Hey everyone, welcome back.

This is week 51 of Creative Come Follow Me for the New Testament.

And this week, you guys, we get to go back to the beginning because at the

very beginning of this year, we took a whole week to study Matthew 2 and

Luke 2, and we did a bit of a deep dive into all of that part of the story.

And this week we get to bring it all back because it's Christmas week, you guys.

And so you get to sit down all the struggles that we're feeling with the

book of revelation and the things that we're learning and you just get to get

back into comfortable enriching scripture.

Not that you don't love revelation.

I know we're all warming up to that book now, but this is a

week where you just get to enjoy.

I think one of the things that's tricky about studying the Christmas

story is it's so familiar.

But one of the blessings about the Christmas story is it's so familiar.

So this is a week where I don't have to go too deep into the verses.

They'll already be playing in your mind.

You can just think about what you've heard so far and let the

Spirit teach you new things.

In fact, I had a really similar experience just last week.

I got a chance to speak to a group of youth and one of the problems I ran into

you guys is they invited me to speak on the Christmas story and to focus it in

on Christ, which is a great beginning.

But the struggle I found is.

I couldn't get any promptings about where to focus my attention.

They asked me months ago and it got to be the point where I was like a

week or two ahead and I was struggling to come up with an angle to teach.

And what I found is as they inched closer to that deadline, the prompting

that kept coming to me was stop trying to speak instead, ask questions.

Invite them to think differently.

Invite them to let the spirit teach them new things about the Christmas story.

So that's what I did, you guys.

Basically, I stood in front of this group of youth and I talked about the

things that we have in common with the characters in the Nativity story and

then we focused on five simple questions.

Because what I found is there's kind of a common thread behind all the people that

are in this beginning Nativity story.

For example, I really think all of them Have to have some sort of big sacrifice

in order to be a part of this story, you know, Mary and Joseph and the wise men

and the shepherds, they all have something they have to set down in order to come

closer to the divine that holy night.

They also all have to take a journey of some kind.

I know when we think of journey, we think of the wise men, but I actually

think each of these people takes a journey and we'll talk through that.

Thankfully, each of them also has a guide.

Um, we think about the star often as our guide, but I actually think

you'll see other guides as you go into the Christmas story this

week that still apply to us today.

Guides like the Holy Ghost and angels who speak and witness and

people on earth who buoy us up.

All those things are guides.

The fourth thing you're going to see with all of these is

that they each make a change.

Each of these People whose narrative is in this story change by encountering

the divine on that Christmas night.

The other one I invited the youth to think on and that I would invite

us to think on is what lessons we can gain from their experience.

All of them have different lessons to teach us and honestly, I felt

like, as I studied each of those different people with this lens

of asking these five questions and trying to figure out the answers,

I realized I, it was their stories altogether that taught me big things.

As you answer these five questions for each of those main characters

in the story, I think you'll see an overarching understanding of.

the gift of the Savior in a whole new way.

That's what happened for me.

So I hope it will happen for you as well.

This will be a different kind of week of study, you guys.

We're gonna, I'm gonna ask a lot of questions, I'm gonna prompt you with some

ideas, and then hope that you will get new answers and new ideas of your own.

That you'll share those with us on the community discussion boards and places

that we can learn from each other.

But it's a really beautiful week of study that will flow.

incredibly well with everything else you're doing this week to take care

of your families and your friends.

And I think it'll be a good one.

So grab your scriptures, grab your notes.

It's time to get started.

All right, you guys, let's begin with Mary.

So if you had to start with that beginning question of what did Mary

sacrifice in order to have this experience with the divine, it's really hard to.

Quantify what she sacrificed.

She literally gave her whole self to be the handmaid of the Lord.

I just, I really don't think you can speak highly enough of her

and the choice that she made.

One of my favorite places to learn about Mary is if you go in Luke 1.

So again, I know we studied this before, but open up your scriptures

and breeze through Luke 1 and see some of the things she gave.

For me, one of the ones that jumped out was just her offering of.

self.

When the angel comes to her, her reaction is Worry, it seems.

Like in verse 27, it says, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name

was Joseph of the house of David.

And the virgin's name was Mary.

And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored.

The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women.

And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what

manner of salutation this should be.

I think Mary is young.

She's someone who I'm sure was taught scripture.

In fact, what I told the youth on Sunday is, I really feel like Mary is a lot

like Eve, in that she has this grounding.

I think she is so much brighter and more capable and more understanding

than sometimes we give her credit for.

I think the same thing with Joseph.

I just think they are, they would have been prepared in a remarkable way, but

she's still at the beginning, right?

And she doesn't know all things.

And so Her mind is troubled.

I mean, I can understand where you'd be troubled.

Not just that there's an angel speaking to you, but that this,

this prophecy, this opportunity will change everything about her life.

And she's trying to process all of that all at once.

And probably her own doubts and insecurities about her

own worth and who she is.

And somehow she manages to take all of those assumptions and all of the

expectations she has about her life.

And in this key moment, she puts them on the altar.

That's what I think.

We see in Mary's sacrifice, she takes all of the old self that she

had planned for herself and she puts it on the altar and says, I'm

ready to be a new creature to me.

That's what Mary offers.

That's her sacrifice.

Her whole self is in it.

The journey she makes is interesting.

