June 1, 2007

Breakfast again from 6:30-7:30. But then this time, it was our turn for a field trip. By 7:30 we were on the bus. First stop—the Ein Gev dock. Here we boarded a wooden boat and started off across the Galilee. To our surprise, the captain put The Star Spangled Banner over the speaker system and started raising an American flag on his boat. When we all just sat there in shock, he urged us to stand and sing. So we did. Hands over our hearts we sang our National Anthem while sailing across the Sea of Galilee. Ha! It was amazing. The boat ride itself was very good. Bro. Merrill got on the microphone and taught us stories from the Gospels, interrupted only to sing another hymn. I got to lead Master the Tempest is Raging. Hehe. I never want to lead that hymn again. We tend to sing fast with Bro. Merrill singing, and I couldn't figure out the best way to lead a fast 6/8. Oh my, it was entertaining. Mike Ulrich came up to me later and told me that i was the best part of his day. :D Happy to make someone's day. *rolls eyes.

Our first stop after we landed was at this small little museum—home to an ancient boat found in the Sea of Galilee when the water level was low, dating to the time of Christ. We watched a little documentary, talking about how it was found and how they excavated it. I loved it because it showed personalities of all involved. You could see the sincere excitement on their faces and hear the giddiness in their voices. It was obviously a real and sincere film. Then we got to go see the boat. I have to admit, for being 2000 years old, it's in really good condition. I was impressed. I walked by the gift shop, not actually expecting to buy anything. Like any gift shop at a touristy place, surely it would be overpriced, right? But, being bored, I walked in anyway—like everyone else in our group. Immediately my eyes fell upon an oil lamp. This was unlike any oil lamp I've seen in the Old City. All the ones I've seen there look fake and cheap. I've been trying to find one that looks somewhat authentic and still in my price range. Thus far, I haven't even fulfilled the first requirement. Bro. Merrill happened to be there, so I asked him if he thought I could find something like that in the Old City. He took one look and told me no. Bro. Huntington appeared on the scene, so Bro. Merrill passed the question to him. Another inspection and a, "No, the ones you find in the Old City are all Byzantine era. This is from the time of Christ. You're not going to find something like this there without looking hard and paying an arm and a leg." Fine, fine. I was convinced. Two more people that I'm done shopping for. :)

Next, we boarded the bus and headed over to the traditional site of the Mount of Beatitudes. I loved this place. There is a church on site, but down the hill a bit, they have an amphitheater where we sat. Here, we could look down on the Sea of Galilee, which was only a stone's throw away. Tragically, in the center of the amphitheater was a podium with a wall behind it, so you could only see the Sea on either side. But that was ok. We sang several hymns, as well as talked about the Beatitudes. He promised more to come in the classroom. But the little bit we talked about was exactly what I needed to hear. Go figure. I get that a lot this trip. When we were done, he gave us 15-20 minutes to go take pictures, but the majority of us stayed and wrote our thoughts down. The Spirit was just so strong. This is what I wrote:

"Although this has an amphitheater built upon it, you can still feel the Spirit of this place. I still wish we could sit on a hillside and listen to Bro. Merrill teach the Beatitudes—the podium with the giant cross behind it is rather distracting—but you can still see the Sea and feel the breeze. We sang a few times. I requested How Great The Wisdom and the Love. I had been flipping through my hymnal when Bro. Merrill asked for a reflective song. That one just popped out at me. One line in particular stood out—I have it marked—"By strict obedience Jesus won." As we talked today, Bro. Merrill really said some things that struck me. Sometimes I feel bad being mocked for doing what's right. I find myself relinquishing my standards in order to be liked. That's bad. Being mocked is good. [Insert name here] said that "we currently live in the Great and Spacious Building. There are pointing fingers all around." If you're in the Great and Spacious Building, you should want to be mocked. I definitely need to change my attitude and actions. Spencer W. Kimball's talk A Style of Our Own hit me hard, too. Is even our Honor Code slowly dwindling to conform to the pressures of the world by wearing shorts? "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled [with the Holy Ghost]." "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "Rejoice and be exceeding glad"!!!"

