For almost five years now, Meridian has taken you to new places
in your mind and heart, but now we have an intriguing
invitation for you, our loyal readers. Let’s
make a real journey together. Pull
out your calendars, call your family and best friends,
because it is time to take a trip with some of your favorite
Meridian writers and entertainers.
And not just any trip.
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Scot and I have traveled the world taking photographs and
covering stories. We
have been moved at sites of spiritual significance from
Palmyra to the Galilee, chased sunrises for the perfect
picture in Guatemala and Ohio
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We’ve learned something unforgettable on our journeys. Anybody
can vacation, go someplace far away, but what really
changes and uplifts your life is to go on a trip with
a purpose. Then you come home inspired and renewed. You’ve had fun, been delighted, but there’s
so much more. You’ve
been immersed in something that touched and expanded
you.
You’ve not just looked at things, you’ve really seen them.
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That is why Meridian has teamed with a travel company, Meridian Trips. Beginning
in January 2004, we will offer more than 40 trips a year
to the places you’d most like to see and experience. You can cruise or take a land tour to Book of Mormon lands, walk
through the significant Church history sites in England
and the United States, see the cradles of patriotism
in Boston and Washington D.C., cruise the Mediterranean
or the fjords of Norway, learn about early Christian
history in Italy and France.
All the places you’ve been longing to see just got better.
What will make these trips so captivating and unique is that
not only will you travel with other Latter-day Saints
so that you feel that great sense of camaraderie and
instant friendship. You also will be taught and entertained by gifted LDS speakers,
artists and entertainers who will transform the trip
for you.
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How would you like to cruise from island to island in Hawaii
with Kieth Merrill and not only learn about film, but
his making of Testaments there? How
would you like to see the Norway fjords with Michael
McLean, the amazing composer Merrill Jenson, or Erlend
Petersen who knows the country so well?
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We have drawn from a vast pool of talent to handpick the talent
and lecturers whom you will come to know as good friends. David Christensen is everybody’s favorite
Institute teacher, who regularly teaches classes with
over a thousand students. Richard and Linda Eyre’s books
have been on the New York Times best-seller list. Steven
Kapp Perry, Marvin Payne, Vickey Pahnke, Jack Marshall,
Kenneth Cope, Rodger Dean Duncan and Richard Hopzapfel
have talents that range from playing “Boo, the dog” on
the Scripture Scout tapes to singing and composing “Greater
than Us All” to consulting on relationships with national
companies. There is a long line at Education Week to
get in to hear John Lund. Michael Ballam’s moving singing
voice is equaled by his spiritual insight.
We are lining up people with deep scriptural knowledge, learning
on ancient lands and peoples, experts on Church history—all
to travel with you and enrich your experience.
It is, as one of our tour participants continually said on
a trip, “beyond wonderful” when you become better acquainted
with people and places, scriptures and Church history
at the hands of a master teacher.
Joseph
Allen and Central America
Many of our trips for next year are Book of Mormon explorations
on land and sea with Joseph Allen. He has spent a lifetime studying the archaeology and ancient pattern
America, making over 200 journeys into the
area and traveling over one million and-a-half miles
seeking to understand the connections to the Book of
Mormon.
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You’ll go to ancient ruins, jungle settings, see cities buried
under water and marvel at Mayan messages carved in rock. You’ll learn about the world the Nephites
knew, the society that flourished and then collapsed
to be buried under the jungle
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Some of these trips are 8 or 15 day explorations that include
Guatemala City, Antigua with its smoking volcano, beautiful
Lake Atitlan, breathtaking Izapa with its stela 5, and
the majestic ruins of Tikal, which was once painted a
bright crimson in the Mayan sunshine
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Everybody wants to go with Joseph Allen on a Book of Mormon
tour, many of his land tours for next year are already
sold out, but Meridian Trips will
be his exclusive agent. Watch for his columns on the Book of Mormon
from Joseph Allen that will soon begin appearing regularly
on Meridian.
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New to Joseph Allen’s trip schedule will be the Book of Mormon “Symposiums
at Sea.”. These
west Caribbean cruises, with lectures and seminars on
the setting and history of the Book of Mormon visit where
no other cruise goes—looking at evidence from the period. An
optional “Sacred Sites Land Tour” stays ashore one night,
allowing you to explore farther inland in the region
of Dzibanche, a candidate for the city Bountiful where
Christ appeared to the Nephites. Some
of these cruises also sail through the Panama Canal.
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A special feature of the Book of Mormon “Symposiums at Sea” is
classes and talks designed especially for children and
teens. Cruises are often family affairs, a chance
for parents to go someplace fun with their children. Now they can also be experiences to help children become fascinated
with the Book of Mormon and grow in testimony.
Get
Updates, Discounts, and Special Notices
Do you want to be the first to know about our new trips and
special discounts as they become available? Do
you want to receive insider information on unbelievable
travel deals—smashing bargains you won’t find anyplace
else? Do you want to know when airfares plunge?
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Sign up for our periodic mailing from Meridian Trips that
will give you this insider information on our trips and
other great bargains. If
you are interested, click here.
A special bonus for those who sign up is our information on
unused condo weeks. Latter-day Saints often have children,
and families need a place to vacation. It
is expensive and uncomfortable to purchase multiple hotel
rooms to accommodate your family.
One of the best-kept secrets is that every year thousands
of condo weeks go unused—even in the most tantalizing
places like Hawaii, Florida and Mexico. Through
Meridian Trips, our subscribers will learn how to access
those condo weeks with 1, 2 or 3 bedrooms for prices
as low as $43.50 per day. If
you want to be the first to know this information, sign
up for our occasional travel
updates.
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What’s more some of our cruises and tours will be built around
themes like genealogy, relationships, or sports. We have
already scheduled and sold to enthusiasts several scrapbooking
cruises. We are planning trips for American history buffs.
Watch for details about these themes as they are released
by signing up on this
page
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If you would like to plan a particular trip for your own group—be
it former mission companions, to family gatherings, call
Meridian Trips for help at 1-888-537-8687 or contact
us at sales@meridiantrips.com
Best
Prices
We have created Meridian Magazine with a high purpose—to inform,
uplift and educate our readers, making life brighter
and better. We have chosen to expand our guided trips
from 2 to 40 per year for the same reason. We hope to
expand and lift your spirits and we know that meaningful
journeys can do just that.
We chose to go with Steve Dana and Brian Mickelsen of Meridian
Trips because we shared a vision, and because of their
great gifts for finding amazing prices for quality travel
experiences. Compare the prices of our trips with others,
and you’ll find they just can’t be beat.
You don’t want to pay too dearly—even for a priceless experience!
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All guided trips come with insurance built into the price
to give you an added sense of security.
In addition to our guided tours, we can help you with all
your travel needs. Watch
for more updates in Meridian Magazine as the days and
weeks go by.
So, when do you want to come on a Meridian trip? We hope it’s soon.
Why not contact Meridian Trips today?
Visit us on the web at www.meridiantrips.com or call toll free: 1-888-537-8687.
Remember: this is
but a beginning. Let’s
see the world together.
Or just sign up for our no-obligation e-mail to keep you up-to-date
and informed on Meridian Trips. You
can sign up by clicking
here
Remember: this is
just a beginning at Meridian. Let’s
see the world together.
