Introductions

         Every December growing up, my mother would dust off her book of short stories, scriptures, and hymns and we would begin one of my favorite Christmas traditions.  An advent calendar of sorts, she would open her book and read to us a different scripture and short story every night starting on the first of December and leading up until Christmas Day.  Having moved out a few years ago, I've found myself missing the stories of Christmas oranges or Lamanites standing on city walls.
I recently stumbled upon my mother's book as I was visiting my parent's home, and I asked her if I could receive a copy for myself.  She gladly shared her book with me and, as my husband and I have read through it with our own family, we have found a type of joy that we would love to share with others.
          Now I am posting these stories in hopes that others may find the same sense of joy and gratitude that we have found in our own home.  This blog is possible thanks to the wonderful Middlefork Ward Relief Society, who put together the original book almost ten years ago.  Thank you ladies so much for the beautiful stories that I now get to pass on. 

          Thank you all and Merry Christmas!

Christmas Music

Music

Joy to the World

 Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus

 Who Is The Child 

When Joseph went to Bethlehem

While Shepherds watched their Flocks 

Stars Were Gleaming

 With Wondering Awe 

Jesus Once was a Little Child

 Come Follow Me

 When He Comes Again

As I have Loved

 You Silent Night

 If I Had Been in Bethlehem

 I am Trying to be Like Jesus

 I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

 Once Within a Lowly Stable

 Sleep Little Jesus

 Have A Very Merry Christmas

 Picture a Christmas

 I Stand All Amazed

 It Came Upon A Midnight Clear 

Away in a Manger

 Oh Come All Ye Faithful

 I heard the Bells on Christmas Day

 The Nativity Song

 The First Noel

 Once in Royal David’s City 

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear 

Angels We Have Heard on High

 The Shepherd’s Carol

 Hark the Herald Angels Sing

 We Three Kings Of Orient Are

 Christmas Bells

 Far Far Away on Judea’s Plain

 There Was Starlight On The Hillside

Music can be found on lds.org

December First

Isaiah Writes of Christ's Birth

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; 

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, 

and shall call his name Immanuel. 

-Isaiah 7:14

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: 

and the government shall be upon his shoulder: 

and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, 

The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

-Isaiah 9:6

The Three Levels of Christmas

 Hendricus J.M. Hoole, Jr. 

Christmas Observance

                There are three levels in which we can celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Let's call the first of these three levels the SANTA CLAUS LEVEL. It's the level of Christmas trees and holly, of whispered secrets and colorful packages, of candlelight and rich food and warm open houses. It's carolers in the shopping malls, excited children and weary but loving parents. It's a lovely time of special warmth and caring and giving. It's the level at which we eat too much and spend too much and do too much -- and enjoy every minute of it. 

                We love the Santa Claus level of Christmas. But there's a higher, more beautiful level. Let's call this second level the SILENT NIGHT LEVEL. It's the level of all our glorious Christmas carols, of that beloved, familiar story: "Now in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus.." It's the level of the crowded inn and the silent, holy moment in a dark stable when the Son of Man came to earth. It's shepherds on steep, bare hills near Bethlehem, angels with their glad tidings, a new star in the East, wise men traveling far in search of the Holy One.  How beautiful and meaningful it is; how infinitely poorer we would be without this sacred second level of Christmas.                      The trouble is, these two levels don't last. They can't. Twelve days of Christmas, at the first level, is about all most of us can stand. It's too intense, too extravagant. The tree dries out and the needles fall. The candles burn down. The beautiful wrappings go out with the trash, the carolers are skating on the ice, and the toys break. The feast is over and the dieting begins. But the lonely and the hungry are with us still, perhaps lonelier and hungrier than before. 

              As lovely and joyous as the first level of Christmas is, there will come a day, very soon, when Mother will put away the decorations and vacuum the living room and think, "Thank goodness that's over for another year." Even the second level, the level of Baby Jesus, can't last. How many times this season can you sing "Silent Night?" The angels and the star and the shepherd, even the silent, sacred mystery of that holy night itself, can't long satisfy humanity's basic need. The man who keeps Christ in the manger will, in the end, be disappointed and empty. No, for Christmas to last all year long, for it to grow in beauty and meaning and purpose, for it to have the power to change lives, we must celebrate it in the third level, that of the ADULT CHRIST. 

              It is at this level -- not as an infant -- that our Savior brings His gifts of lasting joy, lasting peace, lasting hope. It was the adult Christ who reached out and touched the untouchable, who loved the unlovable, who so loved us all that even in His agony on the cross He prayed forgiveness for His enemies. This is the Christ, creator of worlds without number, who wept, Enoch tells us, because so many of us lack affection and hate each other -- and then who willingly gave his life for ALL of us, including those for whom He wept. 

              He is the Christ of which the prophets had foretold for centuries would come. Even before the world was created we learned of the key role the Savior would perform in the Plan of Salvation. He accepted the Father's plan of redemption and submitted himself to the will of the Father. 

              We read in Moses 4:2: "...behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me--Father; thy will be done, and thy glory be thine forever." 

              We also read in the scriptures in Isaiah 7:14: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." In 2 Nephi 17:14 it is repeated. 

              In Isaiah 9:6 we read: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." 

             We read 1 Cor. 15:22: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." "How great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah." 

             Yes, He was and is wonderful, the great Counsellor, the mighty God, willing to sacrifice his life that we might live if we are but willing to accept him as our Savior. He is the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. This is the Christ, the adult Christ, who gave us the perfect example, and asked us to follow Him. It was this Jesus Christ who's birth we are celebrating who asked us: John 14:15 "If you love me, keep my commandments." John 13:34 "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." Accepting that invitation -- to keep his commandments and to love one another -- is the way -- THE ONLY WAY -- to celebrate Christmas all year and all life long.

