Post # 153 –
Light the World 2019
Dear Family
and Friends
I just
remembered about the Light the World Campaign, so I wanted to share it with all
of you. Maybe you are familiar with it from my sharing it last year😊
it really is a great program for you individually or to do as a family or you
could even invite your neighbors and friends to be involved😊
#LightTheWorld is an invitation to transform Christmas into a season of service. Join us as we follow the example of Jesus Christ by ministering to others one by one—just like He did.
Day 1
The
next time you receive a text today, tell the person who sent it something you
appreciate about them.
As you can
see I started this on Day 1 and today is Day 5, but they are things that you
can each still do. It is the simple and small things that count. Your service
does not have to be of a grand scale or huge to be counted by your Heavenly
Father. He sees all you do. He knows the intents of your hearts😊
Here is Day 5 and I will fill in with Days 2-4if I can figure it out😊
This year’s campaign is Light the World one by one.
This Christmas season, you can
#LightTheWorld one by one
Day 5 Offer a prayer of
gratitude for Jesus Christ and His mercy.
You can download the Light the World calendar
here:
the following
information comes from the Church News:
To help light the world this Christmas season, the Church is
encouraging people to every day think of someone they can help or invite, and
minister to them as the Savior did, one by one.The 2019 #Light the World: One by One effort officially kicks off Dec. 1. To help you prepare to participate, several resources will be made available throughout November, including a LightTheWorld.org website, a way to sign up to receive daily service prompts, a return of the popular vending-like Giving Machines, and a new inspirational video called The Christ Child. In addition, members are encouraged to invite others to attend a special Christ-centered Sunday service at a nearby Latter-day Saint meetinghouse on Dec. 22.
You can read
the rest of this article and learn more about the Light the World 2019 Campaign
and you can learn where the Giving Machines are here:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-11-14/light-the-world-campaign-encourages-all-to-serve-as-christ-did-one-by-one-166898
there is a
new video you can watch here:
Of course.
you can find out about the Light the World campaign and more at the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints website here:
the following information
comes from this site as well😊 or you can go directly here for videos from
past Light the World Campaigns😊
What Is Light the World?
What Is Light the World?
#LightTheWorld is an
invitation to transform Christmas into a season of service. It’s a worldwide
movement to touch hearts and change lives by doing the things Jesus did:
feeding the hungry, comforting the lonely, visiting the sick and afflicted, and
showing kindness to everyone. Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the
world” (Matthew 5:14). #LightTheWorld is the perfect way to let our
light—and His light—shine brightly.
“Let
your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father which is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16
Each year at Christmas, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints makes a monumental effort to spread the message and mission of #LightTheWorld. However, you can do it all year by thinking about who you can serve each and every day.
Special Witnesses of Christ – Elder Ulisses Soares
Elder Soares invites us to
keep the spirit of Christmas all year and become more interested in others than
ourselves as he testifies of the greatest selfless example of all, the Savior
Jesus Christ.
you can find
all you need to share Christmas here:
2019 Light the World: One by One
2018 Light the World: Give as Jesus Gave
2017 Light the World: 25 Days of Service
The Christmas Story
Christmas Devotionals
Christmas - Inspirational
2016 Light the World: 25 Days of Service
Christmas Songs
You are each
invited to attend the First Presidency Devotional on December 8, 2019 at 6:00
p.m. MST, the information is here below:
2019 First
Presidency Christmas Devotional
·
DECEMBER 8, 2019
·
The First Presidency invites Church members and their friends to
participate in the First Presidency’s Christmas devotional broadcast on Sunday,
December 8, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. mountain standard time.
·
The program, originating from the Conference Center, will
include Christmas messages by General Authorities and General Officers of the
Church.
·
The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square will provide
the music.
View Live
The
First Presidency during the April 2018 general conference. Photo by Ravell
Call, Deseret News.
The Salt Lake Temple and Christmas lights.
If you ever get the chance to go to Salt Lake City, Utah
during the Christmas season be sure to visit Temple Square. It is so beautiful
any time of the year, but especially so during the holidays. I took my children
years ago and we rode in a horse drawn carriage all around Temple square, it
was so beautiful, my children still remember doing that😊
To view a live stream of the devotional on December 8, visit:
·
Local meetinghouse via Church satellite system
Various
other stations and internet sites throughout the world will also carry the
devotional. Check local program listings for availability in your area.
Below is where you
can sign up to receive text prompts on your cell phone, I signed up for this so
I would not forget☹ I think it is great that the Lord
prompted someone to create this app for us😊to help each one of us to keep our focus on serving as
Jesus Christ served when He was on the earth and just how He would serve if He
were here today I think.