And it isn't just in addition to the physical journey of traveling to

Bethlehem nine months pregnant on a donkey or walking alongside a donkey.

She, she also makes a spiritual journey.

I just think this idea of choosing to be the handmaid of the Lord, you know, this

was an opportunity to use her agency.

Nobody was forcing it on her.

It was an invitation.

And I think it was, if you go in the notes, there's a beautiful, I think it was

a Leah Hona article from Gay Strathern.

And she talked about this choice, that there's some similarity

between when Mary says, be it unto me, according to thy word.

And when the savior later will say his message of like, not my will,

but thine be done, that there's some.

Beautiful parallels between those because she essentially is turning all things

over to The Lord, that's her offering.

And so that's a big spiritual journey that she's committing to at age 15 or

16, or however old she is that she'll need to carry for her whole life.

When it comes to what guides Mary has, I think.

It's clear the angel Gabriel is a powerful guide, right?

she gets a visit from an angel that it seems like only she can see and She holds

it in her heart and I love that guide.

I think that's such a It seems like other young people in scripture, right?

when you think of somebody like Joseph Smith in the first vision These moments

where they come to an understanding of who they are and what role they're

gonna play in God's plan She has a powerful experience that She knows.

The hard part, I think, for Mary is that no one else knows it.

You know, it's not like the star that the wise men follow that

lots of other people could see.

Only she sees Gabriel.

And that must have been such a burden to carry.

And I, I just think it's remarkable.

I also think she probably has other guides.

When I was speaking to the youth on Sunday, they mentioned that Joseph would

have been a guide for Mary, which I kind of loved, I had never thought of that

before, but that they have each other.

And when she does approach him three months from now, you know,

after she's been with Elizabeth, she, she has him as a comfort.

And as a guide, he also has an experience with an angel and also knows

that this is what's supposed to be.

So they, they lift each other up, which I love.

Elizabeth is another guide.

I think the very fact that when Mary, who's carrying this big understanding.

In her heart goes to her cousin and she knows, and they don't even have to speak.

They just know, you know, I just think that must've lifted

Mary in such a beautiful way.

And I think Elizabeth is a constant guide.

You know, I think both of them, Elizabeth, Zacharias, I think they're, they're

guides to help Mary through this process.

And I love that she gets all those.

I also think over the course of her lifetime, Jesus

must've been a powerful guide.

Yet Mary is his first disciple.

At least that's how it's phrased in the notes if you read some of the quotes.

And I loved that understanding.

I think he would have been a gentle, patient teacher to a young mother

who was trying to figure things out.

And he, he guides her, you know, all throughout his lifetime.

He's constantly looking out for her.

From his first miracle in Cana that Mary is there, to the time on the cross when

he asks John the Beloved to care for her.

They are.

They are close and he is a steady guide.

When it comes to the changes that occur for Mary as your fourth question,

um, I think for me, one of the most powerful ways to phrase it is, I

think it was in that same article by Gay Strathern, but she talked

about how Mary came to understand her role in the Abrahamic covenant.

And there was just this dignity in that phrase that I loved.

I think that's what President Nelson is inviting us to do.

Not just to know that we are children of the covenant, but to know our role.

as a child of the covenant.

What does that mean?

What does the Lord expect of me?

Those are things that I saw change in Mary over the course of these verses.

The last thing, when I think about the lessons that I learned from Mary,

um, there's a lot, but one of my favorites was, I think there's value

in keeping things in your heart.

I think sometimes spiritual promptings need time to marinate, you know, like

it's, we tend to want to rush out and do, or we want to rush out and ask more

questions of other people or opinions.

And Mary is someone who keeps all things in her heart.

And that, I think there's power in that understanding.

I think there's also power in seeing how she grew in truth and wisdom.

I think she's someone who learned line upon line, just like the

rest of us, even though she's learning these gigantic things.

I think she's She's growing in strength and wisdom, just like her son will do.

And I love that about her.

And I guess the third big thing I learned from Mary is that When in doubt about what

you can give as a gift back to the Savior this season give your whole self That's

what she does from day one and every day following her whole self That's what every

mother does and I think as the mother of the Son of God she gives her whole self

every day and in as a As a ramification of that, she has this intimate, close

relationship with the Son of God person.

And I love that about Mary's story.

Okay, let's jump to Joseph next.

So one of my favorite places to learn about Joseph is right

at the beginning in Matthew 1.

This is where you see his side of the story, that when he learns about Mary's

pregnancy, he makes some choices.

So if you go through those same five questions, I think some

interesting things come to mind.

For example, if you think about what Joseph sacrificed in order to

encounter the divine, especially on this holy night, he sacrificed much.

He is like Mary in that he will give his whole life to care for both the

Savior and the mother of the Son of God.

And I think he seems to embrace that from the get go.

He lets go of expectations.

He lets go of social pressures.

Like, if you look in the verse, it says, Before they came together, she

was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

And this is verse 19.

Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not willing to

make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared

unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto

thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he

shall save his people from their sins.

Joseph, in this moment, has to choose to believe.

You know, we know in scripture all over the place, like with Laman and

Lemuel, that just encountering an angel doesn't mean you will believe.

In fact, Laman and Lemuel, as soon as the angel is gone, they turn to Nephi

and basically say, yeah, but Laman's got a lot of, Laman's got a lot of forces.

