On the 5th Day of Christmas Past, some history to enhance Light the World – “[I was] naked and ye clothed me.” Question: How was a destitute pioneer family surprised on Christmas during a terrible snowstorm? To be entered into today’s daily giveaway & FREE tour drawing- Read the story below; “Comment” & “Share” your answer on Facebook or our blog. “A Christmas Dress for Ellen” President Thomas S. Monson retells this sweet story It was December of 1927 in the remote prairie town of Hillspring, Alberta, Canada. A young mother, Mary Jeppson, was getting her six small children ready for bed. Her heart was so full of sorrow and concern that she felt it would surely break. It was Christmas Eve, and all of the children except for the oldest, Ellen, age ten, were dancing around, excited to hang their stockings for Santa to come. Ellen sat very subdued in a corner of the cold, small, two-room house. She felt that her mother was wrong to let the children build up their hopes for Santa to come, for there would be no Santa. There was nothing to fill the stockings. There would be only a little mush for breakfast. Just a week earlier, the family’s only milk cow had died of starvation. The winter had just started, and already it was cold and harsh. Times were hard, and Ellen, being the oldest, had too much responsibility put on her thin young shoulders. She had become very cynical, and childhood hopes and dreams and excitements had been put out of mind much too early. Mary helped each one of her children to hang a little darned and mended stocking, but she couldn’t persuade Ellen to participate. All Ellen could say was, “Mother, don’t do this; don’t pretend.” After the stockings had been hung, Mary read to the children the Christmas story from the Bible and then recited a few Christmas poems from memory-memories of her own happy childhood. Now Mary sat alone by the dying fire. Her husband, Leland, had gone to bed several hours earlier, feeling sad and discouraged. Mary knew that he felt he had failed his wife and children. She thought of their plight here in this land of ice and snow. Spring had come very late and winter had come very early for the last two years, causing all of their crops to freeze and fail. In October Mary had received a letter from her sisters living in Idaho. They told her that they knew times were very hard for her, and although they had suffered some setbacks themselves, they wanted to know what they could send the family for Christmas. Mary hadn’t written back right away. She was reluctant to tell them how poor and destitute the family really was. Finally in November, seeing that things were not going to get any better, in...
Read More4th Day Christmas Past Winner & Answer
Answer 4th Day Christmas Past: President Grant showed mercy on his mother’s tired legs by pumping her sewing machine for her, & worked very hard to help financially. Later he showed mercy to his employee giving her a job and money for Christmas. Congrats to 4th Day drawing winner, Stew N Tam Rowley, who won Mustaches for Maddie book by MHA guides Chad Morris & Shelly Brown, olive wood angels carving set, & 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...
Read More4th Day Christmas Past Question & Story
On the 4th Day of Christmas Past, rekindling history to enhance today’s Light the World – “Blessed are the merciful.” Question: How is President Heber J. Grant such a great example of mercy? To be entered into today’s daily giveaway & FREE tour drawing- Read the story below; “Comment” & “Share” your answer on Facebook or our blog. “Money for Christmas” Accounts of President Heber J. Grant, 7th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “Heber J. Grant was born in Salt Lake City on November 22, 1856, just nine years after the pioneers entered the valley. His father, Jedediah M. Grant, died at the young age of 40. This left Heber’s mother, Rachel Ivins Grant, now a young widow at 35, to make a living and raise her eight-day-old child. Rachel provided for herself and Heber by sewing and taking in boarders. Heber remembered that his mother bought a treadle sewing machine and that many times he sat on the floor until midnight, pumping the sewing machine by hand or with his feet to relieve his mother’s tired legs. Heber made a little money on the side by shining boots for pennies. Later he would remember a Christmas when his mother wept because she had no money to buy him even a stick of candy. He determined he would work hard and earn money for them both. His life became an example of what can be accomplished through setting personal goals and making them happen with iron discipline. Heber resolved to help his mother out of poverty and was determined to become a bookkeeper. In those days before computers and even typewriters, all business records were handwritten on paper with pen and ink. So an important requirement for a bookkeeper was the ability to write well. Heber set out to become a good penman, but writing was hard for him. Several of his friends teased him that his handwriting wasn’t very good. One of them said it looked like hen tracks. Another said it looked like lightning had struck an ink bottle. This made Heber all the more determined and he began practicing all the time to improve his writing. His hard work paid off, and he actually won an award for his handwriting. Eventually he was able to help his mother financially and taught penmanship at the University of Deseret (now University of Utah) and did indeed become a bookkeeper at Wells Fargo Bank. A favorite gift President Grant liked to give away was money. He never became a wealthy man in terms of the world, but he was always ready and willing to help others with whatever he had. He had an especially tender heart for the difficulties widows faced because he remembered so vividly his own mother’s struggles. Once he employed a typist in his office who had the use of only...
Read More3rd Day Christmas Past Winner & Answer
Answer 3rd Day Christmas Past: The “lines” of true treasure are lines in hymns, written lines of scripture, and the fact that Church has no waiting lines and available to all to choose. Congrats to 3rd Day drawing winner, Sara (no last name) posting on our blog, who won Dr. Ron Dennis’ Welsh to English translation of Zion’s Trumpet periodical, Holy Family olive wood carving, & 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...
Read More2nd Day Christmas Past Winner & Answer
Answer 2nd Day Christmas Past: Elder Groberg’s missionary companion taught him to look for & offer true service when it’s needed. Congrats to 2nd Day drawing winner, Pam Kennedy, who won an Olive wood Holy Family & Bethlehem ornament with Christmas cards from Nazareth Village! 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...
Read More
Recent Comments