Awesome Israel with Petra!
Incredible sites–Inspiring presentations–
A life-changing experience!
A great time of year to go! Just past “high season” means less crowds and deals at fine hotels. Expected perfect, summery temperatures usually 80s-mid-90 degrees Fahrenheit daytime, low 70s at night. (Likely much hotter in some areas…) Chance of rain: nil (or next to nil).
Tour June 8-22, 2017 – 15-day tour, 10 nights in Israel and 2 nights in Jordan. Old Testament and New Testament sites as listed below with a full day sight-seeing in/around Petra to tour Wadi Rum (including a night at a Dead Sea resort and a night at the Seven Wonders Bedouin Camp.
Superb tour at modest cost
This vigorously-paced tour is led by our expert guides who have years of experience hosting delighted tour members at these sacred places — you will feel how they especially love Israel. With many years of dedicated church service & study, your tour guides understand why you come and they present the right things in the right ways to assure the experience you hope for. In addition to expert MHA guides traveling with you from beginning to end, there will also be on board hand-picked, licensed, local guides who are adept at the various languages, current goings-on, new opportunities, and local customs. At the sites and on the bus, well-prepared presentations will be given by the tour guides and tour members describing the remarkable events and sites we’ll be discovering. Participants must be physically able to climb stairs, hills, walk distances, traverse outdoor terrain, and endure wonderfully site-filled days. We’ll use portable earphone/headsets at the sites thus allowing for ideal communication between you and your guides. People everywhere show a warm, sincere appreciation that we would come at a time when so many others are afraid and choose to stay home–don’t miss out!
Tour ID Dates, Days Price if One per room Price each if Two per room Price each if Three per room Guides and Tour Comments
IS40 June 8-22, 2017
15 days$5300 $4500 $4350 15-day tour, 10 nights in Israel and 2 nights in Jordan. Old Testament and New Testament sites as listed below with a full day sight-seeing in/around Petra to tour Wadi Rum (including a night at a Dead Sea resort and a night at the Seven Wonders Bedouin Camp. Hosted by Richard & Lee Ann Scott
Prices are per person by number of people sharing hotel room. Price includes: round-trip SLC air (including current fees and taxes; other departure cities by request), all meals (except airports & 1 lunch), deluxe charter bus, very nice lodging, group admissions, expert MHA guide services, as well as bus driver and local guide fees and tips. It’s a fantastic deal and an awesome experience! POSTED PRICE IS ALL YOU PAY! Dare to compare!
Maximum 3 persons per room. REGISTER by 90 days prior to departure to guarantee above pricing; after 90 days, price possibly subject to air availability–call for details. (Once group seats are ticketed, price subject to current market airfare prices for like or similar flights; call for details inside of 30 days before departure.) Generous credit if you don’t need our air transportation–call for details 801-272-5601. MHA reserves the right to make changes as necessary.
$200 per person secures your reservation on a first-come, first-served basis. Balance due six weeks before departure. Credit cards by telephone 801-272-5601 or mail checks to: Mormon Heritage Association, 2367 W Goldenpointe Way, West Jordan UT 84088
Passport required (valid at least 6 months beyond tour date). Application process can take 3-8 weeks, please apply right away! Notify Mormon Heritage Association upon signup if you are NOT a US Citizen (for government regulations).
Traveling alone? Would you like help finding a roommate to decrease your tour price? Let us know when you REGISTER and we’ll do what we can to connect you with a compatible roommate. You might just make a new, long-lasting friendship!
Fit to Travel – registrants accept the responsibility for being in good health and able to walk distances and be able to travel well. Sites may not always be accessible to the physically challenged–those needing ambulatory assistance will find the tour extremely limiting to their experiences.
