Stacy’s Birthday

As we sang “Master, the Tempest is Raging”, the wind was blowing and the waves were going and you could just imagine Christ walking on the water and calming the seas. 
Our boat ride took us to Nof Ginnosar (or something like that that sounded like dinosaur), where we saw the ancient Jesus boat. They discovered this boat deep in the mud in the Sea of Galilee. This boat is from the time of Jesus. They have had to do so much to preserve it and to get it out of the water without having it fall apart completely. This ancient boat is pretty cool beans.
Then we went to the Mt. of Beatitudes where I put another beautiful hibiscus in my hair. I had one of these pretty little flowers in my hair everyday in Galilee. I love it.
Beatus is Latin means to be happy or to be fortunate, so the Beatitudes are to make us happy. Brother Huff, one of our religion teachers, gave us a lesson about them here at the Mt. of Beatitudes. It was so so so beautiful here, with trees and green things and flowers and sunshine and rain. I love it.
Then we went to Tagbha, which honors the loaves and fishes miracle where Jesus fed the 5000 with five loaves and two fishes.

I lit a candle.

Tagbha is also where St. Peter’s Primacy is and is where Christ told Peter to “Feed my sheep.”
There were hugest heart shaped rocks I’ve ever seen.
Next stop was Capernaum, the base of Jesus’s Galilean ministry and also Peter’s house was, which became Christianity’s first church house.
This is a Holy Place.
I love rainbows.
Our last stop for the day was Kursi where the there are signs that say “Danger Mines!” because that area is part of the Golan Heights and Israel and Syria have been fighting over it.
The miracle of the swine, when Jesus cast the devils out of a person and into a bunch of pigsthat then ran down the hill, also happened here. It was so beautiful here and so windy on top of this hill. Oh so glorious.
Now for my favorite part of the day:

First I found a ladybug. His name is Winston.
I frolicked down the beach by myself and found a dead fish and named it Octavius.
I then gave him a proper burial service and said some beautiful kind words of remembrance. Every creature deserves that.
I found another ladybug and named her Emmaline, Winston’s lover.
Then I found a big plastic bag and the water and took it out of the water because things like that do not need to be in the water. Then I decided to fill it with trash, because there was a lot of trash on the beach and I did not like seeing it at all. So I participated in a self sponsored beach cleanup. 
I also found a sweet new pair of shoes.
To top that off, I wore my sweet Michael Jackson shirt all day long. It was such an excellent day, must be because my dear sister turned 25 on this lovely day. I do love birthday celebrations, and Winston, and Octavius, and beach cleanups, and beach walks, and the Sea of Galilee. What an excellent day.