Sunday the 13th was a great day. We had a pleasant, relaxed morning.
Then we went to Bet Shemesh, where we met the Fellows family. From there we
went to the tel together, and we explained all of the things we were looking at
in regards to both the story of Samuel and the story of Israel losing the Ark
of the Covenant. It was getting pretty hot, but everyone seemed to enjoy
learning about what we could see there. Because it was so hot we held off for a
while on telling the full story. We did let the kids have some time to explore
the archaeological remains there.
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| The Sorek Valley where Samson spent so much time |
Then we went north just a bit, around the hill, to where you
can drive up through the Eshta’ol Forest. Samson grew up going between Estha’ol
and Tsora, so the Eshta’ol forest is a good place to do more of the story. We
drove around until we found some a nice place for a picnic. There we ate and
went through the story of Samson in detail for the two seminary students and
all the older kids. The younger kids heard part of it and then went to play in
the forest. It ended up being a very nice time.
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| Eshta'ol Forest |
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| More of the Esthta'ol Forest, where Samson grew up |
On the way home we went to a grocery store we had heard
about that is in a part of town we never go to. It was in the basement of a big
mall. It was a really nice store with good prices and lots of products we don’t
usually see here, including some Kirkland products. We enjoyed getting some
things that are hard to get, but soon it became apparent that they were closing
the store as part of getting ready for Rosh Hashanna (Jewish New Year). We were
the second to last one out of the store, and it was only about 3:30. Our
problem was now that we had been ushered out on one side of the huge mall, the
mall itself had closed and they wouldn’t let us back in, and we were parked all
the way on the other side of the mall with a whole bunch of big grocery bags to
carry. The streets around there were one-way, so we weren’t sure how to get the
car there. But I left everyone sitting in some shade and went on my ten minute
walk to get to the car and then figured out a way to get the car to them. The
kids were very happy to not have to carry the groceries all that way.
We spent the rest of the day getting ready for the big field
trip tomorrow.
The morning came early, but we were pretty ready so it
wasn’t that hard to get up to the bus on time. It is important for us to be
early to everything because our family is definitely not supposed to slow down
the students. My kids were great, they were there ten minutes early, ready to
roll.
It was a great field trip. It started out with a very long
drive. I explained a few things to the students, and checked on our kids a few
times. They were each sitting with a student and seemed to be enjoying
themselves. On occasion one of the students they were next to fell asleep and
they got a bit bored, but mostly they had a great time visiting and getting to
know people.
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| The bus on which we tour all around Israel |
After almost two hours of driving we arrived at Tel Arad. This
is a great place. It is mentioned in the Bible because the Israelites fought
them under Moses, and again under Joshua. It became a huge fortress later, and
witnessed people like Shishak and others.
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| Students learning from Dr. David Whitchurch at Tel Arad |
It had a functioning temple, and you
can still see where the Holy of Holies is and you can still see the altar. It
was a great place to teach about gates, writing (they found a lot of ostraca),
temples, and worshipping more than one god (a problem they apparently had
there). I feel like we had a really good time there with a few powerful
moments.
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| The students looking down at the temple at Tel Arad, where I stood teaching them about it |
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| Our family in front of the Holy of Holies of the Israelite temple at Tel Arad |
Then we went to the lower Canaanite city, which had been
occupied long before Israel came on the scene (from even before the pyramids).
There David Whitchurch taught them while Jacob followed lizards.
Overall it was a great site and the students learned, were
edified, class purposes were furthered, and we had a great time.
Then we drove out to Beer Sheva (Beer Sheba). This is a
wonderful place. It is nearby the modern town, which is located where Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob would have been. They spent so much time in this place, it was
great to sit and read the stories about them there. There really is a power in
reading the stories that have to do with a place while in that place.
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| Dr. Whitchurch teaching the students at Tel Beer Sheva |
We were
also able to talk about how false worship crept into the town and temple that
were there. The broken altar that was found there, reconstructed in the
entryway, provides a great opportunity to do that. We also had a great
discussion about gates again, and David Whitchurch did a powerful job of
teaching that and tying it into Christ being the keeper of the gate. It was a
wonderful moment, and really touched me. We were able to do some good stuff
with the archaeology there, and even taught about how the Anzac trail went
through there. I really enjoyed myself.
Then we drove to Tel es-Safi, or Biblical Gath.
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| Dr. Jeff Chadwick teaching at biblical Gath, or Tel es-Safi, where he excavates |
We all hiked
up quite a ways and had a great time learning from Jeff Chadwick about the
excavations there. It is always fun to learn from the person who does the
excavating about a site. It is quite a hike, but worth it. The view is
wonderful, the feel you get for the land is great, and the stories associated
with Gath are outstanding. Jeff is so animated and does such a great job
teaching! I think we all enjoyed it.
