The Fall semester in 1988 was the 1st full semester in the newly completed Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. There were still several floors within the building not yet completed. There were 108 students. Pres. Arthur Nielsen was the Jerusalem Branch President. Truman Madsen and Peter Hoag were his counselors. The faculty that semester were Ray Huntington and his family. Dr. Kent Jackson and his family and Dr. Keith Meservy and his wife Arlene. We were also greatly blessed to have Bro. Truman Madsen and his wife Ann Madsen participate as teachers. Bro. Madsen taught a Religion Philosophy class and Sis. Madsen taught the “Words of Isaiah” class. We also had several Senior Missionary couples: Bro & Sis. Tuttle and Bro. & Sis. Horton.
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During our semester we were privileged to have Elder Richard G. Scott’s son as a classmate. It was just before the General Conference in October, while we were there, that he received a call in the middle of the night (our time) from his dad telling him he’d been called to be an Apostle. It was quite special to be a part of this exciting time for their family. However, this was before satellite was an option so we had to wait for two weeks before we received the VHS recorded tapes of General Conference to enjoy his dad’s 1st address as an Apostle of the Quorum of the Twelve.
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During the field trip to the Sinai (9/14/88), the bus that was carrying Bro. Huntington’s class broke down. The bus for Bro. Meservy’s class was used to go back to get another bus. We had the awesome privilege of sitting in the darkness with only the light of the brilliant Sinai stars. We held an impromptu class at midnight discussing that “THIS was the sky Abraham would have been looking at when promised his seed would be as numerous as the stars in the night sky”. It was truly magical.
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We were also one of the first groups to use the authentic wine press located on the grounds as well as the olive press. We participated in the Olive Press activity on 11/13/88. We felt fortunate to enjoy an authentic experience with a donkey to assist with turning the wheel. However, it was just like Bro. Meservy to jump in and do more work than the donkey! He was always the first to do the work and the first to the top of every hill!
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In Galilee, Bro. and Sis. Huntington ‘s son, Jay was baptized. A very memorable experience for us all. We stayed at the Ein-Gev kibbutz resort during our time in Galilee and all of the trailers we stayed in were condemned and destroyed the week after we left!
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Through some personal friends of Bro. & Sis. Madsen we were blessed to participate in an authentic lighting ceremony, with their friends Eyal & Galliah. Eyal brought his guitar and he led us in some songs to celebrate the 2nd night of Hanukkah. In December, we spent one full week in Cairo and Luxor, Egypt. We explored Karnak, sailed the Nile and watched a belly dancing performance as our dinner entertainment!
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This semester, as with all the students who have been privileged to attend the Jerusalem Center, changed all of our lives, prepared some of us for missions, strengthened our testimonies, and prepared us for a life of service and leadership.
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-Contributed by Wendy Massey Farr