In September Rusty found out about a trip going to Israel at the end of the year. He wanted to surprise me with it for Christmas, but after thinking it through he knew that there were too many moving parts for me not to be involved. So he surprised me with the idea in September! We invited his parents and my parents to come with us. Honestly with all of the panic attacks and struggles that I had been having, for most of that time leading up to the trip I was either dreading going or pretty sure that I wouldn’t go. I am so pleased to say that I went and it was absolutely wonderful!
December 28: Kelsey and Levi drove out to watch the kids. They were such great sports and agreed to watch our kids for the full two weeks! That is crazy. I know that Kelsey will love them like her own kids and they will be safe and have fun. The kids were so excited the whole morning because Kelsey actually left Colorado yesterday but they hit some bad weather so they stayed at a hotel in Vernal. So by the time they got to the house around noon my kids had been watching out the windows just bouncing off the walls excited. We played at the house that day drinking hot cocoa, sledding, reading books by the fire, and letting the kids play some Nintendo Switch. Mostly they played in the blow up fort and with those blow up chairs that Rusty surprised everyone with.
Thursday, December 29: This morning we left home at 5:45 for the airport. We got there and found a secret Delta counter on the first floor that had three people in line, and then we went to a different section of the TSA that only had one person in front of us. IT WAS AMAZING and I want to do it every time.
We found our gate and then Phyllis and Kirk got there. Mom and Dad were running so late that I was nervous they were going to miss the flight. We all chatted for a while and then Phyllis and I went to get snacks and a book for her for the plane and while we were at the store I saw my parents running past haha. We got some Panera for breakfast and then got on the plane to Boston!
The flight was uneventful and good. I watched The Wanderkids which was super funny and played with the Kanoodle game that Henry let me borrow. The flight was 5 hours so it wasn’t so bad. Then we had a four hour layover in Boston and so we did what everyone should do in that situation: we went and found the most delicious lobster roll in the airport. We found a cute little restaurant that someone recommended to us, and it actually ended up being a place that we went while on our Boston vacation! The lobster rolls were absolutely divine. My crab cake was underwhelming, but it looked pretty and festive! The Boston Cream Pie was also delicious.
Friday, December 30
We finally landed in Tel Aviv, and the views flying in were gorgeous. We got out and got our luggage, met Shon and Johnny and then got on the bus. Some things got switched around for convenience sake and we ended up going to Jaffa that night instead of doing it on the way to the airport after Jordan.
Jaffa was really cool and felt like a cute little town instead of the huge city of Tel Aviv. Walking around everywhere was so beautiful! There were string lights hanging across the streets and the town was dreamy and picturesque. I have been really surprised at how different it is here compared to what my expectations were. I thought that it would be really arid and dry and frankly pretty ugly, but it is beautiful and lush and clean and the architecture is wonderful. It feels very Mediterranean (which makes sense) and seems more like Italy or Greece than my time in Morocco. Rusty and I have talked about how it is really strange but for some reason it feels like we are coming home, that we are familiar with this place and love it and feel peace here. There is something really special about this land.
First we went to a church (built in 1654 over ruins of the first church built in 2151) that was built for Peter and dedicated to him because of the miracle of raising Tabitha from the dead (Acts 9:36-43). This was our first church we visited on the trip (definitely many more to come) and I loved seeing the nativity set up still. It was such a special feeling to see the nativity in the homeland of our Savior. After that we saw a house that has been possibly identified as where Peter received the vision about taking the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:9-23). It is believed that this was the house of Simon the tanner, whom Peter was staying with when he had that vision. Peter saw a sheet up in heaven and the sheet dropped and showed many different animals. These animals had been previously unclean in the Jewish religion, but then an angel told Peter to kill and eat. When Peter brought up his concerns, the Lord said that what he had made clean, Peter should not call unclean. After this vision Peter is met by three men who were sent by Cornelius, a centurion. He had been faithful and received a vision telling him to send people to Jaffa in search of Peter. When Peter meets the men, he lets them stay with him and then follows them the next day to find Cornelius (Actus 10:1-8; 10:20-23). Cornelius becomes the first gentile to be baptized.
After visiting Jaffa we went back to the hotel and had dinner. I was going to shower before dinner because I felt so gross after being on the plane for so long, but I was so tired I went down to dinner with good intentions of showering after. It was our first time eating real Israeli food, and it was delicious! We had Challah, cheese bourekas, couscous, rice, chicken, coleslaw, Israeli salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, onions) and many more things. I was particularly excited about the challah because it is a special bread that they only eat on the Sabbath (Friday night and all day Saturday). After eating dinner we went up to bed and instead of showering I just climbed in bed and slept HARD. I slept from around 8-1, and then finally went back to sleep around 5 and we had to get up at 6. Rusty slept from 8-5 no problem haha. It was so annoying!
View of Tel Aviv from Jaffa
Saturday, December 31
Breakfast was done in the dining room again and it was really cool to have our first Israeli breakfast! They had a few options for cold cereal, some different breads, and then a vast array of fresh vegetables and roasted vegetables. They also had some egg and potato dishes, the delicious hummus from last night again, and lots of different cheeses. They also had babka (which kind of looked like a mixture between baklava and cinnamon rolls), jachun, onions, lox,and lots of other options. I love the food!
Our first stop for today was Caesarea Maritima. It is right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and that is how it got the second part of the name. The first part is because Caesar gave the land to Herod as a gift, and to show respect for him he named it Caesarea after him. I learned so many things about Herod here, most of them I probably already should have known. I didn’t know that Herod wasn’t a Roman; I just assumed that because he had leadership that he was Roman. He wasn’t even in fact a Jew, he was an Edomite (lineage of Ishmael). He married a Jewish princess and then through some manipulation and clever tactics somehow became king. Then the kingship stayed in his family for a little before his son lost it because he wasn’t a very good king. King Herod is also known as Herod the Great, and he was a master builder. He built all kinds of amazing things, including a palace that we saw remains of here in Caesarea Maritima. Herod also was terribly evil and corrupt. He murdered his wife and his sons, and he is the king that ordered all the boys under two years old killed in Israel when the Savior was born. It’s hard to look at things that this man had built after you remember who he was, and it’s also hard to look at the beautiful things he created and realize that he was such an evil person.
There are a couple more reasons why Caesarea Maritima is significant from a religious standpoint:
This is where Peter and Cornelius met so Cornelius could be baptized. The gentiles that were being taught with Peter had the Holy Ghost poured out on them and were able to speak with tongues (Acts 10:25-48)
Here is where Paul was held in prison for two years under Felix (who wanted to keep him to please the Jews and maybe get money through a bribe for his release). Later he was tried before Festus, and when Paul said he wanted to be tried by Caesar, Festus gave the case to King Herod Agrippa.
Herod's palace was amazing, even as it lay in ruins. You could still see some of the mosaic flooring visible and the general outlines of the natural pool he had in the Mediterranean Sea. It would flow into a covered area surrounded by beautiful pillars.
Further away from the coast was an amphitheater that is really large and still in great condition. It is still used today! The marble that was used for some of the pillars was shipped from Greece and Rome and came directly to a private harbor that Herod had made right next to where he wanted his palace for the ease of construction. It was fun to sit there and imagine what it must have been like to watch a play in that setting with that backdrop; it was beautiful! We sang “How Firm a Foundation” here. Then later I found out that the stadium was also used for games like the Colosseum that killed their Jewish slaves. That made it less beautiful.
After we explored these places we went down onto the beach and were able to step into the Mediterranean Sea! For both of our parents this was their first time, so it was very exciting. And Rusty and I hadn’t done it since we did our backpacking trip in 2014! The colors of that water are stunning, even though it was really cold and chilly.
After the beach we got our shoes back on and headed just down the coast to see the Roman Aqueduct. This carried water on a slight downgrade all the way from Mt. Carmel to Caesarea Maritima. It seems like it was after Herod’s time, because there is evidence of a well outside of his palace, but nobody knows for sure. It was fascinating to see this structure!
The Haifa German Cemetery was next on our list, and honestly it was one of the places that I felt like we could skip and I would be okay with that. There are two graves of early LDS missionaries there, and I think that is cool and want to be respectful of that, but didn’t think it warranted a spot on our itinerary that was already so full. After going there, I am so grateful for that stop and the spirit that I felt there. We spent all of the time talking about Elder John A. Clark and just glanced at the grave of Elder Adolf Haag. Elder Haag died in 1892, leaving behind a wife and children after he had gotten sick with Typhoid fever. Elder Clark was a young man without a family that was excited to serve a mission. His mother was very hesitant because one of her sons had died while serving a mission and she was nervous that it would happen again. Elder Clark decided that he would go, and he was called to Haifa, Israel. One of the mission rules was to not teach and spend time with people of the poorer classes because they might get sick as they did not have good hygiene. This bothered Elder Clark and he said that he felt very strongly that God was no respecter of persons and that everyone had a right to hear the gospel (this fit very well with the vision that Peter received in Jaffa that we talked about last night). From his time working with those people, Elder Clark eventually contracted smallpox and passed away. Because smallpox was so deadly, his body was not allowed to be sent back to America but had to be buried in Israel, along with all of his possessions. This means that his family lost him and never was able to visit him or see any of his possessions again. Obviously, this was incredibly hard for his family- especially his mother. She felt that she had sacrificed so much and she didn’t understand why her son had to die in Israel. Years later, the church decided that they wanted a presence in the Holy Land and wanted to buy some property. When President Hunter told his team which land he wanted (on the Mount of Olives) he was told that he would never be able to get it. It took a lot of back and forth, but one of the factors that helped was that in order to buy land you had to prove that you had a tie to this land before Israel was made a state in 1948. These two missionaries’ graves were part of the evidence that was given to support that claim and eventually the church was able to buy that land and build the BYU Jerusalem Center in a very special and important place in Jerusalem.
This is all interesting, but the part that struck me so strongly was that every child of God has a purpose and is loved by him. As I’ve been struggling with these anxiety and self worth issues, this was really special to hear. We also talked about how hard things happen and we are not always sure why- but we keep moving forward in faith. His mother didn’t know that the death of her son would make it possible for the church to have a place in the Holy Land, or that thousands of people would see and honor his grave on their own pilgrimage to Israel. We were lucky to have two of his descendants in our group and one of them spoke about his life and what an honor it is to be connected with him. With this faith in mind, we sang “I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go” next to his gravesite and I was deeply touched. Sometimes all you can do is move forward, but trusting God makes all the difference. I have done it both ways now, and I can attest that it is so much less painful and chaotic and terror-inducing to trust that things will work out because God is powerful to save.
Our next stop was the Bahai Gardens. This was a really interesting place because I had never heard of this place or this religion before I got the itinerary for the trip. This location in Israel is the world center for this religion. We learned a little bit about them and from what I can tell the general goal is world unity and peace. They want one language, one religion, one culture for everyone in the world. There are 7 million people who are in this religion. Baha'u'llah is their god, and he had a forerunner named the Bab. The main golden shrine here is to honor the Bab, and marks where he is buried. We didn’t get to go inside but we saw a view from the bottom (as we drove around a roundabout haha) and we saw a view from the top. We were able to go into the gardens just a few levels and see some beautiful views. They do a really great job with this garden!
For lunch we went to a Druze restaurant. Our driver (Mr. First) is a member of the Druze religion, so we talked a little bit about what they believe. It is not a very common religion here, less than 5%. The women wear white veils on their hair (not over their face) and the men wear white caps (kind of like a yamaka) with baggy black pants. This is because they believe that god will be born of a man so they wear those pants to symbolize that they will catch him when he is born. The food at the restaurant was sooo yummy! We had hummus, pita, falafel, schnitzel, cucumber and tomato salad, cabbage salad, huymitzel (pickled vegetables), lentils and the Israeli salad of cucumbers and tomatoes. There was a cat just wandering around inside the restaurant and going in between all of our legs which was funny because it would startle us haha.
