The Shepherd Fields

"O little town of Bethlehem

How still we see thee lie.
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in they dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light.
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight."

We have just celebrated our Christmas in July. Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit the Shepherd's Fields by Bethlehem. It is a small garden on the top of a hill overlooking a large valley of rocks and grass, with the small town of Bethlehem on the opposite hill. There were no buildings in the valley, only on the hills, so one could look out across the view and be transported back two thousand years to the time of Christ. There on that hill, we reenacted the Christmas story with all the regular characters: Mary, Joseph (which I played), shepherds, angels, the 3 Wise Men, and even sheep. As we did so, we sang many hymns, including "O Little Town of Bethlehem". It was so cool to sing that song and look across the valley at the town of Bethlehem. It was even cooler to think over the words of the song, to envision stars shining down on that night of nights, but none as bright as the everlasting Light. After the small program, we had some time to bear testimonies and so I took the opportunity. I had the most amazing realization while doing so, that though I was at that magical place, I could be anywhere in the world and still feel the same spirit testify of Christ's birth. In fact, a year and a half ago, I had that spirit testify to me as I knocked doors, sang Christmas songs, and testified to Koreans on freezing cold December nights in Seoul. It is the same for everyone else. That is why I love the Book of Mormon so much. The people in that book, for the most part, never saw Christ. Yet they believed in Him. We have so much in common with them and it is such a blessing to have that additional witness of Christ. I'm so grateful I was able to have these thoughts come to me while overlooking that beautiful place near Bethlehem.

