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