When we were finished with lunch we went to the Mt. Carmel Overlook which has great views of the Jezreel Valley. It was a foggy/smoggy day so we didn’t have great visibility, and I’m not sure if it’s always like that or if we caught it on a particularly bad day. Although we couldn’t see very far it was still beautiful! There were a couple of things here that were just fascinating to me- including the etymology of the word Armageddon and how that relates to this valley. Armageddon is where the final war between good and evil will be according to the New Testament, and it’s called that because the hill here is called Meggido. This is also generally recognized as the place where Elijah and the priests of Ba’al gave their sacrifices to different gods. And if it wasn’t this exact mountain, it was one of the mountain tops that we could see going in different directions. There were some statues and reliefs of this story, and honestly Elijah always looked kind of crazy and angry. But, it was a very powerful moment so maybe that’s true haha. We read about this story in 1 Kings 18:19-40, and Elijah comes to show that God is more powerful than Ba’al. He came to their turf, where they did their sacrifices to Ba’al, who was a storm God. He brought rain, and in order to honor him the people did some pretty horrendous things, including human sacrifice, and forced prostitution of young girls for the priests. This is why the Hebrew prophets were so against this religion- it was so immoral and corrupt. But, sadly it was very common in this area. Some people were converted to Christianity but also practiced Ba’alism, and this is what Elijah is referring to in 1 Kings 18 when he says “How long halt ye between two opinions?” “Halt” refers to a bird jumping back and forth between branches. When Elijah came to offer his sacrifice to God, he made sure to pour water sufficiently over the sacrifice. When the sacrifice caught fire, this was showing God’s power over Ba’al, the God of water and storms.
Our final stop for today was Mt. Tabor, the traditional site of the Mount of Transfiguration. We got to the parking lot and then had to take taxis up to the top of the mountain. The roads were very steep and windy, and there were multiple times that the driver had to slam on the brakes in order to avoid crashing with an oncoming vehicle. It was a little stressful, haha. Thankfully we got to the top safely and went over to the church to find our group. It was bitterly cold up on the mount, and so we spent just a few minutes outside talking about the significance of the place and singing a hymn. We read a little bit in Matthew about what occurred here, and talked about the sacredness of this event. In Shon’s opinion, aside from the death and resurrection, this is the most important event to happen. It is where heaven met Earth. After that we went inside the church, which was very beautiful. It had one wing that was devoted to Moses and another that was devoted to Elijah, as they came to visit the Savior and Peter, James and John while they were transfigured.
We got back to the hotel and had a delicious dinner! We tried some new things and had repeats of our favorites: cheese bourekas, hummus, artichoke salad, roasted garlic on rye, za’atar and hyssop bread, yummy pistachio cake, prime rib, kebab, fish, halva vanilla cake (halva is way better when it is used as a component in a cake instead of alone), fresh dates, and olives.
Tonight was New Years Eve, but because it was also the ending of Shabbat our little town was not going to have any celebrations. Truthfully, it wouldn’t have mattered much because we were so tired we never went and walked around Tiberias, which is sad because it had so many cute things! We went to bed at around 9:00. HAPPY NEW YEAR haha!
Sunday, January 1
Yesterday I looked up some traditional Israeli foods so that I could try to find them at the breakfast and dinner buffets. I’m not used to having such little control over trips haha, but this made me feel a little bit better that I could still try some of these iconic dishes. Today I tried shakshuka, rugelach, honey and cooked cinnamon apples, figs, and some more bourekas for breakfast. The shakshuka was absolutely divine and instantly became one of my favorite Israeli foods. It is fried eggs in a sort of marinara sauce, and it is warm, cozy and delicious.
Our first stop today was Tel Dan, way up in the northern part of Israel. I knew that this was a beautiful National Park and that we would get to do some hiking, so I was really excited about this stop. So excited in fact, that last night I couldn’t sleep not because of jet lag but because I was so excited to see Tel-Dan, Nimrod’s Castle, and do the boat ride on the Galilee. Probably more than all of those though is the general excitement and gratitude that I feel for how well this trip is going. I have been very anxious about this trip from the get go, and then when things got harder in October and November I felt pretty sure that I just wouldn’t be able to go. It became such a source of anxiety and dread for me that even if I was feeling better by the end of December I didn’t feel confident that it would be an enjoyable trip for me. I still hung on to a lot of perry and anxiety about everything. As things got better and I grew closer to and had a different relationship to the Savior I started to think that maybe the trip could work. And more than that, maybe it would be great. I felt better than I had in years and felt like it was unlikely that I would have those same panic attacks when I felt so much peace. Besides that, I felt like if I did get panicky then I knew that a priesthood blessing was the surest and quickest way to help me (which I never knew before) and that if I had a hard time the Savior would be there to help me and things would be okay. So with or without the panic attacks, I would be okay. I still felt pretty anxious as we were packing for the trip, and when we got to the airport it increased. But once we got on the transatlantic flight into Israel I felt myself calm down and (I’m writing this on January 2 at 3 AM on my balcony overlooking the Sea of Galilee listening to the waves) that feeling of calm and peace has not left me. I have not enjoyed a trip this much, without any feeling of anxiety or panic, since before 2019. It is amazing and I’m truly so grateful and touched that I can’t sleep or focus on much else but the goodness of God and his mercy and the blessings that I have received- which fits perfectly with this trip.
Okay, after that long tangent, we’re back to Tel-Dan. It was so much more than just beautiful hikes (although it was that). We started walking into the park and saw a big river. It is crazy to know that just 100 yards away there was no spring at all, that is where it sprung up. We hiked to the spring and saw it coming out of the ground, which was just crazy. Shon talked to us about how the spring waters symbolized God’s grace for us, always giving and never taking, giving without expecting anything in return or being able to be paid back for the priceless gift.
The next stop we went to was an overlook into Lebanon and Syria. It was crazy how close those boundaries were; we were standing right next to the trenches that they dug for the war. A few yards out became a no-man’s land, and there was an old rusted out tank still sitting there.
After that we saw an old cultic site. There was evidence of a large golden calf being worshiped there, and Shon shared some really interesting things about that. I knew that Aaron made one for the children of Israel, but I just assumed that it had some significance because they lived with the Egyptians and maybe they worshiped figures like that. But Shon shared some really interesting thoughts with us about why that might have been significant. He brought up that like the Arc of the Covenant was not something that they worshiped but it was a symbol of where the Lord sat. In ancient times, kings were often depicted sitting on top of a cow so perhaps that was why they made an image like that and then they got carried away and started to worship that.
After this we were able to see Abraham’s Gate, which is thought to have been built about 1750 BC. Can you believe that?! That’s incredible! It is made from large stones on the bottom and mud bricks on top. It began disintegrating, so it is believed that the people made and used a different gate. This was uncovered only in 1979!
Caesarea Phillipi was another one of the places that I didn’t know what to expect or what it was going to be. And like all of the other places, it ended up being amazing! It was an old ritual site, which was also where Jesus asked Peter who he was. It made it more poignant that Peter said that in that location, and that Jesus was saying that he is not like these things, but that he is eternal and real. This account comes from Matthew 16 and is demonstrating that Peter has a testimony that Christ is born of eternal, divine nature; he is not A son of God in a spiritual sense, but he is THE son of God in a literal sense.
It is also in this account that the Savior refers to Simon Peter as Simon bar Jonah. From other accounts we have reason to believe that Peter’s father’s name was John, not Jonah. So why would he use that name? Jonah means dove, and the dove is a symbol of revelation, the spirit, and testimony. In the account of the creation it says that the spirit is hovering over the waters like a bird and then the earth is born, after the earth is covered with water Noah sees a dove, and finally Jonah was born again three days after being in the whale. It could be possible that Jesus is emphasizing the fact that flesh and blood did not reveal that to Peter, but the spirit. Peter was to be the rock of revelation, the rock of the gospel moving forward. The church was not to be built on these rocks of the religion here, but on the rock of the Savior Jesus Christ. He could be saying, “These are not the rocks. I am the rock. Follow me and I will be steady and sure.”
Up on top there is a small cave that used to be full of water. After an earthquake the water started to come out a few feet lower down, and no longer fills the cave. This water is the second source of the Jordan River (the first coming from Tel Dan). The people living here used to throw offerings into the cave to their gods. If the offering was not seen again that meant it was accepted, but if it bubbled up to the top of the water it was denied. There was the Temple of Pan where they would worship, and lots of niches that were carved into the walls that could hold statues of their gods.
One of the places that I was most excited about was Nimrod’s Castle. It is a huge fortress built on a mesa/cliff. It looks so cool! We got there and we only had 30 minutes to look around- it was NOT ENOUGH TIME! I was really hoping to have more time to look around, but we made the most of it! We decided to run straight up to the top and then look at things on the way down. We saw some pockets put into the stone so the soldiers could play mancala. I wanted to see the prison, but I couldn’t find it. It was so windy that when we were at the top I thought we would blow right off the top!
This castle was renamed to Castle Nimrod, after the character named Nimrod in Genesis that was “a mighty hunter before the Lord”. He might have been a good guy, or perhaps one of the people that led the building of the Tower of Babel. People are not quite sure about who he was. This castle has no biblical significance, but it does have some historical significance. It had a main fortress area, dungeon, lots of places for keeping watch and shooting arrows. People believe that something was built here before, but this specific building dates back to the 13th Century, around the 1220s.
We had some beautiful views of the sun shining on the Sea of Galilee on our drive to our next stop!
Our next stop of the day was one of my favorites of the entire trip: Magdala. Magdala is the home of Mary Magdalene, and because I feel a connection with her I was looking forward to this stop but didn’t really know what to expect. I’m so glad that I didn’t know because finding out while I was there was one of the sweetest tender mercies of my life. Through my struggles, I have felt a strong connection to three women in the bible: Mary Magdalene, the woman with the issue of blood, and Jairus’ daughter. The church that is built here honors the women of the bible and it has a mosaic of Mary Magdalene being cleansed from the seven devils, one of Jairus’ daughter being raised from the dead, and then a beautiful mural that takes up a whole wall honoring the woman with the issue of blood. To say that this place touched me deeply is an understatement, but all I really know how to say. I love these three women so much, and admire them and their strength and courage. I feel connected to them and I feel like we share the same story, and seeing each of those three women honored in such a beautiful way will never leave me. It felt like a blessing straight from heaven telling me that God knows who I am and that He loves me. That I have worth and value and can trust him and have hope in a bright future. I love the Savior and love what he does for people in the world that are hurting, and what he does for me.
The outer city of Magdala was amazing. We were able to see all kinds of things that showed what life would have been like during the Savior's time. There was a synagogue, water that would have been used to store fish, and even little mikvehs where they would have done their ritual cleansings and baptisms by immersion. There was even running water underground to supply all of this water! The synagogue had remains of beautiful mosaic flooring, and so far, it is the only one from the 1st century that has a mosaic floor and walls decorated with colored frescoes: red, yellow, blue, black and white.
We were able to go into the Magdala Chapel, and see all of the rooms with the mosaics (there was one with Peter walking on the water and another where Jesus called the fishermen to be disciples), but the room where Jairus’ daughter was depicted had the door shut and a small group was in there. I was pretty devastated, and really wanted to get in there and feel that connection to her. To come all of this way and not be able to get that last step was breaking my heart. I stood outside the glass door looking in, and then the priest beckoned me with his hand and said that I would be able to come into the room and look at the mosaic. This was another tender mercy that meant so much to me, although it probably didn’t seem like much to him.
One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was going downstairs to see the mural of the woman with the issue of blood. Shon talked us through the story and shared some beautiful insights (most of them he had shared with me after dinner the night before because I had asked but it was so great to hear them again). He answered questions that I had been searching for and pondering and trying to read about for a couple of months.
We left Magdala and went to a small museum to see what is called Jesus’ Boat. It actually was not Jesus’ boat, but it is an old boat that was found in the Sea of Galilee that would have been from around the same time. It was incredible! It was found in 1986 by two brothers. These brothers were fishermen, like their ancestors, and had always hoped to find a boat in the sea. When there was a drought they walked along the shores and saw part of the boat buried deep in the mud which helped preserve it for so long. It has been dated to around 40 BC, and 50 BC to 50 AD from the pottery found inside (a cooking pot and lamp). It is 27 feet long and 7.5 feet wide and was constructed of ten different kinds of wood. Experts think that this means that it might have been constructed from scrap wood, and from the repairs it looks like it was used for many centuries, nearly a century! The flat bottom made it so they were able to fish close to the shore.