From Abraham to Herod to the Crusades

We visited so many historical sites in Galilee that I have a hard time keeping track of them. I think I'll just go through some photos for this post and give you a brief story of what we did at the various sites and why they are significant. If I tried to do it the usual way, I would be writing forever.On the day that we went to Mt. Tabor and Nain, we drove to the southern end of the Sea of Galilee to the ruins of the ancient city of Beit Shemesh. It was the former Roman capital of Decopolis or the 10 Roman cities that stretched from Amman to Jerash to Beit Shemesh. The ruins at this place included an ancient market, well preserved baths, a big outdoor theater, and many mosaics. It was really hot the day we went and I forgot to bring my hat, so I decided to use my towel instead. It was nice because I could wipe the sweat off of my face as well...Thankfully we were able to take a break from the hot sun at one of the coolest (literally) water parks ever called Gan Hashelosha. It is a natural hot springs with three huge pools and rivers connecting them.Nearby Caesarea Philippi, on yet another hot field trip day, we visited some beautiful falls on the Jordan River running out of Dan. Though I have never been to Havesupai, I would imagine it would look something like this place. I thought I had gone to Hawaii.We continued up the Jordan River to another source in the far north where the ancient city of Dan is located. It was the northern extent of the Israelite Kingdom and today is the same for the modern one. Lebanon can be seen from Dan. The coolest part of our visit was seeing the ancient Caananite gate where Abraham would have walked through on his way to the Promised Land.Many of our trips included visits to Crusader period castles and fortresses. The best was Nimrod's Castle, Israel's largest. It is close to the Syrian border, protecting the passes through the Golan Heights. Nimrod's Castle (though it has a funny name) is an awesome place to visit with high walls, turrets, and bats hiding in dark rooms. To finish off that trip, we went to the Syrian-Israeli version of the DMZ at the edge of the Golan. It is the place where some of the largest tank battles in history have been fought. At the location there is a large field with a UN compound in the middle, watching over both sides. The border crossing between the two countries is guarded by machine gun posts, pointed straight at each other. There is a huge Syrian flag flying above the border crossing that is reminiscent to the huge North Korean flag in the DMZ in Korea. It was funny to see Israeli soldiers pull up beside us at the lookout point in an American Humvee, with American weapons, to survey the field. Another Crusader site that we visited was the city of Acre (called Akko by the Israelis). It was the former capital of the Crusader kingdom when Salahdin captured Jerusalem in the 1100s. Acre is one of the best preserved Crusader cities in the world, complete with vaulted ceiling halls, a town square and market, and huge city walls on the sea. The Muslims took it over in the end and built a magnificent mosque in the middle of it all. The Mediterranean sea was beautiful at Acre.There were even some crazy kids that were doing backflips off the sea walls for entertainment. To finish off that day a group of us had to run back through the city to look for some people we thought had been left behind and then we visited a burial place for famous Jewish Rabbis at Beit Sharim. It was our last day in Galilee, so that evening we had a fireside with a testimony meeting. It was very spiritual. After it was all done, a group of us stayed outside looking up at the brilliant stars, hearing the crash of the waves from the Sea of Galilee just a few feet away, singing hymns. As we did so, I felt so close to my Father in Heaven and grateful for the wonderful experiences I had while staying in Galilee. The next morning we set off for Jerusalem once more by way of the Jezreel Valley, Haifa, and then south. Our first stop was an old Hellenistic city called Sepphoris, a place with brilliant mosaic floors left over from the houses of rich merchants. The most famous being the "Mona Lisa of the Galilee," a spectacular mosaic that basically looks like a painting.Then we moved on to Mt. Carmel to the place where the prophet Elijah had the showdown with the 400 priests of Ba'al. The story just amazes me and the view from the top of the mountain range was breathtaking. Sitting on top of a church that commemorates Elijah, our class sang "We thank thee oh God for a Prophet". It was a wonderful reminder that the prophet who lives today has the same power that Elijah did in his day. Our last stops for the day were in Haifa, a beautiful coastal city built on the side of a mountain. I've never been to a European Mediterranean city before, but I think Haifa wouldn't be too far from that. One interesting thing that we learned about Haifa was that at one time it had a thriving German population. The church called missionaries to the Holy Land back in the 1800's and two men were sent from the European mission to Haifa to preach the gospel. They taught in German and had two converts, the first converts in Israel. Sadly, both of the missionaries died of disease while serving and are buried in the German Hospitaller Cemetery in Haifa. We visited their grave sites as well as those of their two German converts. One of the converts had a depiction of an angel on her stone with the scripture from Revelation 14:6 (written in German of course) "I saw an angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on earth." When the church came to the Israeli government in the 90's and asked if they could build the Jerusalem Center, they were rejected because there have been no new religions introduced into Israel since the formation of the country. But through these gravestones in Haifa, the Church was able to prove that we had missionaries in the country before the state was formed (both of the missionaries gravestones say they were missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They were John Clark from Farmington, Utah and Adolf Haag from Payson, Utah. Elder Haag died in 1892, Elder Clark in 1895.). It was one of the reasons we got permission to build the center. A miracle if you ask me! We stood above their gravestones and sang "I'll go where you want me to go." As we sang, I was reminded of the last night of my mission about a year ago, when I sang the same song with all my heart in an effort to let the Lord know how grateful I was to have served Him for two years. It brought tears to my eyes to think of the sacrifices those missionaries made, but also how happy they must be that they made them. I know that I am happy I did.