We can't defeat him.

I just think sometimes we assume that because an angel came to Joseph, then

therefore he must make this choice.

But both he and Mary.

Just like Adam and Eve chose, without understanding fully all the

ramifications of their choices, they chose to be a part of this story.

And I think his His choice of how to treat her is tender.

I, I think that's his sacrifice.

It was interesting to me as I was studying Joseph this week, that it almost felt

a little bit like Joseph Smith Senior.

So you remember with Joseph Smith Senior, where he is a religious man, but he also

can't feel settled in any one religion.

And he.

He tends to do things his own way.

I started to wonder if maybe there's a little bit of that in Joseph,

because he has every right at this point to break that engagement.

In fact, it's supposed to happen publicly.

It's as, it's as exposed as a divorce would have been at that time because

engagements were something that were celebrated publicly and also broken

publicly, and he has this desire to.

put her away privily, you know, to do it in a way that would protect her.

This might just be me, but sometimes I think this is his personality.

We see a similar personality in the Savior himself.

You know, I think where the Savior was constantly saying the law of

Moses should not be a barrier between us and showing love for others.

You know, I think you see that first in Joseph, because he is willing to The

social structure and the rules of his day in order to guard and protect the feelings

and tenderness of someone he cares about.

And don't you think we see that over and over again in the Savior's life?

It just made me think, sometimes I think we see Joseph as a guard for

Jesus Christ and as a protector, but I think he's also a father.

I think his personality traits and his warmth, I think Joseph was chosen by God

for a reason because he would teach Jesus.

As a young boy, these same understandings of we put people first, and yes, we

honor the law of Moses, but we watch for the hearts of tender people.

I could just see that interaction playing out.

And I love that about Joseph.

He's willing to put that on the altar of sacrifice.

He's willing to care deeply for another person and do, do as much as he can.

When it comes to the journey that Joseph had to take, you know, as

I was speaking to that group of youth, the, the bishop chimed in on

this one, and I loved his comment.

He said, it must have been so hard to be Joseph in this situation

because he is so imperfect and he's the dad of a perfect son.

And I just, that opened up all kinds of ideas in my brain of

how hard that must have been.

You know how we talked the last few weeks about walking in the light.

And that one of the things we do when we walk in the light is we're very aware

of all of our flaws and our weakness, you know, because you have this beaming,

beautiful, radiant light shining on you.

And so you can see all the places you need to work on.

And I imagine both Joseph and Mary felt that all the time, you know,

they are in the presence Divine.

Even though he's a young child and he's growing in grace and wisdom, they lose

their temper, I am sure, and they have problems here and there, and they don't,

you know, I'm sure they make mistakes.

And I feel like the very fact that Joseph is chosen tells us that he's

somebody who took that vulnerability and that exposure in stride and

continually tried to be better.

I just think you, you must, right?

To, to be the father of someone so perfect and so patient and so kind

and I just think There's a journey in there, and I loved that idea.

I think he also has to take a couple physical journeys, right?

He has to make sure that Mary can get safely to Bethlehem.

He's the one that has to find a place for them.

He's the one that, you know, has to listen to the angels so they can get

to Egypt and find, Egypt and find a safe haven there and listen again

when a prompting comes to return.

So I just think there's a lot of journeys in Joseph's story, which mean

he, he also will have a guide, right?

I think Guides for Joseph are powerful.

First, I think he has Mary as a guide.

Just like Joseph is a guide for Mary, I think she also is a guide for him.

Because it sure seems like Mary talks to him first, and then he

gets confirmation from the angel.

We don't know because it's different books of scripture, and they're told different

ways, but it seems as if the chronology is Mary has her encounter with Gabriel.

She goes to be with Elizabeth for a few months and then

returns and talks to Joseph.

And then he has that opportunity to choose to believe her or not and

has the encounter with the angel.

So I just think you see her as a guide.

I think you see them working as a pair, trying to sort through and find

answers individually and collectively.

So I think she's a guide.

He also gets a guide from the angel himself, who comes and speaks to Joseph.

In fact, one of the things I love about what Joseph hears from the angel is

that he's invited to name this child.

To fulfill prophecy and to name him.

I just think there's such, I think God the Father, even though he

is the literal father of Jesus Christ, honors Joseph's role as this

beautiful foster father of sorts.

And gets he gets to name him, you know, he gets to declare him to the

world and that's that's a Jewish father's right at this time And

I love that that's honored here.

I also think the Holy Ghost prompts him Over and over again.

So even though Joseph doesn't have a star and he doesn't have a constant stream of

understanding from angels and witnesses When key moments come he knows what to do.

He gets promptings to go to Egypt.

He gets promptings to return He he has clarity when it's needed.

When you think about Changes for Joseph, we don't know much about his backstory.

So it's hard to know how he changed but my My gut just tells

me, how could you not change?

You know, to be, to be the father of Jesus Christ, I, I think to have

such an intimate, close relationship, both with Jesus and with Mary, I just

think he must have been remarkable.

What I kind of love about his story is that I don't know how he's remarkable.

It reminds me of what Elder Bednar was teaching us in conference, that

there are a myriad of people, both in scriptural history and in our present

day, who are That's Joseph to me.

He is no less serviceable than Mary.

He is no less serviceable than any other story that we read in scripture.