For lunch (a very late lunch) we went to St Peter's Fish, a restaurant right on the Sea of Galilee serving fish caught there. For the first course we had cauliflower in tahini, a lentil dip that was divine, hummus, babaganoush, and pita bread of course. The main course was a full fish, with scales, eyes, bones and everything. It was kind of intimidating to figure out how to eat it, but it was pretty good and really fun to eat something in this place where Jesus and his apostles would have eaten the same dish. The Sea of Galilee is named after the shape of it- it means “harp” in Hebrew. It’s 200 feet deep, 7 miles E-W and 13 miles N-S. It can be very dangerous, and the waves can come really quickly and become huge!
After lunch we got to do one of the top three things I looked forward to for this trip: a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Truthfully, it was hearing that we got to do this that made me decide that we should do this trip. We got on our boat and were able to sit right in the bow, having great views of the entire lake. I was so excited! But then we had to switch boats and were the last ones on that one haha, so we didn’t get the best seats this time. We set off and talked about the Savior and the things that were done right here on this body of water. Talking about the Master calming the sea, inviting Peter to come and walk with him and helping him when he started to sink, and then picturing him calling the disciples here was amazing and very awe-inspiring. Singing Master the Tempest is Raging is something that will always be with me. A woman named Robin sang the first verse as a solo, and then we came in for the other two verses. I had a difficult time finishing the song because I got very emotional. We talked about how this event shows us that Jesus Christ has power over chaos. He also has power over the water- throughout the miracles He performed in His life we see His power over different elements- distance, time, death, illness, sin, and here we see water. He controls even in the realms of chaos, but His question for us is will we trust Him in the midst of the storm? We also sang “Lord, I Would Follow Thee” here and it was very touching.
Every time we had really seen the Sea of Galilee from our hotel it was very rough. The winds were strong and the sea was anything but calm and smooth, but today it was a little gentler. Still not smooth, but definitely more calm than at other times. It is such a large body of water, called a sea by tradition but technically a lake, and it is surrounded by beautiful mountains. It reminded me of Bear Lake, and is actually kind of similar in size. The sun was setting and there were seagulls flying all around; it was beautiful.
Later they turned on an Israeli folk song and we were all able to join in the dance! It was so much fun, and a nice insight into what people during the Savior’s day would have also done for fun. We are focusing on the difficult or important parts of his life, but thinking about him eating a fish like we had for lunch or taking a moment to have fun and dance was also very touching. After the dance some people started feeding the birds some bread and they went crazy! And… I got pooped on. Gross.
Our last stop of the day was the Mount of Beatitudes. I pictured this as still being a mountain that you could sit on and just ponder, so I was a little disappointed to find that it was mostly churches and a few places to sit on rocks but with a big fence blocking the view of the Sea of Galilee. I saw people on the other side of the fence sitting on the hillside like what I had pictured, so I asked Johnny if there was any way I could get out there. He told me to show him what I was talking about, and when I did he said that you have to drive to a different area to get there. But he showed me a place that he liked to sit and think. After that he told Rusty where I was and he came down to get me before we went up to try his special sitting spot too. I started reading the sermon on the mount here while I was looking out over the Sea of Galilee, and then I felt like more than anything I just wanted to ponder. I started thinking about the beatitude: “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Up until yesterday, I really didn’t understand this beatitude. I mean, if you are mourning and then comforted at best you’re really just back where you started. That doesn’t really seem that “blessed” to me. But as I reflected on the mount about my past experiences these last few months, I realized what a privilege it is to be comforted by the Savior. When you truly mourn, for whatever reason it may be, the Savior attends to you. He comforts you and in a strange way that comfort exceeds the mourning. I wouldn’t want to go through that pain again, and I hope I don’t have to, but the blessing of being able to feel that love and comfort from him makes it so that I wouldn’t take that experience away. It was an honor and truly a privilege to be able to be comforted personally and individually by the Savior of the world.
Tonight we got home at around 6 and dinner was at 6:30, but I was so tired I just went straight to bed and skipped dinner. This jet lag is killing me! Also, it is probably not helped by the fact that our days are so busy. I'm truly just exhausted as well- physically and emotionally.
Monday, January 2:
This morning we had another delicious breakfast! It was our last day in this hotel, and I was sad because I really loved this hotel and being in this valley next to the Sea of Galilee. But, we had so many other things to move on and see we just couldn't stay. We got to see our kiddos today on the phone and then after breakfast we took a minute outside of the hotel by the Sea.
Today for our first stop we arrived at Yardeneet at 8:00, right when they opened. We had so many things to fit in today that we had to get started early and cram them all in! Yardeneet is on the Jordan River, but it is not where it is thought that Jesus was baptized. It’s too far out of the way of Jerusalem for that, but it is a beautiful area that has been damned and made into a wonderful spot for people to get baptized. Most of the people are getting re-baptized as a way to show their love and devotion to God. We got there so early and it is so cold in January (well, cold for them) that Shon said he was pretty positive we wouldn’t be able to see anyone get baptized. I was okay with that because I mostly wanted the beautiful pictures. At the beginning we got the great pictures (and I even put my feet in!) and then some people came to be baptized so we got that too! It was actually really cool to see someone getting baptized in the place (close to the place) where the Savior was baptized. All along the walls were frames showing the account of his baptism translated into several languages. This Hawaii Pidgin. I think this is hilarious and reads very much like our Cajun Night Before Christmas book.
Our next stop was in Nazareth- the Church of the Annunciation. The Church of the Annunciation is really interesting because there is actually some good, pertinent evidence that makes a claim that this is the exact location of Mary’s house when the angel Gabriel appeared to her to tell her that she was going to become the mother of the Messiah. Nazareth was a really small town (probably just a few hundred people) and it was not well known or important in any way. It had a reputation of being unimportant and that is what led the question: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” with the response “Come and see.” Because it was so small they think that this being passed down through tradition is probably a little bit more accurate. They also excavated a Byzantine church from the 5th century AD that was built with a cave underneath. A church being built that “quickly” after Christ’s time on Earth is a good sign, because the traditions would have more chance to be accurate. The cave underneath is also a good sign because it was actually common for people to live in Nazareth. They would build a house on top and then have more living space or they might keep their animals down in the cave. Traditionally, it would have been very likely that Mary’s family had a cave. The area around the cave came from 400 AD. Up the hill they found a lot of excavations from the first century (the wine press that we saw in the Reenactment Center). Mary’s house would have been so small and insignificant, but the small town would have also had a hard time with the scandal of her getting pregnant. She would have absolutely sent shock waves through her town with that scandal, well supposed scandal. This is alluded to in the scriptures “This man we know not whence he is” could be showing that they don’t know who the father is. I really appreciated that Shon took some time here to talk about how brave Mary was to do these assignments from God, how she had so much faith to say yes. We learn in the Book of Mormon there is no salvation without Christ, and because he was born of Mary, there would be no salvation without Mary. There are many strong, faithful women like Even, Elizabeth, Mary, and Emma.
All around the church and the walls outside are different depictions of Mary from countries all over the world. They were each really unique, especially considering that they all had the same subject. The most unique one was from the United States. It was 3D and showed Mary with large gray blocks to make up her clothing. These pieces were found from the Challenger shuttle that exploded killing the teacher. The artists wanted to make something beautiful out of something that was tragic, and to show that Mary was going to have the son that could make good come from bad. There were beautiful carvings on the doors depicting the life of Christ.
Although in our church we don’t have as many things as the Catholics showing praise and respect for Mary, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t love and respect her. She is the mother of Jesus Christ, without whom there is no salvation. And along those lines, without Mary we wouldn’t have salvation because we wouldn’t have Jesus. One of the most important and beautiful types of Christ is the giving of life from a mother. We can track strong and faithful women at the beginning of dispensations throughout history:
-Eve: kicks it all off by knowing that in order to move the plan of salvation along she needed to leave the Garden of Eden.
-Mary (and Elizabeth): Zacharias is there in the temple when an angel comes to stand at the veil and gives a message to a follower saying “Here’s how you’re going to enter God’s presence” When he gets his voice back he says that his son will be named John, which ends up being the first revelation in the new dispensation.
-Emma: She goes with Joseph to Hill Cumorah. She was the key to Joseph getting the plates.
Joseph was a loving partner with a lot of wisdom. What kind of man would God ask to raise the Messiah? He must have been very special, just as Mary must have been to be chosen to be the mother of the Savior. There is a smaller church built next door that honors Joseph and his role as the father of the Messiah.
Our second stop in Nazareth was the reenactment camp. As we were walking in, Shon pointed
out the hills around us. Nazareth is set in a small basin surrounded by hills, so it is likely that
these are the hills that Jesus was taken to when they were going to stone him after he announced
that he was the Messiah.
The first thing we did was eat lunch there. It was really fun! The cooks and servers were dressed in clothing from the Savior’s time, and the food we ate was all food that would have been available to them. We had hummus, babaganoush, pita, a yogurt dip, some lentil soup, and apples with date paste for dessert. It was a really fun experience.
After lunch we were able to go out and see the different areas of the site. Archeologists found the center of the ancient town of Nazareth at where the Church of the Annunciation is built now. The first thing that they found was a wine press, which showed that they grew grapes. This led to finding the terraces that were used to grow the grapes, an old watch tower, and some walls and roads. This stop ended up being really remarkable. Obviously the world is a different place than it was when the Savior was here, but this location takes you back in time so that you could imagine what it would have been like. We started walking up a trail and saw an olive tree that was 400 years old. Our guide told us that a new shoot of an olive tree is called Netzer, as in Nazareth. Jesus was called a Nazarene: a new shoot that came out of Jesse. This was a fulfillment of prophecy! Although the Messiah was to be born in the city of David (which he was) this also fulfilled that prophecy that other people had overlooked.
Nazareth was founded 2,200 years ago. The main means of transportation was a donkey. Donkeys have a unique ability to find the best way down the hill, and they have very sure footing. The people just followed the donkeys leads and the paths they took eventually became the roads of the town. For this reason, it is said that the donkeys were the first engineers of Nazareth. Also, it is very highly likely that these roads that were found would have been the same ones that were used during the time of Christ.
As we continued walking we came to a wine press. Traditionally we always depict them as smashing the grapes without shoes on, and one possible reason for that is that the seeds of the grapes were very bitter. With shoes on the seeds could have been more easily broken, letting that bitterness out. But with bare feet you could smash the grapes while keeping the seed intact. The juice would flow over the rocks down into a hole, naturally filtering out the seeds. Then the wine would be put into skins. It is said that the new wine needs to be put into new skin and that is because during the fermentation process, gasses are released on only the new skin is flexible to move without breaking. An old wine skin would break. In Mark 12 we read about a vineyard with a wine press and a wall around it, with a watch tower. It could be very likely that Jesus was thinking of his home town of Nazareth while describing this.
The next stop was the olive press. This was really fascinating as we were able to learn about the process that it takes to extract the olive oil. We all had heard about this being used as symbolism for the Atonement, but hearing it explained and seeing the tools that would be used was very helpful and touching. The olives would have been picked from the trees and brought to the stone basin. The donkey would pull the mill and crush the olives, turning them to pulp. Next, the pulp would be put into special baskets that would keep the pulp inside but let the water and oil out. It was moved to the next tools and the oil and water dripped out, naturally separating themselves. It would rest for a time like this before putting the pressure of the weights on. The olives were pressed three times, the first time yielding the best oil and the quality decreasing each time. The first oil would be used for offerings to the Lord, the first fruits, and for any anointing. The second press would be used for cooking, medicine, and toiletries like perfume. The last press would be used to start fires and for light in oil lamps. It was very poignant to see these tools and think about how Christ was crushed and pressed in the garden of Gethsemane (which means olive press). He was under such great pressure that he sweat drops of blood. The pressing of the olives three times is a nice connection with the fact that Jesus prayed three times in Gethsemane.
Next we saw a potter. I did not know that they were so skilled at that time that they even had a turntable that he moved with his foot! It was really cool to watch him. The clay would be kept in the shade in wet condition and it was used with the wheel and adding water to make it smooth. The pottery would be kept on the shelf in the shade to prevent cracking, and it would dry for about 2-3 weeks before it was put into the kiln to bake. When God formed the first man he did it out of the dirt and earth. Yatzar means “to form” and is used in the bible in this reference. It is similar to the word “Yotzer'' which means potter in Hebrew. The Lord is our potter and we are like clay in his hands.
