I have been reflecting a lot lately on the semester I spent in Israel, and I am not sure why.  Perhaps it is because of the ten year reunion that I just missed in Utah, or rereading Exodus, by Leon Uris – an amazing novel about the creation of the state of Israel.  I have been picturing the streets, the people, and remembering all I learned there.

  It has been over 10 years now since I went to the BYU Jerusalem Center, and in so many ways it feels like only yesterday.  It was one of the the most amazing, and yet most difficult experiences of my life.  I have never felt so close to my Savior as I did walking the streets of the Old City, or along the shores of Galilee.  The Old and New Testament came alive as I would step out of the Bible and into the Valley of Elah where David slew Goliath, or climbed Mt. Sinai and watched the sun rise where Moses received the 10 Commandments. 

I think back to sitting in the upper auditorium where we had church.  It was set up so that the congregation was facing a wall of windows that looked out on the temple mount.  It was the most amazing experience to look out those windows at the Dome of the Rock where the ancient temple stood, to the Garden Tomb where Christ was resurrected, and to be on the Mount of Olives, a stones throw from the Garden of Gethsemane. 

If I close my eyes, I am there once more.  I am at the Jerusalem Center, sitting on the grass on a beautiful fall evening, smelling Jerusalem Roses, and knowing that I was truly home as I looked out on the City of Peace.  Yes, although time will go by, I will always have that light before me in Jerusalem.