12th Day Winner
Answer 12th Day Christmas Past: Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts on “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.” Congrats to 12th Day drawing winner, Jessica Garcia, who won Olive wood carving of the Christus, Olive wood carved/laser-cut Nativity silhouette with bark, Nauvoo “courtin’ candle” holder, pack of 10 Olive wood laser-cut tree ornaments, pack of 10 5×7 Nauvoo watercolor note cards, Remember Nauvoo mug -$215 value! Please contact MHA office 801-272-5601 or info@mormonheritage.com by Dec 30, 2022 to arrange for how to receive your prize. Story still available on yesterday’s...
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On the 12th Day of Christmas Past… Question: How is “I Know that My Redeemer Lives” a Christmas song and what is your favorite line? To be entered into today’s daily giveaway & FREE tour drawing- Read the story below; “Comment” & “Share” your answer on Facebook or our blog. Click Here for contest rules. You’re the Future of the World By Jerry Borrowman It was cold, dark, and damp, and as we pulled up in front of the small Catholic nursing home, our thoughts were centered more on hot chocolate and popcorn than on Christmas caroling. We missionaries had spent a wonderful day singing in hospitals and nursing homes throughout southern Dallas. But now it was late, and our voices were tired. We were glad to arrive at the last stop of the day. Inside it smelled musty. We huddled for a few minutes in one corner of the foyer while the Catholic sisters brought their patients in wheelchairs to hear us sing. As we started the first carol, a remarkable thing happened. In spite of our hoarse throats, our singing sounded more clear and true than at any of the other performances we had given that day. A feeling of warmth enveloped us. We were filled with a sense of peace and reverence. After we finished the last song, the nurses asked us to wait while they returned the patients to their rooms. A few minutes later, the sisters came back to thank us for coming. Sensing that they didn’t want us to leave yet, we volunteered to sing one more song for them. Rather than a traditional carol, we softly sang: “I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives! He lives, he lives, who once was dead. He lives, my everliving Head. He lives to bless me with his love. He lives to plead for me above. He lives my hungry soul to feed. He lives to bless in time of need. . . .He lives! All glory to his name! He lives, my Savior, still the same. Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: “I know that my Redeemer lives!” With tears in their eyes, the nuns, who were selflessly spending their lives serving others, rushed forward to thank us. One sister, the supervisor of the others, took my hands in hers and said, “You’re the future of the world, do you realize that? You young men are the future of the world!” As a young missionary, I sensed her sincerity—and the new hope and faith we had brought into her life. For a moment our differences disappeared, and we all received a witness, borne by the Spirit of God, that Jesus Christ does indeed live. “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” might not be what comes to mind when you think of Christmas music. But as a beautiful video put out by the Church in 2000 portrays, if Christmas is all about Christ, then perhaps this is one of the most fitting songs we could listen to at this time of year. Watch and listen to the video below. What lines stand out to you especially this Christmas? https://www.mormonheritage.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2020-11-0115-i-know-that-my-redeemer-lives-720p-eng.mp4 I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives! He lives, he lives, who once was dead. He lives, my ever-living Head. He lives to bless...
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Answer 11th Day Christmas Past: Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts on each life that touches ours for good in this story and in your own stories. Congrats to 11th Day drawing winner, Julie Dooley, who won 2 books by Karl Ricks Anderson: Joseph Smith’s Kirtland and The Savior in Kirtland, Olive wood carving of the Holy Family, Olive wood carved/laser-cut Nativity silhouette with bark, pack of 10 5×7 Nauvoo watercolor note cards, and Remember Nauvoo mug -$225 value! Please contact MHA office 801-272-5601 or info@mormonheritage.com by Dec 30, 2022 to arrange for how to receive your prize. Story still available on yesterday’s...