Our last stop here was my favorite. It was a replica of a full sized synagogue, although it was much larger than what a small town like Nazareth could have had. They probably only had about 200-250 people in the first century. It was the same size as the ruins left in Magdala though! We got to go inside and look at how they would have built this structure. The roof was built the same as the roofs of houses. Beams of wood are laid across, with reeds and three layers of mud mixture. The top and bottom layers are compressed to create a barrier, and the middle layer is dirt that can be used to absorb water. This brought more meaning to the story of the paralyzed man who was brought by his friends to be healed by the Savior. I knew that it was possible to get through the roof because of how it was built, but I didn’t realize that it would have taken a lot of work to get through that roof. And it would have taken a lot of work to rebuild it. Breaking through someone’s roof would take a lot of faith that it would be worth it and the Savior really could heal your friend, and allowing your roof to be broken would take faith as well. The synagogue would be used for town meetings, and for a place where the elders of Nazareth would judge people. On Shabbat the people would gather together to read from the holy scriptures. At this time our guide went to the front of the synagogue where a small pulpit was and grabbed a scroll. He began to read to us the passage that the Savior read in the synagogue in Nazareth, saying that the scripture was fulfilled. As the people start to get angry about this, he tells two stories. One is about the woman who survived through the famine with Elijah, and the other was the story of Namaan who was cleansed by washing in the Jordan River seven times. He probably had multiple reasons for sharing these two stories, but it could be possible that he was trying to show them that God’s miracles come in his time and can be in unusual ways. Another very important fact about these two stories that would not have been lost on the people is that both of these people were gentiles. But the people had been ruled by a foreign empire for hundreds of years. They wanted a Messiah that would save them and lead them to freedom. Here he was, saying he was the Messiah and instead of destroying the gentiles he was going to heal them as well as the Jews. The people were incredibly angry and wanted to throw him off of a cliff nearby, but he was able to slip away unnoticed and unharmed. This was his last time in Nazareth; he would never come back. Hearing our guide read those messianic scriptures in the town where Jesus would have read them was really special and the spirit was strong.
We left Nazareth and headed toward an old Roman city called Beit She’an, which means the delightful city. The scriptures say that Jesus made his way through the cities of the Galilee and the decapolis (ten gentile cities). Bet She’an was one of those ten gentile cities, so he probably visited here. This stop was incredible! Truly unbelievable! The Romans were masters at architecture and everything always looked so beautiful. There were Greek remains at the base of the hill, and Roman buildings in Jesus’s day.
Beit She’an are roman ruins from about 3100 BC. On top of the hill there were ruins from even older times, such as when the Egyptians were there. We decided not to go to the top after doing Nimrod’s Castle. While there we went to the top but we missed out on so many interesting things at the bottom. After the things we saw down below I am glad we didn’t go up to the top! I’m sure it was wonderful, but I wouldn't want to have missed out on anything we saw. One of the cool things about the top (Mt. Gilboa) is that this is where David came to take the bodies of Saul and his sons back after Saul kills himself (2 Sam 21:12).
This city had everything you could need! There was a large theater- it could hold 6,000 people! It is now the most well preserved theater in Israel. It was built in the second century. After walking through the theater we went to the roman toilets. This was absolutely fascinating! There were pillars around the perimeter of the room, with one channel in front and one channel behind. There were times of day when the women could use them, and different times when the men could use them. They would sit down between two of the pillars, right next to the other people, and go poop and pee. They would chat with each other while this was happening, and it was seen as a very social, public event. The channel behind was for all of their waste that would go out of the room and the channel in front had water in it. Sticks with sponges were passed around for people to dunk in the water, wipe themselves, rinse off, and then give to the next person. In some ways it is obviously disgusting, but for this time period any sort of flowing water for the bathroom is really impressive.
The last thing we saw was the bathhouse. This is the best example of a Roman bathhouse that we have. At first we were so confused because we just saw a whole bunch of short pillars spread evenly across the floor. We didn’t know if they sat on them like the toilets? But then Shon explained to us that these pillars would have been under the floor with the water and bathtub on top. There were these pockets of air so that a fire could be built on one side of the room and it would heat all of the air underneath the floor. This would heat the water nicely for the baths. That is incredible!
Beit She'an had an excellent location on Via Mares, the main highway, and it also had good water sources. Civilizations here go back to 5 millennium BC. In 749 AD, an earthquake severely destroyed Beit She'an.
When we were finished in Beit She'an (I could have spent so much more time there!) we went back to the Sea of Galilee to a place called Tabgha. This is where Jesus Christ fed the 5,000, and there is a beautiful little church with a mosaic of fish and loaves on the floor. This was our first time at the Sea of Galilee (and our only time) where there was a beach entrance into the sea. This was such a beautiful place, and like what it would have been like in Jesus’ day. I loved watching the waves come in on the shore.
After Tabgha we went to Capernaum. I was really excited to see this small town after reading The Kingdom and the Crown series by Gerald Lund. The main characters live in Capernaum, and it depicts Jesus doing many of his miracles and teaching from here. It is left in ruins now, but there is a location that is remarkably likely to have been Peter’s mother in law’s home. This is where Jesus would have raised her from her illness, and where Peter would have been living. This means that Jesus would have spent a lot of time in this home, and it might even have become his home base in Capernaum. This town becomes Jesus’ hometown- he never goes back to Nazareth after they tried to stone him after he read in the synagogue. It must have been so painful to be rejected by your hometown. During his time here he works mighty miracles, and he does find some acceptance here, but of course there are still those that will reject him. The population of Capernaum around that time would have been a few hundred to the very low thousands.
The houses here had a central area for the home, with a large courtyard built outside. With this house, the courtyard was added to and made much larger, large enough for a crowd of people to gather in one spot. Later it was turned into a church, and then the Catholic Church bought it and built a church on top of it, but it is suspended in the air so you can still see the remains of the old structures below.
Because it would have been highly unusual for a house to be enlarged in such a way during the first century, and because Capernaum is such a small town that tradition would have held true, it is strongly believed that this is the location of Anna’s house (traditionally the name of Peter’s mother in law). Peter’s home would have likely been the church headquarters for some time, and they would have needed extra space to heal others.
There is a synagogue still there, but it is much larger and grander than it would have been during the Savior’s time. Even still, it was really lovely to be able to see a synagogue in that town and picture him being there, and walking the streets healing people and teaching people.
Stories that take place in Capernaum:
1. Mark 1. Place of consolation. Synagogue. Entrance into Capernaum.
2. Simon's wife’s mother is sick. She and her home Become the center
3. Heals the man with the withered hand
4. Tearing through a roof where he’s teaching to power the man with palsy
Whatever Jesus lays his hands on, it will live.
We walked around the city of Capernaum more and saw lots of cool ruins and sites. It’s also on
the Sea of Galilee, so there were beautiful views.
Dinner was delicious and quick, and then it was time for bed!
Tuesday, January 3:
This morning we got up, had a quick breakfast, and then checked out of our hotel! I was so sad to say goodbye to the Sea of Galilee; it is such a beautiful place. As we drove out I started to feel a little bit sick but thought it was just car sickness. We got to the baptismal site of Jesus called Bethabara, and once I had gotten out and could walk around I felt a little bit better. This was a really cool stop. After coming here I can understand why Shon wanted to take us to Yardeneet even though that is not a traditional site where Christ was baptized. Yardeneet is picturesque and beautiful, and Bethabara is muddy with lots of brown, murky water and soldiers on both sides of the river. The border between Jordan and Israel goes right down the middle of the river there, so each country is guarding their banks. Even if it wasn’t particularly stunning, it was beautiful in its own wild way. I know that a couple of thousand years ago the river was much wider and was actually further over into the country of Jordan, but getting a better mental picture of what his baptism may have looked like was wonderful.
After Bethabara we drove to Tel Jericho. We stopped to see the ruins of the walls of Jericho that came crashing down when Joshua marched around the city. We also saw part of the spring that traditionally is where Elijah (2 Kings 2:21) threw salt into the spring to make the water drinkable. Jericho is the oldest city that has been continuously lived in, and Damascus is older than Jericho by about 100 years but nobody has lived there for a long time. There is a large mount to the side that is traditionally the site of the Mount of Temptations, where Satan was allowed to tempt Jesus after he had been fasting for 40 days.
We also saw a sycamore tree that is definitely not the one that Zaccharius sat in but it was cool to see one growing in the same town where that story occurred.
Our next stop in Jericho was Jimmy’s, a store where we could buy beautiful olive wood carvings. When we got off the bus I was feeling really sick, so I asked Shon if it would be possible to sit closer to the front of the bus when we left. He said of course, but as I walked around the store I just felt worse and worse. People started to notice that I wasn’t feeling well, and Jimmy told one of his workers to go to the store and get me some pretzels. Taliah gave me a water bottle to help me, and I carried around a bag in case I needed it. Someone in the group gave me a Pepto Bismol tablet, and I think that helped. I stayed outside for most of the time because I was trying to not throw up. I talked to Shon just a little bit about some of the concerns I was having and the anxiety that I had. This morning was the first morning that I had felt anxious for the entire trip, which is amazing! I felt so good these first few days, better than I have on a vacation in years. I am so grateful for the miracles that I have seen in my life with my anxiety and panic attacks. Anyways, this morning Rusty told me that Israel bombed an airport runway in Syria yesterday, on January 2. This really shook me and I was so scared that something would happen and the borders would shut down and I would not be able to get home to my kids. I mentioned this to Shon and he talked me through some of the politics of the area and assured me that there is no chance that would happen, and Israel would take care of the tourists and keep them safe and I would be able to get back home to my babies. I shared with him that I had been going through some very difficult times over the past couple of months, and that I had felt a strong connection to three different women in the New Testament: Mary Magdalene, the woman with the issue of blood, and Jairus’ daughter. I said that maybe my anxiety about this was causing some of my upset stomach, but it didn’t really feel like that.
Anyways, we left Jimmy’s eventually and I sat at the front of the bus where a woman named Laura gave me a dramamine. We had a really short drive to go to a place for lunch, which I think was really delicious but I didn’t eat anything there. I ended up sitting on the stairs around the corner throwing up into my plastic bag haha. But the good news is that after that I started to feel much better. I asked Laura for another dramamine because I threw mine up and she said that she had something that was for once you were already nauseous, and I said that would be wonderful. Apparently, that pill makes you sleepy because I was knocked out for quite some time haha. I missed the stop that they made at Masada, which is a bummer because I was looking forward to it. But I was eternally grateful that I missed out on that instead of missing out on something religious and spiritual. My mom stayed on the bus with me to make sure I was okay and I slept with my head on her lap for a while.
Masada was so cool (I heard)! My mom and I were the ones who took the most notes on the trip, and since we stayed on the bus I just have what I could find online to go with the pictures that Rusty brought back. I really want to go back to see it- it looks amazing! Masada means “fortress” in Hebrew, which makes sense because it is an ancient fortress on top of a plateau. The plateau is isolated so it gave great protection. It was built by Herod the Great. The fortress contained storehouses, barracks, an armory, a palace, and a series of cisterns that were refilled by rainwater - with the runoff collected from a single day’s rain allegedly able to sustain over 1,000 people for 2 to 3 years. Three narrow, winding paths led from below up to fortified gates.
After Masada we drove past Qumran, which is a cave where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. I also slept soundly through this part, but that was okay because it had a pretty strong reputation for being a really lame stop haha. Nobody got off of the bus, but I still think it is cool to see where they were found!
At the end of the day it was time to float in the Dead Sea! Luckily by now I was feeling much better and the weird sleeping pill that lady gave me had worn off, so I was able to get in the water. We were told we had 50 minutes, and I told Rusty that I’d probably just be in for five and then get out because I thought it was going to be weird. Turns out, we got there late right before they were closing so we only had 15-20 minutes in the water and it was so much fun! I ran in with my book and tried floating on my back, and then I took some pictures of Rusty swimming. Then we all floated around together, and I decided that I wanted to try to float on my stomach but that I should swim away so I didn’t kick anyone in the face while I awkwardly tried to do that. As soon as I put my legs down to start swimming I immediately started floating on my stomach! It was the craziest sensation. We played around for a while, Dad, Rusty and I pretending like we were buoys. When we got out and got showered, our skin was all so amazingly soft! It really does do wonders for your skin! Back on the bus Johnny made a joke about how a family went to the Dead Sea with him once and they wanted to stay there the whole day instead of doing the other sites. The teenager stayed on the bus though, and when he went out to get his parents he saw his mother carrying a baby. When he asked who the baby was his mom said that his dad had stayed in too long and got too young haha. Oh Johnny.
