Oh Galilee, Sweet Galilee

We got to spend a week and a half living on the Sea of Galilee!

We heard a song at church that I loved. Here's the chorus:

O Galilee, sweet Galilee,
Where Jesus loved so much to be,
O Galilee, blue Galilee,
Come sing thy song again to me.

It was such a wonderful time of the trip to study the life of Christ, visit so many places that He walked, and just relax by the sea. Here's a bunch of my photos! There are a few from later on too...


hanging by the beach


















on the Mediterranean Sea










floating on the Dead Sea! Such a funny feeling...







playing in the mud with the girls








Mount of Beatitudes








mosaic at the church of the loaves and fishes








my class trying out the public restroom at Bet Shean








singing at the church on the Mount of Transfiguration








LDS church we attended in Tiberias!








kissing the fish I just finished eating! Mom and Dad should be proud








my new "Jerusalem family" at the fish restaurant









view from where I was studying on a hammock one night











The Church of Annunciation had mosaics that were from countries all over the world. I took a picture of the one from Brazil for Tyler and Justin!









view of the Sea of Galilee








Mediterranean Sea








view from the window of our bungelow








group of pilgrims baptizing each other in the Jordan River











sitting in the bow of the boat we rode across the Sea of Galilee








church on the Mount of Beatitudes









Galilee was such a wonderful time of the trip! It was so touching to learn of my Savior and His ministry right where it all happened. Laying on on the beach was pretty fun too. :) Tomorrow we head to Jordan for four days! Then one more week in Jerusalem and I'm home. It's a little bittersweet. I hope all is well for everyone! I have had some other incredible experiences since returning from Galilee; hopefully I'll have time to blog about them later! I love you all!

Allie

Christmas in May!

Because we just started the New Testament, we decided to celebrate Christmas in May! We drove over to Bethlehem (it's actually only a 20 minute drive from Jerusalem!) and passed through the separation barrier into Palestinian territory. The security there is pretty intense. We walked through Bethlehem Square and the Church of the Nativity. There are actually four churches on the supposed location of the manger. The churches were very ornate and different from each other. The manger was actually most likely part of a covered cave where they would keep animals on their terraced hills.

After visiting Bethlehem Square, we drove over to Shepherd's Fields, where the shepherds may have been when the angel appeared to them. We had a Christmas program looking over the fields and Bethlehem. We sang Christmas carols and had students give insights to the perspectives of the different nativity characters. Each person fulfilled their calling with faith to make the birth of the Son of God possible. His humble birth was the beginning of His perfect life and ministry. While sitting there, I realized He didn't come down here teach, suffer, and redeem just so I could make a mediocre effort at perfecting myself. He came down here so that I may return to Him; I must better myself every day to make that possible. I will never forget this experience. I felt so much peace and gratitude for my Savior and Redeemer.

I hope you could feel a little bit of the Christmas spirit that I did sitting atop Shepherd's Fields. I am still listening to Christmas music..... :)

Hezekiah's Tunnel

This week we took a field trip to the City of David and Hezekiah's Tunnel! Both sites were amazing. We discussed the story of David and Bathsheba and looked at the possible sites. I have a picture below of the view from the top of the City of David. The stairs on the right side of the picture were probably the foundation of David's palace.
Next we started from the Gihon Spring outside the city wall and walked all the way to the city through Hezekiah's Tunnel! It was amazing. The water is still flowing; it was up to my knees! I can't believe they built this back even before Christ. It was built so that they would have a water source if they were besieged by the Assyrians. The Assyrians did come, but they were not taken over because they had fortified their city so well. It was such an adventure walking through the tiny cave with water rushing past me.
The picture at the bottom is by the Pool of Siloam, where Chist healed the blind man. We are starting to study the New Testament and I am so excited. Tomorrow actually I head to Galilee! We will be there for ten days studying the life of Christ. I'll try to blog but you have to pay for internet so we'll see. I love you guys!

