FUN FOR LESS

February 27, 2013 05:13 AM MST
This story was originally published in March 2011.
1 Min Read
February 20, 2013 05:05 AM MST
There is a story I always think of when I first cross the Jordan River into Israel. It is a moment in the life of Thomas who, unfortunately, has been branded by history with the preface—“DOUBTING.” For some reason we remember Thomas at one of his weakest moments. Yet there is another story of Thomas found in the New Testament which took place east of the Jordan River. Jesus had just received word that Lazarus was sick and Mary and Martha urged him to come to Bethany. This was dangerous for Jesus as an attempt had recently been made on his life. The apostles warn him about taking the journey but when they see he is determined to go to Bethany it is Thomas who speaks. “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Why do we not call this courageous apostle, “Devoted Thomas?”
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January 16, 2012 06:10 PM MST
Here is the simple answer to all of those questions, ABSOLUTELY YES, and here’s why! Bad press and exaggerated TV reports have frightened many of the would be travelers. Let me put it into perspective what I mean. A few years ago at the height of an Arab and Israeli conflict in Gaza, I received an emergency phone call from my 89 year old mother while I was leading a tour in Israel.
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July 07, 2011 03:43 PM MDT
I just returned home from Africa. I still can’t believe it, I was in Africa! Before going there, I didn’t have anything to relate Africa to except the many National Geographic specials I had watched on television since I was a child. What I saw and experienced there, was more than I had ever imagined!
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July 07, 2011 03:39 PM MDT
There is no trip one can experience in the world as spiritually refreshing as the Holy Land. There is something wonderfully unique in walking, as we say, in the footsteps of Jesus. Galilee, the Garden Tomb, Gethsemane and Bethlehem will always warm the heart with renewed faith and understanding of the love of God for all his children as that love was manifested in the life, teachings, and sacrifices of His Son. There is perpetual homesickness within me when I think of these places. Yet the great story of Christ did not end when Jesus softly called Mary’s name by the empty tomb on that first Easter morning. It spread forth to distant horizons where searching men and women waited for the good news of God’s divine intervention in the affairs of men. That is a story in and of itself, written on the stones of Ephesus, Cappadocia, Athens, Galatia, Patmos, and Rome. These “holy” places also awaken the divine homesickness within.
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July 07, 2011 03:36 PM MDT
Years ago a man by the name of Eric Berne wrote a book titled the When Script. The essence of the message was that life will begin “When I get my driver’s license…, When I graduate from high school…, When I graduate from College…, When I get a job…, When I get married…, When we get a home…, When the kids are on their own…, or When I retire….” I’ll take that trip that I have always wanted to take “When…and you can fill in the blank?”
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June 04, 2011 01:51 PM MDT
I have been thinking of writing about England for some time now, but I love the country so deeply that it has been difficult to focus on a single place to begin, so I keep putting it off. I am sure in the future there will be time and space to express gratitude and respect for all this “sceptered isle” gave to me by way of a legacy. Its history and its literature have been part and parcel of my soul’s furniture for as long as I can remember. Its landscapes and cobblestoned villages, its castles and cottages have enriched my imagination and peopled it with characters as diverse as King Arthur and Ebenezer Scrooge. All my memories of England bring a smile and a welcoming invitation at reflection. So many gifts did God allow this island nation to bestow upon the world that I will inevitably be drawn out into pleasant reverie for hours. So—where to begin? Perhaps, at the ending place would be best.
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June 04, 2011 01:45 PM MDT
The Real Odds of an Airplane Accident...
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June 04, 2011 01:44 PM MDT
As I get older my memory gets worst. I’m always searching for words that elude me or names I should know and a hundred other things. The following story sums it up.
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June 04, 2011 01:41 PM MDT
One of the most amusing, albeit occasionally frustrating, aspects of travel takes place at border crossings. You never know quite what you will find—opportunities for laughter are always anticipated, as well as an invitation in multi-cultural discovery. When we approach the border, I hold my breath, set my patience meter on high, turn my hope dial up to its highest frequency and wait for what humanity will bring me. I am so rarely disappointed…...