He is just someone who had a very specific role to play, and

he clearly did it beautifully.

So that to me is powerful.

Lessons I can learn from Joseph?

When you think on it, like what do you gain from?

His story, his part in this story.

I think there's something powerful to me about this decision to serve.

Joseph is not someone who will get fanfare or recognition or anything,

but he will serve diligently every day.

And his way of serving is unique to him.

I think Mary's way of service was very specific to her role

and her attributes and her.

Feminine tendencies and I think Joseph's is similar but in his way You know I

think his job was to protect and care for and provide for and he does all

those things So I love the lesson I learned from Joseph is to ask the Lord

What is my role and how can I do it?

Well, no matter who notices and how much credit I get how can I wake

up every day with the intent to?

Fulfill my role.

Well, and I learned that from Joseph,

you know, we're going to move on to the shepherds What I like about their

part of the story that's different than Mary and Joseph is they have this Once

in a lifetime opportunity now where Mary and Joseph have a stewardship

for their entire life You know they every day will wake up and care for

the Savior and come close to him and make sacrifices and grow and change

and The shepherds have this one window.

Their story is different.

I'm sure there's a lot more to their story than we know from what we

can read in Luke 2, but I do like that they have this one window.

I think there's, there's pattern in all of that.

Some of the responsibilities I have that will bring me closer

to God are every day in my life.

Some of the callings and the stewardship he's given me are things that will

be with me my entire lifetime.

And there are these long term blessings that bring me closer to him.

And some of my callings and opportunities will be these short little windows, these

bursts of invitation to say like, Hey, Maria, come close right now, come close.

And that's what I love about the shepherd story.

So if you go in loop two, you can read those really familiar verses, but there's

some beautiful things that, um, I think we learned from their part of the story.

If you ask those same five questions, hopefully new things will come to mind.

First let's talk about what they sacrificed.

So again, we don't know much of their backstory, but I think the very fact

that they leave what they were doing in order to go and see is a big sacrifice.

I don't know how they did that.

I don't know if they had people who could watch their flocks for them.

I don't know if they were in an enclosure of some kind, but anytime

you leave the flock that you're you know, carefully tending.

It's risky, right?

They took that risk in order to go and to see.

In my mind, I think of them a lot like I think of Nephi in those early

chapters of the Book of Mormon, where he's, he's ready to go and do.

There's this one window of time and they've got to get the plates and

he doesn't know how it's going to work, but he's just going to go.

I think that with the shepherds, they get this opportunity

and they say, Okay, let's go.

There must be a way and that's kind of what plays out.

So the angel comes to them and invites them to be a part of this.

Says, And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring

you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior,

which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you.

You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

This to me is their journey.

They have to make this short, immediate decision to.

Choose to heed.

Not everybody who encounters an angel in scripture listens to

the angel and these shepherds do.

They grab hold.

I think one of the other things they have to sacrifice and the

journey they have to make is to set down Old assumptions, right?

They would have been raised as traditional Jews where they would have

expected a conquering messiah to come.

So that an angel comes and says, here's where you're going

to find the king of kings.

It's not on a throne.

You're going to find him in a manger.

They have to set down and reorient their faith to say, could this

be, you know, like, can this be?

The whole idea of them like being willing to make those shifts in

their understanding of their faith, I think says a lot about the spiritual

maturity of these shepherds.

In fact, I think it was Elder Oaks who talked about this idea of that when they

come to see the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and in a manger, they would have

had, or no, it was President Eyring, and he talked about how you would, they

would have had a, an experience with the Holy Ghost to affirm that they would

know for certain who this babe was.

Not just that they saw him, but that they would know him as the Messiah.

And I think that, that would have impacted their journey.

When it comes to the guides they have, one of my favorite guides

that you see with the shepherds, in addition to the fact that the angel

comes and the hosts of heaven sing, I love that they have each other.

I think that's one of the most powerful guides the Lord gives us,

is that sometimes we get to have spiritual experiences in groups.

You know, if you've ever been at like a testimony meeting or, you know,

maybe girl's camp or track or something like that, where we all experience

something akin to the divine together.

I'm just right now in third Nephi, I'm studying the arrival of the savior and

this spiritual experience that happens to a large group of people all at once.

And one of the reasons I think that's such a powerful guide is.

It can be held, you know, I think oftentimes our job when we have these

great spiritual experiences together is to remind each other later You know to

be able to say I know things are hard right now But remember how you felt that

track or remember how you felt that girls camp when you bore your testimony I know

you knew I heard your voice, you know, like I think we have those experiences

so that we can buoy each other up.

And I think that's one of the most powerful guides the Savior offers.

I think you see it with the apostles as well.

That so many of their stories happen to them all together, you know We have a

few little pocket stories that are with one particular Apostle But most of them

are all the Apostles are out on the sea rowing and toiling or all the Apostles are

seeing 5, 000 hungry people and wondering what's gonna happen and those Miracles

happen to all of them so that they can remind each other and boo each other up.

So I love that piece of what kind of guides were given.

The other thing I love about the shepherds is when you think about

what must have changed for them.

So that fourth question of how does this experience with the divine change them?

For me, I think what we've talked about over and over again this

year, especially during the Gospels when we were studying the Savior's

ministry is He brings dignity always.