My Rock of Ages

Some of my favorite places to visit in Galilee were not really connected with each other, but I want to take one post and talk about them. They include Nain, the Mount of Transfiguration, our Sabbath day meeting in Tiberias, and Caesarea Philippi. Nain is a small town that is located near to Nazareth. It was at this location that Jesus saw a funeral procession for a widow's son. I can just picture Him seeing the scene, the widow grieving at the loss of her only son. He must have been moved with compassion and the desire to ease the suffering of the widow. In fact, in Luke 7, it says that he was moved by compassion and said to the widow, "weep not." This gave me such an insight into what type of person Christ is and His great love for all. There, as the body of the son passed by, He commanded him to arise. When we visited Nain, there was a simple little church commemorating the event with a beautiful painting. I can imagine the Savior as He reacts to our pain and suffering by comforting us after being moved by compassion. It seems to be the basis for His tender mercies on our behalf. That church was just one stop in a long journey, but the event that happened there has deeply touched me.
From Nain, we traveled slightly north to the famous Mt. Tabor, the traditional site where Christ was transfigured with Peter, James, and John. The Catholics, once again, have built a magnificent chapel on top of the mountain. In the scriptures, it says that Moses, Elijah, and Elias (John the Baptist) appeared to them and gave them keys on top of the Mount. In response to this, Peter asks Christ if they can build three tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for Christ. This church that the Catholics built has three different chapels, one for each of these men. The view from the top of Mt. Tabor is spectacular and Brother Huff told us that Spencer W. Kimball came to the top of this mountain and looked out over the valley below. He told those with him that he felt that site was the place where Christ was transfigured, but it isn't doctrine, so the real is site is still unknown. I realized as I walked around the top of Mt. Tabor that it was holy ground, just like a temple. It was there that God spoke and introduced His Son. It is like the Israeli-Sacred Grove.
On the Sabbath, we had the special privilege to go to the city of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee and have our Sacrament Meeting with the Tiberias branch. The church there looks like a normal house from the outside. It is taken care of by service missionaries who live there. Once you see the view through the windows of the church, though, it is breathtaking. It is high on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee and as you have your Sabbath meeting, you can easily be distracted by the spectacular view behind the podium. The branch is small, with only about 25 members, but it is strong. The first member in modern Israel attends the branch. Our NT class doubled the number of people attending. It was a very spiritual meeting.
Lastly, I want to talk about Caesarea Philippi. It was the old capital of Herod's kingdom in Galilee at the foot of Mt. Hermon. The area is very green and beautiful thanks to the head waters of the Jordan River which springs out from the rock of the mount. Where the river starts, it seems to jump out from solid rock. It was cool to think of the similarity between that and the rock that Moses split to give the children of Israel water. On top of that, it was there that Christ asked His disciples, "whom say ye that I am?" and Peter answers, "thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." He who is the Living Waters taught His disciples at that very place that He is the Son of God. The fact that the water from Caesarea Philippi starts there and runs down through Israel is also symbolic. Just as the Jordan is the life blood of northern Israel, so is Christ our "life" on whom we depend. In the shade of the trees near the waters, we had a mini devotional/testimony meeting where I took the opportunity to stand and bear my testimony of Christ in the very same place where Peter did thousands of years ago. Then we sang the hymn, "how firm a foundation". As we sang from the third verse, tears came to my eyes and a comfort to my heart which I had been seeking as I sang, "Fear not! I am with thee, oh be not dismayed. For I am thy God and will still give thee aid!" I knew then that Christ knew what my doubts, worries, and fears were. He was letting me know that I could trust in Him that all would be ok. I was thankful for that powerful reminder. When we seek the Lords help and the direction of the Spirit, we are given it if we are doing what is right. Another example of the before mentioned tender mercy of Christ motivated by His compassion for me and all mankind.

