The fall after we got back, I started dating Lew Cramer and we got married in August 1973. He was lucky enough to be persuaded by Rex Lee to join the first class of the J. Reuben Clark Law School and got his degree there in 1976. I finished my BA in English in 1974 and also gave birth to the first of our six children that year. Lew’s first job was in San Jose, CA, followed by several years with a firm in Los Angeles, my home town. I was so anxious for Lew to understand a little of what I had learned in Israel, that I sent him off for a LaMar Berrett trip to Israel in 1979, while I stayed home with our three little children! In 1984, Lew was awarded a White House Fellowship, which took our family of seven to Washington DC. We lived in McLean, Virginia for 22 years while Lew held positions in both the public sector and private industry. Our 6th and final child was born there. We had many wonderful experiences back east, and were privileged to help the Church in outreach efforts to ambassadors and other foreign dignitaries. I particularly enjoyed teaching seminary and institute classes and directing choirs. How often I reflected on the experiences and knowledge I gained in that semester abroad in 1972! I studied voice and performed in a number of recitals and concerts, as well as being in musical comedy productions. In 1996 I took a group of tourists to Israel along with my brother, John Welch. It was a thrill to revisit those scenes of our semester abroad, and I envied the later students (including my own daughter who went to Israel in 1994) their luxurious Jerusalem Center accommodations (although who would have exchanged that for the Tiberias Youth Hostel?)In summer of 2006, we decided to come back west to be nearer family members. Lew is the CEO of the newly-formed World Trade Center Utah, using his international trade experience to benefit the state. I was accepted into the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and am thrilled to be able to use my musical talents and training for the Church. Five of our children are married; we have seven grandchildren, and our youngest leaves this summer for a mission to Norway. To this day, if anyone asks what was the most influential experience of my early days, I always answer that it was Israel 1972.
As I reflected on the experiences of our semester abroad, several stood out: the trek into the Sinai and the sunrise climb to the top of the mount, where we were instructed about Moses and the ten commandments; the walk into Bethlehem where we felt so close to the Christmas story; the testimony meeting on the Mount of Beatitudes; playing in the waters of Ein Gedi; our trip to Masada; the visit from Pres. Tanner and our meeting in the Garden Tomb. But as I read some old journal entries and letters, what struck me was how our leaders taught us to LIVE the principles we were learning in the scriptures. It was like we had a little laboratory to practice on while sequestered from the world. I wrote, “Although the history of this land is great, our happiness comes not from glorying in the past or revering the spots where sacred events occurred, but in living the gospel now. Being in these spots helps us be more aware of the scriptures and have a greater appreciation for them, but the real glowing joy we feel comes in keeping the commandments. Everyone is putting forth their utmost in their Church assignments. Every Sabbath is special---the talks are superbly prepared, lessons well researched and creatively presented, music rehearsed. All the Church programs--- FHE, MIA, choir practice, RS and the fast are attended and supported. It feels like living in a little Zion. At a recent New Testament class, Bro. B gave a lesson on loving each other and being self-sacrificing, which moved us all to tears and repentance. From that day forward, it has become a challenge to find good deeds to do for other people which haven’t already been done. Students have made each other’s beds, washed their clothes, given flowers, made special desserts, written songs and poetry for one another. When we have problems, we work on them. We feel that we are on a retreat from the world and that we must quickly take advantage of this time to set goals, make resolutions, and create good habits of prayer and scripture reading.”
LaMar, thank you for organizing such an amazing trip. When I review the places we went (Paris, Rome, Pompeii, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Israel from Dan to Beersheba and beyond, Athens and London) – all for only about $2000, a bargain even in 1972! – I’m sure there has never been a program to equal it in all of BYU’s history. You taught us to be thorough in our study of the scriptures and to never leave a stone unturned. Not until many years later did I recognize the great sacrifice you made in leaving your wife and several children in order to give us the experience of a lifetime.
Keith, you too went along without your wife and family. Thank goodness Michael was there! I’m afraid we didn’t appreciate your scholarship and the vast amount of knowledge you tried to share with us. But I did realize at the time that you loved us as a concerned father, and that meant so much to me. Yours was a model of kindliness to us all.
The legacy of what you shared with us has lived on to bless the lives of our children and grandchildren. We even have a daughter who majored in Biblical Hebrew, and her daughter wants to be an Egyptologist….so…. The blessings live on. Especially the blessings of faithfulness in the gospel, temple marriages and missions. And that, I think, is what should please you the most. We love you, LaMar and Keith!
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