Shuffling to the Shephelah

A few weeks back, our Monday field trip was to the Shephelah. What is the Shephelah you make ask? Well, that is a good question. Because I don't know what to say...I have recruited my good friends of Wikipedia to inform us on the subject...

The Shephelah, "Judean foothills", is a lowland in south-central Israel stretching over 10-15 km between Mount Hebron and the coastal plain. The Shephelah was one of the regions allotted to the biblical Tribe of Judah. Today the Shephelah is largely rural with many farms.

There you have it folks. Wikipedia just took the words right out of my mouth...aka it was almost 3 weeks ago, and I couldn't really tell you.

This was a fun field trip. We went to a lot of sites...but boy, oh boy. It was HOT!! Welcome to summer in Israel. Welcome to seeing each hot and sweaty ALL THE TIME! Yep. 

The first stop was a look out spot, looking over the Sorek Valley...we knew from the first stop that it was going to be a sweaty day.

The second stop was Azekak, which is best associated with the story of David and Goliat. There we looked over the valley the Elah Valley, where David slew Goliath. Here our class read the story of David and Goliath and we had our own, acted out rendition of the story. It was quite humorous. I would upload a video, but our internet will not let us...so you'll just have to imagine it. It was good! 

We then ventured down to the Elah Valley and were given a sling and instructed to find 5 stones.

Bro. Harper gave us a few pointers, but then we were let loose and given our chance to see if we would have been able to withstand Goliath. It was pretty entertaining. We had to be conscious of our surroundings, because sometimes those stones tended to go in the wrong direction. I would have made a terrible David. I am pretty sure I could have thrown my rocks farther than my sling was taking them. I had a good laugh about my lack of skills...but it's ok, because we were all pretty bad.

We were in love with the wheat field that surrounded us. We could help but think of the scriptures, 

D&C 33:7 " Yea, verily, verily, I say unto you, that the field is white already to harvest; wherefore, thrust in your sickles, and reap with all your might, mind, and strength."

I love that looking at this field just made me think of missionary work, and therefore think of my sister. Missionary work is the greatest!

These girls are my favorite! Somehow we always end up together. Imagine that? 

The next stop was the Tel Lachish. We love Tels around these parts.  This Tel provides evidence of Joshua and the Israelite conquest. The room we are standing in below was were the Lachish Letters were found, letters that prefaced the arrival of the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar. Ya, I know...you are super interested.

One of the coolest sights we were taken to during the day, was an underground pigeon...nest? Sure, that sounds good. Anyways, it caught me off guard, but it was pretty sweet. I guess they use the birds for their feces...or they would sell them to make money. The thought of a million birds flying around here is terrifying. It's understandable why they had so many things underground though, because summers are just plain hot around these parts.

Apparently I like to squat in small places.

Olive press.

At one spot we went into a cistern. (We also really love cisterns.) But it was so fun because instead of just talking about the cistern, we sang in it. It was great. Two small groups had prepared songs, then we sang together. I realized how much I love the song, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing." It's a favorite.

Searchin' out the caves!

We also went to Bell Caves. The caves were super cool, but once again, the acoustics were great, so we sang a bunch of hymns. I'm not a great singer, but I love that we go to sights together and sing. I was reminded of how blessed I am to be surrounded by so many amazing people that have such strong testimonies of the gospel. I really do love the people in this program. We are a little JC family.

Once again...it was a winner of a field trip!