The First Presidency Christmas Devotional

Yesterday evening I watched the Christmas Devotional at our stake center. It was absolutely beautiful! It opened with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and congregation singing "The First Noel" and then after the prayer the Choir singing "For unto Us a Child Is Born" from Handel's Messiah. They sang with such contagious joyfulness.

President Uchtdorf spoke first about seeing Christ with the heart. He quoted from The Little Prince, "Anything essential is invisible to the eye." Although many saw Christ with their eyes, they did not see Him with their hearts and accept Him as their Savior and Redeemer. President Uchtdorf exhorted us to unclutter our lives and let it be the season of seeking the Savior with our hearts.

The Choir then sang "O Holy Night," my favorite Christmas hymn. I love when the Choir sings! President Eyring followed reminding us that the story of Christmas is a story of love. He advised us to create a small part of the Christmas story every day in our lives and make every day feel like the best of Christmas past.

The Choir sang "How Far Is It to Bethlehem?" and then President Monson addressed us. He talked about the spirit of Christmas, sharing a touching story as usual, and how joy comes from showing the love and compassion of the Savior. The Choir closed singing "Silent Night," with the congregation joining on the last verse.

I must admit, by the end of the devotional my Scrooge-like heart melted and I was touched with the spirit of Christmas.

Challenge: If you didn't watch the devotional, watch it at lds.org. Then choose something--seeking Christ, showing love, sharing the Christmas spirit--to work on this Christmas season.

photo from jesuschrist.lds.org

Comments

Anonymous said…

we watched it over 2 nights and enjoyed the above mentioned spiritual feelings and music - love the First Presidency
DAD

December 15, 2009 at 2:02 AM

A Few Degrees

"I have learned that the difference between happiness and misery in individuals, in marriages, and families often comes down to an error of only a few degrees," said President Uchtdorf in General Conference April 2008 . To illustrate this point, he explained that if your course flying around the world were just one degree off, by the time you got back around, you would be 500 miles (800 km) off course. It almost seems unfair that a small mistake can have such a negatively dramatic effect on our lives. However, it is not one small error that does this, but many "small errors and minor drifts away from the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is therefore of critical importance that we become self-disciplined enough to make early and decisive corrections to get back on the right track and not wait or hope that errors will somehow correct themselves. "The longer we delay corrective action, the larger the needed changes become, and the longer it takes to get back ...

Teaching Children Really Does Make a Difference

A talk from stake conference today reminded me of the testimony I gave in September and meant to post here. Here's the gist of it . Sometimes I wonder if teaching the gospel to my children is really making a difference, especially because I don't see the results right away. Scripture study and family home evening require a lot of effort, and most of the time is spent getting them to sit and pay attention and not fight with each other. It reminds me of when Elder Bednar shared similar thoughts in a past conference: Sometimes Sister Bednar and I wondered if our efforts to do these spiritually essential things were worthwhile. Now and then verses of scripture were read amid outbursts such as “He’s touching me!” “Make him stop looking at me!” “Mom, he’s breathing my air!” Sincere prayers occasionally were interrupted with giggling and poking. And with active, rambunctious boys, family home evening lessons did not always produce high levels of edification. At times Sister Bed...

One but Not the Same

Zion --lds.org Moses 7:18 describes a Zion people as being of "one heart and one mind." And Mosiah 18:21 shares that when organizing the church, Alma commanded the people to "look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism." All this talk of oneness leads some people to believe that we are all supposed to be the same in thought and personality. That belief can scare away people from accepting the gospel. President Uchtdorf set the record straight in his talk during the priesthood session of the April 2013 General Conference: But while the Atonement is meant to help us all become more like Christ, it is not meant to make us all the same. Sometimes we confuse differences in personality with sin. We can even make the mistake of thinking that because someone is different from us, it must mean they are not pleasing to God. This line of thinking leads some to believe that the Church wants to create every member from a single mold—that each one...

Brightening My Light

Search This Blog