Thursday November 29, 2007

Daniel Sorenson
Religion 311 Bro. Ludlow
11-29-07
On this day our class stayed at Ein Gev while the other class was on their fieldtrip to Gamla and Qatzrin. Our class that day discussed some things that I really needed to hear at the time. One of the first stories that we discussed was the sinner woman who washed the feet of Jesus and anointed them. The lesson that I really learned from this is that when we go to Christ he can change our lives tremendously through the sacrifice that he made for each of us. The other thing that really struck me was the lesson on how if an evil spirit leaves the person and they do not fill that space somehow then it will come back with seven “friends”. I realized that our souls are never in a static place, instead they are either growing or dying, and that we need to be constantly filling our minds and hearts with good positive influences.
Later that day most of our class went on a hike through the Golan Heights. I did not imagine that I would be seeing that sort of scenery in the Galilee region, but was truly amazed to see jungles of bamboo and vines mixed with the more plants in the region. We finally got to the place where we could swim, which many of us did. The water was frigid, but that didn’t really stop us from going in. It was an invigorating experience, and although I was cold for a long time after that it was well worth it.
After that I was in the group that went to the Fish Restaurant and to Tiberias. It was a really fun night and having a whole fish presented on a plate was an interesting experience. It was really good fish, and honestly more fun to eat than normal. We then went to a store and then went for ice cream and walked around a flea market for a while.
We were also supposed to give our favorite gospel passage. Mine is found in John 16:33, which says, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall of tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” I really love this scripture because peace and “good cheer” are something that is desperately lacking in our world. But in this scripture Christ tells his apostles, and all of us, that if we truly believe in him and follow his teachings then we truly can find peace and happiness in our lives.