After the Dead Sea, we went and checked into our new hotel in Old Jerusalem. Driving up and seeing the big city was really cool, but I was still kind of out of it. The hotel was beautiful and renovated from a really old building. There was a bit of a mix up and a few families had to share rooms, so Rusty and I shared with Phyllis and Kirk. The layout of the room made it so it wasn’t bad, and we each had our own bathroom which was my biggest concern with me being sick. I showered and went to bed while everyone else went down to dinner.
Wednesday, January 4:
I took a sleeping pill last night so I slept really well, and this morning I was feeling quite a bit better! Not 100% yet, but a huge improvement. In order to help with some of my anxiety I asked Rusty to give me a priesthood blessing. After that, I felt so much better. I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood and a husband that can give me blessings.
Today we set off and I was excited to be feeling better and ready to go! We saw a lot of interesting things just driving around the city for our first day!
Our first stop was the City of David. We walked through some cool parts, saw some great views of the city, and saw some of the excavations.
Then we went to Hezekiah’s Tunnel, which is a water tunnel that was carved in the City of David in ancient times. King Hezekiah prepared Jerusalem for an impending siege by the Assyrians by "blocking the source of the waters of the upper Gihon, and leading them straight down on the west to the City of David" (2 Chronicles 32:30). By diverting the waters of the Gihon, he prevented the enemy forces from having access to water, and ensured that the city would have enough water as well. The curving tunnel is about 1⁄3 mile long and by using a very slight gradient, the engineers managed to move the water from the spring to the pool. According to the inscription, the tunnel was excavated by two teams, one starting at each end of the tunnel and then meeting in the middle. Some people believe that the two teams were directed from above by sound signals generated by hammering on the solid rock through which the tunnelers were digging.
This was a really fascinating experience, and a unique one for sure. I had never done anything like this! In my head the tunnel was going to be extremely large, but I don’t know why because it makes more sense for it to be a smaller size. In truth, for most of the duration the tunnel was about as tall and wide as a person. There were some areas, particularly towards the end, where the ceiling went up about nineteen feet! Before we got to the actual tunnel entrance we saw a really cool place that was a rock cut pool where water would have gathered from the tunnels. Shon told us about some of the really important meetings people like Isaiah would have had here while gathering water. Later, we stepped into the water of the tunnel and it was pretty cold, but not too bad. At the beginning it was the deepest, and hit my mid thigh. I got nervous that it would get a lot deeper as we went, but it actually never got that deep again. It was really fascinating to walk through the tunnel and see the chisel marks from the people digging out the tunnel. It must have been so much work to do, and the intelligence that they had to be able to take down a project of this magnitude is just astounding.
The tunnel empties out into the Pool of Siloam. This pool is where the blind man was healed by Jesus in John 9:7. It is also the location of Jesus’ sermon about Him being the living water. During the Feast of Tabernacles, Jews would go down and collect water every day and have a “Pouring Out Ceremony” at the Pool of Siloam. This was living water because it was moving and fresh. It was here, during this festival, that Christ tried to tell His people that He was the real living water.
Our next stop was kind of a pit stop on the way to the more important stop: Caiphas' Palace. But we stopped to look from a viewing platform. One one side was the Valley of Gehenna, or the Valley of Hell, and to the other side you saw views of the Kidron Valley. This valley, during biblical times, is where children were sacrificed to different gods. It also was a place where people would dump their garbage and then burn it. It became a symbol of Hell and of the fierce judgements of God.
I wish I could say our next stop was happier, but here is where the Savior would have been held before he was crucified: Caiaphas’ Palace. We entered in by going to the church called St. Peter in Gallicantu, which is dedicated to the moment where Peter denied Christ.
After that we went to the prison. They are not sure that this is where Christ would have been held, or if this is in fact Caiaphas’ palace, but some things point toward that being the case. One of them is the fact that there was a prison here underneath the palace. Caiaphas would have needed to be close to monitor things and make sure everything was going well. Downstairs the prison was just as it would have been, which is a rare find in these places. There were some loops where prisoners would have been tied to the wall to be scourged. There were also two basins in the ground: one for vinegar and one for water. These would be put on the backs of the prisoners before they were scourged. The water would make it so it would cut the skin but the blood would run down instead of congealing. The vinegar made it so that the cuts would sting even more.
Today was the first day that we had lunch on our own! I am pretty sure it was the only day of the entire trip that we had lunch on our own actually. We were given an hour and a half in Old Jerusalem next to a giant menorah that was made as a replica of the menorah that was made in Exodus. We went to a place right in the square that was selling shawarma- something I had been waiting for the whole trip! I got chicken shawarma and it was absolutely delicious.
After lunch we walked through Old Jerusalem to go to our next stop: a possible location for the Last Supper. It has been passed down that the Last Supper happened on Mt. Zion, but the exact location is unkown. A church has been here commemorating the Last Supper since the 14th Century. Regardless if this is the place or not, it was special to think about what happened that night: the washing. of the feet, the last supper, possibly where Christ visited the disciples as the resurrected Savior... so many wonderful things.
We continued through Jerusalem to the Temple Complex. I was never actually able to find the name of these places, but we walked around the southern end of the western wall, and around to the south side of the temple. On the western side, we saw the remains of an old Roman cardo. By “old” I mean, like Jesus would have walked on these same stones! Are you kidding me?! We also saw Robinson's Arch and some stores/livestock stalls where you would have been able to buy animals to sacrifice at the temple. Robinson's Arch was a huge set of stairs that would take people up onto the temple mount. This was also our first introduction to the Herodian stones. These things were massive! I have no idea how they were able to build a temple using these, moving them up on top of one another. On average, these stones weigh 1-40 TONS. The largest one they have found is 570 TONS. Like, how?! That brings a whole different meaning to Christ’s prophecy saying that not one stone would be left on the other. These stones are massive, assuming the temple was built with the same stones the walls were built with. We also saw the corner of the temple where it makes the most sense for him to have been when Satan tempted him to cast himself down.
On the South side of the temple complex, we saw a mikva. We also saw a stone that has been there since Roman times and is somewhere that Jesus definitely could have stood. Neil Armstrong stood here once and said, “I am more excited stepping on these stones than I was stepping on the moon.”
Today was a very surreal experience for me. We got to go to the Wailing Wall and it was amazing. I asked Shon about protocols for being there. I didn’t know if we were allowed to go up to the wall, if we could touch it, or if we could write a prayer for the wall. I was surprised that we were allowed to do all of those things! The wailing wall is not one of the walls of the temple, but it is one of the foundation walls that was left after it was destroyed. All four of the foundational walls have at least some of them remaining, so why would the Jewish faith choose only one wall? And why that particular wall? It turns out that the holy of holies was closest to this foundational wall, and so many of the Jewish faith believe that the spirit of God left the holy of holies and came to this wall to dwell. It was interesting to find out that sometimes people praying at the wall will be facing slightly to the left, which is where the holy of holies would have been. There are also some Jews that don’t want to walk on the temple mount or even put a prayer in the wall because they don’t know where the holy of holies was and they don’t want to defile it by walking through it.
When it was time for us to go to the wailing wall, the men went to the left and the women went to the right. The side for the men is much bigger, and we found out that the women’s side has even been enlarged in the last few years. Mom and I went to the wall and wrote a prayer down on a piece of paper to put inside the wall. There were so many people there that you had to wait your turn to reach the wall, but it was really fascinating to watch the people praying there. Many of them were crying, most of them were swaying forward and backward, and many were reading aloud from the Torah. They pray with their whole bodies, feeling that their prayers will be heard more if they are praying with all their might. We got to the wall and I was able to touch it and put my prayer in it. My paper immediately fell out because I had to save someone else’s prayer paper haha, but it was there for a second or two. I left and then went back to the wall because I wanted to put my head on it and say a prayer. Being there felt very special, and seeing these women who were exhibiting such faith and emotions for their beliefs and their God was very touching. It reminded me of the prayer roll that we do at our temples. After that I went back to the group and was talking with my mom. I told her that I just wrote a few words on my paper: “Peace, trust, calm”. She misheard me and thought that I wrote “call me” hahaha. We laughed about that for a long time while we waited for the men to come over.
The last thing that we did today was visit the Holocaust Museum called Yad Vashem. Because I was trying to not get anxious and worried since yesterday, I decided to just go through really quickly and not pay attention to the exhibits. I know it is such a good thing to see things like this and to remember, but I didn’t think that I could handle it. After seeing the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. I was haunted for months. Instead Mom and I just hustled through it and then sat in the room at the end. Rusty did say that it was a very moving museum, and although it was hard to see and think about, it was very powerful. The Jewish people have a reputation of being pushy and prickly, but they have been through so much persecution that they have decided enough is enough. They even say that the cactus flower is a symbol of their people because it is prickly on the outside but sweet and nourishing on the inside.
Thursday, January 5:
This morning we got up and had breakfast, and then we were so lucky to be able to go up the temple mount. Shon said that because of political reasons, sometimes not everybody that comes here gets to go up on the mount, and at times even some students that are here for the semester are not able to go. He had heard some rumblings that there were going to be some issues this week, but luckily nothing happened and we were able to go. In fact, we were told to be very careful about the language we used while in line and on the mount. We definitely were not supposed to call it “temple mount” and even using the word “mount” was discouraged. It is still so charged with tension that things that seem small to me are a really big deal to the people living there. The muslims don’t like when it is called the temple mount because they don’t think there ever was a temple there, but that was all false rumors.
Joe came with us and explained some things as we walked. I remember getting to the top and looking over to see the other mosque and then turning to the left and seeing the Dome of the Rock. That was such a surreal experience! I truly never thought I would see that in person. I’m sure it is just as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside, but they no longer let people in except for pretty unique circumstances.
We sat on a small wall with the Dome of the Rock to our right while Joe explained some things about the history of this place. The mount was the highest area in Jerusalem, and it was also ⅕ the size of the entire city. 2,000 before Christ was born there was nothing on the mount, but later the Cannananites would come and they would use the mount as a place for threshing wheat. Because it was so high up, they would throw the wheat in the air and the wind would carry the chaff away, leaving most of the seeds behind. And any of the seeds that went with the wind were then planted all over the area. There were pagan statues found here from this time. In Genesis we read about Abraham and his time around 1,800 BC. Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son Isaac on Mt. Moriah, and many people believe that this was the same mount in Jerusalem. In fact, they believe that the rock that he was going to sacrifice Isaac on is still there, which is the rock that is kept sacred in the Dome of the Rock. Additionally, the very foundational rock of the mount is believed by many people to be the first rock of the Creation, making it a holy place as well. The Jewish faith reveres Abraham and his role of being the Patriarch of Israel, and the Muslim faith believes Abraham to have been a great prophet as well. It was really poignant to be sitting on that mountain and take just a few seconds to think about what it would have been like to be Abraham, hiking up this mountain knowing what you were going to have to do. All of the feelings of conflicition and doubt that he would have had, but the faith that Jesus Christ wouldn’t ask him to do something unless it was necessary. That faith is amazing to me. And then, thinking of being Isaac, who would have been around my age, and him looking at his dad and saying something like: “It’s okay Dad. It’s okay. I understand.” He could have easily overpowered his father and gotten away, but he didn’t. He showed the same faith that this would only be asked for a reason. And when we remember the life that Abraham had fled (his father tried to offer him as a sacrifice to their pagan gods) it makes everything so much more difficult yet beautiful.
