Galilee continued...

Picture 1: synagogue at Capernaum
Picture 2: Church of Beatitudes
Picture 3: view at the end of our hike
Howdy folks!

I'm trying to catch up on Galilee posts, but this week in Jerusalem has been so much fun! It's hard to believe that three weeks today I'll see my family and friends! (You should be freaking out right now, because I sure am!)

Anyway, here are some more journal entry excerpts:

CAPERNAUM
"Capernaum is the site where the Savior performed many miracles and taught many great lessons. It’s also the town where Peter lived. We had a little devotional in the synagogue in Capernaum. The synagogue standing now is different from the one in Jesus’ day, but it stands on the exact same spot where the synagogue of Jesus day would have been. In fact, you can see the basalt stones that would have made up the synagogue Jesus taught in at the very bottom of the current synagogue. There are also a ton of basalt ruins from houses and streets, etc. that are pretty cool...When we looked at Peter’s house, Brother Muhlestein pointed out that Jesus never had a home. He didn’t have a house to call his home. I had never thought of that before. Then Brother Muhlestein pointed out that Peter made his home open to the Savior at all times. In the scriptures, whenever it mentions “the house” it usually refers to Peter’s house because that is where Jesus spent the night when He was in Capernaum. We also reviewed one day in the life of the Savior and I can’t believe how much good He did in one day. Jesus loved His people so much because even when He was tired or hungry, He always took the time to perform miracles and heal those around Him, or answer questions and teach His people."

MT. OF BEATITUDES
The Mount of Beatitudes was beautiful. It was so green and the landscaping was exotic and carefully planned. The church was really cool too. The inside wasn’t extravagant, but the outside had beautiful columns and a cool dome. I liked it. It makes sense that the emphasis is on the groundwork though: that’s where the Savior gave His sermon on the mount (on a hill). We had the opportunity to browse the church and then we went to a shaded area with benches and had a short testimony meeting. Brother Muhlestein had us read the beatitudes, then we had the chance to go up and share our thoughts. I got up and bore my testimony, which is pretty cool! That’s right – I bore my testimony on the mount of beatitudes.

We also went on a hike for one of our free afternoons. It was SO MUCH FUN. Here's the journal excerpt for that adventure:
"This afternoon was free time, but I signed up for the hike to the waterfall! We left at 1:30 and took a bus to the trailhead. We had so much fun on the bus because it was the first time the classes were intermixed! Usually it’s the “Judd bus” or the “Muhlestein bus” but today we were combined! 39 people went on the hike accompanied by our tour guide.
The hike wasn’t too strenuous, which kept conversation good! I wore my swimming suit underneath my clothes so that I could jump right in to the water. I also wore my chacos the whole time, which was good and bad because I’m grateful I had them for when I was in the water, but hiking in wet chacos always hurts my feet afterwards.
The scenery was beautiful. We hiked down into a valley and just curved around these mountains. We saw a few waterfalls on the way, but the one we swam at was in the middle of the hike. We were all stoked to get in the water, but let me tell you, this water was ice cold. It took your breath away as soon as you immersed yourself in it. I went in o my own the first time, but I didn’t get my hair wet. The second time, I was dragged in and dunked by Kevin because I had pushed him in earlier. I suppose I deserved it, but still! The water was so cold that getting out of the water made you warmer than staying in the water!
We stayed there fore quite some time and took lots of fun pictures. We didn’t hike back the same way we came; instead we hiked up and out and the bus picked us up on the other side. I went with a group of people who left early, so we were a head and by ourselves for the hike back. Jared found a crab along the trail which was odd because we were on a mountainside, not next to a river/stream/lake/sea, whatever. As it turned out, Jared kept the crab with him the whole time and it got loose on the bus. I know - crazy. The hike back was beautiful because as we got higher we could see into the valley and see the curves of the mountain and the stream at the bottom of the valley. It was gorgeous.
When we got to the top and back to the road, Laurel, Addie, Heidi and I took some fun jumping pictures. Sadly none of them were perfect, but we have some fairly decent ones."

Well, I suppose that's enough for one entry. Hopefully you all made it to the end!

-Audryn-