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Stunning museums, beautiful castles, incredible libraries, ancient churches, amazing Early Apostle Missionaries and Bible Translators sites are just a few reasons to experience LDS British Church History and Bible Translators Tour on Sept 2-13, 2012!

Join veteran British Church History guides this fall for this one-of-a-kind tour.  Fall is the perfect time to visit England & Wales with pleasant temperatures and fewer crowds.  Our expert tour guides’ unique knowledge, access, and contacts provide what no other group can offer.  With beautiful countryside, very nice lodging, delicious meals, and plentiful historic sites there is no reason for you not to join us!

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On our Final Day of Christmas Past, we’ve enjoyed the thoughts of Christmas you have shared. Thank you for going on a journey through Christmas Past with us. We hope you have enjoyed it and been reminded that - “The magic of Christmas is not in the presents but in His Presence”.

Congrats to KELI EMERSON, our Grand Prize Missouri to Nauvoo to Winter Quarters Tour drawing winner!!! Be sure you contact our office immediately 801-272-5601 to redeem your Missouri to Nauvoo to Winter Quarters tour prize!

On the 24th Day of Christmas Past, a Savior’s hand he always would lend; Proving that Spencer W. Kimball thought Jesus as his very best friend.

Special story still available on yesterday’s 24th Day Question and Story post. Congrats to 24th Day drawing winner, Liz Carlston, who won an olive wood figurine from Jerusalem depicting the nativity!

You have until 7:00 pm MST today to participate in the 25th Day of Christmas Past.  Be sure to check back soon after that to see who has won our GRAND PRIZE!  If you win, be sure you contact our office immediately 801-272-5601 to redeem your Missouri to Nauvoo to Winter Quarters tour prize!

On the 25th and last Day of Christmas Past, the question is to be:
25.  After reading Elder Holland’s insights on contemplating Christmas, what new thoughts do you have that you haven’t had before about that special night?

“Part of the purpose for telling the story of Christmas is to remind us that Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Indeed, however delightful we feel about it, even as children, each year it means a little bit more. And no matter how many times we read the biblical account of that evening in Bethlehem, we always come away with a thought—or two—we haven’t had before.

One impression which has persisted with me is that this is a story of intense poverty. I wonder if Luke did not have some special meaning when he wrote not “there was no room in the inn” but specifically that “there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7; emphasis added). We cannot be certain, but it is my guess that money could buy influence in those days as well as in our own. I think if Joseph and Mary had been people of importance or wealth, they would have found lodging even at that busy time of year.

We cannot be certain what the historian intended, but we do know these two were desperately poor. At the purification offering which the parents made after the child’s birth, a turtledove was substituted for the required lamb, a substitution the Lord had allowed in the law of Moses to ease the burden of the truly impoverished (see Lev. 12:8).

As a father, I have thought often of Joseph—that strong, silent, almost unknown man who must have been more worthy than any other mortal man to be the guiding foster father of the living Son of God. It was Joseph selected from among all men who would teach Jesus to work. It was Joseph who taught him the books of the Law. It was Joseph who, in the seclusion of the shop, helped him begin to understand who he was and ultimately what he was to become.

I compare my feelings of wanting the best for my wife and soon to be born child with what Joseph must have felt as he moved through the streets of a city not his own, with not a friend or kinsman in sight, nor anyone willing to extend a helping hand. In these very last and most painful hours of her “confinement,” Mary had ridden or walked approximately 160 kilometers from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea. Surely Joseph must have wept at her silent courage. Now, alone and unnoticed, they had to descend from human company to a stable, a grotto full of animals, there to bring forth the Son of God.

I wonder what emotions Joseph might have had as he cleared away the dung and debris. I wonder if he felt the sting of tears as he hurriedly tried to find the cleanest straw and hold the animals back. I wonder if he wondered: “Could there be a more unhealthy, a more disease-ridden, a more despicable circumstance in which a child could be born? Is it wrong to wish her some comfort? Is it right He should be born here?”

But I am certain Joseph did not mutter and Mary did not wail. Perhaps these parents knew even then that in the beginning of his mortal life, as well as in the end, this baby son born to them would have to descend beneath every human pain and disappointment. He would do so to help those who also felt they had been born without advantage.