I walked where Jesus walked

Our time in Galilee was split between field trip days with our New Testament classes (there are two of them) and days spent at the hotel having class with our instructor. My instructor is named Roy Huff, a faculty member from BYU Idaho and a wonderful teacher. He used to work as a spy for the government and has some cool stories, but now he is a religion teacher. He once had the opportunity to team teach a NT class with Elder Bednar, so he has some great insights into the scriptures. Anyway, our first day in Galilee was a field trip day. We started by driving just north of our hotel to a boat dock and boarding a ship that took us across the Sea of Galilee. It was such an awesome experience! We read the story of Peter walking on water toward Jesus and of Jesus calming the stormy waters. Multiple times I looked out over the water and could imagine Christ walking out on the sea, beckoning me to follow Him. We were given some free time while on the water and so I took the time to read through my patriarchal blessing. It was wonderful.
After leaving the boat, we visited a small museum where a 2,000 year old fishing boat is being preserved. From there we went to several sites where Jesus walked and taught. The first was the Mount of Beatitudes. The Catholics have built a church on top of the mount and keep the slopes preserved in a garden. Our class went to a section of the garden and had a small devotional. My cousin Monica gave a wonderful lesson on the meaning of the Beatitudes which was very enlightening. Then it was on to Capernaum, the home of Peter, James, and John. A little known prophesy that Jesus made was the cursing of Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin for their unbelief in Him and His miracles. All three of these cities were destroyed in one way or another and have been abandoned for hundreds of years. In Capernaum's case, an earthquake destroyed it. The old synagogue is one of the only structures still visible today. Right next to Capernaum is Taghba, the place of the seven streams, where Jesus feed the 5,000 with 5 loaves of bread and two fishes. There is a Catholic church (of course) marking the place with a famous mosaic of the two fishes on its floor. Right next to there is a little known church called St. Peter's Primacy. It is another Catholic site where they believe that Christ appeared to Peter and the apostles after His death and gave him the Priesthood. This is where Christ asked Peter, "lovest thou me?" and Peter said, "Yea Lord, thou knowest I love thee." and Christ said, "Feed my sheep" three times. The amazing man that Peter became just blows me away. We often seem to focus on his shortcomings like when he began sinking in the sea when walking toward Christ or when he denied Jesus three times. But the Lord loved him and knew he would become a great man of God. He did. What a great example he is to me of how the Lord uses imperfect people to bring about great things. The lowly fisherman that would become the prophet of God.
Our last stop of the day was near to where our Kibbutz was, the place where Christ cast the devils out of the man and into a herd of swine. The swine then fell off a cliff into the sea. It was a small place just on the side of the road beneath the Golan Heights. On both sides of the road were signs that said, "caution, land mines!" It was a bit of an eye opener to realize that there still is conflict in this seemingly peaceful land.
Our second field trip day took up into the Golan Heights to a place called Gamla. This is basically the Masada of the Golan, a fortress where Jewish Zealots fled to during the Jewish Revolt in about 70 AD. The Romans took months trying to take the fortress, but eventually won, killing everyone inside. We also went to some sites in the Golan where Jewish Rabbis complied the Mishnah, an important book in the Jewish Talmud. There is a lot of history in the Golan Heights. On one of our free days, some of us went on a small hike in the hills to a waterfall that reminded me of what Havesupai would look like.