You can find the app
for daily prompts here:
#LightTheWorld IN 25 WAYS, OVER 25 DAYS
Each
Christmas, we celebrate the life of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. By
following His teachings, we let His light shine—in our lives and in the lives
of others. This Christmas season, use this calendar for inspiration as you plan
activities to help #LightTheWorld by serving those in need. Here is a calendar
to serve 25 ways in 25 days:
https://www.comeuntochrist.org/bc/content/assets/pdf/christmas-2017/25-ways-25-days-calendar-eng.pdf
This site has
a mini Christmas devotional or each day: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2019/12/one-a-day-mini-christmas-devotionals?lang=eng
I have enjoyed the prompts coming into my phone to remind me about what to do each new day😊 I hope you can join with us to LIGHT THE WORLD today😊 just imagine what a change we could make in the world if we all participated in this program!!! You do no need to be a member of the Church of Latter-day Saints to do this – EVERYONE is invited to participate so invite all those around you to join with us to Light the world😊 your family, your neighbors, your co-workers, your church family, invite them all😊
Here is a message from The First Presidency to the children of the
world from a previous year:
A Christmas Message from the First Presidency to the
Children of the World:
“Good
Tidings of Great Joy”
At this wonderful time
of year, our thoughts turn to that night of long ago when the angelic message
announcing the birth of the Savior of mankind was given to the humble
shepherds: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall
find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly
there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and
saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”
(Luke 2:10–14).
The message of the
birth of Jesus Christ is a message for all. It is a message of peace, a message
of hope. It is a message that provides us with the knowledge of what we must do
to return to live with our Father in Heaven.
As we keep the
commandments and become more like Him, we will find peace in our hearts and joy
in our lives. He is our Savior and Redeemer, and when we follow Jesus’ example
of serving others, our own lives will be blessed with happiness and
satisfaction.
Our hope is that
children everywhere will enjoy the blessings that are available because of the
life and mission of Jesus Christ. May the message of “good tidings of great
joy” announced to the shepherds so long ago bring peace and hope to each of us
at this special season.
Here is a
talk by President Thomas S. Monson when he was in the Frist Presidency, titled
‘Christmas is Love’:
Brothers and sisters,
what a beautiful sight you are. It is a privilege each year to begin my
Christmas season with you at this, the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I
express my love to all of you, whether you are present here in this building or
listening to these proceedings through other means.
The Christmas season,
with its special meaning and beauty, often prompts a tear, inspires a renewed
commitment to God, and provides—borrowing the words from the lovely song “Calvary”—“rest to the weary and peace to the
soul.”
However, it is easy to
get caught up in the pressure of the season and perhaps lose the very spirit in
our lives that we’re trying to gain. Overdoing it is especially common this
time of the year for many of us. The causes for this might include too many
Christmas activities to attend, too much to eat, too much money spent, too many
expectations, and too much tension. Often our efforts at Christmastime result
in our feeling stressed out, wrung out, and worn out during a time we should
feel the simple joys of commemorating the birth of our Savior.
Finding the real joy
of Christmas comes not in the hurrying and the scurrying to get more done, nor
is it found in the purchasing of gifts. We find real joy when we make the
Savior the focus of the season. We can keep Him in our thoughts and in our
lives as we go about the work He would have us perform here on earth. At this
time, particularly, let us follow His example as we love and serve our
fellowman.
A segment of our
society desperately yearning for an expression of love is found among those
growing older, and particularly when they suffer from pangs of loneliness. The
chill wind of dying hopes and vanished dreams whistles through the ranks of the
elderly and those who approach the declining side of the summit of life.
Wrote Elder Richard L.
Evans some years ago: “What they need in the loneliness of their older years,
is in part at least, what we needed in the uncertain years of our youth: a
sense of belonging, an assurance of being wanted, and the kindly ministrations
of loving hearts and hands; not merely dutiful formality, nor merely a room in
a building, but room in someone’s heart and life. …
“We cannot bring them
back the morning hours of youth. But we can help them live in the warm glow of
a sunset made more beautiful by our thoughtfulness, by our provision, and by
our active and unfeigned love.”1
My brothers and
sisters, true love is a reflection of the Savior’s love. In December of each
year we call it the Christmas spirit. You can hear it. You can see it. You can
feel it.
Recently I thought
back to an experience from my boyhood—an experience I have related on another occasion or two. I
was just 11. Our Primary president, Melissa, was an older and loving
gray-haired lady. One day at Primary, Melissa asked me to stay behind and visit
with her. There the two of us sat in the otherwise empty chapel. She placed her
arm about my shoulder and began to cry. Surprised, I asked her why she was
crying.
