Recently, a DVD set came out of a tour of the Holy Land guided by Church scholar Truman G. Madsen. Between sessions of the last General Conference there was a short documentary about the process of making these DVDs and about Dr. Madsen. He was ill at the time and wanted to make one last journey to Jerusalem and all the surrounding holy sites. Many Latter-day Saints go on trips, take tours with qualified guides or even attend semesters abroad in the Holy Land. They go to “walk where Jesus walked.”

Watching the documentary reminded me of my experience in the Holy Land and all the wonderful experiences I had. We would read about David and Goliath and then take a trip to the field where it may have happened and using the kind of sling David would have had, we tried to throw stones. (It’s harder than you think!) We went everywhere from a possible location of the stable where the Savior was born to the Garden Tomb where His body was lain after His death. The door is adorned with a wooden sign that says simply “He is Risen.”

While it is great to see the sites whether in person or on DVD, the point of Brother Madsen’s trip was not to promote tourism but rather to share his testimony of Jesus Christ as he visited the sites where the Savior lived. We can walk in the Savior’s footsteps without getting a passport. We can know Him the way all the prophets in the scriptures and Brother Madsen did. How do we do this? First we start by studying the scriptures, particularly the New Testament and the Book of Mormon when He was on the earth. We need to learn about how Jesus lived, what He did. Second, we can attend the temple and we can pray for understanding and to know the Savior lives. Third, we need to follow His example. We need to live our lives the way that Jesus did. This includes treating each other the way He did and would have us do.

Shortly after returning from his trip, Brother Madsen’s illness became worse and eventually he passed away. But like many great men before him, he left us a great resource to learn more about the Savior and to strengthen our testimonies of Him. He shared his last testimony with any who want to listen. The final step is to share our testimonies with others. We can walk each day where Jesus walked in everything we do and like Brother Madsen, perhaps others can come to know the Savior through us.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 at 10:11 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.