Register online or by telephone 801-272-5601
or toll-free 866-335-5601 (within US)
Accommodations & Food
Our groups have unanimously praised the food and the hotels. All hotels are clean, comfortable, and convenient. The food is exceptionally good and so is the variety! Breakfasts and dinners are elaborate, cultural buffets at the hotels. Lunches are unique, regional delights–and ALL meals are included in tour price! You will be amazed at the quality and size of the fresh produce grown there.
ANTICIPATED DAILY SCHEDULE:
Day 1 – Fly SLC to JFK to Tel Aviv
Day 2 – Late afternoon arrival at Tel Aviv. Visit the ancient Joppa Port on the shore of the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. Discuss Jonah’s attempted escape from the Lord and subsequent humbling experience with a “big fish.” Learn of Peter and the vision of the Great Sheet and a miraculous miracle. Travel to Netanya for over-night at a lovely hotel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. (Sabbath begins at sundown.)
Day 3 – Sunrise walk on the beach or swim in the Mediterranean. Depart for Caesarea, a huge, elaborate, exciting ruins of an ancient Roman city right on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Peter lived here as did Cornelius. Paul was prisoner for at least a year. Built by King Herod. Roman theatre, chariot racing hippodrome, Crusader fortress, moat, remains of an incredible aqueduct, etc. Continue to Haifa to visit significant late 1800s LDS missionary graves, Baha’i Shrine & park grounds, Mt Carmel to re-count Elijah’s dramatic duel with the Priests of Baal and look down upon the vast Jezreel Valley in anticipation of the final Battle of Armageddon! Continue onward to Tiberias on the shore of the Sea of Galilee–optional sunset swim. 3 nights at a perfectly-located hotel on the shore of the Galilee.
Day 4 – Visit recently-excavated ruins of Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene. Continue north to Tel Dan & Mt Hermon’s Caesarea Philippi (a possible “Transfiguration” site of the Savior). Travel through the famed Golan Heights back to the Galilee region crossing the Jordan River. Visit northern shore sites of Mt of Beatitudes and Peter’s Primacy while sharing scriptures re-counting the Savior’s works here.
Day 5 – Drive through the hills to Nazareth to visit the Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth Village (a re-creation of life 2000 years ago), Mt of Precipice (where the villagers sought to throw Jesus headlong over the edge). Drive by Mt Tabor (another possible “Transfiguration” site) on the way back to Galilee for lunch of St Peter’s fish (or chicken, if you wish…) before a meaningful boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Afternoon visit to Capernaum, the Savior’s own town.
Day 6 – Depart the Galilee today for points south. Stop at the large Roman-period ruins site of Beit Shean, this surpasses those found in Italy or Greece. Saul’s and his sons’ bodies were hung from the walls of this city by the Philistines; valiant Israelites gave the bodies a proper burial. Continue through the Jordan Valley to Jericho, the City of Palm Trees. Walled city ruled by a king. Joshua’s spies went to Jericho, walls fell, captured and cursed by Joshua. Jesus taught here, too. Great view of the traditional “Mt of Temptation.” After a “tempting” lunch, visit Qasr El Yahud, a baptismal site on the Jordan River, likely very near where the Savior, himself was baptized by John the Baptist. After visiting nearby Qumran (where the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered), cross into the neighboring country of Jordan via Allenby Bridge (entry taxes, etc, included!) to check in at a lovely top-notch resort on the Dead Sea. Enjoy luxurious spa treatments, mud baths, or a float in the Dead Sea, itself!
Day 7 – Drive to Petra, tour Wadi Rum. See magnificent ruins and learn of an ancient civilization. Check into Seven Wonders Bedouin Camp and enjoy a traditional Bedouin barbecue dinner and program. (Really, it’s much more than just a tent…)
Day 8 – Early morning departure to Arrava Border Crossing gaining access back into Israel. Drive north to Masada, a walled “winter palace” fortress of Herod the Great on a high mesa in the wilderness near the Dead Sea. Captured by Jewish patriots from a Roman garrison during the Great Revolt. One of the last strongholds to resist the Romans. See the remains of this palace and the ramp built by the Roman soldiers to re-capture the fortress (only to find Eleazar and his followers had killed themselves in a dreadful mass murder-suicide). Enjoy brimstone hunting in Gomorrah ashfields or relax at Ein Gedi Beach. Drive to Jerusalem for next 6 nights.