-As a song suggestion, I recommend "Silent Night" to go with this story

December Second

Samuel the Lamanite Prophecies of Christ's Birth

"And now it came to pass that Samuel, the Lamanite, 

did prophesy a great many more things which cannot be written. 

And behold, he said unto them: Behold, I give unto you a sign;

 for five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God

 to redeem all those who shall believe on his name. 

And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming;

 for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, 

insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness,

 insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day.

 Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day,

 as if it were one day and there were no night;

 and this shall be unto you for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising

 of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety

 that there shall be two days and a night; 

nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; and it shall be 

the night before he is born. And behold, there shall a new star arise, 

such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you.

 And behold this is not all, there shall be many signs and wonders in heaven.

 And it shall come to pass that ye shall all be amazed, and wonder,

 insomuch that ye shall fall to the earth. And it shall come to pass

 that whosoever shall believe on the Son of God, 

the same shall have everlasting life. And behold, thus hath the Lord commanded me,

 by his angel, that I should come and tell this thing unto you;

 yea, he hath commanded that I should prophesy these things unto you;

 yea, he hath said unto me: Cry unto this people, repent

 and prepare the way of the Lord. And also that ye might know of the

 coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth,

 the Creator of all things from the beginning; 

and that ye might know of the signs of his coming, 

to the intent that ye might believe on his name."

Helaman 14:1-9, 12

Trouble at the Inn

By Dina Donahue 

              For many years now, whenever Christmas pageants are talked about in a certain little town in the Midwest, someone is sure to mention the name of Wallace Purling. Wally's performance in one annual production of the nativity play has slipped onto the realm of legend. But the oldtimers who were in the audience that night never tire of recalling exactly what happened. Wally was nine that year and in the second grade, though he should have been in the fourth. Most people in town knew that he had difficulty in keeping up. He was big and clumsy, slow in movement and mind. Still, his class, all of whom were smaller than he, had trouble hiding their irritation when Wally would ask to play ball with them or any game, for that matter, in which winning was important. 

              Most often they'd find a way to keep him out but Wally would hang around anyway not sulking, just hoping. He was always a helpful boy, a willing and smiling one, and the natural protector of the underdog. Sometimes if the older boys chased the younger ones away, it would always be Wally who'd say, "can't they stay? They're no bother." 

              Wally fancied the ideal of being a shepherd with a flute in the Christmas pageant that year, but the play's director, Miss Lumbar, assigned him to a more important role. After all, she reasoned, the Innkeeper did not have too many lines and Wally's size would make his refusal of lodging to Joseph more forceful. 

              And so it happened that the usual large, partisan audience gathered for the town's yearly extravaganza of beard, crown, halos and a whole stage full of squeaky voices. No one on stage or off was more caught up on the magic of the night than Wallace Purling. They said later that he stood in the wings and watched the performance with such fascination that from time to time Miss Lumbar had to make sure he didn't wander on stage before his cue. Then the time came when Joseph appeared, slowly, tenderly guiding Mary to the door of the Inn. Joseph knocked hard on the wooden door sat into the painted backdrop. Wally the innkeeper was there, waiting. 

             "What do you want?" Wally said, swinging the door open with a brusque gesture. 

             "We seek lodging." 

             "Seek it elsewhere," Wally looked straight ahead but spoke vigorously. "The Inn is filled."                   "Sir, we have asked everywhere in vain. We have traveled far and are very weary." 

             "There is no room in this Inn for you." Wally looked properly stern. 

             "Please, good Innkeeper, this is my wife, Mary. She is heavy with child and needs a place to rest. Surely you must have some small corner for her. She is so tired." Now, for the first time, the Innkeeper relaxed his still stance and looked down at Mary. With that, there was a long pause, long enough to make the audience a bit tense with embarrassment. 

             "No! Be gone!" the prompter whispered from the wings. 

             "No!" Wally repeated automatically, "Be gone!" Joseph sadly placed his arm around Mary and Mary laid her head upon her husband’s shoulder and the two of them started to move away. The Innkeeper did not return inside his Inn, however. Wally stood there in the doorway, watching the forlorn couple. His mouth was open, his brow creased with concern, his eyes filling unmistakable with tears. And suddenly the Christmas pageant became different from all the others. 

             "Don't go, Joseph," Wally called out. "Bring Mary back." And Wallace Purling's face grew into a bright smile. "You can have my room!" 

               Some people in town thought that the pageant had been ruined.Yet there were others....many, many others...who considered it the most Christmasy of all Christmas pageants they had ever seen.

Recommended song: If I Had Been in Bethlehem

December Third

The Visit of the Angel Gabriel to Mary

"And in the sixth month the angle Gabriel was sent from God

 unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man

 whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; 

and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said,

 Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee:

 blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, 

she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind 

what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her,

 Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold,

 thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, 

and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, 

and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God

 shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 

And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; 

and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel,

 How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her,

 The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest

 shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing

 which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord;

 be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."

-Luke 1:26-35, 38

This Christmas

President Howard W. Hunter

This Christmas... 

Mend a quarrel,

 Seek out a forgotten friend. 

Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.

 Write a letter.

 Give a soft answer.

 Encourage youth.

 Manifest your loyalty in word and deed.

 Keep a promise.

 Forgo a grudge. 

Forgive an enemy.

 Apologize. 

Try to understand. 

Examine your demands on others.

 Think first of someone else.

 Be kind.

 Be gentle.

 Laugh a little more.

 Express your gratitude. 

Welcome a stranger. 

Gladden the heart of a child.

 Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.

 Speak your love and then speak it again. 

Recommended Song: I'm Trying to be like Jesus