Because I Kan Kan Kan: Israel... Nazareth

So the next day was one of my favorites on the trip. We woke up to one of the most beautiful sunrises on the Sea of Galilee. It was a great way to start the day. The first stop for the day was to Nazareth. I was expecting a little city. It is not little by no means. There were many houses and many apartments. The crazy thing to me was that from far away the city looked so white and clean and then once we got into the middle of the city it looked very dirty and not taken care of. Once we got to Nazareth we went to the Church of Annunciation. This is where they believe the cave is where Mary had an angel appear to her and tell her that she would be carrying the Christ child. The interesting thing to me was that they were holding a service at the time when we came into the church. They allowed us to take pictures during there service, which I thought was really wierd. On the second floor of the church they had all these different mosiacs from around the world and there interpretation of Mary. It was really cool to see some of the mosiacs and what they thought. I loved the one from Japan because it had little pearls on it and was so totally different than anything I have ever imagined in my mind.

Sunrise on the Sea of Galilee

View from my room looking at the Sea of Galilee

Church of Annunciation

Door on the church that shows the Saviors Life and Ministry

Cave within the Church where they believe the angel appeared to Mary

People having there church service by the cave

Mosiac from Japan

upper part of the church

Front of the church with the upside down lilly and stained glass

Another mosiac of Mary.... Patty and I thought it kind of looked like the personal progress girl though.

Stained Glass

This is what they called the upside down lilly.... it stands for being pure like Mary was.

Another Mosiac of Mary from Brazil

It was such a beautiful day outside that it was hard to believe it was the end of November. I had to take some pretty pics of the blue sky because it was so blue! This is outside of the Church of Annunciation.

After going to the Church of Annunciation we walked through the city of Nazareth. During the walk we came across this guy who was playing the accordian. He did a good job so I gave him a couple of bucks. I also took some cool pics of different signs and things that I thought was interesting. I loved the signs because they all had hebrew, english, and arabic on them. They looked so cool! I also saw some logos from home that I recognized. The friends bar/cofee shop, which had the friends logo from the TV show. That was interesting. Sam the local guide told us that they like things from America and try and incorporate them into there stuff over there.

Homeless man playing the accordian in Nazareth

The Streets are so narrow that I had to show them because large trucks would try and fit down them with all the other cars and traffic and people. It was a little crazy!

I loved the signs that had all three languages on them!

Fanta!!!!

Friends!!!!! :) It was a cofee shop!

After visiting Nazareth we headed to the outside of the city where the Mount of Precipice is. This is a large Mountain that over looks Nazareth on one side and then The Valley of Jezreel. While at the top there was a perfect spot for a little devotional. Ron one of our guides talked to us about how this where the Savior was almost thrown from the mount. Ron posed a few questions to us while we were here and it really made me think. The first would we have been able to recognize Christ back then and would we have followed him? The second question was will we recognize him when he comes again or better yet will He be able to recognize us? The spirit was so strong here and it was nice to ponder and feel the feelings of the Savior. What an amazing experience I had here and some really thought provoking questions. I am so grateful to have had this experience and be able to truly look at my relationship with my Savior and Heavenly Father and learn so much while I was there.