And can you imagine a more dignifying moment than to be a shepherd who's

kind of like at the lowest level of the social strata and have this

opportunity to see God, you know, to be a part of this story and to be in a

place where it's comfortable for them.

You know, I was talking to the youth on Sunday that this, if they,

if there had been room in an inn, then I don't think the shepherds

would have been able to come.

They would have been cast out.

They wouldn't have been able to have any livestock with them or whatever.

Like I, they, that would have been off the table for them.

And the very fact that the savior chose to come this way to this place allowed

them to have dignity and for the rest of their lives, to be able to tell

people that they saw the birth of the Son of God, they were there that night.

I mean, I just think it's not just about the angels.

It's about how they feel.

And I think that's what the Savior did throughout his lifetime.

So I love that you see that in this story.

When it comes to what lessons we can learn from the shepherds, for me probably the

biggest is that I need to be looking up.

So often I think I get stuck in the busyness attending my flock that

I forget to look up or I forget to seek truth and talk to others and

see where they're getting ideas and revelation and I get mired down.

And then when those opportunities for divine happening.

I get too busy to act or I say, I'm going to get to that.

I'm going to get to the temple, but it probably won't be for two more weeks.

I think they're, one of the things that it taught me was the shepherds acted

promptly and because they acted promptly, miracles played out in front of them.

In fact, if you look in the verses, when they're talking to each other after

the angels and the hosts of heaven say, talk to them in 15, it says, and the

shepherds said one to another, let us go now, even unto Bethlehem and see

this thing, which has come to pass.

And then in 16, And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph,

and the babe lying in a manger.

That's a big lesson for me.

The last one is what you see in 17.

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was

told them concerning this child.

A big lesson that the Savior, or that the shepherds offer, is that

when you have seen something truly remarkable, or even just remarkable

to you, when you have encountered the divine, we're supposed to speak it out.

You know, they are, they're giving us that counterpoint to Mary who

held all things in her heart.

In their case, their job is to go out and share it, spread the word abroad.

What I like is it's not that they're telling the story of Going to

see the babe lying in the manger.

What they're telling people is what the angels told them.

That there is peace on the earth again.

That there is joy and rejoicing.

That the Savior is come.

That's what they spread abroad and that kind of testimony is magnetic.

Let's go to the wise men next.

We don't have many verses about the wise men, so I'm going to try really

hard not to Put too much context that isn't real here, but I do love their

piece of the story primarily because I think it's another facet of Connecting

with the divine where mary and joseph are doing this for a lifetime and the

shepherds have this one little window what the magi teach to me is that some

of our experiences to Our invitations to experience the divine are they take a

long time to get there it takes time and patience and diligence to find the divine.

Sometimes you get these flashes of light moments that we saw from the

shepherds, and sometimes it takes months or years or however long it

took them to journey from the East.

Um, you can go in the notes and learn a little bit more about this, but if

you ask those same five questions of these wise men, first, we approach

this with what did they sacrifice?

And there's a lot on the table, right?

I think in addition to Sheer time they also have to sacrifice great

wealth, you know, not just the gifts that they give which are

powerful thoughtful Expensive gifts.

He also they also give the time that they're away right the cost of the

journey I have no idea what all of that would cost but they put all of

that on the altar of sacrifice in order to come close to to the divine.

I think another big one would be their pride.

One of the things I love about their part of the story is that when they do

encounter the Savior, and probably in his toddler years, you know, in this humble

home that a dirt floor, they kneel down, you know, they, they fall down and worship

him before they even give the gifts.

And I think that That's another thing they have to sacrifice in order to

encounter the divine the way they do is they set all their pride down.

I don't even know that they had an issue with pride before, but the very

fact that they make this journey, they offer these gifts, and they

offer themselves is a beautiful thing.

is a big witness of where their hearts are.

When it comes to what their journey was, the Wiseman is probably the

most obvious of all the people we've talked about so far.

They have to make this big trek.

And we don't know how far this is.

There's a lot of theories out there.

There's some good stuff in the Bible Dictionary.

But I think it's the fact that they do this long, sustained journey.

That impresses me because there must have been times when they wondered

right the same way I think all of those people like the brother of Jared's story

and Lehigh story that they wondered if they were on the right course or

if they were if this still made sense or if it was taking longer than they

Thought it was gonna take I just think everybody wrestles with those thoughts.

So I imagine that happened for the wise men I also think they're a really good

example of Intermittent revelation, because when it comes to the guides

they received, they have that star.

In fact, I just listened to the Why Religion podcast that talked about that

potentially that star is Actually, an angelic visitor that oftentimes angels

are depicted as stars, so it's possible this could have been a person, but I

actually like thinking of it as a star, because I think it's something that you

see some of the time, you know, a star is something you can navigate by at

night, but you have to travel in the day.

In fact, I really like the way it's phrased.

So if you go in Matthew 2, this is where you see the story of the wise men.

I like how it's phrased in nine.

When they had heard the king they departed and lo the star, which they saw in the

east, went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was.

The motion of this star intrigues me.

I feel like it's really similar to How we heard about the Liahona in

the Book of Mormon and that cloud in the day and pillar of fire by night.

It is something that moves ahead of them and they have to watch for it

and navigate by it and move forward.

I just think it's this, there's a similarity in all those scriptures.

