Helping Children Keep The Savior In The Christmas Holiday‏

We are entering another wonderful Christmas season filled with music and lights, parties and presents. But the glitter of the season should never dim our sight and prevent us from truly seeing the true meaning of this wonderful season!

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints, we along with many other religions and cultures, celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  As young parents, we searched for ways to help our children learn, know, and feel the real or true meaning of this wonderful time of year. We came across an idea from a school project. The teacher had a 'Christmas Chain' made by the students to help them count down the days until the Christmas break. Then each child could take the remaining chain home to count down the days until that wonderful day, Christmas day would come!

We took inspiration from this, and made our own Christmas chain, but with a few tweaks. As many use advent calendars with pictures of our savior, we used a simple red and green construction paper chain. On each link to the chain, we included a scripture references to the birth of Jesus Christ. Prophesies of our Saviors birth have been included in the scriptures years before His birth.
As members of the "Mormon" church, we are blessed to have another set of scriptures of these prophesies that were given from prophets from the America's. The Book of Mormon (another testament of Christ ) contains accounts and prophesies just as the Bible does.

Each evening we would cut of one link of the chain, and read the scripture reference included on that link. We would spend just a short time each day remembering and thinking about His birth, and the reason for the season! This was such an awesome way for us to help bring Him back into our daily lives, and helped us draw closer as a family.

Here is a link to scripture references to the prophecies and the events of the Savior' birth that will help you and your family throughout the month of December:
Scripture References To The Birth of The Savior

You can use these scriptures in any order or any way you like. Our family saved the Luke 2 account for Christmas Eve. I don't recall a time where the spirit was stronger in our home!

I know my Savior lives! I am so grateful for Him and His life and example! The small, simple things we do in our lives to remember Him, help us to feel His love, help us to be better people, and have His light in our lives!

Submitted by:  Lee Tanner 

On A Day Dedicated To Gratitude

We live in a world and a society that is fast paced.  So much to see and do.  So many things to attract and distract our attention.  So very many things that pull us away from taking time to reflect on really what a wonderful life we live.

While I pray daily, offering words of thanks for blessings, I sometimes feel that I am not doing justice in expressing my deep gratitude for my life and all that I have.

So in the spirit of what the Psalmist wrote: "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High" Psalms 92:1  I express my gratitude to a loving Heavenly Father who has provided me with a wonderful life. Let me share with you my song of praise for what He has so freely given to me:

• I live in a great country.  We may have our problems in the country of ours but I can still enjoy the almost endless freedoms that are ours. 

• I was blessed with a great family in my growing up years.  Parents, while they are no longer living on this earth, I still feel their influence in my life.  The love and caring they provided me with can not be expressed in mere words.  I could not have been blessed with a better mother and father.  I have such wonderful brother and sisters who have each in their own way helped mold and shape me into what I am.  The love and concern they have shown me over these many years is one of the most precious things I can think of.

• I have been blessed with a wonderful, loving and supportive wife.  She is a true "companion" in every sense of the word.  How I love my children.  Each one so unique.  Each one loves me for who I am, even with my faults.  I feel that their love for me is so great that I do not see how it could be possible for me to return to them that same measure of love.  I have been blessed with four granddaughters who have certainly made my life complete.  To me there is nothing better in this world than to hear my grandchildren call me grandpa.  It is a title that I value highly.

• I am grateful that I live in a home that brings me such comfort.  I feel so fortunate to live in a day and time where we have homes that are air conditioned.  I can not imagine living in the heat of our Yuma with out some way to cool our homes.  I can not understate how thankful I am for the comforts of life that I enjoy in our day.

We live in a day and time where our lives have been made simple by all of the innovations and technology that has been developed.  Isn't it wonderful?  Over the course of my life I have seen so many things become available to us to make our lives easier and more fulfilling.  I can not imagine what it will be like in the next 25 years.  We truly live in an exciting time.

So after writing this, my thoughts turn to the simple fact that I have been given so much.  I do need to be better at daily expressing to my Father-in-Heaven my deep gratitude for what I have been given.  To take a short passage from the Book of Mormon: "...live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you." Alma 34:38

May I do better, moving forward, in making every day a thanksgiving day.


Submitted by: James Tanner 

Is It The Mormon Church or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints?

The official name, and the real name, is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Many people know us, and call us Mormons.  So where does the term "Mormons" come from?

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ we believe in a book called "The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Christ".  We believe it to be the word of God just as we believe the Bible to be the word of God.  Because of our belief in the Book of Mormon people have nicknamed us Mormons.

So what is the Book of Mormon and where did it come from?

"Knowing that doubt, disbelief, and misinformation would remain after centuries of darkness, our loving Heavenly Father brought forth an ancient volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible, which contains the fullness of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. This volume of holy scripture provides convincing evidence that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God. This record is the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

 

Joseph Smith was directed by a heavenly messenger named Moroni to a hill where gold plates had lain hidden for centuries. These gold plates contained the writings of prophets giving an account of God’s dealings with some of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. Joseph Smith translated the contents of these plates by the power of God. The prophets in the Book of Mormon knew about the mission of the Savior and taught His gospel. After His Resurrection, Christ appeared to these people. He taught them His gospel and established His Church. In order to know that the Book of Mormon is true, a person must read, ponder, and pray about it. The honest seeker of truth will soon come to feel that the Book of Mormon is the word of God." Preach My Gospel

 

The Book of Mormon will help anyone and everyone feel closer to their Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ.  The Book of Mormon can and will provide you with peace in our troubled day if you will read from its pages daily, ponder its teachings, and pray.

 

Click on the link below if you would like to receive your own copy of the Book of Mormon to study, learn and find out for yourself of its powerful spirit and witness that Jesus is the Christ and that he loves you personally.

 

Receive a Free Copy of the Book of Mormon

 

 

 

Submitted by:  James Tanner