Wow, what a week! Sunday morning I met the Fellows family.
They had family that had just gotten into town, so I took them on a tour of
Nebi Samwill, and I think it went really well. Everyone seems to have enjoyed
it and I think they learned and were glad they were there. Then we came to the
Center, showed them around a little, met my family and the Heiners, and we all
went to the City of David. We were just a bit rushed, but we had a nice tour of
that place. I think they got a good feel for it, and everyone loved doing
Hezekiah’s Tunnel.
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| Jacob and Sabrina in the tunnel |
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| Tashara in the tunnel |
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| Alexia at the exit of the tunnel |
Then Julianne took Jacob to a birthday party where he got to
do some go-karts while I took care of the other kids, and packed for Galilee.
When she got home we had an interview with Jim Kearl that went pretty well.
Finally we just enjoyed some time together, and went to bed.
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| Jacob racing his Go-Kart |
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| Jacob and his friend John |
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| At the party |
Early Monday morning Jacob, Sabrina and I joined the
students on the bus and we left for Galilee. On the ride up there we went along
the Jordan Valley so that we could show the students the path the Savior took
so often as he went back and forth between Galilee and Jerusalem. Then we
stopped at Bet Sha’an. There we hiked to the top of the hill and talked about
the strategic placement of the site, the Egyptian presence there, and then how
Saul and Jonathan’s bodies were hung there after they were killed. We read
David’s lament for them, and had a pretty good time. Then I let them explore
the remains of the Roman city. There are huge remains there, and it is
enjoyable to spend time exploring them.
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On the bus on the way to Galilee
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Our bus driver, Alam, was distressed when we arrived back at
the bus. It turns out that his uncle had just died, and he was going to have someone
come and trade him as driver so that he could return for the funeral. He was
crying quite a bit and was very sad. We prayed for him as a class.
We drove to Nazareth, and there we went to the Church of the
Annunciation and talked about what it must have been like for Mary at the time
of the annunciation. We also spoke of what it must have been like for Jesus as
he grew up in that area. We sang “Jesus Once was a Little Child” and I let them
have some time to think about that. Then we went inside and appreciated the
place and the commemoration of sacred events. We also went to St. Joseph’s
church and spoke of Joseph as an important part of Jesus’ life.
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| Jacob with Lauren and Sabrina with Mary Beth in the Church of the Annunciation |
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| Two students contemplating in the Church of the Annunciation |
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| My class pondering |
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| Jesus with Joseph and Mary in the church of St. Joseph in Nazareth |
Then we went to the synagogue church, and spoke of Jesus
reading scriptures and declaring himself Messiah in the synagogue of Nazareth.
We sang together, and Dr. Phil Allred gave a wonderful spiritual thought. I
spoke just a bit about Jesus reading that passage about the broken hearted and
wondered if he also thought of how brokenhearted he must have been when Joseph
passed away, or if he thought of Joseph when he thought of giving life to
people. We also gave students a chance to think and ponder and write in their
journals there. It was a nice time.
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Students in the synagogue church in Nazareth
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Afterwards, because Phil had made friends with the guy who ran the
place, he opened up a part of the church I had never been in before. It was
very nice, and we sang in there and had a nice time.
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| Sabrina and Me in the church next to the synagogue church in Nazareth. I have never been here before. |
From there we went to Mount Arbel. On top we tried to give
everyone an idea of the geography of the Galilee area. I was pleased that I
could point out the Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Magdala, etc. from there.
We talked about the different political entities that were in the area, and of
how Jesus traveled all around there, and of how he loved that area. It was
beautiful, and I think everyone enjoyed it. We had managed the time well for
the day, and had plenty of time to enjoy that place.
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| Students on top of Mount Arbel looking over the Sea of Galilee |
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| The Sea of Galilee from Mount Arbel |
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| the Northeast corner of the Sea of Galilee |
Then we got to Ein Gev, the wonderful little resort on the
shores of Galilee, where we stay. Jacob and Sabrina and I checked in, and then
went down to the beach to be on those shores. This is a magical place, and we
immediately felt the peace and wonder of this place. No wonder Jesus loved it
so much. It is a spectacular place.
