Our Ward Christmas Party

We had a great Ward Activity last weekend that our family had the good fortune to help plan and implement. Our Activities Committee took the ever popular "Trip to Bethlehem" program and told the story of Jesus Christ's birth from the Book of Mormon stand point. It was an incredible evening!

We jazzed up our nativity costumes with some bright colors and animal prints and decorated the cultural hall with fabric wrapped booths, white lights and lots of greenery. It was so beautiful. (the pictures don't really do it justice but you can get the idea).

We served food and had crafts at the booths. Everyone was really busy moving about the marketplace visiting and hitting all the shops.

The program that my friend, the Bishop's wife planned was awesome. When everyone first entered the city of Zarahemla, they were asked if they believed in the Christ that was to come. Of course they all said, "Yes" so they were given a bracelet as a symbol that they were a "Believer". During the night, little vignettes were going on where different Book of Mormon Prophets were portrayed talking or preaching in the marketplace just like it might have been during that time. People would stop what they were doing and gather in the center of the marketplace to listen. Actors in the audience portraying "Non Believers" would talk against the prophesies saying that it wasn't true that God would send a Savior born in the East. Incredibly, others who weren't a part of the script would just randomly chime in saying things like, "We believe", "Have faith", "How do you know that a Savior won't come?", "We know that God will bless us with a Savior", etc.

Even the littlest of children got into it. They listened to everything that was going on and participated in their own way. As you can see from the slide show below, Caleb had a sword and pretty much tried to take on any bad guy (as he called them) that didn't believe in Jesus. Way cute!

There were also slide shows and music that would play depicting the birth of our Savior. It was a beautiful evening and a lot of fun. Our family was grateful to be a part of this special night. We all agreed that it set a wonderful tone for our whole Ward Family's Christmas Celebrations.