I’ve thought of Mary, too, this most favored mortal woman in the history of the world, who as a mere child received an angel who uttered to her those words that would change the course not only of her own life but also that of all human history: “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women” (Luke 1:28). The nature of her spirit and the depth of her preparation were revealed in a response that shows both innocence and maturity: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).

Second only to the child himself, Mary is the chiefest figure, the regal queen, mother of mothers—holding center stage in this grandest of all dramatic moments. And those same pronouns also trumpet that, save for her beloved husband, she was very much alone.

I have wondered if this young woman, something of a child herself, here bearing her first baby, might have wished her mother, or an aunt, or her sister, or a friend, to be near her through the labor. Surely the birth of such a son as this should command the aid and attention of every midwife in Judea! We all might wish that someone could have held her hand, cooled her brow, and when the ordeal was over, given her rest in crisp, cool linen.
But it was not to be so. With only Joseph’s inexperienced assistance, she herself brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in the little clothes she had knowingly brought on her journey, and perhaps laid him on a pillow of hay.

The Wise Men did come later bearing gifts, adding some splendor and wealth to this occasion. But it is important to note that they came from a distance, probably Persia, a trip of several hundred kilometers at the very least. Unless they started long before the star appeared, it is highly unlikely that they arrived on the night of the babe’s birth. Indeed, Matthew records that when they came, Jesus was a “young child” and the family was living in a “house” (Matt. 2:11).

Perhaps this provides an important distinction we should remember in our own holiday season. Maybe the purchasing and the making and the wrapping and the decorating should be separated, if only slightly, from the more quiet, personal moments when we consider the meaning of the Baby (and his birth) who prompts the giving of such gifts.

The gold, frankincense, and myrrh were humbly given and appreciatively received. And so our gifts should be, every year and always. But for that very reason, I, like you, need to remember the very plain scene, even the poverty, of a night devoid of tinsel or wrapping or goods of this world. Only when we see that single, sacred, unadorned object of our devotion—the Babe of Bethlehem—will we know why the giving of gifts is so appropriate.

Taken from:  Jeffrey Holland,”Maybe Christmas Doesn’t Come from a Store”, Ensign Dec 1995.

On the 24th Day of Christmas Past, the question is to be: 24.  How was Jesus Christ, Spencer W. Kimball’s best friend?

How much do we show the Savior that he is our best friend?  Read these accounts about Pres. Kimball:

An example of President Kimball’s discipleship occurred one Christmas Eve several years ago. He called and asked if I were busy. I quickly responded, “Not at all. What can I do for you, President Kimball?” He told me he needed a companion to go with him to the Primary Children’s Hospital to give a few blessings. It turned out that he had heard of several children from South America, as well as some American Indian children, who were in the hospital. We went from floor to floor giving blessings to all the Latins and Lamanites and many others too. I was deeply affected by the love of President Kimball and his tender friendship with each child. He was a friend to the sick—a friend to those far from home. He exemplified the tender, loving friendship that the Savior would give. It was easy to see how he could say, “The Savior is my best friend.”

President Kimball qualifies as a friend of the Savior. When he was in the hospital ready to undergo open-heart surgery, he was being wheeled down the hall and into the operating room by a young orderly. The young man accidentally smashed his finger between the metal door frame and the metal frame of the bed on which lay the already sedated prophet. When this mishap occurred, the young man, in pain, used an unfortunate expression in which he took in vain the name of the Savior. The prophet stirred, opened his eyes, and gently rebuked the orderly, saying, “Young man, don’t say that; He’s my best friend!”

Do you and I have a relationship with the Savior such that we would decry the misuse of His name? Does Jesus know that we feel about Him the way President Kimball feels about Him?

When Spencer W. Kimball, was about fourteen Susa Gates spoke at their stake conference. He recalls: “She gave a rousing talk on the reading of the scriptures; … then she stopped … to ask … us, ‘How many of you have read the Bible through?’

“… My accusing heart said to me, ‘You, Spencer Kimball, you have never read that holy book. Why?’ I looked around me … to see if I was alone in my failure to read the sacred book. Of the thousand people, there were perhaps a half dozen who proudly raised their hands. … When the meeting closed, I … rushed home … gritting my teeth and saying to myself, ‘I will. I will.’”
He went home, got a coal-oil lamp, and climbed the stairs to his attic room. “There,” he said, “I opened my Bible and began [with] Genesis … and I read well into the night with Adam and Eve … and through the flood even to Abraham.”