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| Sunset over the Sea of Galilee |
Jacob and Sabrina have been wonderful. They have behaved
perfectly. They have been a good part of the field trips, and have not
distracted. They have gotten along well with the students, and have made the
trip more enjoyable. They have not made it difficult at all for me to do my
job. They have been more than perfect. And they seem to be having the time of
their life. This is their big trip for while we are here in Israel. This is
their chance to have a special time with Dad. And so far it is living up to its
billing. They are so excited, feel so special, and come to me again and again
to tell me how much they love me. We are certainly bonding, and it is turning
out to be more wonderful than I had even hoped for, and I had high hopes.
We got up early the next morning and made sure we were all
ready. We enjoyed the wonderful breakfasts they serve here, and then got on the
bus for one of my favorite field trips ever. And this one was one of the best
times ever. David Whitchurch was busy with other things and so he didn’t come
with me to do the trip. In a way I am very glad. When you are doing a field
trip on your own you can get the timing down the way you want, you can work the
themes and the teachings the way you want, and you can just control it in such
a way that it works out better. Today went perfectly.
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| Capernaum |
Our first stop was Capernaum. We got there a bit early, so
we stopped at a little bay and went down and talked about parables.
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| more students pondering at Capernaum |
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| Jacob at Capernaum |
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| Sabrina and Meredith at Capernaum |
From there we went to the Mount of Beatitudes. Sister Rose
Mary has been in charge there for a long time. I knew her when I was here
before. So I asked her if she would come and speak with the students. She bore
a wonderful, sweet, pure testimony of how Christ asks us to be better, how he
wants to bless us, how peaceful it is to follow him, and of being his disciple.
It was wonderful.
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| The traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount |
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| The church at the Mount of Beatitudes |
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| One of the Beatitudes written inside the church |
Then Shannon, one of our students, sang. It was very
touching. I taught a little bit about how we must love God and others with a
pure heart, and then again we had time to think and pray. Here is what I wrote
in my journal there:
“It has been a wonderful day. We started at Capernaum. There
I was powerfully re-convinced of how much God and Christ want us to be with
them. I was also amazed at how much the Savior does to bless us and help us and
show us how to be. And as I looked at Peter’s house and thought of how the
Savior had no place of his own and had to stay in humble circumstances,
beholden to others, never fully at home, even within his own creation, and as I
looked down at that house, I stood all amazed that Christ would descend from
his throne divine to do all of tis in order to rescue a soul as rebellious as
mine. I looked full in the face at the good things I have done and at how in
some ways I am not living up to my potential. I commit to do better.
“At the Mount of Beatitudes I am overwhelmed with how much
not only does God love us, but how much he wants us to love. He wants us to
love him and he wants us love each other and he helps us love like that. If
only I am filled with enough love I will be able to live up to my commitment. I
do love him. I do love everyone around me. I am so, so, so grateful for the
Savior who showed us the way and revealed the Father to us. I am so grateful
God sent his son!”
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| One of the areas that seems a likely spot for the Sermon on the Mount. This is just below the Church of the Beatitudes |
I think everyone had a wonderful time there. When we were
done we decided to walk down the hill to our next stop. I hadn’t done that for
five years, so I asked for some directions, got some vague directions, and followed
them. It worked out well. That way everyone was able to spend some time walking
in the hillsides where the Savior had so often walked. I think many of them
took some time thinking about that.