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On the 11th Day of Christmas Past, Richard Scott (MHA Tour Guide) shares a treasured Christmas… Question: Can you think of someone you haven’t contacted in a while and thank them for the difference they helped spark in you? To be entered into today’s daily giveaway & FREE tour drawing- Read the story below; “Comment” & “Share” your answer on Facebook or our blog. (Be sure to follow contest rules found on separate post on this Blog; US residents 18yrs+ eligible for prizes.) Nobuko’s Best Christmas – Tokyo, Japan By Richard Scott, MHA Tour Guide I served a mission in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo is one of the most densely populated cities on earth, so in our mission, the direction given to us by Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi, our Area President, was to not waste time going door-to-door but to go face-to-face by contacting people on the street. We would try to strike up a brief conversation with people as they buzzed through busy train and subway stations on their way to/from work or school or home. We were encouraged to stop every 18-30-year-old male but were prohibited from street contacting females. If they had 30 minutes, we would actually take them to our apartment which was conveniently located near high-foot-traffic areas, give a brief self-introduction and invite them to return to our apartment at a later time to hear more (our apartments doubled as the church…see why we weren’t allowed to approach women?!). One day in late November 1980, my companion and I were out street contacting. We had had a fair day in the number of people we had been able to talk with and set up return appointments. Suddenly, a bent-over old woman with gray hair and a broad smile approached me and in surprisingly good English said, “I’ve been watching you and your friend for the past two days and I just can’t figure out what you are doing! What are you doing?” I told her that we were American college students taking a break from school for two years to bring a special message to the people of Japan. She asked me what my message was. I told her that we were Christian missionaries and were in Japan to teach people about Jesus Christ. Her face lit up, and she said, “I too am a Christian and would love to learn more about Jesus!” I told her that we lived nearby and that on Sunday we would be holding a small group church service in our apartment if she would like to come. Nobuko Ogaki enthusiastically accepted my invitation to come to church on Sunday. Sunday came and Nobuko was knocking on our door at 8:30, before any of our few members had arrived for church that started at 9:00am. She was so excited to be among fellow Christians and to hear more about Jesus Christ and His Gospel. She attended Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School and even sat through the Relief Society lesson that I taught that day (as missionaries in a “proselyting unit” (smaller than a branch, where you start with zero members and try to build up enough members to fold into a nearby branch), we missionaries did everything). Normally, if there was a female friend or referral, we would pass them to a set of...
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Answer 10th Day Christmas Past: The Savior can “fill” in all our cracks and brokenness. Congrats to 10th Day drawing winner, Shauna (from blog), who won an Olive Wood Holy Family nativity carving, Olive wood carved/laser-cut Nativity silhouette with bark, pack of 10 Olive wood laser-cut tree ornaments, Nauvoo Temple necktie, Nauvoo Temple tie clip (Nauvoo star), Nauvoo Temple sunstone replica ornament, pack of 10 5×7 Nauvoo watercolor note cards, Remember Nauvoo mug -$220 value! Please contact MHA office 801-272-5601 or info@mormonheritage.com by Dec 30, 2022 to arrange for how to receive your prize. Story still available on yesterday’s...
