Christmas Devotional

Christmas Devotional this Sunday, December 8

The First Presidency invites Church members and friends to view the satellite broadcast of the annual Christmas devotional, which will originate from the Conference Center on Sunday, December 8, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. mountain standard time. The hour-long program will include Christmas messages from Church leaders and music from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square.

Live audio and video of the devotional will also be available in English and Spanish on mormonchannel.org. Various broadcast, cable, satellite, and Internet television stations and broadcast, satellite, and Internet radio stations throughout the world will also carry the devotional. Check local program listings for availability in your area, or visit mormonchannel.org or byutv.org.

 http://www.lds.org/church/events/first-presidency-christmas-devotional?lang=eng

Come Ye Thankful People, Come

The opening hymn in church a few weeks ago was “Come, Ye Thankful People.”  Some of the words caught my attention from a food storage/preparedness perspective.



Come, ye thankful people, come;

Raise the song of harvest home.

All is safely gathered in

Ere the winter storms begin.

God, our Maker, doth provide

For our wants to be supplied.

Come to God's own temple, come;

Raise the song of harvest home.



Doctrine and Covenants section 104 verse 17 reads:

“For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.”



God, our Maker, has provided “enough and to spare” “for our wants to be supplied.”  It is our choice, though, whether to make the effort to safely gather “all” before the storms begin.  We are “agents unto [our]selves.”  The words of Captain Moroni to Pahoran in Alma 60 verse 21 address the situation.  “…do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?”



A generous God has provided for us so that we can be ready for the “winter storms” of our lives.  We show our gratitude by being good stewards and gathering in our “harvest” to meet our needs and the needs of those around us.



I am grateful that all of you still have an interest in and concern for having food storage and being prepared.  May you all have a wonderful, safe and peaceful Thanksgiving holiday.



http://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/come-ye-thankful-people?lang=eng