LDS Place

Francoise watched quietly as her friend Hilda marched in the St. Nicholas parade. Hilda wore a large miter-shaped hat with a design of stars and snowflakes cut out in it. She carried a big horn that she blew often and loud.

Hilda waved as she passed Francoise, but Francoise did not wave back. Instead she frowned at Hilda and the other children in the parade.

Unhappy thoughts tumbled through Francoise’s mind as the St. Nicholas parade came to an end. Why did my father have to come here to Switzerland? Why didn’t he stay in France? They don’t celebrate Christmas here in this country the way they should!

Hilda ran to meet Francoise. “Didn’t I tell you it would be fun?” she exclaimed, speaking very fast in German. “You should have worn the hat I made for you and marched in the parade with us.”

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In a crowded department store one December afternoon, I watched a salesclerk become frustrated as customers besieged her with requests. Finally she turned with a gasp of irritation and said, “Christmas! Who needs it?”

The question and the surroundings took me back to my senior year in high school. I was also a salesclerk, selling men’s clothing part-time.

It was Christmas Eve day. Snow was falling gently, and there seemed to be more shoppers than usual. They were weaving in and out of the displays, picking up last-minute gifts.

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“The real Christmas comes to him who has taken Christ into his life as a moving, dynamic, vitalizing force. The real spirit of Christmas lies in the life and mission of the Master.”

Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, Dec 2005, 22–25

“The spirit of giving gifts has been present in the mind of each Christian as he or she commemorates the Christmas season. Our Heavenly Father gave to us His Son, Jesus Christ. That precious Son gave to us His life, the Atonement, and victory over the grave.

“What will you and I give for Christmas this year? Let us in our lives give to our Lord and Savior the gift of gratitude by living His teachings and following in His footsteps. It was said of Him that He ‘went about doing good.’ As we do likewise, the Christmas spirit will be ours.”

Thomas S. Monson

The story of Christmas is a story of love. We heard the story first before the world was created. Heavenly Father told us of His plan of happiness for all of us, His beloved children.

Out of love He would let us come down from His royal courts to live in a world where we would be free to choose to come home again to Him. He said that because of temptations and because it would be so hard for us always to choose the right, that we would need a Savior. We would all need power beyond our own to be rescued from death and from sin.

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After the end of World War II, my family lived for a time in Zwickau, East Germany—that is where we found and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our congregation met in a small villa that had been converted into a meetinghouse, and there we joined with other members of the Church in worshipping the Savior and renewing our baptismal covenants.

One of the most striking things about our chapel was its beautiful stained-glass window depicting the Savior and the visit of our Heavenly Father and His Son to the Prophet Joseph Smith. As a young boy, I often looked up at this window and felt a special spirit. How I loved our quaint meetinghouse!

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My beloved brothers and sisters, how grateful I am to be here with you this evening. I, with you, have been inspired and edified by the messages of President Eyring and President Uchtdorf, as well as by the glorious music provided by the choir and the orchestra.

Truth is found in a phrase we sing in one of our hymns: “Time flies on wings of lightning.” Another year has flown by, bringing us once again to the Christmas season.

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Christmas means peace. Four years ago this month, I was in Switzerland. At that time Russian tanks were rolling down the streets of Budapest, Hungary, and students were being slaughtered with machine-gun fire. I stood that December day in the railroad station in Berne, Switzerland. At eleven o’clock in the morning, every church bell in Switzerland began to ring, and at the conclusion of that ringing every vehicle stopped—every car on the highway, every bus, every railroad train. That great, cavernous station became deathly still. I looked out the front door across the plaza. Men working on the hotel across the street stood on the scaffolding with bared heads. Every bicycle stopped, and every man and woman and child dismounted and stood with bared, bowed head. Then, after three minutes of reverent pause, trucks, great convoys of them, began to roll from Geneva and Berne and Basle and Zurich toward the Austrian border, and across Austria to the Hungarian border, laden with supplies—food, clothing and bedding. The gates of Switzerland were thrown open to refugees. As I stood there that December morning, I could not help marveling at the miraculous contrast: the devil incarnate as represented by the oppressive power of the Communists mowing down students on the streets of Budapest in contrast with the spirit of a Christian people in the land of Switzerland who bowed their heads in reverence, then rolled up their sleeves to provide succor and salvation.

