OFF TO GALILEE TOMORROW!!

Shout outs!

Morgan, Bailey, Braden, Mom , Dad, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE (14^th) and MOM! (19^th) Grand ma and grand pa bourne happy birthday Grandpa! Phil!

 I am totally obsessed with my New Testament class. What I learn there will be the bulk of my blog.(just a heads up)

NT lessons I have learned

Right now we are starting at the beginning with Christ’s birth. We all know the story and it is such a beautiful time. I am sure it was very peaceful mother, father, and child. We went to the cave where the Savior was born on a field trip. it was very weird, it had a huge Byzantine church over it and was very gaudy. I did not feel the spirit but I was glad that I could recognize the birth of my Savior. They have a 14 sided star on the floor that everyone kisses it represents the 14 generations between Jesus and David as well as the 14 points on the Via Dolorosa (where Christ walked the cross) where Christ stopped. So it has representation of His birth as well as his death.

    We talked about how Christ was perfect. We all know this but my teacher opened my eyes to this statement. He said that Christ did have temptations and they really were temptations. Christ had feelings and emotions just like us. But, He had perfect self-discipline. Christ was mortal but was perfect because he could resist the temptation. He had something (immortal) with him that allowed him to overcome the natural man. Christ knew and understood the crucifixion. He was frightened and really meant “if this cup can pass from me”  To me this understanding makes Christ more human to me. I know that he is my Savior and is Gods only begotten son in the flesh, but I feel closer to him knowing that he really does know fear and all the emotions we feel here.

      Another question brought up in class was about the veil and when the veil was taken away. My teacher said that because the body veils our spirit, the veil was “gone” right when Christ was born. Christ was taught by his Father. (God) Christ grew grace by grace, we can assume however that by the time he was 12 he knew what his  mission was. Christ at the age of 12 was in the temple teaching When Mary asked what he had been doing he said “I have been going about my Fathers work” God the Father was his Father and he was doing his work. I find it fascinating that at such a young age he could know so much and be completely dedicated to his mission.

à “Any assessment of where we stand in relation to Him tells us that we do not stand at all, we kneel.”

THE WEEK

Well this was such a fun week! We had two field trips. The first one we crossed the border into the west bank and visited Bethlehem. It was a lot different than I was expecting but everyone was super nice. We visited the kids at Bethlehem University and learned about their hopes and dreams. Their campus is beautiful and they are offered many wonderful opportunities. We then headed over to the Church of the Nativity. I enjoy Bethlehem. The streets are curvey and hilly. Our second field trip was to this biblical land park. It was for sure the hottest day it has been here! I was dying, but we got to herd sheep/goats. My group was the first to go and we weren’t so good but we had a fun time.

 We were just running everywhere and I was pulling their horns so some guys came and pulled my hair…rude but he got the point across that you don’t do that. We got to see how they made their bread and how they would get their water. (I was put in the hampster wheel) it was a good hot day and we got to read out of the torah.

My friends and I walked out one day and visited Dormition Abbey. It was very interesting and a  church group was in the basement singing around the statue of Mary. Also this week we had an Arab night. (we all got dressed up!) We got to have the father and son who sing the call to prayer every day (it happens 5 times a day) this honor has been passed down in their family for years. Their voices were beautiful and they also demonstrated how they pray. We then had an amazing meal followed by arab dancing! On Friday I was able to attend synagogue with my Judaism professor. We arrived and he gave us an introduction. The then separated women on the left and men on the right. There was a lot of singing and a little dancing (prancing in a circle around all the women in the chairs). I really enjoyed welcoming in the Sabbath and I think that everyone should do it no matter what religion you are. Most people are out late on the weekends and don’t even think about the importance of the Sabbath until the day of- when they roll out of bed and stumble into their church building.

 We are told to stay inside today because of what happened in the Old city last week. So I get to start writing my talk for next Sunday in Galilee.

Sabbath thoughts:

Our theme for this month is praying with faith. The first speaker Kiinzie gave a wonderful talk. Quoting from Elder Bednar.

1-ask in faith and act on it [james 1:5-6] challenge=at the end of the day think about what you did to fulfill your part of your prayers

2- blessings come after the trial of our faith, challenge=recognize everyday the hand of God in your life

3- seek the Lords will, not your own [luke22:42] “Father if thou wilt, remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done”

 In Sunday school Michael gave a wonderful talk on chastity. One point I want to mention is when we talked about Joseph in Egypt. Potiphar’s wife wanted him. Many of us think that she asked him daily to lie with her but a point was brought up in class that it was probably more subtle than that. She probably asked him to help her with something, or to rest while se brought him something to drink. Every time he refused! He “hearkened not unto those things” and he avoided her. When she finally broke down and went after him he FLED. He did not calmly walk away. He ran as far as he could away for sin. C.S. Lewis said something along the lines of “one who gives into sin in 5 min has no idea what the trial would have been an hour later or what he would have been an hour later”  challenge=notice the things you look at, the things you listen to, the movies you watch, the language you use. Is it apart of the Lords standard? If it is not “hearken not unto it” avoid it at all costs because satan starts with little things which soon lead into very large things.

I am so grateful for this opportunity and the chance that I have to study these things in the land where they took place. I am off to Galilee so you will not hear  from me again until march 26^th or 27^th. Don’t miss me too much J This trip to Galilee will probably the one and only chance I have in my life to spend two weeks fully invested in the study of my Savior. I cant wait. See you on the other side

.:/katie