Testimonies
Mary and Joseph were inexperienced parents, but it appears that they were very experienced with having a relationship with God.
A senior sister announced that she is going to Detroit Michigan on admission and enters the MTC this week.
Sunday School
1 John 1:1-2
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
John 1:1-5
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
“My family and I recently had a simple but impressive experience with one of God’s creations. I gave my wife, Barbara, a dozen roses for a valentine. They were a delicate shade of peach in color and had a rich scent. Barbara put them in a vase and placed them on the table in our family room. As the days passed, the family watched the blossoms unfold from buds to full flower.
“As I watched this miracle, I became curious about roses. I was amazed to learn from a botanist friend that there are thousands of different varieties of roses. Inside each rose is a giant storehouse of genetic coding that develops a seed or a slip into roots, stems, thorns, leaves, colors, and blooms.
“Each rose is a compact chemical-processing factory. Using sunlight, the green leaves take carbon dioxide from the air and replace it with oxygen, which we breathe. When other chemicals within the plant react with sunlight, it produces starch that becomes food. As you know, this process is called photosynthesis, and without it the earth’s atmosphere would soon be devoid of oxygen, and most living things would disappear from the earth. My friend told me that the chemical energy and the electrical energy our brains were using at that very moment were once sunlight that was absorbed by the chlorophyll in green vegetation we previously had eaten.
“This experience led me to consider the myriad forms of plant and animal life that thrive in astounding balance upon the earth. My esteem for our little roses took on an element of wonder and reverence. I pondered the power of the creative genius who lovingly provided such marvels for his children. I thought then how important it is for every human soul to see and appreciate the glory and grandeur of God in everything about us.” (Elder M. Russell Ballard, “God’s Love for His Children”, April 1988 General Conference)
First Presidency Christmas Devotional
Sister Tracy Y. Browning, “Remember, Remember”
“...as the year is thus closing and just before I forget to remain merry—the gift of Christmas arrives.”
“Christmas is the bridge we travel to shepherd us into the new year.”
“If we catch the scent of a certain spice hanging in the air during this season, maybe it is to remind us to bring with us gifts to give to the ‘Son of the living God’—not ‘gold, and frankincense, and myrrh’ but a worshipful sacrifice of our ‘broken heart and a contrite spirit.’”
“Christmas allows us to make a spiritual journey to Bethlehem to gain a witness for ourselves of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and then to carry that witness forward and with tongues loosened and feet and hands ready to make it ‘known abroad’ and bear record of all that we have come to know concerning Him. We can make that pilgrimage to the Savior by remembering.”
Moroni 10:18
18 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ.
Moroni assured us that ‘God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.’ Every book of scripture demonstrates how willing the Lord is to intervene in the lives of those who believe in Him. He parted the Red Sea for Moses, helped Nephi retrieve the brass plates, and restored His Church through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Each of these miracles took time and may not have been exactly what those individuals originally requested from the Lord. (President Russell M. Nelson, “The Power of Spiritual Momentum,” April 2022 General Conference)
“That is why everyone goes to sacrament meeting every Sabbath day—to take the sacrament and [to] listen to the priests pray that they ‘may always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them.’ … Remember is the word. Remember is the program.” (President Spencer W. Kimball, “Circles of Exaltation” (address to Church Educational System religious educators, June 28, 1968), 5.)
“Christmas can be an opportunity to act on these invitations and draw liberally on our natural inclinations to remember to think of Jesus Christ more, be receptive to reflecting on the miracle of His birth, and feeling and acting upon a greater sense of fellowship with God’s children.”
“Even our strengthened desire to be more charitable at this time of year can call attention to our intention to remember to be grateful.”
Elder Paul V. Johnson, “Christ Was Born to Save”
“Christmas is for everyone. It is for children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It is for people whose lives are running smoothly and for those living with illness, poverty, and trials. It is for those afflicted with the horrors of war and for those who live in peaceful, prosperous circumstances. It is for those who are trying to follow the Savior, for those who have never heard His name, and even for those who reject Him. It is also for those who lived before He was born. Christmas is for everyone!”
“The Christmas season is a special time to think of what is most important to give. We may be able to help others sense the ‘thrill of hope’ that results from coming to know the Savior and offering our hearts to Him.”
“I have been fascinated with hope this season. As I think about the miracle of Christ and the many gifts of God, I feel hope for everything and everyone. Not necessarily the kind of hope that everything will be perfect, but that everything will be okay, and eventually goodness prevail[s]. In all our lives. I don’t think it’s ever too late for miracles, for change, for peace. I really believe that deep down inside and all over. I will admit it seems easier to feel this hope for others, harder to apply it to myself. But I am learning. ‘Believe all things, hope all things, endure all things.’ Simple. Beautiful.”
Elder Gerrit W. Gong, “Christ, Our Savior, Is Born”
“The prophet Alma testifies the earth moving in regular form denotes there is a God.”
“As a recently returned missionary said, ‘Before my mission, Jesus Christ was part of my life. Now He is my life.’”
“Here let me ask a different A Christmas Carol question. Why, when we think of Scrooge, do we think primarily of a grumpy old miser, someone who scoffs at Christmas as a big, well, humbug?
“Why don’t we acknowledge more the new Scrooge? The new Scrooge, who generously sends the prize turkey as a Christmas surprise? The new Scrooge, who reconciles with his cheerful nephew, Freddie? The new Scrooge, who raises Bob Cratchit’s salary and cares for Tiny Tim?
“Let the skeptics scoff. The new Scrooge ‘did it all, and infinitely more.’ He became as good a man and as good a friend as the good old world knew.
“So why don’t we remember that Mr. Scrooge? Are there those around us, perhaps we ourselves, who could be a different person if only we would stop typecasting or stereotyping them as their old self?”
President Russell M. Nelson, “Come, Let Us Adore Him”
Luke 2:10–11
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
“Just think about the incomprehensible magnitude of what Jesus Christ accomplished—all according to the will of His Father! Jesus was already a God when He condescended to come to earth to complete the most crucial feat for each of us. A feat that was literally lifesaving and life-changing. A feat that not one of us could do for ourselves.”
“We revere the Babe of Bethlehem precisely because He later offered the incomprehensible, infinite sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross of Calvary. This offering redeems each of us as we choose to repent and follow Him. Then, as His crowning act on earth, He rose from the tomb on the third day, granting each one of us the unprecedented blessing of resurrection and life after death.”
“I pray that you will feel the deep, eternal love our Savior has for you personally. Jesus Christ has known you since the premortal realm. He knows and sees you now. He sees your joys and your sorrows. He has experienced each of them.
“He has perfect compassion for your struggles and rejoices every time you press forward in righteousness, during good times and bad.”
“I pray that you will gain your own personal witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He is filled with godly power, and that because of His grand atoning sacrifice, you never need to feel that you must face life’s difficult challenges alone.”
“I pray that you will take full advantage of the Savior’s Atonement by repenting daily, making your life increasingly pure, and seeking heavenly guidance in all that you do. In other words, I pray for you to experience the joy of always thinking celestial.”
“Begin anew to study the teachings and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. No one on this earth loves you as He does. No one here understands you better or really knows your sorrows and weaknesses.”
