Jesus' hometown

Galilee is incredible!! We are learning and seeing way too much stuff to wait until I’m back at the JC to write about everything. Yesterday morning we left bright and early for our ten-day adventure to the Galilee. Our first stop was Bet Shean. It was another ancient Roman city, which was part of the Decapolis. Way sweet! And of course I’m a 12-year-old boy and my favorite part was the ancient toilets…
Next stop: Nazareth. First we went to the Church of the Annunciation which commemorated the angel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary and declaring that she would be the mother of Jesus. It was a really pretty church that had a very sweet spirit. Right next-door was St. Joseph’s church that was built to commemorate the annunciation to Joseph. The last place we went was a 6th century Jewish synagogue that lies above an older synagogue, which may even be the one in which Jesus declared his Messiahship in Luke 4. Brother Harper and Brother Hunstman both taught us a small lesson and we sang some beautiful hymns. The spirit was really powerful in there.
Our last stop of the day was Mount Arbel. After we parked the bus we had to hike up a little ways to get to the top where we were going to meet. When we got to the top we had our first sight of the Sea of Galilee and it was incredible!! The hillside looked just like I imagine the hill to look like where the Savior taught the multitude. (but don’t worry, I’ll be able to see the real hillside in a few days so I’ll see what it really looks like). But the view was amazing! We could see almost all of Galilee. It was a fabulous way to greet the Galilee and it made me automatically love it. I can see why Jesus spent most of his life here. It’s so beautiful. I feel like I’m not even in Israel anymore.
After we got rained out on the top of Mount Arbel we made our way as a soggy mess to En Gev, where we will be staying for the next ten days. The resort we’re staying at is converted from an old Kibbutz (immigrant jewish communities). The rooms are tiny but the setting is incredible! We are right on the beach of the Sea of Galilee. Life really just doesn’t get any better.
Today we had our New Testament class for two hours and then studied all day for our New Testament midterm. I wasn’t even sad that I was studying because I was studying all about Jesus while overlooking the Sea of Galilee! I’ve never been that happy to study in my life before. It was a good feeling. After our midterm we went and played in the water and started a game of football on the beach. Once again, the student-teacher relationship is really weird here. One minute you’re in class taking their test and the next you’re on the beach together playing football. I love it though! I love everything about Galilee because I love Jesus!