First off, happy birthday to Anna Sophia on this day!! I sure missed her today and wished that I could be with her on her birthday, but I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day just for her since I know she loves it.
Today was SUCH a good day. I loved every site we went to and learned so much. The day started by me giving the devotional thought on the bus. I shared my favorite story of Christ in the New Testament. My favorite version of it is found in Mark 5 where he casts the devils out of the man into the swine. I love this story because it shows the perfect compassion and tender side of the Savior. It is especially meaningful to me for my future career as a teacher for children with special needs. Read it and ponder on it—and I promise you will grow to love it like I do.
Right as I was finishing giving my thought we actually pulled up to the site where it happened! The place is called Kursi Park. I had no idea we were going there, it was a happy coincidence which I was glad for, because this story really means so much to me. The site was beautiful and I felt the spirit strongly there. I walked up to an overlook where I could see the
Sea of Galilee and was overwhelmed with love and peace. I picked some flowers from that site to put in my scriptures and journal so that I can always remember that experience.
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Next we went to Bethsaida which was a fisherman’s town in Jesus’ day. It was the city where the apostles Peter, James, John, and Andrew came from. We could see some ruins from the city but it was mostly good for beautiful views of the green cliffs and the water in the distance. Such a pretty site.
The view from Bethsaida
After making a quick stop at Bethsaida we went to the Mount of Beatitudes. This was my second favorite. When we are going to sites I am always a little weary of churches being there. Churches in Jerusalem to me are really dark and don’t portray the feeling that I believe they should. For example, the churches in Bethlehem that mark the place where the savior was born is dark and full in incense and it’s really hard to see past all of the gaudy decorations and to the true meaning on the place. It’s so easy to forget the real reason you’re at the church.
The gorgeous church on the Mount of Beatitudes
The view from the Mount of Beatitudes
Most of the churches in the Galilee, however, have really impressed me. They are light and beautiful and while they are nothing near the peace and spirit felt at a temple, they definitely are more in harmony with the spirit. The church on the Mount of Beatitudes, for example, is absolutely breathtaking. It’s on the edge of the lake and all around it are beautiful gardens. Probably the most beautiful garden I have ever seen. It has long stretches of grass for you to sit in the sun and read and think. It was so incredible and I had a great experience being there. After we saw the church and had an hour of alone time we walked down the rest of the luscious green hill to where our next site was. There were wildflowers everywhere and once again I picked some to put in my scriptures to remember the feelings I had there.
Someone snapped a picture of me reading at the Mount of Beatitudes
Some of us while walking down the Mount of Beatitudes
We next went to what’s Tabgah, which is a church that commemorates the event of when Christ multiplied the fish and loaves of bread to feed his followers. This was a small church and we only spent a little bit of time here, but it was cool because inside of the church we ran into a Russian Catholic group and got a chance to hear some of their priests singing some Russian Easter songs. I really enjoyed that and like sitting in the pews and listening. There was also a spring in the front of the church with a pond full of gold fish. We sat in the courtyard and read the miracle of Christ multiplying the food and I was able to receive a much deeper insight and understanding of that story than I had before.
The fish at Tabgah
We then went to what’s called St. Peter Primacy which was a church right off the shore of the Galilee. We talked about Christ’s apostles and how they were called and their mission. We talked about their families and how hard it would have been just to drop their livelihood to follow Christ and the faith they had. At St. Peter’s Primary Christ performed the miracle of filling the apostle’s nets with fish. We talked about how Christ provided for his apostles and their families by giving them enough fish to live off of for a long time. The apostles had faith in Him and he blessed them and gave them a way to follow him. Isn’t this principle so true in our lives as well?
St. Peters Primacy
Brother Manscill teaching us at St. Peter's Primacy. Good man.
After having some free time to explore the beach outside of St. Peter Primacy we went to Capernaum. Christ spent a lot of time here during his ministry. We sat in the synagogue that has remained since Christ’s time and read in the New Testament when Christ taught that he is the bread of life. This place also had beautiful gardens. There were also ruins of Peter’s house in Capernaum where Christ stayed for quite a bit of time. I really liked the beauty of Capernaum, not to mention I got to check off seeing another site pictured in the back of the Bible!
Capernaum!
The synagogue at Capernaum
We then left Capernaum and went to my third favorite site of the day, which was the Sea of Galilee. We got on a boat and motored out to sit in the middle of the lake for a small devotional, singing, and quiet time. But before the quiet time happened, the boat crew pulled out an American flag for us and played the National Anthem while Allison Shamrell raised the flag. After the National Anthem the crew played “God Bless America” and then moved onto playing Christian rock. We all thought it was really funny and enjoyed hanging out with the crew.
On the Sea of Galilee
My class on the Sea of Galilee. We are cute.
When we got out to the middle of the lake all music and dancing stopped and we had a devotional given. Michael gave the devotional and he spoke on the story of Peter walking on water. I have grown to love this story more and more and have seen how it can really be applied to me. We then sang “Master the Tempest is Raging” which has become one of my favorite hymns, especially since I have actually seen the Galilee raging on stormy days during my stay so far. After personal reading and thinking time we went back to the docks were our bus picked us up and took us back to Ein Gev where we are staying.
There’s a scripture in Alma that says that he cannot describe even a part of what he feels in his heart. At the end of this day I felt the same way. There was so much goodness and learning put into one day. I hope I can always remember it and how I felt for the rest of my life.
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