Day 9 – Morning tour at the Garden Tomb–a site thought by many to be the Lord’s actual crucifixion, burial, and resurrection site. Onward to the Israel Museum to view an impressive Jerusalem Model City, built to scale. Also visit the Shrine of the Book (Dead Sea Scrolls housed here). Drive to Bethlehem for lunch, Shepherd’s field Nativity program and singing of Christmas carols. Tour the Church of the Nativity built over the cave where generations believe Jesus was born! Back to Jerusalem for delightful tour and organ recital at the BYU Jerusalem Center. Sabbath begins at sundown so we’ll observe the Jews welcoming in the Sabbath with their worship and celebration at the Western Wall.
Day 10 – Mt of Olives morning devotional overlooking the Old City then to BYU Jerusalem Center for Sacrament Meeting. On to Bethany for lunch with friends and a visit to the traditional site of Lazarus’ Tomb from which the Savior called Lazarus forth to rise from the dead! Back in Jerusalem, walk from toward the top of the Mt of Olives through Jewish and Christian cemeteries into the Kidron Valley to the Temple Pinnacle to the Golden Gate and Eastern wall of the Old City. Evening fireside at the hotel about the Jewish Passover and Temple Worship.
Day 11 – Explore the Old City of Jerusalem today. Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock, Western Wall, Southern Steps of the Temple Mount, Mt Zion, the traditional sites of the Upper Room and King David’s Tomb. Discover ancient finds at Caiaphas’ Palace (Church of St Peter in Gallicantu). Those who wish to ($10 add-on) will tour the City of David excavations and walk through the ancient Hezekiah’s Tunnel still with running water–take water shoes! This tour ends at the Pool of Siloam which is very sacred, scripturally.
Day 12 – Morning private time at the Garden Tomb. Old City Four Quarters‘ walking tour: Muslim Quarter to Christian Quarter (St Anne’s Cathedral and the Pool of Bethesda through the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre). Continue through the Jewish Quarter’s Cardo and Broad Wall remnants. Walk through the Armenian Quarter to walk the Old City Ramparts Walk from Jaffa Gate to Damascus Gate. Evening sound and light show at David’s Citadel.
Day 13 – Morning tour at Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. Onward to the Tower of David Museum and time to enjoy picking out lunch at the Yahane Yehuda Market. Try your hand at archaeology at the Zurim Valley Sifting Project.
Day 14 – Spend the morning on the Mt of Olives: Orson Hyde Memorial Garden dedicated by Spencer W. Kimball in 1979. Beautiful 5-1/2 acre park, amphitheater, olive trees; overlooking the old walled city of Jerusalem. Hear miraculous details about Orson Hyde’s dedication of this land for the return of the Jews and the magnificent response by the people as they have felt the call to return to the land of their inheritance. Walk down the hill to the Garden of Gethsemane to rehearse the Lord’s last week from the small, private amphitheater at the edge of the ancient Olive tree gardens. Hear scriptures read by fellow tour members recounting the events from the Triumphal Entry to Christ’s suffering, arrest, mock-trial, crucifixion and resurrection to His ascension to heaven. See dozens of gnarled, twisted, yet living olive trees, some whose roots no doubt date back to the time of Jesus. Finish off the day’s visits with a private devotional at the Garden Tomb where each tour member will have opportunity to bear testimony of the Savior while standing just yards from the empty tomb. Thrilling! Evening dinner and local cultural dancing entertainment prior to departing for Tel Aviv airport for midnight flight home.
Day 15 – Arrive home mid-afternoon uplifted, enlightened, and ready to face the world!