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| Students getting on the bus or getting water from our coolers under the bus |
Of course it had been a very hot day, and the steep hike up
was a bit much for some of my kids. They were pretty ready to be done. To begin
with Jacob and Sabrina were really struggling. But I started to get them to do
races, etc., and they came alive and had a great time. Alexia had a hard time,
she just wanted to sleep. But the students were so great with all of them. All
day my kids were so very good, and the students were so very good with them. I
was so proud of my kids and how they learned, behaved, and interacted. Overall
it was an outstanding day!
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| At Gath with two students who bought hats like mine. There is nothing like a Camel Leather hat!! |
And then it was back to school. Classes are going very well,
though there are so many questions and so many important topics that it is hard
to stay caught up. These students are very good. They are on time or early for
everything. They are on and off the bus quick, respectful at sites, good about
when to take pictures and don’t do crazy pictures, and they are absolutely
excellent in the class. I so enjoy these classes with them. This week we
covered materials such as the covenant on Mount Sinai and how much God wants to
reveal himself to his children, How the Passover and a bunch of other elements
of the Law of Moses point towards Christ, and how the Law also teaches about
the Fall and overcoming the Fall, about how we can learn of faith and the
atoning power of Christ while studying the wilderness wanderings, about how
understanding Egyptian religion can help us understand the plagues and exodus a
bit better, how we can see God’s love and mercy even in episodes of
destruction, and a whole bunch of other good things. What a fun week it was in
the classroom. What a good bunch of students we have. Because our kids had
Tuesday off, Tashara came to class and the orientation for Turkey as well. She
also went to the evening Forum where Jeff Chadwick got everyone ready for the
history and archaeology of Turkey. She is really trying to get a lot out of her
time here.
I also spent a lot of this week getting ready for being in
Turkey all of next week. I also got some normal work stuff done, which was
nice. Things with my calling are moving along. We set apart a lot of people. We
extended calls to the rest of the students, and did a bunch of other little
things to make sure that the Branch is functioning well and everyone is being
taken care of. I serve with great brethren and it is a wonderful experience!
On Thursday Julianne came with us for the field trip prep
trip. When we get back from Turkey we have half a day free and then we are back
on the field trip road going to Jericho. So we stopped by Wadi Qelt and talked
about how we would do things there.
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| Dr. Jeff Chadwick talking about Christ not turning stones to bread at the temptation in the wilderness |
Then we went to Herod’s Winter Palace,
which has changed a bit, and it was quite fun to explore that a bit.
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| Julianne at Herod's Winter Palace near Jericho |
I really
enjoy working with Phil, David and Jeff, and having Julianne there as well made
it all the better. What fun it is to explore these places (even though I know
them well) and talk about what to teach and learn there. Sometimes it is hard
to believe I get paid for this!
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| A donkey who said hi to me at Herod's Winter Palace near Jericho |
From there we went to Jericho and explored that site, which
I always love. We also went over to Elisha’s spring, which is a site I have
very fond feelings for. There are so many stories to love that are associated
with that place! We also swung by New Testament Jericho, which also has some
great stories to tell. Then we got home and had a great time with our kids.
Jacob and Sabrina have had some difficulties with some kids
in their classes who aren’t as nice as would be ideal. We have been trying to
deal with both of them. I think we largely have Sabrina’s solved because her
teacher has been so kind as to move seating arrangements around to get Sabrina
away from trouble and next to a great girl. I think Jacob’s is largely working
out also.
Friday morning was a bit rough. I try every morning to wake
the kids up in a nice way, but some of them don’t wake up well and are quite
mean in the morning. When they were complaining about being woken up and how
they were woken up I tried to reason with them, and they kept getting crazy and
I had to try to talk over them and eventually had to silence them all. I laid
it on the line about how whether they were tired or not, whether they were
wanting to get up or not, they needed to do what they should do and they should
be nice while they do it, no excuses. I got after them pretty hard. It was a
rough moment, but as the morning continued on they were all very loving and
nice with me. Hopefully this makes some kind of difference.
On Friday the kids got home early, as they always do on
Fridays. But I wasn’t able to spend much time with them because I had to make
sure I was so busy getting ready for the Turkey trip. We did have a hurried
dinner, and then we went with several students to a synagogue service. It was
quite enjoyable! I love how the kids learned about how much you can be happy
about the Sabbath and how you can welcome in the Sabbath.
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| Ophir Yarden, our Judaism teacher, teaching my family and some students at the synagogue before going in |
I love singing in
Hebrew and praising God. I got to know just a little bit a nice lady who does
some archaeology here and who was guessing we were the Mormon students. I
reveled in the fact that we closed the service by praising God, singing
Hallelujah several times in a context where my kids can actually see how they
were praising God. It was a delightful experience!!!
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