After almost two weeks spent in the Galilee, I can honestly say I fell in love with everything about the area and the New Testament. It was completely breathtaking and it's no wonder that Christ chose to live in the most beautiful area in the world. We stayed in a Kibbutz right on the Sea of Galilee and had a ton of free time to study the scriptures and the Savior's life in the place where he lived and performed most of his miracles. We saw most of the traditional sights of where miracles and significant scriptural events took place and overall, it was a perfect two weeks. I grew so close to the Savior and had some of those amazing life-changing kind of experiences that I will never forget. Here are just a few of the highlights:
Boat ride across the Sea of Galilee
We stopped in the middle of the sea for about half an hour and read in the New Testament when Christ calmed the water and walked on water with Peter. Truly amazing to be in the same spot where it all happened.
The Mount of Beatitudes
This was definitely one of my favorite spots we went to. We read the Sermon on the Mount and had about an hour of free time to just read, write, pray and ponder. It's hard to put into words why it was so good, but it was one of my favorite places I've been since coming to Jerusalem.
View of the Galilee from the church building in Tiberias
We went to church with the members of the Tiberias branch on the sabbath. It was so fun to meet them and hear some of their stories. This is the view from the balcony and it was absolutely breathtaking. The building was dedicated in 2007 by Elder Holland and this is his favorite place in all of Israel. I can see why.
View of the Sea of Galilee from the beach we stayed on at sunset
My very favorite part of my two weeks in Galilee was waking up early to watch the sunrise on the beach while I read about the Savior. Watching the sunset was a close second.
The Mount of Transfiguration
We spent one morning here reading the passage of Christ's transfiguration. It was here that God, Jesus Christ, Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, Peter, James and John were all present. My favorite thing I realized here was that everyone present during the transfiguration was involved with the restoration of the church: Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the Sacred Grove; John the Baptist restoring the Aaronic Priesthood; Peter, James and John with the Melchizedek Priesthood; Moses and Elijah in the Kirtland temple. Clearly, the church is true.
We went on the most beautiful hike in the Golan Heights. When we got to the top it started to rain making the whole experience very majestic.
Capernaum
The city where Christ performed miracles, taught many sermons in the synagogue and where Peter lived. We studied the Bread of Life sermon while sitting in the synagogue where Christ taught. So awesome.
Dan
This is where Jeroboam reintroduced idolatry to Israel after the kingdom split. This is the exact place where he set up a temple to worship the golden calf. Get it? Golden calf? We think we're so witty.
One night we went to a restaurant that served fish from the Sea of Galilee. When they brought it out it was a full fish-head, brains, eyeballs, fins-everything. Disgusting to look at, but rather tasty. Our friend Lacey had a particularly hard time looking at it, so all in good fun, Gretchen, Courtney and I decided to leave her a little gift and hang it in her shower. One of my favorite non-spiritual moments of the trip.
Nimrod's Castle
We stopped at an awesome crusader castle where we had way too much fun acting out crusader scenes and filming Anastasia music videos. If it's not obvious, Courtney and I are shooting arrows through the little arrow holes.
Hopefully the pictures give you just a small glimpse of why I loved Galilee so much. I would go back in a heartbeat. It was perfect.
