Sunday December 2, 2007

Amie Ostler

New Testament Journal Entry

Sunday, December 2, 2007



Sunday was spent at our hotel in Ein Gev. It was a rainy, windy morning and most of us felt pretty lucky that we weren't on the field trip to Mt. Tabor and swimming in the Gan Hashalosha Hot Springs with the other students!

We had New Testament class for three hours in the morning. Brother Ludlow mainly focused on the Gospel of John. We discussed his background and compared his account of the Savior's ministry to those of Matthew, Mark and Luke. We contrasted the stories of the Samaritan woman and Nicodemus found in John 3 and 4. Brother Ludlow highlighted the message the Christ gave to each of them; to endure to the end and to be baptized by water and the Holy Ghost, respectively. We also continued our discussion of the law of witnesses and Christ's right to testify of himself.

After class most of us spent the afternoon pondering, studying, or napping on the lawn outside our bungalows. It was nice to spend our last day in the Galilee outside- especially as it had cleared up from earlier that morning and the weather was quite pleasant. Our last sunset in the Galilee was very beautiful and picture-worthy, a nice end to a wonderful week.

That night we had our class bonfire. We played games-murder in the dark, telephone, and charades- and we had fantastic smores! The committee in charge provided an assortment of goodies; cookies, marshmallows, fruit, different kinds of chocolate, and drinks. It was very well put together and I think most of us had a really great time. Emma Hanks brought her guitar and taught us some campfire songs including a tribal-sounding rendition of "Book of Mormon Stories". In a moment of inspiration, we decided to sneak over to the bonfire of Brother Draper's class and sing/chant our song as we danced in a circle around them in a very Indianesque manner. To retaliate, members of Brother Draper's class came and tried to take "Archie" (James Archibald) away from us. Luckily our class prevailed and they were unable to capture him! It was a great night and a great end to our Galilee Field Trip.

It is very difficult to pinpoint my favorite passage in the New Testament. There are so many teachings and principles that have been highlighted in class that have contributed to my greater love and understanding of the scriptures. However, one verse that really struck me in my readings was John 8: 29, which says, "and he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone". I really like the message that this scripture gives. It reminds me of Luke 12 where he says that not even one sparrow is forgotten of God- he is aware of every little thing that goes on in our world. It is very comforting for me to know that my Heavenly Father is watching over me and that even when I feel dejected and abandoned, He will not leave me alone because He is the one that sent me to this earth.