She replied, “I can’t
seem to get the Trail Builder boys to be reverent during the opening exercises
of Primary. Would you be willing to help me, Tommy?”
I promised Melissa
that I would. Strangely to me, but not to Melissa, that ended any problem of
reverence in Primary. She had gone to the source of the problem—me. The solution was love.
The years flew by.
Marvelous Melissa, now in her 90s, lived in a nursing facility in the northwest
part of Salt Lake City. Just before Christmas I determined to visit my beloved
Primary president. Over the car radio I heard the song “Hark! The herald angels
sing glory to the newborn King!”2
I reflected on the visit made by wise men those long years ago. They brought gifts of gold, of frankincense, and of myrrh. I brought only the gift of love and a desire to say thank you.
I reflected on the visit made by wise men those long years ago. They brought gifts of gold, of frankincense, and of myrrh. I brought only the gift of love and a desire to say thank you.
I found Melissa in the
lunchroom. She was staring at her plate of food, teasing it with the fork she
held in her aged hand. Not a bite did she eat. As I spoke to her, my words were
met by a benign but blank stare. I took the fork in hand and began to feed
Melissa, talking all the time I did so about her service to boys and girls as a
Primary worker. There wasn’t so much as a glimmer of recognition, far less a
spoken word. Two other residents of the nursing home gazed at me with puzzled
expressions. At last one of them spoke, saying, “Don’t talk to her. She doesn’t
know anyone—even her own family. She hasn’t said a word in all the time she’s been here.”
Luncheon ended. My
one-sided conversation wound down. I stood to leave. I held her frail hand in
mine, gazed into her wrinkled but beautiful countenance, and said, “God bless
you, Melissa. Merry Christmas.” Without warning, she spoke the words, “I know
you. You’re Tommy Monson, my Primary boy. How I love you.” She pressed my hand
to her lips and bestowed on it a sweet kiss filled with love. Tears coursed
down her cheeks and bathed our clasped hands. Those hands that day were
hallowed by heaven and graced by God. The herald angels did sing. The words of
the Master seemed to have a personal meaning never before fully felt: “Woman,
behold thy son!” And to His disciple, “Behold thy mother!”3
From Bethlehem there
seemed to echo the words:
How silently, how
silently
The wondrous gift is
giv’n!
So God imparts to
human hearts
The blessings of his
heav’n.
No ear may hear his
coming;
But in this world of
sin,
Where meek souls will
receive him, still
President David O.
McKay said: “True happiness comes only by making others happy. … The [spirit
of] Christmas … makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and
prompts us to kind deeds of service. It is the spirit of the gospel of Jesus
Christ.”5
There is no better
time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate
ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus the Christ. It is the time to love
the Lord, our God, with all our heart—and our neighbors as ourselves. It is well to remember that
he who gives money gives much; he who gives time gives more; but he who gives
of himself gives all.
Let us make Christmas
real. It isn’t just tinsel and ribbon, unless we have made it so in our lives.
Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness
because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for
others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values. It is
peace because we have found peace in the Savior’s teachings. It is the time we
realize most deeply that the more love is expended, the more there is of it for
others.
There’s Christmas in
the home and church,
There’s Christmas in
the mart;
But you’ll not know
what Christmas is
Unless it’s in your heart.
The bells may call
across the snow,
And carols search the
air,
But oh, the heart will
miss the thrill
As the Christmas
season envelops us with all its glory, may we, as did the Wise Men, seek a
bright, particular star to guide us to our Christmas opportunity in service to
our fellowman. May we all make the journey to Bethlehem in spirit, taking with
us a tender, caring heart as our gift to the Savior. And may one and all have a
joy-filled Christmas. In the sacred and blessed name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I hope that
these two Christmas messages from The First Presidency have lifted your Christmas
Spirits within you😊 Please remember who you are! Keep
saying your prayers, reading your scriptures. And do keep studying with us, we
love it that you have joined in with us in our study of the New Testament this past
year. I invite each one of you to keep coming back to my blog, I will try to
keep it interesting for all of my readers if I can😊
I love
sharing the gospel with you. I hope that you have enjoyed learning about it
with me and all of our cyber study buddies😊 I hope and I pray that Each one of
you will embrace the Light the World Campaign with your family members and
friends and do your best to make a small change in the world around you😊
I believe that if we get a little creative we can continue to Light the World
all year long for the next 365 days beginning January 1, 2020! This is
something for your to think about until my next post – make it a good week😊
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