Shon told us that King David sees that there is nothing on the mount, and he goes to the Jebusites and pays them 600 shekels for the land: 50 shekels for each of the 12 tribes. The arc of the covenant had been found and King David wanted to build a temple to house it, but God said no because of his sins with Bathsheeba. Later, King Solomon would be the one to build the temple (David’s son). In 586 BC the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, and the Jews were exiled for the next 50 years. During this time, nothing stands on the mount because the temple had been destroyed. King Cyrus allowed the Jews to come back to Jerusalem, and they built a small chapel on the temple site but the arc of the covenant was lost. There are three times that something was built on the mount: Solomon’s temple, Nehemiah’s chapel, and then King Herod’s temple. King Herod wanted to gain favor with his Jewish subjects while still being honored by the Romans. Herod was actually not a Jew, but he was an Edomite that came from the tribes in the southern part of Jordan where they spoke Arabic. He married a Jewish woman named Miriam and through his cunning tricks and connections with Augustus Caesar he became king of the Roman state of Judea in 37 BC. King Herod was known for his great architectural abilities, and after having seen some of the remains in person I know it truly would have been grand to behold. But, he was also evil and self serving. He killed his wife but then filled her coffin with honey because he loved her so much, and he killed all of his sons because he thought they were a threat to his power. He also killed all of the young boys aged 2 and under when Christ was born. People joked that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than his son, because he wouldn’t eat pork. Despite all of these horrid things, he was a great builder and he built things to gain favor from both the Jews and the Romans. For the temple mount, he wanted to make it all bigger but was unable to because the mount was small. So he expanded the area by building four walls and a platform, creating a false foundational base for what was going to be the large temple. This is why there are still walls existing around the city of Jerusalem but not on the mount, such as the wailing wall. A beautiful temple was built with three main areas: the court of the women, the court of the priests, and then the holy of holies. There were areas around the temple that were free for everyone to be in, even Gentiles, and there were also covered portico areas that would have been where the teaching at the temple occurred. This is likely where Jesus would have been when he was 12 and teaching the people in the temple.
In 70 AD destruction came again to Jerusalem, and just like Jesus prophesied the temple was destroyed with not one stone on top of the other. The next time that something was built on the mount was in 630 AD when a mosque was built there to honor Mohammad after he died. Mohammed was born in 570 AD and his father died when he was very young and his mother died when he was six. He lived with his grandfather after that, who also died and he was sent to live with an uncle. His uncle was a powerful merchant and was able to help Mohammad become a merchant as well. Mohammad was married, and then his wife died. His life was full of hardship and loss, and then at age 40 it is said that the spirit started to pierce his heart telling him to spread Islam and the Quran was brought down to Mohammed. One night, called the night of journeys, Mohammed said that he was sleeping in Mecca and a magical horse came and took him to the western wall in Jerusalem and he walked to the sacred rock where Isaac was going to be sacrificed. He then ascended to heaven and talked with God, Jesus, and the virgin Mary about how many times they should pray each day. The mosque of wood was built over to the side where the other mosque still stands in its place. Later, a king built the dome and mosque around the holy rock. They wanted the dome to be built entirely out of gold but it was too heavy, so they mixed it with copper. Visitors were banned from going inside the Dome of the Rock in the year 2000. There are currently 14 mosques on the mount.
During the twelfth century, the crusaders conquered Jerusalem and had control from 1099 to 1291. For the first 100 years the Dome of the Rock was used as their headquarters, which they then called Templum Domini. This is where they got the name “Knights of the Templar”. The mosque next door was called Templo Salomonis.
In the year 1948, in a diplomatic move the country of Israel gave control of the mount to the country Jordan. Technically that is still how it stands today, with them having Jordanian police force on the mount and Israeli police force below. The lines have blurred, and in actuality the Israeli police force governs most of the mount.
We were able to have some free time after Joe gave us all of this information to look around the Dome of the Rock. It was so ornate and beautiful! Once next to the dome the women were asked to cover our heads to show respect.
We left the Dome of the Rock and went and saw a gate leading to the mount called the Eastern gate. This gate has been sealed three times, with the third time never having been opened again. They believe that at the end of days God will be standing on this gate with a string connecting this gate with the Mount of Olives. People will have to walk along this string to the Mount of Olives where they will be judged by God. This string would cross over the valley of hell (same one that is called that because of burning trash and offering child sacrifice). The idea is that any who are unworthy would fall into the pit while crossing. There are seven gates to get to the temple mount, and this one is sealed off. People who are not muslim can use only one gate (obviously the one we used) but muslims can use any of the six that are open.
While we were walking around the old city, I sneaked away and bought a couple of snacks from street vendors and caught up with the tour group. I love this part of the city. Everything is bustling and the smells and sights are amazing!
We also got to see the Pool of Bethesda, which in Hebrew means House of Mercy or House of Grace. This is where a paralytic man was healed on the Sabbath by the Savior in John 5:2. This was a place where many infirm people gathered to try to become healed. There were many temples of healing in Greece and Greek mythology, and it seems to have been something like that. The water would be stirred and they believed that the first person in the pool would be healed. Of course, Christ chooses to show here that He is the only way to true healing. It is believed that there was a hot spring here, which would have caused the stirring of the water. Right next to the pools is a church called St. Anne’s Church. This was built in the 1100’s and is, according to tradition, built above the grotto where Mary was raised by her parents (Anne and Joachim). We were able to sing a song here as a group, and the acoustics were amazing! I love the spirit that I feel when I sing hymns.
We had a little bit of free time to either spend walking around the Pools of Bethesda or going to see Stephen’s Gate. Rusty and I decided to do both, because you know you’re only there once, and so we wandered for way less time than I would have liked around the pools and then headed off to see the gate. This is where in Acts 6-7 Stephen becomes the first martyr of the church, being stoned to death outside of the city walls from this gate. There are lions on the sides of the gate, which also gives it the name Lion’s Gate.
Today we also did the Via Dolorosa, or parts of it. We didn’t go in order and we didn’t hit every stop, but it was so crowded along these paths! This is a procession that people do in a way to recreate Christ’s journey to the cross. There are fourteen stops along the route:
(1) The place where Jesus was condemned to death;
(2) Jesus is made to bear his cross (Church of the Flagellation / Church of the Imposition of the Cross and Church of Ecce Homo);
(3) Jesus falls for the first time;
(4) Jesus meets his mother (Church of Our Lady of Sorrows);
(5) Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross (Chapel of Simon of Cyrene);
(6) Veronica wipes Jesus’ face;
(7) Jesus falls for the second time;
(8) The women of Jerusalem weep over Jesus;
(9) Jesus falls for the third time;
The last stations are all inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
(10) Jesus is stripped of his garments;
(11) Jesus is nailed to the cross;
(12) Jesus dies on the cross;
(13) Jesus is taken down from the cross; and
(14) Jesus is placed in the sepulcher.
These are the pictures that I have from the Via Dolorasa:
We walked around to the side and then entered back into the platform where the Dome of the Rock sits before we descended out a gate into a neighborhood in Jerusalem where we were immediately in some beautiful markets. We walked through the streets of Old Jerusalem until we reached the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This church is a very holy place to many Christian denominations because it is where they believe the cross was put into the ground as well as where they believe his body was anointed and where he was laid in a tomb. Three different denominations share ownership of the church building, and that has been very difficult for them to keep things divided fairly. On the second level balcony there is a ladder that has come to be a symbol for their desire to work together fairly. It started out that the ladder was just put there but then nobody could remember who put it there and who had the right to claim it as their own. After this, nobody touched it and it is a reminder to them. The church was very crowded inside, and the line to go inside the tomb would have been about 3 hours so we skipped that. Instead we looked around at the different smaller chapels and then got in line to touch where the cross had been. Truthfully, I wanted to like this church and I wanted to connect with these locations. Seeing where Christ was crucified was definitely something that I was looking forward to on this trip. But with the church being built on top, it didn’t look anything like what it would have at that time, and I just didn’t connect well with the church. It was one of my least favorite stops of the whole trip sadly, but many other people had similar sentiments.
After the church we walked to meet our bus and drove to an overlook. This was the iconic view that I had been thinking of when I thought about seeing the Dome of the Rock. It was stunning! The views of the temple mount with the old walls of Jerusalem and the gold Dome of the Rock were breathtaking. Truly magnificent.
After that we went to a place up on the Mount of Olives for lunch. We had the choice of either beef, chicken or falafel shawarma and Rusty got beef and I got falafel. We both like mine better, and it ended up being one of the most delicious things I ate in my time in Jerusalem. The views were incredible overlooking the temple mount. It was supposed to have glass windows all around, but they had broken and were being repaired so we were quite chilly haha. It was worth it for the views though!
After lunch we were privileged to go to the Garden of Gethsemane. The name Gat Sheman means olive press. There is a church built here also, but to the side there is a small grove of olive trees still standing. We were not able to walk through the grove, but they had some areas around the outside where you could sit down and think. We stood across the street from the church and sang “Gethsemane '' together. This song always hits me strongly, and here I was unable to finish it. To be here, to be privileged to be here where the Savior paid for my sins, felt my sorrows and overcame the adversary was so humbling. I felt such great feelings of gratitude and a feeling of being inadequate- not in a self worth kind of way, but in an understanding that without what transpired in this garden I would never have been able to make it on my own. I wouldn’t have been able to be forgiven of sins, I wouldn’t have been able to be comforted perfectly by my Savior who knows exactly what I went through, and I wouldn’t have been able to use the power of the Atonement for strength. We crossed the street and most people went straight inside the chapel. I knew that most of the group would be going up to see the Orson Hyde Garden, so I waited until it was less crowded. I sat on a bench and looked at those olive trees, gnarled and twisted yet beautiful. The beautiful twists and turns in the wood come from the difficulties and challenges that the tree faces such as drought. I thought about the pain that the Savior would have felt kneeling down here, looking for strength to continue. These olive trees are not the same ones that would have been here when Christ was here, but they are close with being 1800 years old. When the Romans came they cut everything down, but olive trees are like aspens, and new shoots grow from the roots of the trees. So it is entirely plausible that the trees that stand here now came from the ones that were here when Christ was. Olives were a very important fruit in the time of Jesus, and still are today. They can be used for light, food, healing, antiseptic, heat, cooking, and sacred anointing oil. It can be used in so many ways and everyone during at least one point in their life would have needed to use the olives in some way. Most of them were using some product of the olives every day. I think the symbolism of us needing Christ’s Atonement is powerful through that necessity of the olives. Shon told us on the bus that a cave and ancient olive press was found here. He reminded us that olives would be pressed three different times, highlighting the fact that the Savior prayed three different times in the garden. Shon also told us that the olive oil first runs red instead of clear because of the tincture in the olives, a beautiful symbol of the Savior being pressed until the blood ran out. We talked about Matthew 26, how the Savior asked his friends to be with him so he wouldn’t be alone but they couldn’t stay awake. We talked about how the Savior had never asked for anything from the Father that he wasn’t given, and how he taught that even a mortal parent would not give their child a stone instead of bread but would want to give them everything. I had never considered it, but perhaps Jesus really did think that there was a possibility that he wouldn’t have to go through with it this way. Maybe there was a different way that he could save us. How broken his heart might have been when he was not given a different option, but that he must submit to terrible agony.
Olives symbolize peace. You don’t need to tend to an olive tree or take care of it, it will take care of you without needing much from you. Sitting on the bench looking at the olive trees and thinking about the magnitude of what happened here in this space was my favorite part of the trip. All of the connection that I had been hoping to have at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was found here, in a very real and personal way. I felt with my whole heart that this place was sacred and that the most important work ever done on the earth was done here. The greatest story that was ever told is the story that goes from this place, to the tomb, and then to heaven.
After a while I went inside the church, which is called the Church of All Nations. I didn’t have very high hopes because of how the church earlier today went, but I was so happy to find that I felt very connected here. It might have been because of my experience outside more than inside, but I felt peaceful and calm and this became my favorite church from our time in Israel and Jordan. It is a dark purple on the ceiling because it is designed to look like it is nighttime, when he would have been in the garden.
