Final Field Trips

I'm gonna be honest. I burnt out of blogging about all the field trips. That's probably because I got a little burnt out of going on field trips. It's actually kinda sad because some of the coolest field trips were purposely saved for the end but many of us had lost a lot of steam by that point. I'm gonna do my best to remember the field trips I haven't written about yet...

Night visit to the Western Wall

Kotel Tunnel tour - underground visit to the Western Wall

Sister Strathearn teaching us at Gamla - the city on a hill.

Me leading the music at the church on Mt. Tabor (a traditional site for the Mount of Transfiguration)

The church on top of Mount Tabor

Outside on Mount Tabor - we could hear wailing and screaming coming from the nearby parking lot while we were sitting here and it turned out to be a group of worshipers from Africa. It was a bit alarming until we saw that they were just praying!

Sister Chadwick kneeling by a beam with a tiny mote on her finger at one of the sites

The whole group standing in front of the triple gate that led up to the Temple Mount during Christ's time

Standing near the double gate entrance to the Temple Mount with Shannon, Spencer, Sadie, and Austin

At Capernaum (with Rachel, Amber, Abigail, and Michael)

The River Jordan (with Jordan, Christeen, Marianna, Vicki, Lauren, and Thomas)

Nimrod Fortress - they just let us loose here so we ran away before a teacher could try to give us a tour and we stormed the castle while battling imaginary knights. It looked like we were a bunch of 10-year-olds haha.

The aqueducts at Ceasarea Maritima

The remains of the port at Ceasarea Maritima

Outside the Greek Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist in the Old City

In the bell tower of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer

Russian Orthodox Church on the Mount of Olives

As you can tell, Brother Chadwick is the only one enjoying his explanation of Meggido. He had a hay day with this electric model!

This is the banana plantation run by the Kibbutz in Ein Gev.

Here's the church building in Tiberias looking over the Sea of Galilee

Bathhouse in Akko - we watched a really weird video where they reenacted the bath house experience. Thanks but no thanks. 

Tel Dan. It's in the quad. Look it up.

Sepphoris - only a few miles from Nazareth. Its likely Jesus and/or his father Joseph came to do stonework here.

Kasdyn and I modeling as Joseph and Mary. Apparently Jesus was laid in a stone manger!

We had a chance to sit and reflect in Orson Hyde Park before visiting other sites where Christ was the last week of His life. 

Bethphage Chapel

In front of Dormition Abbey with Brother and Sister Whitchurch

Pool of Bethesda

Near the entrance to the Pool of Bethesda. You can see that Sister Strathearn is standing in the same place that Christ is in the painting she is holding.  

This is the traditional site of the grotto where Christ's apostles slept while He performed the atonement. 

A cistern venerated as the place where Christ was imprisoned before being crucified. 

Beautiful sunset at Pater Noster Church, a place commemorating the Lord's Prayer. Sister Strathearn asked me to sing The Lord's Prayer at this site.

Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu

Steps that Christ may have walked up when he was taken to Pilate (Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu)

Right after our testimony meeting near the Garden Tomb. 

Our final testimony meeting wasn't the most spiritual meeting I've ever been to but it was definitely the most fun. I just loved seeing all my friends go up and be so comfortable with us. Micah got up and told us about how worried he was he wouldn't make friends since he has trouble with that but that now he has 59 of them and we all cried. I felt comfortable too. I walked right up there with my fanny  pack, grandpa cardigan, and daisy shirt and bore the most sincere testimony I could. I honestly don't remember much of what I said but I do remember sitting down and feeling satisfied. I shared what I knew, no more and no less.