What are your favorite approaches, aids, and resources for studying the Book of Mormon?
Once upon a time, a successful author went to a business seminar. The presenters told him that every business had to pick a price and therefore the size of a market. “You can sell one billion items for one dollar, or one item for one billion dollars, it is the same.”
The author was quite taken with the idea.
When they opened the midnight gate, all the travelers and all the town rushed in, bringing with them all their foods and decorations and presents.
The Tree Son was beside himself with joy. It was his familiar winter land, but changed. The Tree Father was there with a jolly laugh, handing out presents for all.
When they passed through the gate, the dumb animals—the donkey, the monkey, and the turkey cock—first were able to speak and then transformed into men. (more…)
Every year a little bit happier and therefore, every year, a little bit sadder. Thanks, friends.
After many vicissitudes, the Tree Son and the Starwife are united, and they all frolic with the Godchild on Christmas day.
They then have the adventure of the pheasant and the fruit and then adventures in cloud land with the donkey, the monkey, and the turkey cock, aided by their children. The travelers then descend from the clouds to an autumn island and then to the autumn mainland. After much sailing, they walk the moon path to the winter land.
When they got to the shore, they went to the city. It was early enough in the evening that there were still lights in the windows, gaslamps lit on the streets, and passersby in top hats or bustly dresses moving on the cobblestone streets greeting each other with “Merry Christmas.”
“Is this the land of Christmas at last?” the Tree Son asked.
“This is the land of Before Christmas,” a jolly fellow in a green top hat and a yellow scarf. “Christmas is that way.” He pointed down to the street to the end of town, where an evergreen hedge had a giant gate set in it. “The gate is closed, for fear of a monster called Ogredak who lurks on the other side. No matter! We’ll figure it out sooner or later and in the meantime, more time to prepare!” All through the town they saw and heard delicacies being made, the saw and hammer going for toys, decorations being hung and strung, voices practicing carols, and so on.
Over all there was a bustle of merriment.
When they came to the town hall to ask for the key to the gate, they saw the town council sitting soberly in session. The lords and ladies of that place, 12 men and 12 women, were very grave as they worked.
Down popped the ninth and tenth children, a boy and a girl. Fwoosh!
Father, Mother, joy is come
brighter than the noonday sun
Ladies soon will blithely dance
Lords can’t help but leap and prance.
The newest young man hopped up on to the council bar and started hopping from one foot to the other. The monkey joined him. With that and the Tree Son’s merry laugh, the lords starting leaping too, all except two who were too old but clapped merrily.
“Your name is Joy to the World,” the Tree Son said.
Meanwhile, the daughter began to dance beautifully. She shone like her mother. The ladies were touched and joined also in the dance, all except one who was too old but nodded along to the stately measures.
“Your name is Gloria,” the Starwife cried.
The Tree Son took the key and then, lords leaping and ladies dancing, they all leaped and danced their way to the gate. The townsfolk joined them.
But when they arrived, they realized that in all the excitement, the last two babies had hopped off and were not to be found.
Just then, above the noises of the crowd they heard a rat-tat-tat and a troo loo loo. Around the corner and across the square came their last two children leading drummers and musicians.
The girl sang
Mother, Father, hear them play
a tune as new as buds in may
a tune as old as stars above
and always fresh, like mortal love
The boy hollered
Father, Mother, our ships creaked
and we often had the tramp of fee
With those old familiar rhythmic sounds
These drummers make the world resound.
They named those children Old-in-New and New-in-Old.
The Tree Son and Starwife unlocked the gate and opened it.
In they all marched, leaping, dancing, singing, drumming, playing.
The ogre ran away.
Thanks for reading. My goal is to update these every day through Christmas until Twelfth Night and Kings’ Day. The concluding episode is tomorrow on January 6, Kings’ Day. I will try to include links so you can follow, but if not please use the Christmas Fairytale tag at the end of this post. You can also use the Merry Christmas page on the header bar above to find other writing that celebrates the Christmas Season.