Caesarea to Galilee

From the moment that we entered the Jordan Rift Valley and saw the blue waters of the Sea of Galilee beneath us, I had the words of a hymn stuck in my head. "Come follow me the Savior said, then let us in His footsteps tread. For thus alone can we be one with God's own loved Begotten Son." As I walked the shores of the lake, listening to the waves wash up on the shore and felt the cool sand under my feet, I could see a picture in my head of Christ taking a similar walk at the end of a day. Maybe even close to where I was at the time. I literally could have been "treading in His footsteps" as the hymn says.
My experience in Galilee was wonderful and I left the place with a bittersweet feeling inside. I had grown to love the place so much in the short time we were there and part of me didn't want to leave. One small example of something I grew to love was the beautiful sunset I saw every evening. I had much time to think upon the scriptures and to learn from them while I was there. There also was much time for me to write some of my thoughts and impressions down in my journal. I was reminded on multiple occasions of my gratitude to a loving Heavenly Father and His Son, my Savior Jesus Christ. I was grateful for the time to do so.
Our first day involved leaving the center early in the morning and traveling to Caesarea Maritama on the Mediterranean Sea. It was the former capital of Herod's kingdom and a great port on the Sea. It also was the place where Paul testified before King Agrippa of Jesus Christ and the King said "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." The palace where this took place fell years ago into the sea and all that is left are the foundation stones, half covered by water. We went out onto these stones and read from the Book of Acts about Paul's experience with King Agrippa. It was a cool experience. Caesarea was also a great Roman and Crusader city. It has a huge Roman theater, circus (where they would race horses), and an impressive aqueduct, as well as a huge crusader wall surrounding the city. From there we went up the coast to the Jezreel Valley to the city of Megiddo, the traditional location of the Battle of Armageddon. It is famous because 26 successive cities have been built there, one on top of the other. Then we went on down the Jezreel Valley to the city of Nazareth, the childhood home of Jesus Christ. Jesus began His ministry in Nazareth when he read from Isaiah about the coming of the Messiah and told the Jews within the Synagogue, "this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." On the same site where Jesus is thought to have done this, the Catholics have built the huge Church of the Annunciation. It is an impressive church with two levels. The bottom level is built around an old Byzantine church which was built in turn upon an old Jewish Synagogue, thought to be the same synagogue that Jesus taught in. The second level of the church has great hole in the floor that looks down upon the Byzantine ruins, so one can see from the bottom of the church, through this hole, up into the high tower of the church above. It was one of the coolest churches I've ever seen. We also visited three other churches in Nazareth: a church dedicated to Joseph the husband of Mary, a Greek Orthodox built where at Mary's well where they believe Mary drew water, and another called the Synagogue Church. The Synagogue church was a simple little building, built long ago. You can tell by the name that it was once a Jewish synagogue, later a church. We sat in there as a class and read from Luke 4 about Jesus's Annunciation or when he spoke the words of Isaiah and told all in the Synagogue that He was the Son of God. It was a cool experience.
From Nazareth, we traveled to the Jordan Rift Valley and looked out over the Sea of Galilee. We stayed in a Kibbutz-run hotel on the eastern side of the lake for almost two weeks. It was awesome! The hotel is situated right next to the contested Golan Heights, which was interesting. We stayed in small 4 person bungalows right next to the lake and could go swimming anytime we wanted to in surprisingly warm water with huge waves. Every afternoon, a wind would pick up from the west and create huge waves on our beach. It was so relaxing to just find a chair by the water and chill with my feet in the water. After the sun would set every night, the city of Tiberias, which was directly across the lake from us, would light up. The time we spent there was during a New Moon period, so one could alternate staring at the city lights or look up at the brilliant stars above. I could have spent the rest of my life on that beach and would've been happy.

Knesset

As part of my free day today, we started off by cleaning up the Orson Hyde Park on the Mount of Olives for a service project and then a group of us headed out to West Jerusalem to visit the Israeli Parliament or Knesset. The Knesset is a cool place, protected by a solid wall of bullet proof glass and a complex security check at the entrance. We were required to bring our passports and weren't allowed to take anything inside with us, even cameras! It was cool to enter the Chamber of the Knesset and see that place where so much history has taken place. Most memorable was the visit by Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, in 1977 that ushered in the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. After a tour of the building, we took a taxi to another part of Jerusalem called Mea Shaarim. It is one of the biggest Ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. When you enter the neighborhood, you aren't allowed to take pictures, walk together with girls, or enter if you are immodest in appearance. It was cool to just walk through and see how the people live. They are such interesting people, always seeming to be in a rush to get somewhere.

The Western Wall Tunnel

To introduce our New Testament studies, we had a field trip today into the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. The old city of Jerusalem is found beneath parts of the Jewish Quarter, including many burned remains of old Jewish aristocratic houses. They call these ruins, excavated when Israel took over the Old City after the 1967 War, the Herodian Quarter. This, of course, refers to King Herod and much of the things we saw were built in his time period. The coolest part of the tour, however, was the recent excavations around the Temple Mount or as the Arabs call it, the Haram al-Sharif (the noble sanctuary). If you look in the picture above, you can see the dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the mosque that shares the Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock. The wall that Herod built to elevate the second temple is the only remaining part of the old Temple Mount. The bottom part of the wall still has the huge Herodian stones that they used. The biggest ones were 60 tons and 24 feet by 12 feet!!! They still don't know how they moved these huge stones. Currently, the Western Wall or Wailing wall is only a tiny section of the ancient western wall. Houses and shops were built by the Muslim Mameluk rulers hundreds of years ago. So when the Israelis came in, they began to dig out underneath these houses (they actually all belong to Muslims, so they freaked out when they found out what the Jews were doing) along the Western Wall, creating a tunnel. It is the coolest thing to walk inside of it only inches from the ancient Herodian stones, all along the wall to the end of the old Temple Mount Complex. The Jews go to this tunnel to pray, because there is a section that is directly across from where the Holy of Holies of the ancient temple would have been which is the closest the Jews can get to it. They aren't allowed to enter the temple mount by rabbinic law because they believe it is so holy. To finish the day, we went to an archeological park on the southern end of the Temple Mount where they have uncovered stones that were knocked over by the Romans during the destruction of the second temple. Also, ancient steps that led up to one of the many gates into the temple mount and a huge stone underneath an ancient arch. Jesus would have passed over the stone every time he entered the temple through that southern gate. Neal Armstrong came to Jerusalem and stood on that stone and said that though he has been to the moon, the place where he was standing is the most holy place of all to him.