—Gordon B. Hinckley, BYU Speeches, December 14, 1960

Christmas means the Christ child, the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger while angels sang and wise men traveled far to bring gifts. It is a beautiful and timeless story, and I hope that you will read it again this season.

—Gordon B. Hinckley, BYU Speeches, December 14, 1960

As I read the account of the birth of my Savior, I long to have the experience the Wise Men had—to be led by a star; or to experience what the shepherds did—to be invited to Bethlehem, invited by a choir of angels. I want to kneel at the manger and smell the clean straw and see that tiny baby with His earthly mother, to witness for myself this miracle. I believe that in every mortal there is an instinctive desire to come unto Christ. Perhaps we have a basic human need, because each of us is a child of God, to make that commitment to the spiritual part of our being. We each try to meet this need according to what we know. As members of His true Church, perhaps we do not need to be taught new things as much as we need to be reminded of what we already know. This is what pondering the birth of our Savior does for all of us. I believe it reminds our mortal minds of things our spirits already know.

—Sister Betty Jo N. Jepsen, General Conference, October 1992

“What does Christmas really mean?” Christmas means “giving.” The Father gave His Son and the Son gave His life. Without giving there is no true Christmas, and without sacrifice there is no true worship. There is more to this day than neckties, cuff links, engagement rings, and all the tinselled stuff of which we make so much. Let me repeat something that I heard the other day at a stake conference in Idaho. A member of the stake presidency told it. He runs a building supply business. A farm family in that community had contacted for the installation of a bathroom in their home. They had never had one before. Then the father came to the building supply dealer and said, “Will it be all right with you if we cancel that contract? The bishop talked with John about a mission last night, and so we will go outside for another two years.” Then the building supply man said, “The young man will go on his mission, and he will find a bathroom in the house when he returns.” Here is the spirit of Christmas—the family which sends a boy into the world to teach the gospel, and friends who come to lift the family out of their problems. What then shall you do with Jesus which is called Christ? Christmas means “giving,” and the gift without the giver is bare. Give of yourselves; give of your substance; give of your heart and mind and strength to bring to pass His eternal purposes and to spread the cause of His eternal truth.—

Gordon B. Hinckley, BYU Speeches, December 14, 1960

Part of the purpose for telling the story of Christmas is to remind us that Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Indeed, however delightful we feel about it, even as children, each year it means a little bit more. And no matter how many times we read the biblical account of that evening in Bethlehem, we always come away with a thought—or two—we haven’t had before.

There are so many lessons to be learned from the sacred account of Christ’s birth that we always hesitate to emphasize one without considering all the others. Forgive me while I do just that.

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“Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful. It is peace. It is the peace which comforts, which sustains, which blesses all who accept it.”

Gordon B. Hinckley, New Era, Dec 2007, 2–5

“We all enjoy giving and receiving presents. But there is a difference between presents and gifts. The true gifts may be part of ourselves–giving of the riches of the heart and mind–and therefore more enduring and of far greater worth than presents bought at the store.”

James E. Faust

“This is the spirit each true Christian seeks. This is the spirit I pray each may find. This is the Christ spirit. No quest is so universal, no undertaking so richly rewarding, no effort so ennobling, no purpose so divine. The Christmas season seems to prompt anew that yearning, that seeking to emulate the Savior of the world.”

Thomas S. Monson

“This is a glorious time of the year, simple in origin, deep in meaning, beautiful in tradition and custom, rich in memories, and charitable in spirit. It has an attraction to which our hearts are readily drawn. This joyful season brings to each of us a measure of happiness that corresponds to the degree in which we have turned our mind, feelings, and actions to the spirit of Christmas.”

Thomas S. Monson

“He whose birth we commemorate this season is more than the symbol of a holiday. He is the Son of God, the Creator of the earth, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the fulfillment of the Law of Moses, the Redeemer of mankind, the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace. . . .

” ‘And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

” ‘For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father–

” ‘That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.’ (D&C 76:22-24).”

“This is our testimony to all mankind. It is our gift and blessing to the world. He is our joy and our salvation, and we will find Christmas of greater meaning in our own lives as we share these truths with others.

Gordon B. Hinckley