca, Courtney

Gamla was a fun place to explore as well. It was an ancient city, the last place that the Jews tried to defend from the Romans. It sits on a big mountain/hill that looks like a camel's hump. The big cliff there is where about 5,000 Jews jumped to their death before the Romans got to them. It was super muddy, and I was slipping all over the place on the way down. I was proud to make it all the way down and then all the way up the "camel's hump" without falling. Then as I was just walking around, I made a silly little trip and biff. My leg got all cut up and got mud all over one side of my body. Whenever someone saw me they always said, "Ew what happened to your leg?" I guess that means it looked kinda gross. It still does actually. Doctor Chapman fixed me up though with some special ointment and giant band-aids. I don't know if I have every mentioned Doctor Chapman. He and his wife are missionaries here and they take good care of us. I just love them.

Rockin out to some gospel music with little Thomas Harper right there on the left

Cruising the Galilee with Whitney, Liz, Melissa, me...and then
a creeper. 

It's like glass!

Harper group!

I loved the boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. It had been raining and kind of dark the whole day but as we were boarding the little boat the sun came out and it was perfect out there on the water. The boat played some great gospel songs like "Our God is an Awesome God". Ha. That song was stuck in my head forever! The water was so clear. You could just imagine Jesus walking on the water. THAT water. It was a sweet experience.

Caeserea was an exciting place to visit too. It was actually the last place we visited before we headed home. It's right on the Mediterranean Sea. We came across an arena, an ancient one of course some people came up with the idea of having a little piggy back ride race. Tyler asked me if I wanted to be his jockey, so I jumped on and off we went! We were doing pretty well, and in second place coming around the bend, and we were building up speed....but then...well, I don't really know what happened to be honest. It all happened so fast. Pretty much, Tyler tripped and I went flying, then skidding on the mud. I was all scratched up and had mud all over me. We had a good laugh, and we lost the race. Ha. It was good times.         

View from the Chapel

Koryl and me....and red lipstick! woo hoo!

love that water

Whitney, me, Liz, and Melissa

For church we met in a little place right on the Galilee with big windows looking over the sea. I went and sat down, and listened to the prelude music, and was surprised to hear a song called "Come Home" by Michael Mooney. That's a song that Lauren Brower and I found randomly in our house in Nauvoo. We didn't know where it came from. We sang through it and ended up loving it. We sang it all the time in Nauvoo. It was a really special song to us, and I had never heard it before that. I was so happy to hear it played there in Galilee. I went up to the lady who played the song and asked her about it and I guess the man who wrote it, Michael Mooney, sent it to her during a difficult time in her life. Turns out it's a pretty meaningful song to her as well. Michael Mooney actually came to that little chapel when it was dedicated, which is a funny coincidence. Anyway, sacrament meeting was just wonderful. It was such a good meeting. It had been such a sunny and bright day throughout the whole meeting, but then right as the last hymn was announced, I glanced outside the big windows and saw what was once a clear blue sky, a dark and raging storm, just like that!! We're talking major Nimbostratus action...it was crazy! Then to sing "Master the Tempest is Raging" for the closing hymn...it just seemed so fitting! The tempest WAS raging. I loved it. It just poured and poured. That hymn has become a very favorite of mine after being in Galilee. I love storms anyway, but when it's a storm on the Galilee....it's just the coolest. 

Sunsets are great huh?

It actually rained quite a bit while we were in Galilee...for a whole week. I didn't mind it at all though. I loved the rain and cooler weather. It made things a little different and a little more exciting. I love being cold and then sitting around a warm fire on the beach. Our bonfires were epic. We sang lots of songs and told crazy stories. The last night we were there, we had a little devotional with our professor, Brother Harper. He is an incredible teacher, and I have learned so much from him. His insight is so amazing. When he talked about Jesus walking on the water and pointing to the water behind him saying, "Jesus walked on THIS water..." Wow. I still can't even believe that we were even there. What an amazing place. I got to sing a song, "His Hands" at the end. I never realized how that song talks all about Galilee....everything that Christ did in Galilee. It was easy to see why he loved it there so much and why he spent so much time there. It's SO BEAUTIFUL. I wonder if when He created the Earth that he made Galilee extra beautiful because He knew that would be where he would spend most of His life.... Ah now I'm thinking about it and I want to go back for a little bit longer. Ten days went by just way too fast.

Galilee....What a place to visit and to learn about the Savior. I love reading about the miracles He performed and then thinking about the many miracles that happen in my own life everyday. Life is wonderful, ya know? Im sooo grateful :)

Our hike with Eric! Hurrah for Israel!

Maybe you can't tell, but that water was FAREEEEZING

me, Liz, Jaclyn, and Allyson....Bathsheba Girls...for reasons I cannot say

Happy Thanksgiving from the Mediterranean 

Jaclyn, Jeff, Liz, and me waiting for Thanksgiving Dinnerrrr!

Amy, me, and Liz. Getting home to the JC and seeing all the Christmas
decorations up was very exciting!

We love our Tyler, yesss we do. They call us Tizkah

Well, we survived the cold water! 

This is the little chameleon (yes, a real chameleon) that I found. So cute huh!

me, Tyler, Liz, and Jeff just hiking in Israel

       

   

O Little Town of.....

me, Tyler, Liz....this is where Jesus was born I guess

BETHLEHEM!