Some people went up to see the Orson Hyde garden and said that it was beautiful and very well taken care of. There was a Jewish mayor that heard the story of Orson Hyde dedicating the land of Jerusalem for the gathering of Israel, and loved that idea. His name was Teddy Collick and he wanted to honor Orson Hyde for this, especially because it was before Zionism was really a popular sentiment. He told our church that they could pay for a garden to be planted there and then pay for its upkeep every year, which has been done through donors. The church doesn’t own the land here, but it is used as a way to honor Orson Hyde. He came here in 1841 right from the challenges in Kirtland. He dedicated the land for the return of the Jewish people. This is a very unique dedication because historically speaking, ancient peoples that have been exiled from their home don’t really get to come back. It’s not normal for them to come back centuries after they had been spread all around the world. The gathering of the Jewish people to this land is a miracle and a fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
Our last thing we did for the day was go back to the Wailing Wall, but this time we got to go underneath it on a special tour of the tunnels that run below the wall. It was absolutely fascinating and we learned so much about how it was built and how certain parts of the wall were discovered. They are still uncovering things there and working towards unearthing it all. What an amazing tour!
Friday, January 6:
Today we ventured out of Jerusalem to go into Palestine. We drove past the Wall, which separates Israel and Palestine. Joe taught us about Palestine being a country, what happened between them and Israel, Gaza strip, etc. There is an artist named Banksy who has painted some really poignant things along the wall. We were able to drive past and see some of them, and you could feel the sadness and hopelessness that this division created.
We drove to Bethany to see Lazarus’ tomb. It was drizzling here, and for some reason it felt like it fit perfectly with the mood of the location. We walked up and saw a beautiful church and then a wall that had a closed in doorway. According to our guide, this was the original entrance into the tomb that they believe was Lazarus’, but it was closed up. Now people enter from a far side and descend a lot of stairs to get down to the tomb. The tomb entrance was on the ground level, and our entrance was up two flights of stairs. Then after you get to the main floor you go through a very small hole in the ground that opens up into another chamber. In there you can see a place where the body would lay and places to hold the linens and oils. There are a lot of places here in the Holy Land where it is just speculation that it is the correct location, but this one is a little bit different. We know for a fact that this town is where Lazarus lived with his sisters. We know that they had a tomb for their family, and there are only a few tombs here in the town. Tradition has told us that this is the tomb and there seems to be no reason to believe otherwise. It was inspiring to feel like this was most likely the place where a follower of the Savior was raised from the dead.
After the tomb we got some souvenirs for the kids and then went to the Church of St. Lazarus. It is a small church, and after the ones we have seen it seemed unassuming. But as we walked in from the drizzling rain we heard some priests singing inside while preparing their holy communion. It was a very intimate experience and was very lovely.
On the drive from Bethany to Bethlehem, we saw some hills and fields where shepherds would have taken their flocks. Most of the hills are now built out, but in the distance you could still see some. Something I learned from Shon was that the shepherds here, being so close to Jerusalem, would probably have had the job of watching over sheep that would be given as sacrifices. They would need to look over each lamb and certify that it was indeed clean and unblemished. How fitting that these shepherds were then able to go and see the firstborn offering of our Heavenly Father, His sacrifice for us. Amazing.
In Bethlehem we went to two different churches: The Church of the Nativity and the Church of the Shepherds Fields. They were very different, and I preferred the Church of the Shepherds Fields by about a million.
Church of the Shepherds Fields was such a cool place! That might be because I didn’t really love the church as much as I loved the open fields haha. It is hard to be here because I have imagined all of these places as they would have been a long time ago, only to find that churches have been built right on top of everything. I appreciate what they were trying to do, but nothing looks the same. I loved the fields that were to the side of the church here. In the distance everything is busy, but close up you can actually go into some of the grottos where the shepherds would have taken their sheep for the night. And because we are so close to Bethlehem, it might have been these very grottos that they were staying in when the angels came and gave them the great news. Something I didn’t know until Shon told us is that because the sheep here are close to Jerusalem, it is very possible that these shepherds were watching over sheep that were to be given as a sacrifice in the temple. These were the shepherds who checked over each sheep to make sure it had no blemish, and these were the same shepherds who were able to go and check over the Lamb of God.
The Church of the Holy Nativity was very similar to The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but I think I preferred this one to the other. I might not be being fair to the Holy Sepulchre though, they were doing some construction work so the entire inside is walled off which made it feel very tiny and tight. Today happened to be Epiphany, or Three Kings Day. This holiday is celebrated as the day the three wise men first saw baby Jesus and brought him gifts. It was fun to be there on an important day, but it also made it much more crowded. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch was there and while we were in line to go down to see the Altar of the Nativity his priests stood up and started walking towards us. They began hitting their staffs on the steps as they walked, announcing that we needed to get out of the way for the Patriarch. He walked right in front of us and the people before and after him were holding incense. When it was our turn down in the crypt we got to see to the left hand side a manger. It was made out of marble and is in no way the one that Christ was put in, but it is there as a representation. Underneath the altar of the Nativity is a 14 pointed silver star to show exactly where Jesus was born. The church was built on top of the grotto that is believed to have been his birthplace.
After the church we had some free time to walk around and explore. Rusty and I wandered around the city and ended up finding some cool olive woodworking stores. We looked in them and even bought a few things! Then we found a cool building that you could climb on top of the roof to get some really great views! The signs on top of this building were cracking us up.
For our last bit we went to a church in Bethlehem (I know, another one) called the Milk Grotto. This church is made above three different caves and is all white. It is tradition that Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus stayed here on their way to Egypt to flee Herod's murdering of the babies. A drop of Mary's milk dropped on the floor and changed the stone to white.
We all met back together after our free time and headed back to the hotel. We ate dinner and they even sang to Kirk for his birthday and brought him out a dessert with a firework on top!
Then we got to do the coolest thing, seriously one of my favorite parts of the trip. We welcomed in the Sabbath at the Wailing Wall. Every Friday night, Jewish people everywhere “welcome in the Sabbath” by singing and dancing and rejoicing that the next day they get to show their devotion and love for God (Yahweh). In Jerusalem, people gather around the Wailing Wall to do these festivities and we were so lucky to be able to be there to see it. Again, the men went to one side and the women went to the other. Neither Phyllis nor my mom wanted to join in so I went down alone and was just watching and smiling at how happy these people were for something that I kind of dread: the Sabbath. I was thinking about how beautiful and wonderful their faith is, and this really happy woman came and grabbed my arm and said, “Join us!” Actually I’m just assuming it was something like that because I don’t speak Hebrew. I didn’t know any of the songs (again, Hebrew) but I joined the circle they were all dancing in and I just felt the contagious joy and love. It was truly one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced by feeling like I (the outsider) was accepted and loved because we all love God. I left after a while and convinced Rusty to join one that was further away from the wall so the genders could be mixed. We had a great time! Using your camera on your phone is considered breaking Shabbat (interestingly mostly because you’re lighting a fire to use for the flash or also because you're “writing” by making a photograph) so we were not able to take any pictures. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience and I loved every second of it. I was sad to leave when it was time to go back to the hotel.
Saturday, January 7:
Today was possibly my favorite day of the trip so far. I know that is very difficult because each day has offered so many amazing things, but the Garden Tomb at Golgotha is really the place I was most excited to see. Well, there were three: the Sea of Galilee, Garden of Gethsemane, and the Garden Tomb. None of them disappointed at all, and I felt the spirit strongly at each one. But there is something so special and hopeful about the Garden Tomb. This is where the triumph was- this is where good conquered evil and the course of all human lives was changed forever. This day, the day that the tomb was empty, changed the world and it would never be the same.
We got to the site and had to wait a little bit for it to open so we could go in. They require a guide to take you through the site, and we had a sweet old lady who bore a powerful witness of the divinity of the Savior and the fact that he did in fact rise from the dead. We started out looking out at the cliff that looks like a skull. A few years ago a large piece of the cliff fell off, causing it to look less like the skull. You can still see it though, and it is pretty remarkable.
After that we got to a different place to sit down and listen to her explain some things. This area was in fact a garden, which back then meant a garden for agriculture not for flowers. That fits with the description in the scriptures of where Christ was buried. It also had a very large wine press, which would have shown great wealth. It was much larger than the one in Nazareth that we saw. This also fits because Joseph of Arimathea was very wealthy. The dating of the tomb is in the right range, and because of these pieces it is thought that it is very likely this is where he was buried. The truth is, that for me regardless of if this was the exact place or not the important thing is what it stands for. But I will say that going into the tomb was very somber and very sweet- there was a reverence there that felt different than a normal place. After we had time to look at the tomb we said goodbye to our tour guide and then went into a small chapel right next to the tomb. This is the time that I felt the spirit the most strongly, as we read the account in the scriptures. I had told Shon very briefly about how Mary Magdalene was very important to me lately, and he asked me if I would be willing to read the story of her seeing Christ’s tomb and the resurrected Christ out loud for the group. I’m sure he knew that it would be a special thing for me, but I’m not sure he understood how deeply I feel connected to Mary Magdalene and how much I admire her and want to be like her. I take great solace in the way her life went after she found the Savior, and I want to follow her. When Shon was giving the background information about the story before I started to read he said, “Jennica is going to read the account about Mary Magdalene seeing the tomb. Remember, this is Mary who loved Jesus. She was healed by him, made whole by him, and had faith that He was who he said he was.” After he said that I was hit so hard by the spirit because that is how I feel- that I was made whole, and that I have faith and I can move forward now. Reading the account was very tender and sweet for me, and a very special experience that I will always treasure. I felt the spirit so strongly and I felt it fill the whole chapel. This was a sacred experience that testified of the reality of the resurrection: that Jesus Christ died, and three days later he was raised from the tomb. He saw Mary Magdalene and she saw him. Shon said that the word translated as “touch” for “touch me not” also has a connotation of holding, or grasping. In a different translation it would be that she was already holding him and he was telling her that he had to go now, that it was time for him to move on. I love this interpretation that she was allowed to hold him and show her love for him, and whether or not it is true I think the spirit of it is beautiful.
After the tomb we went to the BYU Center for church. It was Saturday, but as that is recognized as the Sabbath in Jerusalem that is when church is held. The grounds for the Jerusalem center are absolutely amazing. I had decided a few days ago that after spending time in Jerusalem I don’t think I would have enjoyed doing the study abroad program because all of the tension makes me feel uncomfortable, and I didn’t feel at peace. As soon as I stepped onto that campus I was enveloped in peace and comfort and love. There is no other way to describe it, but it was a very noticeable difference. I remembered that Shon said that as we were traveling in the Holy Land we would feel the spirit at these sites and they would be special, but when we got onto the BYU Jerusalem Center campus it would feel like we were home- like we were in a temple. And that is exactly how it was for me. We saved some seats and then had time to look around the grounds a little bit. The General Young Mens’ Presidency was in attendance, as well as the General Young Womens’ President. It ended up being a fast and testimony meeting, and we heard beautiful testimonies about what it meant to be able to live or visit in the places that Jesus walked and taught and healed.
After church we said goodbye to the larger group, and the ten of us going to Jordan got on a small bus with Joe and a driver and went to Allenby Crossing. I was feeling kind of anxious about going to Jordan, like I was about Israel before I got there. It is a new place, and one that I have heard a lot about in some negative ways so I was nervous. I felt that Heavenly Father was helping me keep my anxiety at bay and when I felt like I would have gone into despair and panic in the past, it was mild and able to be managed. We went through the border securities (which is one on Israel’s side, one in an area for both countries, and one on Jordan’s side) and then our guide David got in the van with us. As soon as he got on and started talking I felt at ease and like this was going to be a great experience. The promise that I got in my blessing from Rusty the night before we left had come true time and time again: I would be able to enjoy my time on my trip. It was amazing to see that promise be fulfilled.
We made two stops on our way to the hotel in Petra, well actually three but the third was very short. We stopped at Mt. Nebo where Moses was able to see the Promised Land for the children of Israel to go to. Sadly it was a really cloudy day, so we couldn’t see the view into Jerusalem but apparently from there you can see the land rise for the Temple Mount (which land structure would have been there for Moses to see as well). It was really interesting to see this, because earlier on the trip Shon pointed out that he thought the Israelites crossing the Red Sea was a symbol of baptism, and then crossing the Jordan River to get into the Promised Land symbolized them crossing the veil. At the top of Mt. Nebo there is a beautiful church that showcases some of the most beautiful mosaics I’ve ever seen. These had been in churches that were found in that spot. One mosaic floor was laid on top of another when the people decided that they should not have people for the art in their churches.
