Caesarea Phillipi and Nimrod’s Castle

Hazor

Today was awesome! We had another field trip. We went to Hazor. That was cool. We saw a Canaanite Palace and lots of Israelite things. There, the Seely's sang "What the Tel" for us. It was really funny.

Next we went to Tel Dan, which is now a nature preserve. It was beautiful. At Tel Dan, they have a Canaanite Gat that is mostly intact. It has mudbrick arches. That proves that the Romans did NOT invent the arch!

The ruins at Hazor

Anyway, it was nice. Our next stop was Banias, aka Caesarea Phillipi where Christ supposedly gave Peter the keys. It was really interesting and we took pictures in the place where a picture was taken for the back of the Bible. It was cool.

We ate lunch there and then drove to a place called Banias Falls. We hiked down to an amazing waterfall. It was great and really beautiful.

Our final stop of the day was Nimrod's Castle. That was cool, but a lot of people broke the rules. There were 3 things that we weren't to do: go near the cliffs, go near the exterior walls, and go where signs said not to go. Many people climbed the walls. People were doing it all over and Brother Draper got yelled at. In return, Brother Draper yelled at us, told us he was embarrassed, that we had no integrity, and that he was going to tell Brother Huntington that he didn't want to take us around anymore.

More ruins

There was dead silence on the bus after that...it was horrible and I felt horrible. I'm sure everyone else did, too. After a while, he got up and talked again, told us he didn't hate us and that he wasn't going to talk to Brother Huntington.

After we got back, I messed with my pictures until dinner. After dinner, I took a nap until our class party on the beach. We had a bonfire. I went down a little late because of that. It was bad because I had the thought, oops! But I had short notice, so I didn't feel too bad, and I still gave my thought.

It was fun, but tiring as usual. 

The tunnel . . . need I say more?

Entering the tunnel

Aimee and I inside the tunnel

Having fun

Now to Tel Dan!  (Ha ha, what are we going to tell Dan?)

Nature Preserve

Map of Tel Dan

Inside the nature preserve

Beautiful, isn't it?

On the road to paradise . . .

A cultic site at Tel Dan

The gate of the arches, it was actually diffiucult
to see because some restoration efforts are being done

Caesarea Philipi

Caesarea Philipi

Does this look familiar to anyone?

Now with me!!

Banias

View from Banias

Banias Falls

Shea, Megan and I in front of Banias Falls

More falls

Nimrod Castle

Nimrod Fortress

Megan and I holding up a large stone with
our pinkies.  Yep, we're pretty strong...

Beautiful countryside

Debbie and I

View of the fortress

I love this photo, though I shouldn't
have taken it.  We weren't supposed to
climb on anything.  But others were
doing it, and the photo was amazing,
so I couldn't resist.  I know, it's not an
excuse, but I gave in to peer pressure...

A City Set on a Hill Cannot be Hid

Hike up to Hippos

We had our last class with Brother Draper on this trip today. We had the last two hours outside. It was beautiful. After class, I worked on homework until lunch and then hiked Hippos with some people. That was a lot of fun. It was a hard hike because it got really hot, but it was still good. Hippos is the city set on a hill. There are only ruins there, but it was cool.

Thinking

I hiked down by myself. It was harder because I didn't follow the trail (I got way behind because of the heat) and had to crawl under a barbed wire fence and over another fence. After the hike, I worked on homework.  It was a nice day.

Beautiful statues!!!

Me on Hippos

An interesting sign that I saw on the top
of Hippos

A butterfly

The sky was beautiful, and it made people go a little
crazy....

Visiting the Savior’s Branch

In Tiberias, they have English, Russian, and Spanish

We went to church in Tiberias this morning. Two girls from our class missed the bus. Most of our class fasted for Sister Draper. The meeting was really good. Truman G. Madsen and his group came. Most of our class sang a special number, This is the Christ. We didn't know, but I guess that song was sung when the Tiberias chapel was dedicated. Truman G. Madsen talked about the Center. When Spencer W. Kimball was prophet, Howard W. Hunter was sent to Jersualem to tell the Saints and the others who wanted a center, no. When he arrived, he sat on the Mount of Olives and he felt impressed that the Lord was saying "Nothing is too good for my youth who want to come here and learn about my Son." It was a nice meeting.

With Truman G. Madsen in Tiberias

Afterwards we took a class picture and came back to Ein Gev.

I worked on homework until I watched No Reservations with Aimee, Megan, and Clare.

There was also a fireside with Kyler Cronmiller. He is a foreign service officer that lives in Jerusalem. It was really interesting.

The Sea of Galilee

Me, Megan, and Brooke

Me outside of the church building
in Tiberias

The Tiberias church

Mount of Transfiguration

Bet She'an National Park

We had a field trip today. We began by going to Bet She'an. That was an ancient city with many Roman ruins. I explored the top of the hill with Mindy and saw Zeus' temple. We wanted to find an ancient entrance, but I don't think we did.
After that, we drove to Gan Hashelosha. We almost didn't get in. They had turned away bus loads before us, but our awesome bus driver got us in. We went swimming there and it was awesome. There were caves that you can go in (swimming of course). It was really cool. There were also little fish that would swim near your feet and suck on you. It was interesting. There was also a big evil fish that would bite people. Several people got bit. Many people dove in. I didn't because of my contacts. I also kicked a rock while treading water and cut up my foot pretty well. Luckily, that didn't attract the evil fish.

Mindy and I at the top of the hill

Next we went to the Bet Alpha Synagogue. Brother Draper had me be at the front because the woman at the desk was Russian. I guess last time she gave them a hard time until one of the students started talking to her in Russian. So, I talked to her. She is from Minsk and I think she really liked me.
They have the Bet Alpha Synagogue enclosed inside of a building and they made a movie about it. It was quaint, but amusing. I talked to the Russian woman a little on the way out, too.
Our next stop was Nain, the city where Jesus raised the widow's son. There was a small chapel built there to commemorate that miracle. There is also a mosque right across the street. They live together in peace! We sang inside the chapel. It was great.

View of the city

Our final stop was Mount Tabor. We took taxis up to the top. Our driver was crazy. On the top we ran into (not literally) Truman G. Madsen. I guess he is a famous scholar. A lot of the guys were extremely excited about it.
Brother Draper gave a lecture on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was really good. Afterwards, we took pictures.
We tried to get GQ together for dinner, but it didn't work out. Then we had ANES. We sang a new verse to the Date Palm Song about couples. It was really funny. I really do love being here. The experiences I am having are incredible!

Gan Hashelosha

Swimming fun

The water is absolutely beautiful!

Resting on the upper ledge

Bet Alfa Synagogue

Inside the synagogue

Close up on the mosaic floors

On the road to Nain

Little chapel in Nain

Inside the chapel

Aimee with a lovely new hairstyle while waiting to
go up to Mount Tabor

Waiting to take a taxi up Mount Tabor

On the road up

Truman G. Madsen on the top of Mount Tabor

Mount Tabor

Me on top of Mount Tabor

Inside the church on top of Mount Tabor