And I admire Their determination to stay fixed even though revelation is

intermittent and they don't always know They choose to navigate by a star and let

that guide them until they can see the star again And I think there's a lot of

applications for us there as well I also love in when it comes to what changes they

made I love the way it's phrased that they expressed exceedingly great joy because I

think this is something that Well, one, I don't think it was very common for their

time, for men to be this overjoyed and show it, but I love the way it's phrased.

So if you look at 10, When they saw the star, they rejoiced

with exceedingly great joy.

This is verse 10, you guys.

Verse 11 is when they get to the house and actually get to see this holy family.

Verse 10 is when they just know where they're going.

The fact that knowing where they're going caused them exceedingly great joy.

Comforts me.

I just love this verse, because to me, this is the same thing

we saw with Hannah, right?

When she is promised that she'll have a son, she goes off, her countenance

changes, she's no longer sad, and she rejoices, even though she's not pregnant

at the moment, and it's going to be a long time before Samuel is born.

She shows exceedingly great joy.

in the promise and the certainty of hope.

And I feel like that's what is demonstrated by these wise men when

they rejoice because they see the star and they know where they're going next.

They get this sense of peace.

Remember when we've talked about.

Rest when President Nelson speaks about rest as this settled assurance.

That's what I think they're rejoicing over It's not so much that they've

arrived at their destination is that they know exactly how to get

there and they know they will get There the same way we can feel about

things like the celestial kingdom.

I know the covenant path I know what I'm supposed to do I know it's

real and I have a certainty that the promises that have been offered are

real and will be fulfilled so I can have this settled assurance and I

can express exceedingly great joy.

I just think there's power in that, that promise.

When it comes to the lessons that I learned from them,

I think a couple things.

First off, I do love that in their story, they show us how

to be cautious with holy things.

Because they chose to be sensitive to the spirit and not tell Herod where

the baby was and be cautious with this witness they've received that

the Son of Man is in fact born, they protect the Savior in their own way.

And I think We have to do that at times, we might have these powerful encounters

with the divine that are intended to be held close, um, or intended to be

kept in a very small circle or until the time is right when the prompting

comes to share it more broadly.

I like that piece of their story.

I think they, they reverence sacred things and they treat them carefully.

The other thing I really like is I think they're a really good

example of by study and by faith.

Because.

They are someone who, because they understood the prophecies and the promises

in Scripture, Scripture that we don't have access to, but somehow they knew that when

they saw this star, this is what it meant.

And so they traveled a great distance in order to see it fulfilled.

I think that's study.

And I think faith comes in that journey across, that they believe in the words

of Scripture, they believe in the words of prophets, and they choose to follow.

And I think you see faith and works working in tandem in their story.

And because of that, they get to play this very specific role.

I think it would have been easy as a wise man to look at the story of the shepherds

and think, well, how fair is that?

They, they only had to leave their work for a day.

They got to see Jesus Christ the day he was born.

And why did I have to journey for months and years?

But there's no record of that kind of phrasing in their story.

I think they are someone who understood their role to play, played it well, and

received the blessings along the way.

The blessings that came in the journey itself, the joy that came in seeing

that star so clearly and knowing exactly where to go, and the rejoicing

that must have happened as they knelt down and honored the King of

Kings that they got to see firsthand.

All of that happens in their story.

Last, but certainly not least, we can take these same five questions

and apply them to the Savior himself.

We can learn about what he sacrificed, the journey he had to make, the guides that

he received, the changes that occurred because he was part of this story, and

the vast lessons we can learn from him.

So I'm just going to give you a few little ideas, but my hope is

just to get your brain stewing to see what the spirit teaches you.

First and foremost, when it comes to what he sacrificed, in addition to the

great and last sacrifice of the Savior's life that we'll talk about later.

In this nativity story, I think you also have his choice to condescend.

You know, he came not just as a humble baby, but thinking

about where he came from.

You know, we learned this in the Christmas devotional repeatedly, that

he was a God before he ever came here.

Not just a God, but the God of the Old Testament, the great Jehovah,

you know, the one that could part the waters and cared for the children of

Israel all that time in their travels.

And That is a mighty God and a creator of worlds to, to descend down to be this babe

in a manger in these humble circumstances is this great and last sacrifice.

It is, it will be expounded upon as he gives his whole life for the children of

men and then ultimately dies for them.

I just think it.

It only grows, but I think you get a beautiful flash of it

here in the Nativity story.

I also think he makes a journey.

His condescension throughout his lifetime will be this journey, you know, not

just that he's born in these humble circumstances to a town like Nazareth

that nobody expected anything good to come out of, but he also, grows in grace and

wisdom, and he chooses to be teachable.

You know, he chooses to honor his parents that day at the temple when he's a young

boy or 12, 13 years old, and he chooses to be baptized when John the Baptist comes.

Like, he chooses to submit to the will of the Father over and over and over again.

Not just in these Big moments, but also in these small ways, where

he chooses to be around the people who are on the margins, always.

That's his character, that's who he was.

He was trying to bring people close.

And so, his whole life is a pattern of condescension, and finding those

who are lost, and bringing them close.

I think we also see it In a huge amount at the end of his ministry, when he's

abused, when he's lied about, when people assume falsely things that he didn't say

and didn't mean, and when he's beaten and whipped and crucified, I think you

see him, that's all part of his mortal journey that he chose to accept so

that he could Offer what he offered.