I have been on many field trips since being here in Jerusalem and all of them have had great significance to what we were learning here in our classes. But there is a certain story that is most special to me -- the nativity story. I LOVE Christmas SO much because I love the story of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, the shepherds, the manger, and baby Jesus! This is a story that I have grown up with and loved since I was very little. I remember admiring my mother's nativity set made out of olive wood that she got from Bethlehem when she studied here in Jerusalem. It's a simple set...just Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. I have yet to come across one that is as beautiful.

We saw a few different sites in Bethlehem including the church that is built over the birth place of Jesus. After that we were given a little time to shop around and look at the things they sell there. I planned on finding the nativity set that I have been searching for since day 1. Well, it turned out that we were only given about 15 minutes to shop, so I decided that I needed to look around quick if I wanted to find the one I wanted. I tried, but I just couldn't buy any of them. I was a little disappointed as we left....and kind of felt silly. Why am I so picky about nativity sets? Why do I care so much?

Shepherds field....overlooking Bethlehem

The last place we visited was a shepherds field right outside Bethlehem. The sun was just beginning to set and it was amazing! The sky was perfect. We all gathered around and sat down while Brother Harper and Huntsman spoke to us. While Brother Huntsman was talking to us, a herd of sheep and an actual shepherd walked by. Can you imagine?? And lets not forget about the bright star that was shining. It was like everything was coming to life -- like we were in the story just sitting in the background. I just wanted to capture everything in that moment and remember it forever. I mean...there was Bethlehem, right before my own little eyes. It's like the song "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plain" except...it wasn't so far away. It was such a special experience to think about that amazing event that happened 2,000 years ago. It was then that I realized why I have not been able to find the perfect nativity set -- the story of the nativity is so beautiful and dear to me....that I haven't been able to find a set that represents the story quite good enough, and I don't know that I even will, but I'm still searching, so we'll see! I love Christmas and Bethlehem...and I'm stoked about studying the New Testament. (We just ended Old Testament and started the New Testament yesterday) It is such a blessing to have this opportunity to study here... I love it so so much!

BOO!

About to go into Hezekiah's tunnel!

On HALLOWEEN!

Liz, me... Muses!

Liz, Tyler, me

This is when Tyler said, "BHE!"

Liz's hair! 

A little group of us

Jeff Perry a nerd??

We love Halloween

craziness

Amy! Hot mama!

A little camel!

Halloween in Jerusalem is nonexistent. Many holidays are celebrated here in Jerusalem, but halloween is not one of them. There are no decorations, no halloween candies to buy, not a single trace of halloween. That meant you had to get creative and make your own halloween from scratch! We began the day with our last day of class with Bashir Bashir (Islam) and then a big group of us planned on going to Hezekiah's Tunnel. We were all supposed to meet up at a certain time....but then only me, Tyler, and Liz showed up. haha. We were really excited...I mean...most people go through corn mazes or artificially made haunted houses, but we were going through an ancient dark tunnel underneath the old city of Jerusalem. We decided to go as far as we could WITHOUT lights. It was the darkest of dark inside...you could put your hand right up to your face, but you couldn't see it at all. I just held on close to Liz's bag, while she held on to Tyler, who was leading the way. I kept begging Tyler to just shine the light behind me for just a second....I wanted to make sure that no one was following us. I could have sworn that there were footsteps behind me. (I hate being the tail end!) But Tyler kept saying that his flashlight wouldn't turn on --(lies!) So I  decided to just be brave. Then, I couldn't take it anymore....I had to have someone shine the light behind us. I had to see who was following us! Finally, Tyler shown the light....and then... sure enough there he was! King Hezekiah creeping up behind us! Naturally, we screamed and started to trudge as fast as we could through the almost knee deep water. We didn't get that far before we realized that the water was rising. This is something that we joked about...worst case scenario: What do you do if when you get to the middle of the tunnel and the water rapidly begins rising.... I don't even know. I just held on to Liz's bag and before I knew it...we were out. Alive. It wasn't even that bad! Good thing that some of that didn't really even happen....probably.

Well, anyway.... that was fun. It was a pretty epic Halloween experience. Later that night, everyone was getting ready and dressing up for the halloween dinner and dance. Brother Ohmen was going to play the organ along with the Phantom of the Opera, silent film. I didn't have a costume and had no idea what I could possibly even do, especially with very limited resources. Liz didn't know what to do either. We walked into my room and she said, "Hey, we could use our sheets and tie them around us like togas?" GENIUS! That's exactly what we did! We were going to be the muses from Hercules! Tyler apparently has dressed up a lot, as a child of course...and knew how to tie them all fancy for us. I don't know. He surprises me. Anyway, we had a great time with our hair and makeup...we were going all out! Amy was dressing up like an 80's workout chick and we ratted her hair really big. She has some amazing hair! We got Liz's hair pretty big too. It's all about the ratting of the hair on halloween!

We were very happy with our halloween costume turn out, and it ended up being what we called BHE...that stands for Best Halloween Ever. Ha. It's clever, I know. I was so impressed with everyone's creative costumes. We had a King David and Bathsheba...Goliath, a camel... it was so fun! Course everything here at the JC is always magnified as far as fun and excitement goes, or anything really.