"...he departed into Galilee..."

Ever since primary I have repeatedly heard the stories from Christ’s ministry. Subsequently, I created images, drawn from who knows where, of Christ and his surroundings as he went about his Father’s business. After spending ten days in Galilee, I was able to recreate the New Testament images of Christ. Jesus is no longer the blue eyed, fair skinned, brown haired guy I always had in mind. He’s got dark eyes, bronze skin and black hair. He didn’t spend most of his time around a dusty, arid, stony city—but a picturesque, hilly, forest-green Galilee. The fisherman’s boat was small, not large, and the synagogue where he declared his ministry was no bigger than a living room. The woman who washed his feet with her tears did not do so as he sat at a table—nor did the last supper happen around a typical table; rather, he was laying down on his right side, his feet reclined backwards as he faced the other men around the food. The mount of Beatitudes was more of a hill, and the Sea of Galilee is a lake—a big ol’ fresh water lake.

We took a boat ride over the Sea of Galilee. At first, the weather was a bit stormy, all windy and cloudy. That's when we sang "Master the Tempest is Raging." Afterwards, just as we read the account about Christ walking on water, the sun burst through the clouds. This was the highlight of the trip for me.

I tried walking on water. I'm not sure if it was my faith or my blue shoes, but it worked.

A rainbow over the beatiful scenery of Galilee

One of the many spots where we sang hymns, this particular synagogue is where Christ declared his ministry.

Over looking the Jezreel Valley, where Armageddon is to take place. We started it a bit early.

The famous Jesus boat.

Making pittas over a fire.

This is what an Old Testament scroll from Jesus's time would have looked like.

This is the cliff where Christ cast the legion of spirits into the swine. It's now covered in mines from a past Israeli-Syrian war. JJ got too close to a mine, which took off his leg.

'Casey's Fortress.' Whoops, I mean 'Nimrod's Fortress.'

This depicts Elijah killing the wicked preists of Baal. Cool story.

This is a tomb stone of the first LDS missionary in the Holy Land. Guess where he's from? Farmington!! Represent! This made my day.

Peter's house in Capernaum.

There is a certain, inexplicable empowerment that comes from gaining accuracy in one’s mental imagery. Knowing that I am that much closer to recreating the actual event gives me great satisfaction. My trip to Galilee brought me that much closer to the truth, whether that truth is Christ’s eternal message or the finer details of how one of Peter’s caught fish may have looked.