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| Hiking down from the Mount of Beatitudes |
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| The view of the Sea of Galilee from the Mount of Beatitudes |
When we finished we got down to the Church of St. Peter’s
Primacy, the church built to commemorate where the Savior met Peter and other
Apostles after his resurrection, and cooked fish for them, and told Peter to
feed his sheep. We spoke of the need to not just go back to our old selves and
our old life after this (as Peter had done when he went a fishing). I felt
fully inspired (I have often today, but particularly there) to talk about how
much he was asking of Peter. While Peter gave up much of his life to follow
Christ during Christ’s life, he was still often back at home in Capernaum where
his family was. He was still often able to go fishing and sailing on the Sea of
Galilee, and at least take care of his family a little. But from here on out
the Savior would be asking him to leave that fully behind and just go about
leading his kingdom. He would fully leave behind him fishing, and just serve
God. Then I spoke of the hard things God will ask us to do, and how hard it is
for us to sometimes leave behind the things we know, the ways of acting and
thinking we know, and to just follow God and do what he would like us to do. I
knew that God would ask many of those who were with me there to do some tough
things in life. And so I promised them that if they were willing to really do
whatever God asked them to, that they would be blessed. It may be hard, but God
will help them do it. I was also sure God was speaking to me. I was touched. I
had some students come to me afterwards and tell me how much that message
seemed to be to them and how much it affected them. I am so very grateful to be
a tool in God’s hands. It is all I want.
From there we walked next door to Tabgha, the church built
to commemorate the feeding of the 5000. I gave only a short lesson there and
let people spend time worshipping and thinking. This is what I wrote there:
“I have prayed a lot for the gift of teaching as I take the
students around today. As I am here thinking about it I am blessed with a
knowledge that God has used me as a tool to bless, teach and edify these
students. I am so grateful to have my prayers answered, and to be able to help
in this way. I have been touched and edified, my children have been, and I
think the students have been. At St. Peter’s Primacy I feel like ideas and
words just kept coming to me, and I am grateful. There I was edified and am
re-committed to do whatever the Lord asks, wherever and all the time. I am so
glad to have the chance to be used by him. I love him.”
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| The famous mosaic of the Loaves and Fishes found in the church at Tabgha |
I think everyone had a nice time there. I hated to leave.
But from there we drove to Magdala. This was my first time taking students
there. We gathered around the synagogue they have found there.
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| My class listening to me teach at the synagogue of Magdala |
This is a first
century synagogue, certainly the synagogue that was there during the Savior’s
life. And since I am very sure that Christ preached in Magdala, that makes me very
positive that the Savior was in that very synagogue, touching the very stones
that I could reach over and touch. That is a powerful feeling. So we read some
accounts of some things that the Savior did in synagogues. It was a wonderful
moment for me, and I think it was for many of the students.
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| The synagogue at Magdala |
I gave them some
time to touch the stones. Then we went over to another part of town, where the
mikva’ot (ritual bathing pools) were found. I think there is a decent chance
that Mary Magdalene, some of Christ’s disciples, and maybe even Christ himself,
would have used those mikvah. That is a great feeling. We also looked at the
part of town that had a lot to do with the fishing industry. I am fairly
positive that Peter would have been in those places. So cool!
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| Jacob and Sabrina touching the stones of the benches of the synagogue at Magdala |
Then we walked to
the church that is being built there. It is a beautiful church with a few
amazing chapels and some wonderful art. We had some time to think and ponder
for a moment. Then we went to a part under a dome that has amazing acoustics.
Some girls sang for us. I pointed out that that chapel is dedicated to the
women of the scriptures, and asked if in that light and in light of what we
have spoken of in the last few hours, maybe we could sing “Oh my Father”. They
liked that idea. I had an amazing experience while we did. This is how I wrote
of it in my journal just afterwards while on the Sea of Galilee:
“When in the church at Magdala I had a marvelous experience.
We were under a large dome singing O My Father. I was overcome with the
realization of the nearness of My Father. I looked up and suddenly it felt as
if I were alone, not with 35 other people, but just me looking up at God. And I
felt as if he were right there, looking down at me. The walls and ceiling
seemed to melt away, even the place around us and the earth and sky, and it was
just me and God. And I felt as if I were wide open and exposed, but loved and
important. And he beheld me. And I offered myself to him. I yielded myself as
his willing servant, bound only to do his will. And he knew it and had always
known it. And he accepted the offering. And he wanted me to bring his children
back to him. And I promised I would. I promised I wouldn’t let those I was responsible
for slip away. I will bring my family to him. I will bring my class to him. I
will bring all those over whom he has given me or will give me responsibility
to him. I promised I would. He accepted. Then I was overcome with how much he
wants us to come home. And I was overwhelmed with a desire to be with him. As I
walked out, I just wanted to walk out and up to heaven. I was ready to be done
with this life and just go be with him. I yearned for it, and so did he. But at
the same time I was with Jacob and Sabrina. I couldn’t take the thought of
leaving them behind. And I knew what my desire should be, and then it was my
desire, though it was hard to give up the desire to go and immediately be with
god. I will work my whole life to bring them to him and then I will go home and
be with him. He accepted, and I was filled with peace and love.”