I just think it's powerful.

I love the writings of abinadi on this He's technically quoting isaiah, but where

he talks about I think it's in mosiah 14 You can find it in notes probably

but that idea of like with his stripes.

We are healed.

That's that's his journey He chose to take on stripes so that we could

have the gift of grace that we were offered and it's powerful to me

When it comes to what guides the Savior has, I think there are many.

I think there's obvious ones, like clearly he's influenced by the Spirit

throughout his lifetime, but I think he also has mortal guides, like his parents.

I think they were hand picked, despite the fact that they're so young.

You know, I just think this is comforting.

It's, the Lord of the universe, the God of heaven, would choose these two

young people to care for the Son of God, I just think is so remarkable.

They, they are a guide for him.

I also think the scriptures become a mighty guide, guide for him

because he quotes them all the time.

So clearly he spent time studying and learning the scriptures.

So the scriptures are a guide.

And then another powerful guide is the father himself, that oftentimes

in the Savior's ministry, he would speak about going to be with the

father or ascending a mountaintop so he could commune with the father.

And he had this.

Closeness with the father that was a constant steady guide, which is I think

why it was so haunting and powerful on that in that moment on the cross when

there was distance where he'd always had the father as a close guide when there

was distance, you know, almost like the universe held its breath in that moment.

I, I just think he was blessed with guides and was strong enough to use

them even when they couldn't be close.

And I think there's power in that example.

When it comes to how he was changed because he was part of this experience,

I, I can't say I think he was changed, you know, I think we know from scripture

that he's the same yesterday, today, and forever, but I think he is, the world

changed around him, everything changed, his ability to love us and succor us

and care for us changed by making these choices, his ability to be close changed

because of what he voluntarily chose to experience and endure in this lifetime.

And then when it comes to the lessons that you learn from the Savior, I mean,

it's the whole year you guys, it's all four years that we've studied it together.

All of those lessons teach us about taking this journey.

In fact, for me, that was the biggest message of All this week's study, I

feel like, like every person that we've studied in the Nativity story so far,

all of them had to make a journey and make sacrifices in order to accomplish

that journey, and they had guides in the process and change occurred.

I think that's us, you guys.

I think that's what the Book of Mormon is urging us all the time,

to set down the natural man and to let this mighty change occur.

What I loved about this week's study of studying these four questions

is, I feel like he is the answer to all of those questions for us.

When it comes to asking ourselves, like, what's the journey that

we're trying to make, or what are the sacrifices I need to offer?

So if I started that beginning question, what sacrifice do I need to make in order

to be a part of this divine experience?

He asked you to set down the natural man.

He asked you to put aside all the things and expectations and plans you

had for your future that are limited to this mortal sphere and to look bigger.

He asks you to channel your inner Joseph and Mary and tap into something

deeper and more lasting than the plans you thought you had for your life

and to take on this mighty change.

When it comes to, you know, this idea of the journey that we have to make,

he is the tool that we use to make it.

He gave us this covenant path and all these saving ordinances

that occur along that path.

He is how we get from point A to point B.

In fact, one of the quotes I loved is from Elder McKay, but he

basically said, Those changes, that mighty change of heart happens in

us, but it happens because of him.

We are not the mighty change that occurs.

We can't change our natures.

Only he can do that.

And that's the promise that he offers, that we'll have that journey.

He also is the guide, right?

When you think about the different guides you've received in order to

move the needle in your progress, all of those stem from him.

Either from the spirit that he offers you or from the scriptures

that he inspired, or you know, the guidance that we get from prophets.

All of those lights that we have available to us, all those

guides come because of him.

And then he is also the change.

So you know how with every person in this story, we've talked about

how they changed in this process and the lessons we can learn from them.

He is the whole reason anyone can change.

I think that's the most remarkable part of his story, is that because of him.

All of us can change.

If you go into the Christmas devotional, you can hear

President Nelson speak about this.

Beautifully, he talks about the pain that the Savior endured and what he

experienced so that we could have the potential to change, to see

this mighty work happen within us.

And I think that's one of the most powerful parts of

the nativity story for me.

It's not something I could have articulated a week ago, but this

week I could see it more clearly and studying it from all these different

angles and seeing all these different facets helped me to feel like it was.

More hopeful, more possible, and certainly more within my wheelhouse to accomplish.

I think that's his offering.

I think that's his promise is that we can do all these

things if we will learn of him.

Walk in his ways and do what he's asked.

We'll have the power that we need.

Welcome back, everybody.

This is the creative side of week 51.

And you know, I love my Christmas object lessons.

I think we've done like 20 of them in the past.

And I've got three new ones for you this week.

So hopefully if you if one of these three doesn't fit for you, I promise if you

go on the archive on the site, you'll find many, many more to choose from.

Okay, let me walk you through the supplies list for each of these object

lessons and give you a quick preview.

And then for those of you who are watching on the full course, just Keep watching

and I'll break down each one and then give you access to the notes and the

printables so that you can pull them off.

It's a pretty easy week, but I'm hoping it's, it has some sweet

memory making moments along the way.

First and foremost, we're going to talk about this idea of bringing

glad tidings of great joy.

