We are a comin'

So this June, I will be returning to my most beloved city, Jerusalem. I visited it once for a few days in April of 1977, and then lived there for a year with the family in 1994-95. Jerusalem has a hold of my heart. The anticipation of growing near it during my first visit as a student on a tour caused deep feelings of coming home. Leaving Jerusalem on a bus a few days later caused my heart an almost physical pain of wishing to return. For some reason, I had a fascination of feeling like I needed to know all the streets of Jerusalem. I studied maps and tried to figure out where I had been, and how I would get there if I didn't have a guide. In 1994 Terry had the opportunity of teaching at the BYU Jerusalem Center. I was given a home in Jerusalem! I ventured out cautiously at first, only daring to go with others who had been there longer than I. Later, I learned that as long as I had at least one child with me, I could go anywhere. I wandered all over that beloved city, exploring every nook and cranny that captivated my interest. I came to know and love many of those streets I had occasionally studied. You know them by their smell, by the stone steps, by the shop owners, and by the street vendors. I want to share Jerusalem with you, page by page, so that when you get there, you will know what you are seeing. I want to you have those gates, those beautiful gates already engraven in your heart. I want you to know those walls, the city walls that have held off so many armies. I want you to know which are the sacred places, what they look like and what to ponder when you are there. I think it will all be too much for me to share when we are on the spot, your eyes and heart and nose and senses will all be on overload. When I set my first foot on Jerusalem, it was all new to me, and too much to take in. I want you to savor it for the whole time we are preparing to go. From the Garden of Gethsemane, to the temple steps, to Zion's Hill. Oh, you are going to love this city. You are in for the trip of a lifetime!