On To The Holy Land - May 29th

At last, after several hours of waiting, truckloads of ice cream bars, and searching through luggage (no body cavity searches this time—thank goodness) we made it through the border crossing from Jordan into the Holy Land. It’s the second week now, and those who have burned the midnight oil can often be seen tipping over into the isles of the bus or face down in their falafel.

Sergeant Gunnerson (we love him) commanded yet another 6:00am wake-up call today, for a 6:30am sacrament service (is the spirit up that early?) and 7:30am departure.

The sacrament service was beautiful—it was held on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and included a beautiful choral number accompanied by Elizabeth on the oboe.

After inhaling some breakfast, now with more fiber since the Egyptian heebie-jeebies have left us, we scurried off to the first stop where Jesus was raised—Nazareth. Rolli, an amazing India-born Jewish convert, has taken the reigns as tour guide, and our fearless driver, Adnan (aka--“Fast Eddie”), who has been driving BYU students for 17 years, takes great care of us and secures us great deals on lunch. In Nazareth we visited a well excavated Nazarene village from the time of Christ, and there saw a wine press (FYI—done with bare feet as to not crush the bitter seeds), a garden watchtower, olive oil press (Scott P. made a great….…donkey), a large underground cistern, and a rebuilt ancient synagogue. In the synagogue Brother Gunnerson read some beautiful excerpts from the New Testament when Christ declared himself as the Messiah in the Nazarene synagogue and was subsequently thrown out.

Another highlight for many was holding a tiny white baby lamb.

Next stop (of five), Mt. Tabor, believed by many to be the actual Mount of Transfiguration, situated along the fertile Jezreel Valley. After a taxi-ride up a series of 5 mph switch-back U-turns, (not driven at anywhere near 5 mph; it seemed our driver’s principal goal was to get our van up on two wheels) we reached the top. There we enjoyed many spiritual moments and time to contemplate the sacredness of the area as Brother Gunnerson read multiple excerpts from the scriptures and then concluded with a short but powerful testimony meeting. Upon leaving the top of Mt. Tabor, Shay, straggling behind, was trapped by the electric gate in the Catholic convent. We barely rescued her from the nuns who had slapped a habit, robe, and knee-highs on her and were about to make her take her vows of celibacy.

Our third stop was Tel Megidda, or what we know as Armageddon. We first pounded down some falafel sandwiches, then proceeded to see the ancient ruins (dating from before the days of Solomon) through sweltering heat wondering why 25 civilizations had chosen this spot to build upon. We descended into a blissfully cool tunnel built underneath the city to link the outside water source into the city for times of war, quite an amazing feat.

Then off to the beautiful coastal city of Caesarea, the Roman capital of the area during the time of Christ. This huge metropolis, built predominantly by Herod the Great, provided numerous ruins, including a large theater and hippodrome, as well as beautiful costal views and breezes.

We had a cultural smorgasbord in the ancient Roman theater, started off by a monologue of Romeo and Juliet by Dakon, followed by an inspiring rendition of Bon Jovi by Brad, and then the grand finale, a duet to Greece’s “Summer Lovin’” by Brad and Jodi.

Alas we concluded our day by driving north up the coast to Haifa, and were finally able to frolic in Mediterranean Sea, engaging in a game of tag, Frisbee, and just a little chillin’ in the sun for some much needed R & R.

Scott P. sported his ‘Mediterranean bathing suit’, looking suspiciously like a pair of Hanes, and even received some gasps from the Europeans. On our way home ‘Fast Eddie’ made sure to show us the B’Hai gardens, driving the round about not once, not twice, but three times, to make sure we got some good shots………Thanks, Adnan!