We rode Arabian horses by the pyramids in Egypt and I wore an Arabian headdress. We weren’t supposed to go faster than a walk but I urged my horse into a canter and then walked when I got yelled at. As we were walking back from the pyramids, our horses took off at a gallop...
I arrived in Israel with a burning desire to know if the Church was true. I was going to turn 21 shortly and needed a testimony. I spent a lot of time praying and pondering and waiting for that precious answer. The funny thing is that I didn’t get the answer at all of the...
I remember going down to the Garden Tomb with just three other students. I must have been the Sabbath because no one else was there. The rain made everything more tangible and heightened all of my senses. I bent over to go through the little door to enter the borrowed tomb of our Savior. I...
I had several friends who attended the Jerusalem Center and they all described how magnificent the center was, but I had my college courses planned out and there was no time for me to attend. I was working alone one day in the early summer of 2010 and was listening to some quiet spiritual music...
Friday 1 January 1999, New Year’s Day Departure 1:00am, 2 January Dear Israel Journal, I have told the students that it is not enough when people ask “How was it?” to answer with such phrases as “it was awesome” or “great” or “no words to describe it.” Now that we are at the end of...
Sometimes it takes a torched turkey to remind us what Thanksgiving is really all about. As a sophomore in college, I decided to pack up my apartment, say farewell to America, and try my hand overseas in a study abroad program. I joined 172 all-American, green-as-grass students dropped in Israel for a semester. Talk about...
Living Between Two Worlds: Experiencing the Diverse Cultures of the Middle East Part of the magic of living in Jerusalem is living among many people from diverse cultures and ethnic backgrounds. For me, this actually started a bit before BYU Jerusalem when I lived in the BYU Foreign Language housing. I was in the French...