After Mt. Nebo we went to a place to watch how mosaics were made, which was very fascinating. I even got to cut a piece! Then we went into a showroom and Rusty and I bought a table to go outside on our porch outside our bedroom. It is beautiful and I know it will be a great reminder to us about our trip here.
We stopped again for a bathroom break, and then the final stop was right in Petra. By tradition it is the rock that Moses struck for the spring to come out of it. There is a small building built on top, but there is a large rock and a clear, beautiful spring coming directly underneath it. Again, whether or not it is the actual place is not super important to me; it was cool to see what that could have looked like and to have a clearer picture in my head. These experiences make it all more real.
We got to the hotel and I was nervous. A lady in our group in Jerusalem said that the hotel in Petra was the worst hotel they had the whole trip, with the worst food. I thought it would be some nasty hotel with gross carpet and you didn’t want to touch anything, so I was pleasantly surprised when the hotel actually turned out to be quite nice. The hotel was actually built into the rocks next to where structures like Petra were found. There was an opening like a cave with some beautiful columns on each side. They built the hotel to the side of that, and inside the cave they made a restaurant- aptly named The Cave.
We got into the hotel and I told Rusty I was so tired and he told me that I should go down to dinner. I told him if it was really important to him that I would but then I got in bed and for the second time on this trip fell asleep without changing into my pajamas or brushing my teeth or getting ready for bed at all.
Sunday, January 8:
Today we got to see Petra! One of the seven wonders of the world! Are you kidding me?! And just like the other ones that I have seen, I was nervous that it would be disappointing because it has to live up to all of the hype. AND IT TOTALLY DID. IT WAS AMAZING! Petra is also called "The Lost City" because it was re-discovered fairly recently, in 1812. It was built by the Nabataeans who were a nomadic tribe that lived in this arid desert. It's believed that the surrounding area has been inhabited since as early as 7,000 BC, and the city of Petra was founded closer to the 4th century BC- specifically 321 BC when it became the capital of the Nabataean empire.
We started the day by grabbing breakfast and then meeting our group! We were all so excited, except for poor Phyllis who was not feeling well. She was a trooper and finished the whole day!
One of the biggest surprises to me for Petra was how long the walk in is to the Treasury, and how many cool things there are to see along the way. You walk for a while in a more open area, and then it turns into a steep canyon, called the Siq. These walls go up almost 650 feet! It's not just the Treasury, but other amazing structures- not least of which are their water irrigation systems. The Nabataeans used channels along. the canyon to collect, store, and move water. This system of aqueducts and underground cisterns would help them collect water during flash floods, and also protect their city and people from the same floods.
The Treasury! One of the Seven Wonders of the World! I was so excited to see it, and I felt like the walk in was taking 10,000 years. Daniel knew that I was getting impatient and finally he called me over to him and pointed down the canyon. I saw the treasury and asked him if I could go ahead and he said yes! I ran the rest of the way there and couldn't believe how beautiful it is. It is almost 40 meters high, and is highly decorated which is so impressive considering they carved it right from the rock. There's a funerary urn on top which holds a pharaoh's treasure, according to local legend. One of the amazing things is that we don't actually know the purpose of the Treasury, although most believe it was a mausoleum, or royal tomb, and one of their King's was buried here. Later, the Bedouin people started calling it Al-Khazneh, which means "the treasury" in Arabic. They believed that it contained riches from the kings that were buried here. It was built by the Nabataeans in the first century AD. Regardless of its purpose, its intricate beauty has earned it a rightful spot as a wonder of the world!
Petra was more of a city than I originally thought. I thought that the Treasury was all that Petra was; but there's so much more! In 106 AD the Roman Empire expanded to include the city of Petra. They ruled this city for over 250 years, and they added their own kinds of infrastructure to the city. Every city they lived in they built a Cardo, which we saw later on in the day, but the first stop we made after seeing the treasury was to see an amphitheater. At first I assumed that the Romans built it, but it was actually built about 100 years before they came. It is thought that because Herod the Great was building amphitheaters everywhere the Nabataean king followed suit. It is shaped like a Roman theater, which would provide the best acoustics, but it was carved out of the mountain which is distinctive of the Nabataean style. It could hold 8,500 people!
There was a really cool Byzantine church that had really stunning mosaics. It is believed to have been built in the second half of the fifth century, then it burned down in the seventh century. It was re-built and many materials were reused from the original building.
The first one (before you go through the Siq) is called the Obelisk Tomb because of the four obelisk tombs on top with a recess for a statue. These represent the five people buried here. It was carved by the Nabataeans in the1st century AD using a variety of different styles as influences, including Egyptian.
Another tomb we visited is the Urn Tomb. It has two layers of vaults, and was the final resting place of another king. It could have been used as a prison at times, or a place where Christians were martyred for not sacrificing things to the Roman gods.
The Palace Tomb was named that because of its resemblance to a Roman palace. It is three stories high, made of burial rooms, and decorated with ornate columns. It is almost 140 feet tall.
We had lunch all together and then Rusty and I hiked up to the monastery. The hike was not that long or intense at all, but enough off the beaten path that the crowds really died out which I preferred. We passed some cool structures and some people that were selling things along the path.
The Lion's Tomb
We reached the monastery, and it was breath taking! Truly so beautiful. Again, people are not sure what the purpose of this building was but most likely it was for burials. Inside of the building, some crosses have been carved into the walls which may mean that later on it was used as a church.
After we finished seeing the monastery Rusty and I rode camels back from the bottom of the trail to monastery to the treasury. It was Rusty's first time riding a camel, and I hadn't ridden one since I was 18 and this was a much longer ride. The getting on and off parts are definitely the most exciting. My camel's name was Daisy and I loved her! It was so surreal to ride a camel down the cardo and through this wonderful, old Nabataean city.
We saw a lot of people making these designs out of sand which was really cool. After we were done in Petra we passed through some stands that were selling frankincense and myrrh. It is probable that the wise men would have stopped in Petra on their way to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus. Petra was a main trading hub for the area and they would have been able to purchase things like that here to carry into Bethlehem.
It had already been a really long day, but we wanted to go check out the Petra Museum. It was walking distance from the hotel and had artifacts from different times throughout the history of Petra. It was fascinating! A lot of the pieces came from when the Romans ruled the city of Petra.
Monday, January 9:
After having such a perfect day in Petra yesterday with wonderful weather, pretty much all of the rest of the stuff in Jordan was just a glorious bonus. We started the day by doing a tour in the Wadi Rum desert. To get over to the desert we had to go over a mountain pass, and it was snowing there! That was crazy. And when we got to where we were going to start the tour it was still really cold. There were some stores where we were waiting to get on the trucks for the tour and they were selling scarves. Mom, Phyllis and I bought one and the store owner wrapped them around our faces to keep us warm and it was so nice!
After the tour we went to Aqaba, which is right on the coast of the Red Sea. Rusty and I split off from the rest of the group who went on a snorkel tour and ate lunch while we went scuba diving. Scuba diving in the Red Sea is definitely a bucket list thing for me; and one I didn’t think would actually happen! Sadly we only had time for one dive because it was in the afternoon and with the clouds and position of the sun the visibility was dropping. The group had a fun time snorkeling even if it was a bit chilly!
We got suited up (it was CHILLY) and waded out into the bay. There were kids out there just playing in the water and I was whimpering as I went out and they were laughing at me haha. We went under the water and started our dive. It was very sandy with the sea grass growing, and because the water was so blue above it I just kept thinking that it looked just like a green hill with a blue sky above it. It was beautiful! We saw some cool animals, and I had a cool/scary encounter with a lion fish! I saw it and we all kind of swam towards it, but then it locked its eyeballs on me and came at me. I stopped and then it kept coming and the guide was gesturing for me to stay for a picture. I was scared it was going to attack me! We kept going and saw some more cool things like eels, schools of fish, a sting ray, and a stonefish! At the end Rusty did what he always does and started blowing air bubbles. The guide was SO impressed and intrigued by this haha!
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After the tour we went back and checked into our hotel. This hotel was AMAZING. It was very fancy and beautiful, and the grounds were stunning. Our room was facing the Red Sea and we could see a little bit of it from our window. I could have stayed here for a long time!
That night we got to walk along the beach for a little bit and watch the sun set. I love the sea. It was crazy to see three countries from that location: Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Part of me was sad that we were so close to Egypt and not going in because I’ve always wanted to go there and it has seemed so out of reach, but I’m also very ready to go home and see my babies. I miss them so much that the trip has been great but a little bit hard. I just like them to be where I am.
Tuesday, January 10:
This morning we got up and got all packed and ready to go and then ran down to have a little bit of time on the beach again. We got maybe five minutes and were literally running through the hotel to get even that much time haha. I just wanted to see it one last time before we left.
Daniel wanted us to make a few stops along the way, and we asked Mary to tell him that we didn’t want to go shopping, we just wanted to go to the border. She was brave and did it for us haha. We did stop at a really beautiful overlook of the Dead Sea. Seeing it from up above it looks so different from where we entered it in Israel! It was beautiful! And the colors of it where it met the rocky cliffs was so stunning. On the other side of the road was a pillar that is called “Lot’s Wife.”
We got on the bus and went back to Allenby Crossing. We left Daniel and went through security to get a new guide on the other side. We had to put our baggage through security and then wait until our number was called saying that we were clear to go to the Israel side and collect our bags. It took a long time for us all, but for some reason they wouldn’t let Kirk through haha. And that reason turned out to be that he had a pocket knife in his bag.
The driver took us back to Jaffa at our request to spend the rest of the day until it was time for our flight. We could have gone back into Jerusalem, but we were all feeling pretty tired and Jaffa was so beautiful and calm and peaceful. And we needed to stop there anyway because I needed to give the tour to the group that missed it the first time. I took them around the town and pointed out the places we discussed, and then we went and walked along a path by the Mediterranean Sea. It was beautiful, and Rusty and I decided that this was the place on the whole trip that we would choose to live. When it was time to gather all back together we went through Jaffa to get to the bus and there was the most beautiful music playing in the town square with twinkle lights strung across it in front of the church building, and I just knew that it was one of those moments that would stay with me.
We got back to Tel Aviv and to the airport and went through security. It was even more annoying today because we had done this whole process and waited so long at Allenby Crossing already, but eventually we got through and then we had a lot of time to kill before our flight left at midnight. I got some pajamas on, brushed my teeth and washed my face, worked on this journal to get caught up as much as I could and then we got on our plane! I was so frustrated because I bought a giant water bottle to take with me on the plane and they said that even though I bought it in the airport after security, I wasn’t allowed to take it on the plane. Everyone was so annoyed because they all had waters or drinks too haha.
Wednesday, January 11:
The flight was fine and we got to New York for our layover. Just like we did in Boston, we wanted to find the best food we could and we settled on a slice of New York pizza. And it was so good we went back and got more haha. It tasted SO DELICIOUS. The last part of the flight was also fine, but by this time I am just so antsy to get home and see my babies. We got our bags and went home and I got to hold Henry, Della and Amelia for the first time in two weeks! I was one happy mama. I got out their prizes, Kelsey and Levi’s prizes, and the prizes for the cousins.
This trip was absolutely unreal. UNREAL. I saw amazing parts of the world I never thought I’d see. I saw cultural practices and places that were charming and their meaning and symbolism became more significant and beautiful to me. I was privileged to walk where the Savior Jesus Christ walked in his mortal life, and to this day (I’m writing this in April) just the thought of that brings back such a flood of emotions that I start to cry. The spirit was so strong in these places. It was a wonderful experience for my testimony to feel that and see that these places are real. I know that Jesus Christ lived here. I know that He was more than just a prophet, He is the Son of God. I know that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins and felt all of our pain in that Garden that I sat in, that He rose from the dead in that Tomb that I stood in, and that He performed miracles on those streets that I walked on. I’m so grateful for Him, and I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to experience those places.
Special facts about Israel/the trip:
-About 78% of Israelis are Jewish (20% are orthodox).
-If a Jewish family has 10 children they don’t need to work anymore, the government will support them. If a Palestinian family has 10 children nothing happens for them. Citizens that are not Jews have to go through two or three times the amount of red tape as the Jewish members of society.
-Tour guides are required to go with any other tour guides to make sure that the people are only being told what the government wants them to hear.
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