In the beginning there was a feeling, a feeling that compelled me to travel thousands of miles

My journey to The Holy Land began last winter when I had an important feeling: this feeling was telling me that it was vital for me to travel to The Holy Land. I have had feelings like this before and I have learned never to dismiss them. After a long process of applications, essays and interviews, I was finally accepted into the BYU Jerusalem study abroad program--centered in Jerusalem, Israel.

I made arrangements with my employer to take the necessary 4 months off from work to go to Israel, saved my pennies, and took a small loan to cover the rest. I also had to follow an extensive shopping list to acquire new cloths, and other travel equipment, that are suitable for both the environment and the culture.

On Tuesday August 30th we set off to Israel from Salt Lake International Airport on 2 planes: One headed via New York, NY, and the other via Phenix AZ. I was on the latter of the two flights. Much to our surprise we ended up spending an extended stay in Phenix due to a matinance issue on our conecting flight. This turned out to be a great oprotunity because several of us were able to attent the Mesa, AZ Temple.