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On the 10th Day of Christmas Past, a special story from Mary Lou Little (MHA Tour Member): Question: In what ways can the Savior fill us like in today’s story? To be entered into today’s daily giveaway & FREE tour drawing- Read the story below; “Comment” & “Share” your answer on Facebook or our blog. Click Here for contest rules. Catherine Pater (Tini) is my father’s cousin. He is the only member of his mother’s family to be raised in the United States, so he is the only member of his mother’s family who didn’t suffer from the horrors of WW2. His mother died when he was two years old, so he wasn’t exposed to his Dutch heritage. This story gives me a better appreciation of my faithful, sweet, Dutch family. It also makes me realize how blessed my dad, and his descendants, are that his mother came alone to start a new life in a new country, saving him the ravages, and suffering, of this horrendous experience. ~Mary Lou Little~ Christmas pancakes in war-torn Holland By Catherine Pater, for the Deseret News, Dec. 22 2015 It was December 1944. The war had been raging for almost five years over the little country of Holland. Conditions were almost unbearable. After wearing our same clothes and shoes for nearly five years because everything was plundered from our country, we were left in rags with no food to eat and no fuel to heat our homes or even a fire to cook on. Our only means of survival was the community kitchen where we went once a day to pick up our one-cup ration of soup, which consisted of a mixture of tulip bulbs and sugar beets thickened with sawdust. As a result of these conditions, nearly everyone was sick and many never saw the end of the war. But Christmas was coming and the church bells would still ring and invite every Christian to worship on Christmas morning the Savior who had been born in Bethlehem. A small group of members of the church sat together, remembering Christmases of the past. We saw the black potbelly stove spread its warmth through the little chapel and we envisioned the Christmas tree set on the podium all alight with real white burning candles and beautiful decorations. We could even smell its delicious fragrance. But this year there would be nothing at all. We all knew that all the members would understand no one had anything to give but himself, but how badly we wanted the other members to know that the Christ child had remembered them this Christmas! And so Christmas Eve approached and again we huddled together and prayed. As by a miracle that evening, we heard a knock at the door. Standing there, we saw a member of the church who lived in the farm country and who had managed to get through the German front line. He had brought us a sack of flour and a bottle of oil. Remembering the story of Elijah when the woman had only a handful of meal and a little oil and made a cake and had enough for herself, we began to make pancakes. We stayed up all night mixing our flour and water by candlelight and baking the pancakes on two small oil lamps. It was...
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Answer 9th Day Christmas Past: The most treasured gift any family could ever have is each other and to all be together once again as a family. Congrats to 9th Day drawing winner, Dinah Svedin, who won an Olive wood carving bust of Jesus, Olive wood carving of Mary & baby Jesus, Nauvoo Temple plate (replica of Scovil pattern), necklace with original Nauvoo Temple stone, pack of 10 5×7 Nauvoo watercolor note cards, and Remember Nauvoo mug -$203 value! Please contact MHA office 801-272-5601 or info@mormonheritage.com by Dec 30, 2022 to arrange for how to receive your prize. Story still available on yesterday’s...
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On the 9th Day of Christmas Past, a special ancestral story from Sherrie Spenst (MHA Tour Member): Question: What was the most treasured gift any family could ever have in today’s story? To be entered into today’s daily giveaway & FREE tour drawing- Read the story below; “Comment” & “Share” your answer on Facebook or our blog. Click Here for contest rules. A Christmas Never to Be Forgotten Submitted by Sherrie Spenst, MHA tour member The young mother sobbed and dropped the mirror she had been holding over her infant’s lips to check for signs of breathing. There was no mist. Her baby boy was dead. A few days later this young mother heard a knock at the door. It was two Mormon missionaries, Elder Martin Dalebout and Elder LeGrand Richards. They had noticed the curtains drawn, which was the custom of the day when a love one died. A Mormon family across the street told the missionaries that they had just lost a sick child because their religion didn’t believe in doctors. Elder Daleabout expressed a desire to meet a family with such great faith. As a result on July 22, 1907 Grandpa and Grandma Sieverts, (Abraham and Tryntje) were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their daughter Neeltje was later baptized 0n September 7, 1907. Nine years after their conversion Grandpa and Grandma’s desire was to migrate to Utah where they could be sealed together for eternity as a family. Finally, in September of 1915 Grandpa secured enough money for him and his son Jan to journey to America. Several months later he was able to bring his son Arnold. In December his daughter Neeltje came to America. With their help grandpa hoped they could earn enough money to bring the rest of the family to Utah. The lights burned late as Grandpa Sieverts sat by the sickbed of his oldest daughter Neeltje. Things were not working well for him at all. Grandpa had been in Salt Lake City with two of his young sons and a daughter so ill he feared for her life. Meanwhile, Grandma Sieverts was a continent and an ocean away with their five little children. Grandpa was fearful of not getting enough money and that they would have to return to Holland. If they did he knew they would probably never be able to return back to America, so he decided to fast and pray. Being a man of great faith he fasted for three days while still working at two jobs. One night as he was walking home through Liberty Park he fell to his knees in exhaustion. When he finally arrived home he collapsed at the table putting his head on his arm and he began to weep. Exhausted and forlorn, all of a sudden, he felt as though someone was touching his shoulder. He then heard a voice in the silence of the night, “Your wife and family will be here by Christmas.” Startled he looked up to see who was talking to him. But, no one was there. As he sat there in the silence of the night he heard this voice come to him three more times. He finally realized this had to be the voice of the Lord and with excitement and a renewed burst of energy he...
