A Night in Bethlehem

This weekend our Stake put on a Christmas program called a Night in Bethlehem. It was fantastic. They took different rooms in the stake center and transformed them into scenes from the Nativity. Each ward was in charge of a room. Our ward was in charge of the market place which was the end of the tour with several stalls serving different refreshments. It was the absolute perfect activity to highlight Christ and celebrate Christmas. It was so amazing. All the members participating wore really good costumes. They took about 12 people in a group at a time through "Bethlehem". Cosette was totally into it. There was a sweet mom and her sweet daughter who were in our group with us. The daughter took Cosette under her wing and they went through the entire tour together holding hands. She was so sweet to Cosette. It makes me so happy when people are kind to my children like that. It really does take a village to raise children. 

I think that society has forgotten it takes a village to raise kids and we (parents) are supposed to do everything ourselves. Which is really impossible. I am one person and cannot do everything. That is why God put us into families so we can help each other out. Lyndon is my help-meet and I am his. I am so grateful for our ward and stake family here. We all have to help each other out. Learning to ask and accept help is something that I have learned in Singapore so far. Part of that is because we just moved here and know very little about Singapore. Second is that I have learned from experience since getting married and having kids that sometimes you just need somebody to lean on. Tangent over.

The first room was the scholar room, where a young boy told of his experience with Christ. He said that when he heard the story he did not believe it, but when he went and visited the babe he knew that it was the Savior. It was a powerful way to start our tour. The second room was my favorite. It was the angel room. The room was covered in white and there were stars over the walls. It was beautiful. All the members in that room were dressed in white like angels. It really felt like heaven. It was so beautiful! They said a few words and sang a couple of hymns. It was beautiful! It really felt like we were in the presence of angels. They gave each child a candle to remember the Savior as we left the room. Cosette was very proud of hers. The next room was the wiseman room. Again, the decorations were awesome. The wise men talked about the star and going to King Herod and the gifts they were taking to the Child. They gave us a chocolate gold coin at the end. The next part were the shepherds. This was Henry's favorite because sheep were involved. Then we visited King Herod who was top notch. He talked about how he deserved all this wealth he had, and how the wise men were not gracious of his hospitality, and how could this child be a king? He was born in an animal stall. It was great. At the end of his speech he gave our group one gold coin and told us to remember his generosity, ha! The next room was Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. They did not say anything, but observing Mary and how sweet she was with Baby Jesus was enough.

It was a very powerful experience. I am so grateful to our stake for putting it on and so grateful we were here to experience it, because they do not put it on every year. It's put us on the right track for the season. Celebrating the birth of our savior truly makes this season the most wonderful time of the year.