November 29, 2007

Ashley Marie Eskelsen

Religion 311



Journal Entry for November 29, 2007 in Galilee

The alarm started beeping in the early waking hours of the morning. Today was going to be a long day. Luckily, I had already thought of this, so instead of mumbling and grumbling as I crawled out of bed, I was able to be chipper and refreshed because I had gone to bed early the night before. Though it was going to be a long day, still, it would be filled with much excitement and adventure.

It started out by my walking on a brisk, cool morning to the glorious feast that some refer to as breakfast. Although this comes nowhere near being the climax of the day, nonetheless, all you can drink hot chocolate that tastes like a warm fudge sickle is enough to provide one with enough ecstasy for the rest of the day.

Promptly following breakfast, we all had the glorious opportunity to attend Brother Ludlow's lecture and class. Though I would have rather been swimming in the Sea of Galilee, I was happy to be able to go to class. However, as we sat through the three hours of class, I realized that I think I do in fact have Attention Deficit Disorder. Though the class was very interesting and informative, I could see my legs were growing more restless and agitated as we sat through the very long class period.

Perhaps this is the reason I enjoyed the hike we took right after class. Not only was it in the Golan Heights which was thrilling enough, but my legs no longer had to sit still in the same seat for three hours. The hike was unlike anything I expected. When we first started hiking, I felt like I was once again in my backyard of Idaho. However, the more we hiked, the more I realized the terrain was exclusive to only this region of the world. We traversed through hills that reminded me of being on the set of the Princess Bride, while also meandering through paths that made one think she was in a tropical rainforest fully equipped with anything from exotic flowers to cascading waterfalls. The first waterfall may have been warm and pleasant, but the second one was the polar opposite. The water was ice-cold, but somehow most all of us still decided to swim. Though those of us who swam couldn't feel any of our extremities after getting out of the pool, yet we felt a sense of exhilaration knowing that we had actually jumped into that frigid, forbidding pool.

After arriving back to Ein Gev, my roommates and I had thirty minutes before we were to depart for dinner at the Ein Gev restaurant. Since it was notorious for the St. Peter's fish, I figured I might as well live a little and go for it. Though it didn't taste bad, I still felt a little leery knowing that the fish still had eyes that were staring at me as I was consuming the helpless mass. I must admit that for a brief second, I sort of felt bad for the poor little fishy…briefly! Nonetheless, the night ended up being one of my favorites among all the others in Galilee. Not only was I able to taste a St. Peter's fish, I was able to have strawberry cheesecake ice cream for dessert. All in all, I think it ended up being a pretty good day!

Favorite Scripture Verse : As I was reading through the gospels in Galilee, I stumbled upon a verse that never hit me so powerfully until now. It was in Luke 4:32 and it read: And they [those in the Synagogue in Nazareth] were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.

As I read this, I too felt the power that Jesus had taught with. Even though I had the Holy Ghost to bear further witness of the truth, I can only imagine how incredible it must have been to see the Savior preaching in the Synagogue and say in just a couple versus preceding that statement, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." [1] I know it is only because it was absolute, eternal truth that Jesus testified was He able to teach with such power and authority.