Friday, June 8 2007

by Lori Boyer

This morning we met for a devotional first thing in the morning. Brother David Rees, a bishop and professor at SUU in Cedar City, gave a profound thought in the devotional. He talked about our three gifts from Heavenly Father: mortality, our mortal bodies; our eternal families; and light. He is an ordinance worker in the St. George Temple. As he performs temple ordinances, he has noticed that all the blessings and promises given relate to these three things. It was a beautiful thought and gave us a lot to think about.
After breakfast, we boarded the bus and reluctantly left the Galilee. It is so beautiful and peaceful here. It was so easy to picture the Savior fishing along these shores, healing people and teaching. It was amazing to actually be in the water that He walked upon. The first evening there, Joe and I lay in hammocks on the shore and talked about what it must have been like to be with Jesus as He walked and taught there. We longed to talk to him, have Him share thoughts and insights with us, listen to us and especially listen to Him. We agreed that it would be incredibly uplifting and rejuvenating to be with him. He would always, always lift us up. He would love us perfectly. We ache to be in His presence someday. So… of course, we felt sad to leave this serene area. We drove to the south end of the Sea of Galilee to Yardenit, where the Jordan River emerges from the lake and where baptisms are performed. Since our last visit in 1979, they have created an area just for baptisms, with pools and steps leading into the water. It is beautiful and peaceful there. In a way it seemed a bit commercialized, certainly not as natural as the setting you picture for the Savior’s baptism. There were shops and vendors and things that made detracted from the serenity I felt there before but it was really pretty and we all dipped our feet in the water and read the account of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus.
On the hill above the bank of the river that had descriptions of baptism displayed on large stones or tiles in many different languages. We especially loved the one in Hawaiian Pidgin English. We immediately thought of Eliza and her missionary experiences in Hawaii. Part of it said, “You da man! I feel love and aloha fo you! We took a picture of it for Liza, she’ll love it!
From there we went to the base of Mt. Tabor, the place where President Kimball felt the Savior took Peter, James and John and where the Transfiguration took place. (Elder McConkie’s opinion was that the Transfiguration took place on Mr. Herman.) We got off the bus and crammed into taxis to go up to the top because the road is narrow, steep and windy with sharp switchbacks. At the top we saw a pretty church erected to commemorate the Transfiguration. From the back patio of the church there was an amazing view of the valley. We stopped there for a group picture and to read the scriptural account of the Transfiguration. That is where Peter, James and John received their endowment and keys of the Gathering and Sealing and were trained for their callings in the First Presidency. I thought there was a good spirit there. The gardens in front of the church were really beautiful. The church itself was like many of the churches in that I admired the huge efforts the people had put into honoring that place. It is their way of bearing witness and showing devotion, but the way it is decorated doesn’t really make me feel the spirit there. It was a wonderful experience to be there though and contemplate the magnificent events that took place there. It is where Moses and Elijah delivered their keys for gathering and sealing. There were rooms there to honor those two prophets.
We then drove down the Jordan Valley to Beth Shean (Bet Sha’an) where we wandered through impressive ruins which depict the splendor of Roman life and Hellenistic (Greek) culture. It was just amazing with market places, cardos or streets that were the center of activity and business. I was especially fascinated with the huge bath houses. They would hang out there all the time to bath, swim, get makeovers and massages, do body building in the gyms, take steam baths and even sew up business deals. It was the center of social activities, very fancy.
Our last stop before Jerusalem was in Jericho. We first went to a glass factory where we could buy glass products. I bought a couple of butter and jam dishes. Then we went to the ruins of the Walls of Jericho and read the account of the Battle of Jericho. They have excavated down deep and found an old watch tower and the collapsed walls. The watch tower is said to be the oldest free standing man made structure on the earth. As Bud Pace pointed out, it was 8,000 years old which means it was built 2000 years before the earth was created!
We then drove into Jerusalem over the Mount of Olives. It was exciting to catch the first view of the Holy City. We saw the BYU Jerusalem Center from a distance. It’s so impressive and beautiful! Mayor Kolick, who initially opposed its being built, was a great friend to the church and eventually called it the most beautiful building in the Near East. We will go in it tomorrow. I can’t wait. We loved the view of the city. It was a beautiful evening, perfect temperature. Our weather has been perfect every day. It is unusually cool for June this week which means it is PERFECT!
We checked into the Olive Tree Hotel. It’s really nice, only two years old. We had a wonderful dinner and I tended Marian while Mo and Adam went shopping. She was a little angel. Everyone else just chilled in the hotel. We were all exhausted. Another very magical day in the Holy Land! The best part is just being with the family all day, hanging out with and getting to know all the wonderful people on this tour and, of course, thinking about the Savior all day and worshipping in our own way.