He continued to read a little each night. Although he didn’t always understand what he was reading, he had made a commitment to himself. At the end of a year, he had finished. This achievement set a pattern for his life. The sermons and the writings of President Kimball convince us that he has labored long hours to gain his profound insights into the holy scriptures.

Taken from: President Kimball Speaks Out, pp. 92–93.

On the 23rd Day of Christmas past, Heber J. Grant was cold. Because he rode on sleigh runners and later gave away his coat.

Story still available on yesterday’s 23rd Day Question and Story post.

Congrats to 23rd Day drawing winner, Laura Stephens, who won a set of olive wood Christmas tree ornaments made in Israel!

On the 23rd Day of Christmas Past, the question is to be:
23.  Heber J. Grant, during Christmas time, had two experiences being cold.  What were the reasons?

Read the two accounts below:

Heber shivered in his thin coat as the cold November wind whipped around him. All he really wanted for his birthday was a warm overcoat, but he knew that asking for one would upset his mother. He remembered how she had cried the Christmas before because she didn’t have enough money to buy him even a stick of candy.

Nine days after Heber was born, his father had died and his mother had moved him from the fine house where he had been born to a small one where they lived for many years. The roof leaked and sometimes they went to bed early because there was no coal for heat. Sometimes they went to bed hungry, for the fried bread hadn’t been sufficient supper and there was no money for anything else.

There were days and nights when Heber’s mother would sew and sew even though she was really too tired to finish a dress for a customer. Then Heber would go under the sewing machine and push the pedal up and down so that his mother’s tired legs might have a rest. As they worked together in the lamplight, she would tell him stories and they would plan together for the time they would have plenty of coal, food, and all the clothes one could wear. Neither of them dreamed that one day Heber J. Grant would be the seventh President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

November 22 dawned clear and cold. “Happy birthday, Heber,” called his mother as she handed him the most beautiful coat Heber had ever seen. It was made of material his mother had been sewing, and it fit him perfectly. He hugged it to himself and could hardly wait to go out in the cold day and feel its warmth about him.

A few weeks later, around Christmas, as Heber was hurrying on an errand he saw a boy just his size who was crying with cold. The boy was wearing a thin sweater, and Heber shivered, even though he had on his new overcoat.

As Heber hurried by, the crying boy looked at his coat with such longing that almost before he knew what he was doing, Heber had stopped, taken off the coat, and insisted that the boy wear it.

That very afternoon his mother saw Heber wearing his old coat instead of the new one. “Heber,” she called, “what have you done with your lovely new overcoat?”

For just a moment he wondered how he could tell her he had given it away. He wondered what she would say. He hoped she wouldn’t cry. “Oh, Mother,” he finally explained, “I saw a boy who needed it lots worse that I did, so I just gave it to him.”

“Couldn’t you have given him your old one?” she asked.

Heber longed to have her understand, and yet he despaired of her doing so. And then he looked up anxiously into her face. Her eyes were misty with tears, and he threw his arms around her as she answered her own question, “Of course, you couldn’t, Heber; of course, you couldn’t.”

See a sweet illustration of this story can be watched at this link: cp3IH8ZNviQ

Another story of Heber J. Grant being cold in “A Sleigh Ride Surprise”.

Snow lay deep over Salt Lake Valley. When the children became tired of playing in it, they would dare each other to wait for a sleigh to come by so they might catch a ride on its runners.

The most beautiful sleigh in all the valley was one owned by Brighman Young. Nearly every afternoon he would go for a ride in it while his coachman guided a fine team of horses over the frozen ground.

Six-year-old Heber often watched this sleigh and dreamed of someday riding on its runners. They stuck out so far behind the rest of the carriage that he thought them a perfect place on which to stand and ride. One day as he watched the sleigh, it slowed down to go around a corner. Heber was so close to it, he was able to jump onto the runners before it began to speed again.

At first it was exciting fun to ride throuh the crisp air as the horses tossed their heads and the sleigh bells tinkled merrily. Heber thought he would go only a few blocks and then when the horses slowed down, he would hop off and hurry home. But the animals did not slacken their speed. They ran swiftly through the town and beyond it into the country. Heber was nearly breathless as the bitter wind and snow whirled around him. His teeth chattered with cold and fear as he prayed that he might get back home safely. He shivered at the thought of what Brigham Young might say and do if he found a boy riding on the runners of his sleigh.