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| The excavations at Magdala and the church built there |
That was one of the most singular, powerful, different, and
wonderful experiences I have ever had. I was so exhausted by the time we
reached the bus I just told the students that at Nof Ginosaur they should see
the movie, see the boat, and then go to the dock. I was not up to doing much
with them for a while.
By the time they had done that I was ready to go again. We
loaded on the boat and had some fun to begin with. We played some music and got
started.
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| Jacob and Sabrina on the boat on the Sea of Galilee |
Then he stopped, and I taught them about the Sea of Galilee. I read to
them about calming the water, and applied that to our life, and we sang Master
the Tempest is Raging. It was powerful. Then we read about Peter walking on the
water, and I taught them about faith and about our journey to be with God, and
about Christ reaching out and saving us. We sang Jesus Savior Pilot Me, and it
was powerful. Then I felt that I needed to have two students bear their
testimony. I was sure that Meredith was one, but I didn’t know who the other
was. So I just asked for two volunteers to bear their testimony. Meredith stood
up first, as I knew she would. She bore a wonderful testimony that I was sure
would teach many people what they needed. Then Amanda stood up, and I knew she
was the other one. She also bore a great testimony, and people were touched.
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| My class on the boat on the Sea of Galilee |
Then we had time to just think as the boat took us back home. In so many ways it
was the most perfect, most wonderful, most powerful day. I am sure that my
students thought the same thing. I heard them telling the other class about how
amazing it was.
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| The Sea of Galilee |
I am grateful to have done it on my own, it was much better
than if I had done it with someone else. This was a blessing. The whole day was
a blessing.
The next day was class. It was great. We were all
spiritually prepared, and I feel like we were edified and learned and that it
went wonderfully. Jacob and Sabrina behaved very, very well, and I could not
have asked more of them for the whole trip. Class was touching and amazing.
Then we went out to the beach. I went out intending to just
play with Jacob and Sabrina in the water, but it was cool enough they didn’t
want to get in much. So they played in the sand, and I watched them a bit, and
then I joined in a game of ultimate Frisbee with the students. It was so much
fun, I love doing that stuff, and it is great to have a group of people to do
it with. I think they enjoyed my playing with them. It was a ton of fun, I
really, really enjoyed myself.
Then we went to the fish restaurant and to Tiberias to the
boardwalk. Jacob and Sabrina were so very good, even though we got back way
after their bedtime. It was an outstanding day!
The next day we did another field trip. This time David
Whitchurch was with me. We went to Gamla, and he did a nice job of teaching
them about the history of Gamla. Then we did the hike, which was wonderful. It
was very windy, and a bit cold, but wonderful.
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| Hiking down to Gamla with Jacob and my students |
I gave them time to hike around
and look around. Then we met in the synagogue. There I taught them more about
what it would be like to be in a synagogue with Jesus. I am not as sure as I am
at Gamla, but I am pretty sure that Jesus would have been at this synagogue. It
is the only other synagogue from his time period that we have found. So I tried
to make the stories come alive for them. We read the story of the man with the withered
hand, I and looked at Meredith with her broken wrist and I compared it to her
and tried to make it come alive for them. I hope I did. I talked about the
woman who was bent over who was healed in the synagogue. I talked about how the
Savior can heal those with withered spiritual hands, or those whose burden is
so heavy he can heal them when they are bent over. I hope it touched them. I
didn’t have a feel for it at this place like I have at some times, and I don’t
know if someone was really touched here like they have been in some places.
Part of the problem is that we had to hurry to leave, and didn’t have time to
ponder as would be ideal.
