The Rest of the Visit

More photos to share about first of the week--
We wanted to help us all get a feel for the great scope of time represented in the places that we visited so we constructed a timeline based on what we learned from our good friend, Adrian Escalante, in our Pleasant Grove Sunday School class.  Try it yourself.


Take a long paper fold it in half- lengthwise.  Draw a long timeline across the lengthwise fold.  On the left side, put the name Adam and the right side put the name of the last prophet of the Old Testament--that would be ....Malachi.  Under Adam's name write 4000 BC under Malachi write 100 BC.  Now fold it in half widthwise and right the name of Abraham and underneath his name write 2000 BC.  Fold it again widthwise and you get spots for 3000 BC for Noah and 1000 BC for Solomon.  You realize, of course, these dates are approximate, but it helps to see the scope of the Old Testament.  It should look like this:


ADAM                NOAH                          ABRAHAM             SOLOMON         MALACHI
-I--------------l------Flood,  Babel----l---------Moses---l--------------l-------
4000 BC              3000 BC                        2000 BC             1000 BC




It is also interesting to note that the book of Genesis covered about 2500 years of history.  The Old Testament Times at a Glance chart is a great resource.  It divides the books of the Bible into two categories: Historical and Prophetic.  In the historical category the books  Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges take up about 300 years.   The next category is Ruth-100 years. 1 Sam about 110 years, 2 Sam and 1 Chronicles about 30 years, 1st Kings and 2nd Chronicles about 250 years, 2nd Kings about 175 years, then Books Ezra, Esther, and Nehemiah about 75 years.  Check out the prophetic books on your own.  Mind you now, this is just the Old Testament history.  We also need to consider the New Testament history, but I'll save that for another episode.  


This discussion was relevant for all of us because during the week we had an opportunity to visit Tel Dan in Northern Galilee where we saw what is called Abraham's gate which would be about 4000 years old.  This is where Abraham came to save his nephew Lot who had been taken captive by the Caananites.  He did save him and all his possessions.  It is probably the oldest thing we have seen to date, but we haven't been to Jericho yet which is said to be the oldest continually inhabited city in the world.




This is the day we went to the Mt. of Beatitudes for our Branch Fast and Testimony Meeting during which Nikaia was confirmed.  Glory, Logan and Nikaia were able to bear their testimonies and it was a beautiful experience.  Of course, there were a number of challenges of the day like being shuttled out of the spot so the next group could come in and in our rush leaving our suitcase with sacrament trays and hymnbooks there.  So there were a number of tensions we dealt with, but learned some great lessons about the Sermon on the Mount as we sorted out our feelings during the coming week.

A FAMILY VISIT

Logan and Glory and family arrived in the middle of the night April 4...I don't know how Carl did it!  He bummed a ride with branch members going back to Haifa after church, was going to take a train to Tel Aviv Airport, but learned that no trains were running on the Sabbath so he took a taxi.  What a dedicated Dad!  The family arrived in Tiberius at 3 am.  I made sure the beds, note and treats were all ready for them because I knew if I got up to greet them I would never be able to go back to sleep and I would miss all the next day activities with them.  

What an exciting morning to see how much everyone had grown and how excited they were to be in Israel and happy to see us as well.  Matthew got up early to show his friend in Orem, the Galilee sunrise over SKYPE.  It tickled us all how the world can be accessed in time and space.  

Our first day consisted of all the sites around the Sea of Galilee:  Capernaum, Tabgha, Peter's Primacy, the Gennesor boat.  There is much more to say about these spots and how we read scriptures at each spot and got a feel for the events of each place, but for now we'll get the pictures up and talk about the meanings later.

The next day we decided on a driving distance day to the Mediterranean to visit Caesera Maritima.  Enroute we stopped by Mt. Tabor which is considered a possible spot where the Transfiguration took place. So many switchbacks on such a steep mountain, that Nikaia was ready to hide on the floor. 

Glory was really happy to see the seashore, but it wasn't warm enough for her to want to get in, but the four girls enjoyed the sand and the sea while Matthew climbed the aqueduct.

April 6 is a special day because of the birth of the Savior and the organization of the church in 1830.   April 6 in our family is also Glory's birthday and now it is Nikaia's baptism date.  She was baptized in the River Jordan at Yardenit by her Dad, Logan.  Carl as Galilee Branch President presided at the service before.  I gave a short talk about the choices she had made to prepare her for baptism and how she would now have the opportunity to have the Holy Ghost help her make choices in the future.  The First Counselor in the Branch, Michael Hansen, was the witness and a great support to us in understanding how get this to happen appropriately.  After the baptism and lunch, we drove to Korazim to climb on the rocks and read about its history.  Later in the day we celebrated Glory's 40th with a cake from our favorite bakery in Tiberius.