Nimrod's Fortress

     We were able to have some time to explore this giant Muslim fortress. I decided several things here: 1) I would be totally ok with living in a castle. 2) Castles have the best views. 3) Maybe if I just built my home where a castle would be built that would be just as good. 4) But if possible, then why not a castle?

Until my next adventure,

Lindy

Banias

     "When Jesus came into the ocasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

     And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

     He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

     And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 

     And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

     And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church" 

Matthew 16:13-16

Until my next adventure,

Lindy

Dan

     The northern most city in Israel, Dan became a symbol of idolatry in the Old Testament. After the kingdom split, Jeroboam introduced incorrect worship of Jehovah to his northern kingdom. This was mostly done by using a golden calf to represent God. It is easy to read the scriptures and see how idolatrous the people were. I never realized though that they were still worshiping God, just in the wrong way. It is a lot harder to see how we are still idolatrous today. Because Spencer W. Kimball is a lot wiser than me, I'm going to let him remind us of all the gods we worship 

     "Modern idols or false gods can take such forms as clothes, homes, businesses, machines, automobiles, pleasure boats, and numerous other material deflectors from the path to godhood. What difference does it make that the item concerned is not shaped like an idol? Brigham Young said: "I would as soon see a man worshipping a little god made of brass or of wood as to see him worshipping his property." 

      Intangible things make just as ready gods. Degrees and letters and titles can become idols. Many young men decide to attend college when they should be on missions first. The degree, and the wealth and the security which come through it, appear so desirable that the mission takes second place. Some neglect Church service through their college years, feeling to give preference to the secular training and ignoring the spiritual covenants they have made. 

      Many people build and furnish a home and buy the automobile first--and then find they "cannot afford" to pay tithing. Whom do they worship? Certainly not the Lord of heaven and earth, for we serve whom we love and give first consideration to the object of our affection and desires. Young married couples who postpone parenthood until their degrees are attained might be shocked if their expressed preference were labeled idolatry. Their rationalization gives them degrees at the expense of children. Is it a justifiable exchange? Whom do they love and worship--themselves or God? Other couples, recognizing that life is not intended primarily for comforts, ease, and luxuries, complete their educations while they move forward with full lives, having their children and giving Church and community service. 

      Many worship the hunt, the fishing trip, the vacation, the weekend picnics and outings. Others have as their idols the games of sport, baseball, football, the bullfight, or golf. These pursuits more often than not interfere with the worship of the Lord and with giving service to the building up of the kingdom of God. To the participants this emphasis may not seem serious, yet it indicates where their allegiance and loyalty are. 

Still another image men worship is that of power and prestige. Many will trample underfoot the spiritual and often the ethical values in their climb to success. These gods of power, wealth, and influence are most demanding and are quite as real as the golden calves of the children of Israel in the wilderness." (The Miracle of Forgiveness, p.39)

We got to take a nature path back to the tel...and what's not to love about this picture

Where the altar of sacrifice was

Where the golden calf was placed

Just a little view into Lebanon

Walking through the bunkers on the Lebanese, Israeli border. 

As we were sitting having our lesson, we kept hearing big bangs and seeing large smoke clouds off in the distances. We watched this one explode on the mountain side. No worries, they were just rockets going off in Syria. 

Until my next adventure,

Lindy

Hazor

    Very rarely do the two classes get to be at the same site at the same time. It's pretty exciting when we are.

Have I mentioned that this country is beautiful? 

This was just too good to pass up! Bro. Anderson, Dr. Whitchurch, and Mikey

Z, Mike, and I

My awesome roommate Emily!

We were on the watch tower just trying to see danger in the distance

Until my next adventure,

Lindy

Megiddo

    Har Megiddo (Mt. Megiddo) is where the term Armageddon comes from. Whether or not this is actually where a great battle is going to take place is up for interpretation. It could be figurative or literal. Who knows! But it is worth mentioning that if a northern country wants to get to Israel, they have to go through this valley. I'll leave it up to you to decide what you think will happen.

