Remembering the Birth of our Savior

Last Christmas we had a wonderful activity to help us remember the birth of our Savior at Christmas time. Only a few leaders knew what was going on. I’m a leader and I didn’t even know the plot, which actually made the activity mean that much more to me in the end.

We had some leaders bake some cookies prior to the start of the activity. At the start of the activity the leaders told our girls that there were a few people in the ward who needed a pick me up so we were going to take them the cookies. We stopped by the first home, and when the door opened the lady was on the phone talking. She asked if we could just come back later that she was too busy. So we went on to the next house. Once we rang the doorbell we saw someone come near the door, turn off the lights, and leave. We were all getting frustrated that no one wanted our cookies. Then we went to another home where a new baby had just been born. When she opened the door she just said, “I’m sorry I don’t have time right now, my kids need me, and my baby is crying.” Then she shut the door. By now that Young Women were upset and wanted to call it quits. The Young Women president said lets just try one more house and if it happens again we’ll just call it a night. Well, the final house we went to the husband answered and took our cookies. He then invited us to come around back. As we went to his backyard there were just a few torch light and a canopy. He and his wife were dressed in their bathrobes, and the then read the story of the birth of the Savior.

It suddenly came to me as well as our Young Women that the whole night we had been turned away from each home just as Joseph and Mary had been when they tried to find room in an inn. This activity has stuck with me longer than any other. I strongly recommend trying this with your youth group. It can have a lasting impression.