After many vicissitudes, the Tree Son and the Starwife are united, and they all frolic with the Godchild on Christmas day.
They then have the adventure of the pheasant and the fruit and then adventures in cloud land with the donkey, the monkey, and the turkey cock, aided by their children. The travelers then descend from the clouds to an autumn island and then to the autumn mainland.
As they traveled along that early fall coast, feasting every night, they came to a small harbor with seven ships with sails. Like everywhere else in that strange land, there were no people there. The Tree Son and the Starwife still longed for the winter land. They decided to set sail. (more…)
After many vicissitudes, the Tree Son and the Starwife are united, and they all frolic with the Godchild on Christmas day.
They then have the adventure of the pheasant and the fruit, aided by their children.
They then have the adventures in cloud land of the donkey, the monkey, and the turkey cock, aided by their children.
They then descend from the clouds to an autumn land.
They were in a beautiful land. The air was crisp and clear. The leaves were red and yellow and orange; they shone when the sun filtered through them. The grass was still green. The fruit hung heavy on the trees and fell heavy onto the ground There were meadows where fat elk and fatter cattle grazed, and under the trees where fruit dropped, and even though there was no sign of any folk, there were fields with corn stacked in shocks and pumpkins growing orange. The donkey, the monkey, and the turkey cock immediately ran around prancing and skipping and generally making fools of themselves. It became a general frolic and then a dry wood fire and then hot coals and when the sun lowered in the west a feast with meat and nuts and fruit and corn and all manner of good things.
The next day they also lazed and played games, jumping into and over great piles of leaves. The babies still clinging to the Tree Son and the Starwife squealed whenever the parent sprung into the air. That afternoon while the Tree Son studied the trees and their ways and the Starwife contemplated the light and the leaves filtering down from the canopy, several of the children went exploring.
After many vicissitudes, the Tree Son and the Starwife are united, and they all frolic with the Godchild on Christmas day.
They then have the adventure of the pheasant and the fruit, aided by their children.
They then have the adventure of the donkey, the monkey, and the turkey cock, aided by their children.
After some time, the Tree Son began to long for home. He asked the golden pheasant how they could leave the clouds. The golden pheasant told him that where a thing had descended from the clouds, such as the pear tree they had first encountered him at, there was a a large golden circle left behind on the cloud that a traveler could use to descend also to the original location where the first descent had occurred. The Tree Son and Starwife did not wish to go back to the icy waste, and in any event they did not know where that cloud was. They asked their little group Foresight and Hear-and-Speak and Thingmaker and Lifter-Upper, and Friend, the babies, the golden pheasant, his two dove wives, the donkey, the monkey, the turkey cock and the bugle birds and the whole entourage, to keep their eyes opened. The bugle birds and the dove wives were the sort that flew, so it was no surprise when a few days later they had come to an endless cloud bank and one of the dove wives said she had seen not just one ring but four in the direction of the north star.
After many vicissitudes, the Tree Son and the Starwife are united, and they all frolic with the Godchild on Christmas day.
They then have the adventure of the pheasant and the fruit, aided by their children.
Joseph Smith said that the book of Revelations is one of the plainest books God ever caused to be written.
Now, me and Brother Joseph are alike as two peas in a pod. Practically twins. But in finding the Book of Revelations easy going, Joseph has one up on me.
That’s what I normally would say anyhow. But after a recent Sunday School discussion I realized the core message is plain and obvious. So much so that we all already know it, which is why we get absorbed in figuring out which 1940s battle tank is represented by which candlestick, etc. (more…)
Father: And what do you want for this new year?
Girl: I want to be fancy!
Father: Fancy! Like Fancy Nancy.
Boy: That’s so stupid.
Father: And what do you want?
Boy: I want to be king of the world.
Father: What would you do if you were king of the world?
Boy: I’d have a whole house full of toy soldiers and nobody could ever tell me to put them away!
Three out of four ain’t bad.