Your Revisited LDS Israel Tour

Itinerary of the Day

One of the "greatest experiences of your life" commences with your flight connecting into Tel-Aviv (Israel).

Itinerary of the Day

Arrival is usually at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV). After passport control, you will be met by a 'SMILE' representative who will assist you in claiming your luggage and escort you to your transfer 'Up to Jerusalem'. (For those arriving over the Jordan River, from one of the Optional Additional Programs, clear security, go through passport control, collect your luggage and exit the arrivals hall. Upon exiting the arrivals hall look for your driver, with your name placard, and proceed 'Up to Jerusalem')

“Lowest” to the “Highest” Places on the Face of the Earth

(Feeling heaven’s presence open your soul at two of the four known earthly locations where God the Father testified of His beloved son.)

Sites of the Day:

Oldest Jewish Cemetery in the World (along a Road to Jericho) - A Samaritan’s Inn - Jordan River Baptismal Site - The Spring of Harod - Mt. Tabor (the Transfiguration)

How did the Mt. of Transfiguration become the highest spot on the face of the Earth?

Insights of the Day

• The Savior told a story of a Levite and a Priest, and of a Samaritan (who ended up extending himself past his ethnic identity, saving a life).
• At the lowest spot on the face of the Earth, where living waters still flows, the Savior descended below them all.
• Simple followers, who save, are honored by one who has the higher glory.
• The Savior, coming to be immersed, is tempted by wealth.
• At Mt. Tabor, above the Armageddon, Pres. Spencer W. Kimball opened our eyes to “the highest spot on the face of the Earth.”

A Stone Mason, a Small Rock and a Stone Rejected - The Real Rock of Salvation

(Sensing the great power of the Creator by experiencing His hometown where He was rejected.)

Sites of the Day:

Tel Dan (Headwaters of the Jordan, Israelite Gate & Temple) find Caesarea Philippi - The Golan Heights - Nazareth Village (A Reconstruction of 1st Century Village Life)

Insights of the Day

• The Savior, at the Headwaters of the Jordan River, asked, “Whom do men say that I am?” . . . here he named Simon “Rocky” (Peter).
• The same water turning the millstones, grinding and producing bread, maintained life.
• The ‘Fountain of Living Waters”, bearing the weight of our millstones, gives us life.
• Quarries and Stone Rejected
• The Savior, “passing through the midst of them”, taught us to walk in his light.

Simple Truths Revealed to Simple Prophets

(Absorbing the gospel’s peace as a contrast to the bible’s greatest battlefield.)

Sites of the Day:

Acco (A Crusader Port City) - Haifa (Templar Cemetery) - Haifa (Panorama) - Mount Carmel (Elijah & the Priest of Baal) - The Jezreel (Armageddon) Valley - Tel Megiddo

Insights of the Day

• In Acco the unearthed crusader Knights and Templar Tunnel - underground escape routes - reveal the corruption of religion as monks became warriors prompting a wake-up call to the original meaning of “Onward Christian Soldiers.”
• A modern city rising on a dew-endowed Mount Carmel, becomes the resting place of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as Bahai members. Learn how the feelings of brotherhood can replace persecution.
• Realizing that even in a drought, the blessings of the priesthood can distill like the “Dews of Carmel.”
• “Whose God is the real God?” - is answered by Elijah through a contest with the priests of Baal.
• Name an army that has attempted to control the Middle east and realize they fought in the Armageddon Valley.
• Tel-Megiddo was the creative idea for Michener’s book, “The Source.” The Prophet Harold B. Lee spoke insightfully about the “battle staging ground” that turned into the “breadbasket of Israel.”

The Temple and Living Waters

(Grasping antiquities’ awesomeness walking in ancient ruins and sifting ancient dust and dirt through your toes and fingers)

Sites of the Day:

The Western Wall Tunnel - Church of St. Anne (Pool of Bethesda) - Temple Mount Sifting Project - The City of David & Hezekiah's Tunnel - The Pool of Siloam

Insights of the Day

• Massive hewn stones which form the foundation for the temple complex built by King Herod still lay witness to the Rock of Salvation.
• A lame man of 38 years, waiting for relief at perceived place of healing, was commanded to "take up thy bed, and walk!".
• Temple Mount Sifting Project - what does it feel like to sift through antiquities?
• A blind man sent to receive new sight by living waters was witness of one sent by the Father to be a light to the world.
• Destroyed by fire in the first century, the preserved and rebuilt ruins of the Holy City remind us of promised redemption.

A New Nation Built on an Ancient Inheritance

(Internalize the mercy of God as you recognize that mankind’s suffering is softened away through fulfillment of prophecies.)

Sites of the Day:

Mount Herzel - Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial Museum) - Mahane Yehuda (Jerusalem Open Air Market) - BYU Jerusalem Center - Orson Hyde Memorial Garden

Insights of the Day

• Getting a sense of the heroes fulfilling God’s prophecies of the gathering of Israel.
• Memories of destruction at Yad Vashem are supplanted amongst newly planted trees, replenishing the earth, and renewing eternal hope.
• The Brigham Young University Center of Near Eastern Studies stands as a beacon of light over the city of Jerusalem.
• Orson Hyde with a clear vision of Jerusalem, capital of a distinct nation, blessed the land to abound with water when possessed by its rightful heirs.

Out of Small, Simple Things Proceed Greatness

(Enhance your own humility as you internalize God’s hand in the affairs of His children.)

Sites of the Day:

On the Road to Emmaus - The Valley of Ajalon (Joshua, the sun and the moon & battles) - Bet Shemesh (Birth of Sampson) - Ramat Lehi (Sampson's Spring & 1st Temple Period Cave) - Valley of Elah (David & Goliath)

Insights of the Day

• When He broke bread, they remembered the new words of the Last Supper, “Do this in remembrance . . .”.
• Samson, from Bet Shemesh, a judge in Israel, misused his God-given strength. In crushing the Philistines, he worshiped himself.
• At the High Place of Lehi, the Philistines' jaws drop as Samson finds relief.
• A cavity in the rock is refuge to those escaping the destruction of Jerusalem's 1st temple.
• David's childlike faith in the Lord brought down a giant with a sling and a stone.

The Peaceful Sabbath Day

“The Sabbath of the LORD thy God.”

Sites of the Day:

BYU Jerusalem Center - Sabbath Services with the Jerusalem Branch - Afternoon at Leisure (for rest & worship)

How did the LDS Sabbath come to be on Saturday in Israel?

Insights of the Day

• With the re-establishment of the Jerusalem Branch in the Latter-days, the Brethren established Church approval for Saturday observance of the Sabbath in Israel.
• With respect for the “cultural and religious identity of the people of Israel,” LDS church members are welcome to attend LDS Sabbath Services with the Jerusalem Branch.
• The afternoon is at leisure, perhaps for venturing on one’s own into the Old City & walking atop its walls!

Depart Israel

Return: Late this evening we say Shalom. Your airport shuttle transfers you to TLV airport for your scheduled Flight (around midnight tonight). Again SHALOM . . . & “May peace be with you,” & your family & friends always!

Optional Additional Programs, transfer to a Jordan River Crossing.