Tabgha. This is the traditional site of Mark 6—Feeding of the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. This one had a little courtyard out front with a fountain and flowers. Inside was a church with a mosaic floor and very simple decor. I took a seat on a pew and reflected a little bit. After a few minutes, some Christian tourists stood up and started singing their hymns. I was still in the mood to be reflective, so I wrote some more.

"I've decided what it is about some sites that I like and can feel the Spirit at and what it is that I don't like about others. The setting. When I'm in a church set up on the traditional site, I feel like a tourist coming to admire the church itself. Christ didn't split the loaves and fishes in a church. They're pretty and I try to appreciate them for what they are. But I wish they had a spot of natural—what it would have been like. I liked the Mount of Beatitudes because it had the quiet garden-like area overlooking the Sea of Galilee where I could sit and reflect and feel the Spirit. Here, I could respect the people singing their hymns—but it was a respect for their faith, not a special feeling for the site."


Next site: St. Peter's Primacy. This is from John 21, after Christ was resurrected and stood on the shore, calling out to the apostles on the fishing boat. When they come to the shore, Jesus and Peter have the "Feed my Sheep" conversation, then He puts Peter in charge of the church. We started inside of the church set up there. I love singing; I love acoustics. I hate no pictures. ~sigh. I've learned something new. Singing hymns brings a Spirit that nothing else can. I've found that I feel the Spirit much more strongly in the churches that we sing in. Those that we just talk in are usually the ones that I end up not liking as much. After we sang, we went out to a mini-amphitheater where we could talk more and Bro. Merrill said something that struck me. "We as Latter-day Saints don't worship rocks, nor do we worship exact spots. We worship the Lord." Perhaps I shouldn't be so judgmental of churches built upon traditional spots. I suppose I just feel like the church distracts from the worship of the Lord. This church is directly next to the Sea. So we were able to go down and take some good pictures and just have a good time.

Last site: Capernaum. Here was two sites, actually. The ancient synagogue which black basalt foundation is actually probably the original base of the synagogue Christ taught in. Craziness. Not a stone's throw away is Peter's house. On top of the base of Peter's house is a church upon a church upon a church. All built to protect this sacred spot. Bro. Merrill pointed out something interesting. The church is built on Peter's house—not Christ's. That is indicative of where the church is heading at the time.

After we got home, I started to do my Archaeology reading. I slept for a couple of hours, then woke up and finished my reading just in time for dinner. At dinner, Brad came and joined our table, so he and I ended up studying until class started. I'll be honest, I did all the reading and it made sense to me, but I didn't study my reading questions nearly enough. Granted, the only thing I missed on the quiz was that Alexander the Great's father was Philip II. Class was really good, but I got ADD partway through. Luckily, I sat by an outlet, so I had been taking notes on my computer. So, to quell the ADD, I worked on organizing pictures. It was great fun, really. :)

I walked back to our rooms with Kathryn and ended up going over to Theresa's little house, sitting outside and talking for awhile. Everyone is afraid that they're failing their classes and it makes me really sad, but I don't know how to make it better. I told them I would study with them, but I'll be honest, I don't know how to help them study. Especially for OT, seeing as how they're in another class. And quite frankly, I am grateful I'm not in their class. It seems much harder than mine. I never thought I'd say that about Bro. Merrill's class—that it's the easier choice. Funny thing is, Victor Ludlow is coming over Summer term to replace Bro. Whitchurch. So, I'm pretty sure, the same will be true. Bro. Merrill will still be the easy one. At least from what I hear about Bro. Ludlow, anyway. After awhile, Kathryn left so Theresa and I talked as I rubbed her back. Initially we were going to rub each others backs, but I started and I'm pretty certain I give much longer back rubs than the rest of the world. Especially because I'm fearing that my hand muscles are weakening, so I want to keep using them to keep them strong. Needless to say, when we finally parted, I was just finishing her back rub.

I went back home and wrote a lot in my blogs, trying to catch up and did a really good job, if I do say so myself. :) It's nice to be able to write details. To have time to write details. Granted, because I take so much time on my blogs, I don't have any spare time to do all the other things that I decided I was going to do. :D Oh well. Priorities, right? Finally, around 12:30, I decided to go to bed. Right after, some of my roommates came home. I didn't think I'd be able to sleep through their talking, but once again, I surprised myself. I don't recall one bit of it.