Posted by admin on Dec 19, 2017 in Christmas Past 2017 |

Answer 7th Day Christmas Past: During World War I both opposing forces had a temporary truce and celebrated Christmas together by sharing friendship instead of fighting. Congrats to 7th Day drawing winner, Elizabeth Saderup, who won a Bethlehem baby blanket & Olive Wood ornament with a caravan of Olive Wood camels!  Please contact MHA office 801-272-5601 or info@mormonheritage.com within 30 days to arrange for how to receive your prize.  Story still available on yesterday’s...

Posted by admin on Dec 18, 2017 in Christmas Past 2017 | 19 comments

On the 7th Day of Christmas Past, rekindling history to enhance today’s Light the World – “Forgive men their trespasses.”  Question:  What temporary forgiveness was shown during Christmas over a century ago and is still seen as a miracle today? To be entered into today’s daily giveaway & FREE tour drawing- Read the story below; “Comment” & “Share” your answer on Facebook or our blog. “Christmas Truce 1914” World War I Christmas Truce “On a crisp, clear morning over 100 years ago, thousands of British, Belgian and French soldiers put down their rifles, stepped out of their trenches and spent Christmas mingling with their German enemies along the Western front. In the hundred years since, the event has been seen as a kind of miracle, a rare moment of peace just a few months into a war that would eventually claim over 15 million lives. But what actually happened on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day of 1914 — and did they really play soccer on the battlefield? Pope Benedict XV, who took office that September, had originally called for a Christmas truce, an idea that was officially rejected. Yet it seems the sheer misery of daily life in the cold, wet, dull trenches was enough to motivate troops to initiate the truce on their own — which means that it’s hard to pin down exactly what happened. A huge range of differing oral accounts, diary entries and letters home from those who took part make it virtually impossible to speak of a “typical” Christmas truce as it took place across the Western front. To this day historians continue to disagree over the specifics: no one knows where it began or how it spread, or if, by some curious festive magic, it broke out simultaneously across the trenches. Nevertheless, some two-thirds of troops — about 100,000 people — are believed to have participated in the legendary truce. Most accounts suggest the truce began with carol singing from the trenches on Christmas Eve, “a beautiful moonlit night, frost on the ground, white almost everywhere”, as Pvt. Albert Moren of the Second Queens Regiment recalled, in a document later rounded up by the New York Times. Graham Williams of the Fifth London Rifle Brigade described it in even greater detail: “First the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started up ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words Adeste Fideles. And I thought, well, this is really a most extraordinary thing ­– two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.” The next morning, in some places, German soldiers emerged from their trenches, calling out “Merry Christmas” in English. Allied soldiers came out warily to greet them. In others, Germans held up signs reading “You no...

Posted by admin on Dec 18, 2017 in Christmas Past 2017 |

Answer 6th Day Christmas Past: Everyone both in heaven and on Earth can “meet together oft” by gathering information and doing family history work. Congrats to 6th Day drawing winner, Teresa Bran, who won an Olive Wood Holy Family carving and Bethlehem ornament!  Please contact MHA office 801-272-5601 or info@mormonheritage.com within 30 days to arrange for how to receive your prize.  Story still available on yesterday’s...

Posted by admin on Dec 17, 2017 in Christmas Past 2017 | 18 comments

On the 6th Day of Christmas Past, rekindling history to enhance today’s Light the World – “Ye shall meet together oft.”  Question:  How can this Night Before Christmas style poem help us gather our family together oft? To be entered into today’s daily giveaway & FREE tour drawing- Read the story below; “Comment” & “Share” your answer on Facebook or our blog. “Twas the Day Before Yesterday” written by Linnie Vanderford Poyneer (written late one night after a long day of gathering together family research) TWAS the day before yesterday and all through the branches, NOT a name to be found, none of my ancestors. THE Journals and Bibles were dusty and worn, WHY should we care, these kinfolk are gone. THE pictures of children and family, long ago dead, ARE scattered, crinkled, and crammed under beds. DAD in his chair, and I with a book, HAD just settled back to give the TV a look. WHEN out on the street there arose such a clatter, I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter. ON the way to the window I tripped with a crash, I tore open the curtains and looked through the glass. THE sun in the sky was nowhere in sight, THE clouds were so gray, it could have been night. WHEN what to my wondering eyes should appear, THE Mailman with packages, letters and cards of good cheer. THE driver was grumbling while sorting his letters, I knew in a moment, things had to get better. THE size of one letter stood out from them all, A distant cousin was asking about family, one and all. THE names of Grandpa and Grandma, Great Grandparents all, NEXT came my Father, my Brother, and Uncle Paul. FROM cousins and uncles to aunts and nephews, NIECES and in-laws, just to name a few. SO thru the  many journals and photos, and stuff I possessed, MY search for my ancestors slowly progressed. WHILE up the family tree I gradually climbed, MY ancestors names, I was seeking to find. UPON that tree I have carved many a name, THE branches of which, will never be the same. THE tree is now filled with many I’ve found, BUT in the search for others, now I am bound. THE ancestors whose names, I have  written with love, THE Lord has gathered to take to His Father above. WITH so many names yet to be carved on that tree, I have little time to waste on games and TV. GATHERING names, photos, histories and places, REQUIRES a lot of love, patience, and God’s good graces. SOME were Farmers, Soldiers & such, Mothers & Fathers who struggled much. SOME were Settlers, who traveled far, some Adventures, who followed the stars. SOME were rich but most were poor,they came by ship, seeking more. SOME died young, others old, many their stories yet...

Posted by admin on Dec 16, 2017 in Christmas Past 2017 |

Answer 5th Day Christmas Past: Quite the miracle it was when the postman delivered 10 large, desperately needed crates just like Santa Claus! Congrats to 5th Day drawing winner, Denise London, who won Handmade decorations – stitchery, pottery, and olive wood ornament set from our travels!  Please contact MHA office 801-272-5601 or info@mormonheritage.com within 30 days to arrange for how to receive your prize.  Story still available on yesterday’s...