2012 GRAND PRIZE WINNER!!!!

Posted by on Dec 24, 2012 in Christmas Past 2012 |

Our 2013 Christmas Past Appreciation Drawings is finished.  We enjoyed bringing back the past and hope you have enjoyed it too. Congrats to Annette Doyle, our GRAND PRIZE Missouri to Nauvoo to Winter Quarters Tour drawing winner!!!! Be sure you contact our office this week at 801-272-5601 or info@mormonheritage.com to redeem your Missouri to Nauvoo to Winter Quarters tour...

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Answer and Winner 12th Day Christmas Past

Posted by on Dec 24, 2012 in Christmas Past 2012 |

On the 12th Day of Christmas Past may me well reflect upon the more meager Christmas seasons of our pioneer ancestors – they had the real Christmas spirit. It was the day of Christ to them, and in every gift, there was the expression of the love and good will of the giver. There was manifested a joy in living. Congrats to 12th Day daily drawing winner, Robert Berrett, who won a wood carved olive wood Holy Family...

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Question and Story 12th Day Christmas Past

Posted by on Dec 23, 2012 in Christmas Past 2012 |

This is our 12th and final day of Christmas Past.  We’ve enjoyed bringing back the past and hope you have as well.   Our grand prize FREE tour drawing will be tonight!  For an extra last entry, post something under our recommendations on facebook. Question 12th and Last Day of Christmas Past: What can we still learn and apply from the Saints’ very first Christmas in the Salt Lake Valley? In our bounteous lives, we may well reflect upon the more meager Christmas seasons of our pioneer ancestors. We might say to ourselves, “But that was yesterday. What about today? Have times changed? Is everyone so well off that he doesn’t need the real spirit of Christmas?” To this I would answer, Times have not changed. The commandments of God are the same. The principles of gratitude and of giving of oneself are the same, because today, like yesterday, there are hearts to gladden and there are lives to cheer and there are blessings to bestow upon our fellowmen. Isn’t that the spirit of Christmas, really—to forget self and to think of others? I clipped an item taken from the diary of Mrs. Rebecca Riter, entered December 26, 1847. She describes that first Christmas in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake: “The winter was cold. Christmas came, and the children were hungry. I had brought a peck of wheat across the plains and had hidden it under a pile of wood. I thought I would cook a handful of wheat for the baby. Then I thought how we would need wheat for seed in the spring, so I left it alone.” During the first few years after the arrival of the pioneers in the valley the dirt floors of the log cabins sufficed for the dances and socials that were a regular and important part of their lives. There was little furniture in the best of the homes, but what there was couldn’t be damaged by being set outdoors, so the rooms were cleared, and through many a winter night could be heard the strains of the violins accompanying the dancers. One of the first socials of which there is any record took place on Christmas night in 1850. A pioneer mother wrote of the affair: “On this day I went to Brigham’s mill to a Christmas party. Stayed all night. We had a first rate supper at midnight. I helped to get it on the table. They danced all night until 5 o’clock in the morning the party broke up.” In the pioneer homes and towns of Utah, the Christmas day was always fittingly celebrated. And in those far gone days, the children were taught to appreciate any little gift. There was no store full of toys, as we have them today. Sometimes a man gave a beaver skin or a buffalo robe to his wife and...

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Question and Story 11th Day Christmas Past

Posted by on Dec 22, 2012 in Christmas Past 2012 |

Question 11th Day Christmas Past: What can we learn from two girls who helped out others on Christmas and had the best Christmas ever? (To be entered into today’s giveaway & FREE tour drawing, Comment & Share your thoughts of story below on Facebook or our blog.) The Best Christmas Ever In the early 1930s, Margaret Kisilevich and her sister Nellie gave a Christmas gift to their neighbors, the Kozicki family, which was remembered by them all their lives and which has become an inspiration to their families. Home to Margaret back then was Two Hills, Alberta, Canada—a farming community populated largely by Ukrainian and Polish immigrants who generally had large families and were very poor. It was the time of the Great Depression. Margaret’s family consisted of her mother and father and their 15 children. Margaret’s mother was industrious and her father was enterprising—and with all those children, they had a built-in labor force. Consequently, their home was always warm, and despite their humble circumstances, they were never hungry. In the summer they grew an enormous garden, made sauerkraut, cottage cheese, sour cream, and dill pickles for barter. They also raised chickens, pigs, and beef cattle. They had very little cash, but these goods could be exchanged for other commodities they could not produce themselves. Margaret’s mother had friends with whom she had emigrated from the old country. These friends owned a general store, and the store became a depot for folks in the area to donate or trade surplus hand-me-down clothing, shoes, etc. Many of these used items were passed along to Margaret’s family. Alberta winters were cold, long, and hard, and one particularly cold and difficult winter, Margaret and her sister Nellie noticed the poverty of their neighbors, the Kozicki family, whose farm was a few miles away. When the Kozicki father would take his children to school on his homemade sleigh, he would always go into the school to warm himself by the potbelly stove before returning home. The family’s footwear consisted of rags and gunny sacks cut into strips and wrapped about the legs and feet, stuffed with straw, and bound with twine. Margaret and Nellie decided to invite the Kozicki family, by way of the children, for Christmas dinner. They also decided not to tell anyone in their family of the invitation. Christmas morning dawned, and everyone in Margaret’s family was busy with the preparations for the midday feast. The huge pork roast had been put in the oven the night before. The cabbage rolls, doughnuts, prune buns, and special burnt sugar punch had been prepared earlier. The menu would be rounded out with sauerkraut, dill pickles, and vegetables. Margaret and Nellie were in charge of getting the fresh vegetables ready, and their mother kept asking them why they were peeling so many potatoes, carrots, and beets. But they just kept peeling. Their...

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Answer and Winner 10th Day Christmas Past

Posted by on Dec 22, 2012 in Christmas Past 2012 |

On the 10th Day of Christmas Past because a mother had faith in Star Valley, a neighbor answered God’s call to help with no dilly dally. Story still available on yesterday’s 10th Day Question and Story post. Congrats to 10th Day drawing winner, Judy Bailey, who won a beautiful set of carved olive wood ornaments from...

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