Israel 2006

In January 2006, almost four years ago, I was privileged and blessed to spend a week and a half touring Israel with my dad, my in-laws (who organized and led the tour), and a score of dear friends - one of whom is no longer with us. I'm telling you, the Bible has never been the same since and I have found myself with a regular yearning to return.

Part of my responsibility in the trip was to act essentially as recorder. I kept a log of where we went and some things that we did. Additionally, I gathered the thousands of photos taken by the other travelers and compiled them into a musical slide show. It literally took me weeks and who knows how many hours to sift, filter, organize, arrange, and animate the 35 minute show. Little did I know then that this effort would someday help fill a void - nearly four years later - that I thought could be filled only by setting foot on Israeli soil again. As we watched "the Israel DVD," as we affectionately call it, I was taken back to my experience there and many of the feelings returned. Even now, as I write, feelings, smells, sounds, and sights are coursing through me, leaving me as if I just went back for the afternoon. When you land there, you are in Israel. But when you leave, Israel is in you and you can find it there whenever you are quiet and look carefully.

I do hope to return - this time with my wife, who did go in 1996 - and for a longer stay, if possible. But one thing is certain, and it's the most powerful take-home of the trip for me: Look wherever you want...in tombs, in caves, in sepulchers, under rocks, in cemeteries, or anywhere else, but Jesus will not be there, for He rose on the third day and lives again! And while I loved my experience there and think that anyone who professes to be a Christian should go if they are able, you don't have to travel to Israel and see the Holy Land to find Jesus. You can find Him anywhere, and most powerfully while on your knees in humble prayer or striving to live as He would live. Even more powerful than sight, President Harold B. Lee taught, and even more powerful than walking and talking with the Savior Himself, is the manifestation of the Holy Ghost in the heart of a son or daughter of God.

Yes, to see Israel is sublime. But to seek to live a life that would meet the Savior's approval and to have His Spirit always with us, that is divine, and everything else will be enhanced by it. Everything.