How far is it to Bethlehem?

To answer the question, just like it says in the song, Bethlehem is not that far. I recognize even more clearly as I find myself only a few miles from that small town. But I think I understand the message that the song tells even more now. To know Jesus and that He was born of Mary, that He lived, and that He died for mankind doesn't take a time machine or a visit to site where he walked and taught. All it takes is a quiet moment when we get on our knees, pray to our Heavenly Father, and then we can know our Savior. It might be the middle of summer, but I love the Christmas season and the thoughts it provokes within me. I love the song "What Child is This?" when the answer comes, "this, this is Christ our King!" Can you imagine being a lowly Shepherd and kneeling at the side of His birth, asking the same question to yourself? Can you think of how it would feel to hear the spirit whisper, "This, this is Christ your King,"? I'd imagine that it feels similar to how I feel now, having tears stream down my face as I picture it.
You probably can tell that I've been thinking about Christ quite a bit lately. We just finished our Old Testament study and are starting up on the New Testament. To begin, they took us to Bethlehem, the City of David. Though it is only a few miles away from here, it is run by the Palestinian Authority. To enter the city, there is a large road block and the infamous separation wall that must be passed through. It was such a stark difference from one side of the wall to the other. The Jewish side has a series of pictures on the wall that say things like, "Jerusalem and Bethlehem, Love and Peace." Then you cross over to the other side and there are a series of ugly paintings on the Palestinian side that cover the wall. One said "Hypocrisy".
The Palestinian side was much more dirty and run down than the Israeli side. It wasn't as bad as Egypt or parts of Jordan, but definitely not as nice as the Jewish parts of the country. We visited a few places in the city, including Bethlehem University and a Palestinian political action group. We heard a great deal from the Palestinian side of the issue here. I feel like we haven't heard that position articulated as well as the Israeli side since coming to Jerusalem. One student we talked to from Bethlehem University told us that though she could see Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque from school, she had never been allowed to go there. They spoke of checkpoints put up by the Israelis that make life difficult and turn small drives by car into day long excursions. It was pretty sad to hear it all. The only thing that bugged me about it was that they seemed to complain a lot about the terrible Israelis, but never once spoke of the Israelis reasons for doing what they do, namely to prohibit terrorists from striking Israel. After spending the morning doing this and then eating lunch at a delicious restaurant, we went to Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity.
The church kind of reminded me of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and also of the Coptic churches we visited in Cairo. The oldest parts of the church where the theoretical place where Christ was born and laid in a manger are all owned by the Greek and Armenian Orthodox Churches. The Catholics have another church built next to it that contains the cave where the Catholic Saint, Jerome, translated the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. To finish off the trip, we visited a church which has underground caves. In this cave's wall's is a high content of chalk that women who want to get pregnant take and mix with water and then drink. They believe it is the way to "open the womb".
All in all, I enjoyed my trip to Bethlehem and it gave me a new perspective on life here in the Holy Land. But interestingly enough, I've felt the spirit more in pondering upon Christ's birth since then, than when I was actually there. So just as with how I started, how far is it to Bethlehem? Not very far!