Primarily it came from this, that introductory paragraph of the Come

Follow Me manual, where it talks about the hope that comes when a baby is

born, especially when this baby was born, that the whole world changed

the fate of the world changed because of this one small baby being born.

And we're going to demonstrate that in a really cool way.

So to do it, you just need bottles of some kind.

You could use water bottles, soda bottles like this, you

could even use like cans of soup.

It really doesn't matter.

You just want something that you can grab easily and you want ten

of them that look pretty similar.

Ideally, they're about the same shape and size and put ten of them right in a

row and I'll show you what to do with it.

Okay, second.

This is to give you a way to teach some of those insights that we just talked about.

We talked about five questions that you can ask about each person in the

nativity story and how that can kind of prompt ideas and good discussions.

And I wanted to give you a tool to show that, especially of younger kids.

So This is a puzzle that we've created for you.

Basically, this comes from a puzzle that I had as a kid.

My parents had a puzzle.

It looks a lot like this.

Here, let me show you.

Like the world gave these out last year.

It's a puzzle that has all the nativity characters in it so that

you can take out the puzzle pieces and tell the nativity story.

But I wanted a printable version that was cheap and easy.

So.

We've created this.

Basically, it opens up inside.

You'll see all the characters.

And to create it, you just need the printable, some markers or crayons,

and then a little bit of cardboard.

If you're like my house, we have plenty of cardboard this time of year.

So I used a pizza box.

An Amazon box would work great.

You just need to be able to line this.

If you want to make the puzzle version, you want some cardboard

to be able to stiffen things up.

So I'll walk you through how to pull that off.

Okay, third one.

This is talking about the shepherds and how they made

known abroad their testimony.

I think one of the most powerful things we could do in the Christmas season is to

Make it known what we know that we each have had these encounters with the divine

in Small ways in our own lifetimes and our job is to make that known To bring others

to him and I think one of the simplest ways we can do that is by inviting

people to church So since all of those, all of us have the same basic church on

Christmas Eve, we have one hour church.

It's mostly music.

It's really warm and inviting.

I thought we could find a way to invite our neighbors.

And the simplest way to do that you guys is to add it to your neighbor gifts.

So whether or not you do neighbor gifts in your area, I wanted to give you the

tools that you could create a few for the neighbors that you want to invite.

So I created these cute little tags that you can put on any neighbor gift,

no matter what your family gives that have like a cute little, you know,

from the Eckersley's to the Hanson's.

And then they also have this second little tag that says, Hey, we'd love

for you to join us on Christmas Eve.

It gives you a spot to put your address of your church and the time

you meet and hopefully give you an easy entry to help your neighbors

and your friends come gather with us.

So for that one, you just need cardstock and the printable and you'll be all set.

Okay.

That's your supplies list.

Let's get started.

Thanks for being here, you guys.

That is it for week 51.

We are almost done, you guys.

We have one lesson left and that will wrap up four full years of lessons together.

And I just can't tell you what a miracle that is.

I'm sure it probably doesn't feel as momentous to you as it does to me,

but it is an absolute miracle that we are able to make it this far.

I just think it's remarkable.

And I can't wait to take you into 2024 next year as we come full

circle back to the Book of Mormon.

I just think the way we've been able to study together and what we've learned

from each of these books of scripture will just come to a peak in the Book of Mormon.

And I can't wait to get there, but we got one more lesson to go.

So this week, if you need extra help, or you just want to be

part of the discussion, I hope you come join me on the live.

So Monday morning, 10 a.

m.

I know it's a busy week and you probably have a hundred other things to do,

but if you have time, come pop in on the live and we'll talk through some

of these insights about the Christmas story and maybe areas we can focus

on that we hadn't noticed before.

I'll also walk you through the object lessons in more detail and have those out

in front of me so that I can demonstrate things for you if you have questions.

So it's a good place to come find me.

If you can't catch it live, you can always watch it later.

It'll be on my feed for at least a week or so, but otherwise I hope you

just enjoy this week of Christmas.

There's so much goodness to both study and just experience in this last

week before the Christmas holiday, so enjoy it as much as you can.

Dive in and enjoy it.

The other thing I would remind you is if you haven't yet, you're going to want

to create an account over at gather.

mecmom.

com.

Whether you're a subscriber or not, if you create a free account

there, that gives you a chance to interact with us in the community.

We're still building the site.

It's got a lot of things that we're still working through, but I think

it's going to be such a great place to have conversations, lessons like

this one, where I ask questions and listen to what you teach me.

I hope to have many more of those next year.

So.

Go over to gather.

macmom.

com and create an account and then be part of the conversation there next year.

For those of you in the course, that will be where the full

course is posted and listed.

That's where the lives will be.

So for sure, you'll want to log in there.

Just remember what I talked to you about before.

If you're a subscriber to the course and you haven't been able to log in

there, you just want to create, use the same email that you use for our

current course, but set a new password or use the exact same password.

Just click the little forgot password link and that will give you a chance to

create a new profile on this new site.

Once you do it one time, you'll be good to go.

But hopefully that will get you all set and ready so that we have one more

lesson in the New Testament and then we roll headfirst into the Book of Mormon.

I promise it's going to be a really great year.

So I'm excited to have you with us and I hope you enjoy this last couple

weeks in December before we head there.

All right you guys, enjoy your week and I will see you on Monday.