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Answer 8th Day Christmas Past: A desperate prayer sent heavenward brought absolute knowledge that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live, and will answer our pleas. Congrats to 8th Day drawing winner, TERESA C, who won a large Olive wood carving of Mary & baby Jesus, Bethlehem baby blanket, pack of 10 Olive wood laser-cut tree ornaments, Bethlehem baby blanket, pack of 10 5×7 Nauvoo watercolor note cards, and Remember Nauvoo mug -$190 value! Please contact MHA office 801-272-5601 or info@mormonheritage.com by Dec 30, 2022 to arrange for how to receive your prize. Story still available on yesterday’s...
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On the 8th Day of Christmas Past, Ron Millburn (MHA Tour Guide) shares a treasured Christmas: Question: How was an absolute knowledge that prayers are answered felt in today’s story? To be entered into today’s drawing giveaway – Read the story below; “Comment” & “Share” your answer on Facebook or our blog. Click Here for contest rules. Christmas 1995 By Ron Millburn, MHA Tour Guide The Christmas season of 1995 proved to be as severe and bleak as any I had ever known. Mountains of hospital bills were piling up from chemo treatments, bone marrow transplants, radiation, and surgeries. The miracle for which I had been fasting and praying, along with so many others, was not happening; and my wife, Harriett, was only getting worse. It was on Christmas Eve when we drove to the Emergency Room at LDS Hospital, she having felt a terrible pain in her stomach. Three days later she underwent another surgery. She had a wonderful oncologist, and it was with glistening eyes that he told me that they just had to close her up, for there was nothing more they could do; her time on this earth would soon come to an end. The first week in December of that Christmas season I remember sitting down with Louise (probably not her name) at LDS Hospital. She worked with patients’ financial concerns and insurance companies. Harriett had worked as a clerk in the Federal Court System in downtown Salt Lake City and had very good insurance, and yet I was informed that we had accumulated a $70,000 bill over the past year. Not having that amount of money available, we were put on a contract to pay so much a month for the remainder of our lives (at least that’s the way it seemed to me). After we left that depressing meeting we had Christmas facing us, and kids who still expected Santa to be as generous as he had always been. The next day, Saturday, we went to the South Towne Mall to do some Christmas shopping. Our most expensive purchase was a number of computer games that were the latest and greatest that 1995 could produce. When we got home and unloaded the car, we could not find the computer games. They were in a black plastic bag, and after thoroughly searching the trunk of the car, we came to the conclusion that they never made it home. So back to the mall we went. I first went to the “Lost and Found” to find no one had found them, or at least no one had turned them in. Next, we retraced our steps, going to each store and looking around and inquiring if anyone had turned in a black plastic bag full of computer games. No one had. Deseret Book was the last store we checked. (Deseret Book was in the mall at the time.) No luck. Discouraged, we sank down onto a bench in front of the store. Here we were, with $70,000 in medical bills to pay, and then we splurge to buy computer games for our children for Christmas, and then we lose them. I think we were both feeling about as rock-bottom low as a person can go. As we sat there, a thought came into my head. Heavenly Father knows where those...
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