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| Jacob and Tanner getting ready to hike down to Gamla |
From there we hiked back. Then we went to Bethsaida. I don’t
know if this is the real Bethsaida, but it is close enough that we were able to
teach some good lessons. I taught at the Iron Age gate about the worship of
false idols in ancient times and in our lives, and about how that idolatry led
to the scattering of those people who had lived in that very spot. I tried to
liken it to their lives. Then I turned the time over to David to teach the New
Testament era of that site. Instead of teaching much about it (he did touch on
it a bit) he talked about the miracle of the man who was healed in stages, and
used that as a tangent to talk about some concepts he wanted to talk about. And so he took longer than he
should have when we were on a bit of a tight schedule, and didn’t cover some of
what should have been covered. So as we walked out I did it just a bit in a big
hurry, not doing as much as should have been done at that site.
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| Whitchurch teaching at Bethsaida |
We hurried off to Kursi. There I took them on what I call a “jogging
tour” of the church there, just breezing through it. Then we went out to where
we could see the hillside, and walked them through the story of the man who had
a legion of devils that were cast into swine. I showed them the geography of
how that story probably worked, and how Hippos, the city just above where we
stay, tied into that story. And then we tied it into how Christ releases us
from Satan and death. It was quick, simple, yet direct and I think it was
powerful. Sadly, it was too hurried.
It was Thanksgiving today, so I tried to tie each site into
a thanksgiving theme. I think it went pretty well.
Then we came back to have lunch. Then we went canoeing on
the Jordan River. Jacob went with Madelleine and Blake, and they had a ton of
fun together. They got very wet. I went with Sabrina and Catherine. Sabrina was
so cute. She wanted me to stop rowing and let her row from the back. She couldn’t
steer or row very well to begin with, but she insisted I should not give her
directions, she knew what she was doing. And after a while she figured it out
and did pretty well. I was proud of her. We had a good time watching everyone
jumping off a platform into the river, and it was a blast for everyone. I didn’t
get into the river, but I had a nice time being with my kids and seeing this
part of the Jordan (very scenic and beautiful). What a nice evening.
As we got back Julianne arrived with the rest of the kids.
It was nice to be with all of them again. We had a dinner, I visited with the
kids and got caught up a bit on things, and then we went to bed, very, very
tired.
The next day I taught class for three hours again. I felt
like it went super, super well. These were some of the best classes I have ever
taught. I feel like I was really directed by the Spirit, and the students were
really prepared, and we are getting into talking about the Last Supper and the
wonderful teachings of the Savior on that last night with his Apostles. I loved
those classes, they were ideal and wonderful!
That afternoon we went on a hike with all the students. It
was a great time, I really enjoyed it. The hike wasn’t particularly hard or
beautiful, but it was nice. The waterfall we got to was nice, and people
enjoyed swimming in it. My kids had a great time, and overall it was just a great
day. I especially enjoyed being able to spend so much time with Julianne. It
sure is nice to have her up here with us.
That night we watched a bit of a movie together and then
went to sleep.
The next morning we got ready for church, and had a nice,
long, leisurely breakfast together. It was most pleasant. Then we got on the
bus and together we drove to church. On the way there Julianne and I told the
students the story of how we met and got married. We were only half way done
when we got there. So we went in and had an absolutely wonderful church time
together. It can’t get better, really.
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| Getting ready for church in Galilee |
Then we told more of our story on the
way home. It was fun and went well, and the students seem to have learned from
it and to have enjoyed it. We stopped at Yardenit on the way home. It is the
first time I have been there and not seen a bunch of baptisms. We sang and had
a wonderful little time there. Julianne was even able to get most of the kids
together to teach them individually about following Jesus and their
relationship with him. It was nice. At lunch everyone wanted to talk about
marriage and dating. It was a fun time all around.
I took a rare nap, then Julianne and I walked along the
shores of the Sea of Galilee during a beautiful sunset.
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| Julianne and sunset over the Sea of Galilee |
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| Sabrina teaching Lauren and Blake some missionary discussions on the shores of the Sea of Galilee |
I visited with some
students about the meaningful times they are having, and wrote in here, and
visited with my kids. Life is wonderful. I am blessed! So very, very, very
blessed!
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| the Sea of Galilee on Sabbath evening |
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