There were the biggest centipedes EVERYWHERE!!

Until my next adventure,

Lindy

Mt. of Transfiguration

     One of the traditional sites for the Mt. of Transfiguration is Mt. Tabor. A lot happened at this mountain! In the Old Testament, Deborah ordered Barak to gather the troops there. They won their battle after the chariots of the Canaanites got stuck in the mud. Mt. Tabor overlooks the Jezreel Valley. From here one can also see Nain which is where Jesus raised the widow's son from the dead.

The church on Mt. Tabor has one main chapel and two smaller ones on the side in honor of Moses and Elijah.

The main chapel commemorates the transfiguration. Here you can see Jesus with Peter, James, and John being taught by Moses and Elijah

The mural in the chapel for Moses

Elijah

Until my next adventure,

Lindy

Yardenit

     After church we went to the baptismal site at the Jordan River. We sang primary songs and watched as people entered the river to be baptized. I loved this site way more than the other baptismal site in th south. The water was not mud, there were trees, and it was just overall more beautiful. It was especially meaningful on this day because my oldest niece, Maddi, was being baptized back in America. I feel like at every cousin's baptism we had to sing the primary song about rainbows. So, just for Maddi, I requested that we sing it at the site. I am so proud of her for deciding to get baptized and wish more than anything I could have been there! I got to talk to her that night which sort of made up for it.

They had the passage from Mark about the Savior's baptism written in different languages. They went along the entire length of the wall and even were along the walkway leading up to the entrance. 

Until my next adventure,

Lindy

More Languages Than Members

     On Saturday (Sabbath) we got to attend the Tiberias branch. Referring to this branch, Elder Holland said, "It is the only branch with more languages than members." How true this was! During the hymns everyone sang in their native tongue. There was English, Arabic, Spanish, Hebrew, German, Japanese, and Russian. The sacrament prayers were said in Hebrew. It was amazing! I have loved getting to see the church in different parts of the world. It is definitely a different experience from going to church in the states.






The church building

The gardens were beautiful!

The view from the chapel. Almost as good as the Jerusalem Center.

Until my next adventure,

Lindy

A City Set Upon a Hill

    Gamla, named so because it looks like a camel's hump, is easily seen from the Mt. of Beatitudes. It is likely that it was this city that Jesus was referring to when he taught, "A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid" (Matthew 5:14). During the First Jewish Revolt, Gamla was the last Galilean city that the Romans besieged and destroyed. Instead of being captured, many Jews jumped to their deaths off the side of the steep cliffs surrounding 3 sides. But let's not focus on that.
    We were set free and allowed to hike all around the hill. The wind up there was crazy! You seriously felt like it was going to blow you off the side. I was thinking about the fact that this was the city set upon a hill. It was meant to be an example and "let its light shine." In this world we are attacked by winds from all directions. Some of them are really strong! At times we may feel like a gust is going to blow us over the edge but we have to stand strong and be an example to those around us.

Gamla is the little hill in the middle of the other two hills.

What you can't see is just behind that rock is a straight drop-off

My hiking crew!

I was really excited when I figured out this is the Camel's Back of Israel. I wanted to take a picture for my family....this is about the 10th one and I'm still not pointing to it. Just imagine my finger a little lower and to the left. 

Until my next adventure,

Lindy

St. Peter's Primacy

     Our last stop of the day was to St. Peter's Primacy. This is where Jesus appeared to his apostles after his resurrection. The church is built over the rock that he cooked the fish on. The lake here was beautiful!

The rock where the fish was prepared

One night for dinner we got to eat St. Peter's fish. I, hating sea food with all my heart, chose to eat a pizza instead. However, I did try one bite just to say I did.










Somehow I got talked into a fish eye eating contest. I think the only way to describe this would be, if I hate sea food because of the "fishy" taste, eating a fish eye is basically like biting into a big pocket of fish oil. Let's just say, that face was not forced and Teagan definitely caught me mid-gag.



Until my next adventure,
Lindy