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April 21, 2011 07:06 PM MDT
There are two basic types of travel insurance: Trip Insurance and Medical Coverage. The cost depends upon the number and kinds of options you choose and the length of time you want the coverage to last. It does not need to be difficult to figure out which one is right for you. As a rule of thumb, it is a good idea to choose an insurance company that has been recommended by the tour company which sold you the tour. Tour companies have a history of dealing with different trip insurers. A brief summary will outline the two types of travel insurance coverage available for most travelers.
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April 21, 2011 07:03 PM MDT
Several years ago while conducting a tour to the Holy Lands; I had an opportunity of visiting Taba, Egypt for the first time. Taba is located just across the border from Israel at the farthest tip of the Red Sea. Many areas in the Middle East are dry, desolate places, but even I was not prepared for the scene that greeted me as we crossed the border. It seemed that even the words desolate, dry, and barren would not do the place justice. I could not see anything green for miles, nor were there any signs of life except where man had planted a few trees or shrubs to break the harshness of the landscape. We boarded our bus and drove across the desert toward our hotel. I remember looking around, seeing nothing but rock and sky. I searched for a few birds to indicate some form of life but could find none. Nothing seemed to live here. I thought as I surveyed the dry, bleak, austere scenery: “Whoever God assigned to create this part of his world needs to go back and take Creation 101 again, because they didn’t do a very good job here. Maybe they got started and the recess bell rang, and they never came back to add a bit of color or movement!” I do not think I have ever visited a more inhuman, forbidding, vista.
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April 12, 2011 02:57 PM MDT
One of my favorite church historical sites is Palmyra, New York. As I’ve walked the streets and paths of this beautiful little town, I’m reminded of stories filled with joys and sorrows of those magnificent Mormons who contributed to her history.
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March 28, 2011 05:27 PM MDT
Elder LeGrand Richards responding to a question from Dr. Paul Cheesman, Director of Book of Mormon Studies at BYU's Religious Studies Center in the 1960’s said, “I heard Brother Callis once say that when Joseph Smith received the plates he got down on his knees before the Lord and said, “O God what will the world say?” And the voice of God came to him. “Fear not, I will cause the earth to testify the truth of these things.” (Taken from a letter from LeGrand Richards to Paul R. Cheesman, Dec. 30, 1969)
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March 28, 2011 05:23 PM MDT
Begin packing 2 or 3 days prior to your trip
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March 28, 2011 05:20 PM MDT
When I walk through the Biblical sites of Jerusalem, I often think of the story told of Neal Armstrong when he toured Israel. The story is told by Meir Ben Dov, excavator of the Temple Mount and southern walls in Jerusalem.
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March 28, 2011 05:17 PM MDT
My wife Lizzie came home one day giggling, handed me a piece of paper while saying she loved the story on it. It read: “Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern Arizona when she saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road. As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the Navajo
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March 28, 2011 05:15 PM MDT
“….an allure incomparable with any place in the world.”
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March 28, 2011 04:41 PM MDT
Someone once said that: “getting old is not for sissies!” I’m beginning to learn this first hand. It’s so unfair. You’ve paid your dues of raising the children, working nine to five for forty years and finally paid off the mortgage. Now, life is really ready to begin! No matter what scientists say about when life begins, life begins when the kids move out and the dog dies. Just when you think you’re ready for it to begin, all of a sudden your body and mind begins to lose it. The following story says it all.
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March 28, 2011 04:27 PM MDT
It was a Saturday afternoon, the mail lay waiting on the kitchen counter. I saw the slightly thicker envelope topping the pile addressed to my daughter-in law. When she came in the door my wife casually said to her, “There’s a letter for you, Carolyn, you may want to open it.” She looked at it and read the return address—U.S. Passport Office….. Picking it up somewhat breathlessly she broke the seal. Holding her first passport in both hands she said with almost reverent awe, but with a voice bursting with excitement and tinged with a measure of joyful disbelief: “I have a passport! I have a passport!”
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