EGYPT

On Sunday night we returned from a week in Egypt! It was absolutely the highlight of the trip so far. I wish I could post every picture I took, but the slow internet in Jerusalem won't allow it. I've tried to pick out the best! Here's a break down of the trip: Drove through southern Israel, slept at a kibbutz (Israeli socialist community), crossed the border into Egypt, drove across Sinai, drove under the Suez Canal and into Cairo, spent a day in Cairo seeing the pyramids and sphinx, flew to Luxor, saw Karnak and Luxor temples, shopped at the Bazaar, rode a camel, sailed on a faluka across the Nile, night train back up to Cairo (so fun!), visited the Alabaster mosque, shopped again!, drove to Iliat, snorkeled in the Red Sea, and finally drove home! By the end we were all exhausted and half of us were sick, but it was wonderful! What amazes me is how much history and how many artifacts have been found in Egypt. Temples and statues built three thousand years ago were right in front of me! We learned of the mystical Egyptian culture and saw many sites with ties to the Bible.


Standing of Kafre's Pyramid
Look how big the stones are!
















Karnak Temple












Hieroglyphics written on the walls of a tomb inside the pyramid










The whole class in our garb after the camel ride



After our dance party in the hotel with lobby singer, Anto
















Typical neighborhood in Cairo











Luxor Temple







Some friends and I just before the faluka ride











Camel ride! Haha I was kinda freaking out :)












After snorkeling in the Red Sea




Nile River











Step Pyramid, one of the first built
















Getting action with the Sphinx












Pyramids

Thanks for reading! We're leaving for Galilee on Sunday so I'll try to post my pictures from this week before then. I love you guys!

Bible Stories and Cautrophobia

I'm so overwhelmed with my blogging! We honestly do 10 things per day that are blog-worthy. I'll try to keep up! This week we went on a fieldtrip to many places relevant in the times of the Judges and Philistines. Here's some photos....

We went to the Biblical city of Lachish. These are ruins from the temple they had there. It's pretty amazing they are still standing!

So I never realized how claustrophobic I am! We went to this cave on our way to a fieldtrip the other day and I had a funny experience. The cave was actually used by the Jews to hide from Roman soldiers. They tried to make the openings small enough that the Romans would have to take off their armor to enter. They did a good job! We got to the entrance and I thought it was no big deal. After three attempts to crawl down the maze of tubes, I decided to wait until the end of the line to try again. You had to crawl around for about two minutes until you got to a big room where we could all sit. I couldn't stand the thought of being in a traffic jam with forty other students. After everyone else had started in, I still couldn't get myself to enter! Finally, I realized I would kick myself if I didn't take advantage of every opportunity offered me here in Jerusalem. I also knew that guys three times my size had fit down the tube. I grabbed my flashlight and did a sprint-crawl through the McDonald's play place-like cave. I was completely freaking out! I got to the room finally and we had a fun devotional about following the light of Christ and making it through the darkness. I didn't hear much because I was stressing about the crawl back out!

A couple of friend and I went to the King's Tombs in Jerusalem one afternoon. We borrowed candles from the owner and explored the 48 tombs! Luckily I had already conquered my claustrophobia.....

A friend and I at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where many believe Christ's body was laid.

Today was our Shabbat (Sabbath) so we walked over to Gethsemane. I loved this verse that was displayed near the gardens.

On our fieldtrip we stopped at a national park that just looked like a desert. We walked down some stone stairs and came into this huge room! It was used as a dovecote (place to raise pigeons) in an ancient city. It was two floors high and had six different corridors!

This is a real olive press! It was discovered underground at an archaelogical site. These big stones are the leverage used to press down on big bags of olives. The juice would squeeze out and collect below.

This is my friend and I posing in the ancient tombs.... kinda creepy

I spotted a zebra painted on an ancient tomb and had to show you guys! Then I looked at a diagram of the tomb and realized it was actually a wild donkey. Lame!

This is the Valley of Elah, where David slew Goliath. Our professor brought slings and we all threw rocks around! Not surprisingly, rock slinging is not one of my talents. I actually hit myself as I wound up and cracked my glasses! Everyone heard and my teacher yelled, "Has someone been hit!?!" Haha I had to raise my hand and tell everyone that I just hit myself. Awesome.

The Holy Land is so amazing. I can't believe I have only been here about 9 days! I have already seen so much. I have to run and pack because I'm leaving for EGYPT tomorrow! So I won't blog again for a week or so. I love and miss you guys!

Allie

P.S. Happy Mother's Day mom! I love you so much! I can't wait to hang out with you when I get home! Let's go get some Taco Bell. They don't have it in Israel :)