When the horses had gone more than five miles, they came to a frozen stream and slowed down at last to make their way across it. Heber jumped off and started racing back toward town. He had gone only a short way when he heard a kind voice call, “Stop!Stop, little boy. You are almost frozen. Come, get warm under my buffalo robe and then we’ll take you home.”

This moment was one Heber J. Grant never forgot. It was his first meeting with Brigham Young, the second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Heber became its seventh President!

Taken from:  Leon R. Hartshorn, comp., Inspiring Stories for Young Latter-day Saints p. 48, 183 – 184; and Children’s Friend, February 1963 & 1966.

On the 22nd Day of Christmas past from Clarissa Young’s memory, The Christmas celebration took on more & more gaiety!

Story still available on yesterday’s 22nd Day Question and Story post.

Congrats to 22nd Day drawing winner, Robert Berrett, who won a Nauvoo Temple Sun Stone ornament!

On the 22nd Day of Christmas Past, the question is to be:
22.  After getting settled in the Salt Lake Valley, how were the children able to celebrate Christmas?

Read Clarissa Young’s memory of Christmas during this time:

“Simple as our celebrations were, our elders were fond of reminding us how very much more fortunate we were than the children of two decades earlier when a good square meal was ample cause for celebrating any day in the year.  Within the short space of three years the population of the city had increased to thousands, and the Christmas celebration took on a still greater air of gaiety. A brass band paraded up and down the streets, with the players mounted on horseback. They serenaded at Father’s house as well as the homes of other Church leaders. All the toys were home made, the ads in the paper carrying no mention of commercial playthings. However, if a husband wished to delight his wife with a new bonnet on Christmas morning, there was Mrs. A. Smith, “Late of St. Louis,” who advertised a superior assortment of velvet, silk, satin, and straw bonnets, and a variety of fancy goods and millinery.

For days before Christmas I would slip into the family store, north of the Beehive House, and watch John Haslam tie up little square packages of nuts and raisins during his spare time. It was doubly worth my while because I could always count on his slipping me a lump of sugar or some other tasty bit while he was working. We would receive these nuts and raisins on Christmas morning along with vinegar and molasses candy that the girls had made and an abundance of “store” candy—gumdrops and peppermint sticks.

There was no tree in our home, for at that time the Christmas tree had not even come into general use in the East, but we always hung up our stockings, and every child received one toy and some clothing. We girls would receive knitted scarves, nubias (headdresses), mittens, shoes, stockings, garters, and wristers. John Spencer’s first present to me was a pair of silk knitted wristers for which he had spent an entire week’s wages. I nearly died of humiliation when a young nephew said scornfully right in his presence, “Is that all you brought her?” Some of us younger girls once received some red cashmere hoods that Mother’s sister had made for us. They were made with a pointed cape in the back and trimmed with white swansdown and would have been rather pretty except that they had been lined with green cambric and tied with green ribbons because they were the only materials available in the house. As it was, they were a dreadful mixture of colors, and I hated them vehemently.

The boys would often receive new capes for Christmas, those being the outer garment most commonly worn. My brother Ernest, who was a big, husky fellow and didn’t feel the cold very much, would wear his about his waist in skirt fashion to the great amusement of the rest of us.

For Christmas toys the boys would get swords, drums, guns, and skates while we girls would be made happy with wooden-headed dollies. The heads were turned in our own carpenter shop, then painted and sewed onto cloth bodies. When the dolls were finished they would be beautifully dressed by our diligent mothers. There was a Betsy Long who had a shop on Main Street where she made lovely wooden dolls, and conveniently near by was a woman basketmaker who could make equally fine bassinets.”

Taken from:  Clarissa Young Spencer, Brigham Young at Home, p. 184 - 185.

On the 21st Day of Christmas Past, George Albert Smith’s family had hardly anything, but found amazing Christmas blessings that paying tithing could bring!

Story still available on yesterday’s 21st Day Question and Story post.

Congrats to 21st Day drawing winner, Ryan Jenkins, who won an olive puzzle depicting the nativity from Jerusalem!