As written by Elizabeth Lambert: January-June 1977
Attached are a few sketches I made in my journal while on the Jan.-June 1977 semester. The first is a of Mt Sinai and the others are of the inside and exterior of the garden tomb, a place I had a spiritual experience that I will share in my blurb below.
I included also a photo of a page in my Israel journal in which I wrote the Hebrew words to the song “I am a Child of God,” or “‘Ani Bat ‘Elohim.” We all learned that song in Hebrew and sang it together for some kind of meeting. The Hebrew version has stayed in my mind all these years.
The last photo is the lyrics I wrote down in my journal that were sung at a talent show we gave for the kibbutz on which we stayed, Degania Aleph. We were there to experience kibbutz life and to help prune the kibbutz banana trees, quite a memorable experience for all of us that involved getting up and starting work early before the sun rose.
Here is a little about my experience on the semester abroad:
My six months in Israel had two especially important moments for me. One was in the garden tomb. The spirit bore witness to me that Christ rose by the power of God, and that same power would raise those I love such as my grandmother, Lois Sharp, whose mortal body had been lowered into her grave two years previously.
My second important moment was while I was sitting on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was spring and for a couple of weeks, we had been intensely studying the four gospels. As I read Spencer W. Kimball’s words, “Oh I love the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that I can show to him and manifest my sincerity and devotion. I want to live close to him. I want to be like him…him whom I love, adore, and worship…” (Conference Apr. 1956)–as I read these words–I felt a deep love for the Lord. It changed over my heart in new ways and set me on a course to never do anything to hurt my fellowmen.
I love having so many visual images in my mind of the places the ancient prophets and our Savior walked and taught. We had many special experiences together as a group, such as the day apostle David Haight came and spoke to us on the Mt. of Beatitudes.
We were in Israel when the Church gained permission to rent space for church meetings. So midway in our semester, we stopped having sacrament meeting and Relief Society in our hotel dining room, and were able to rent a small building for our meetings at the base of the Mount of Olives/Mt. Scopus ridge. I didn’t realize it when I was in Israel, but back home my father was growing in his interest in the Holy Land. This eventually turned into him, in the late 1980’s, helping with a few parts of the new Jerusalem center that was being built. I’ve been happy my family could develop ties to the land I learned to love back in 1977.
One last thought: I had joined the study abroad group after living in California my whole life and after a year and a half of attending a fairly worldly university there, so I greatly appreciated the chance the semester afforded me to be with 50 or so new friends who looked to Christ and who had much to teach me about being a follower of Christ.
