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Christmas in the Americas:
A Christmas Program
By Patricia Reece RoperSource: “Christmas in the Americas: A Christmas Program“, Friend, Dec. 2004, 18
Use this Christmas program for your ward, Primary sharing time, or family gathering. You will need people for the following roles:
Two narrators
Seven Nephites
An angel
An angelic choir
Three shepherds
Samuel
Two unbelieversAlthough this play is designed for 16 or more cast members, roles could be easily combined to accommodate fewer participants. For costume and prop ideas, see page 21. All songs are from the Children’s Songbook unless otherwise noted.
Narrator #1: Long ago in the town of Bethlehem, a wonderful miracle took place.
Narrator #2: On the night Jesus Christ was born, signs in heaven were seen by people both in Judea and in the Americas. Our Savior had been born.
Song: “Hosanna” (pp. 66–67)
Nephite #1: Look there! It is just as Samuel prophesied. A great star!
Nephite #2: Yes, the sun has gone down, but it is still light. There is no darkness at all.
Nephite #3: He has come! The Son of God has come into the world to redeem all who repent and come unto Him.
Nephite #4: It happened in five years, just as Samuel said. He really was a prophet of God. Do you remember when he spoke to us?
Song: “Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus,” verse one (p. 36)
Samuel: “Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name” (Hel. 14:2).
Unbeliever #1: How can that be?
Samuel: “And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day” (Hel. 14:3).
Unbeliever #2: I can’t believe it! This man is crazy!
Samuel: “And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you” (Hel. 14:5).
Song: “Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus,” verse two (p. 36)
Shepherd #1: It’s such a calm and peaceful night.
Shepherd #2: Yes. The stars sure are bright and clear in the sky. I don’t think I’ve ever seem them shining so brightly.
Shepherd #3: That one over there is the brightest by far. It seems to shine right over Bethlehem.
Song: “Stars Were Gleaming” (p. 37)
Nephite #5: If we can see the star, I’m sure that others can see it, too.
Nephite #6: Surely they must know that the star is a sign of the coming of the Son of God.
Nephite #7: I’m sure the Lord has found a way to tell them, just as He sent Samuel the prophet to tell us.
Song: Softly play “Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains” (Hymns, no. 212) in the background as shepherds show signs of fear while looking at the angel.
Angel: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10–12).
Song: Members of Angelic Choir enter and sing first verse of “Joy to the World” (Hymns, no. 201).
Nephite #6: Seeing this star is wonderful, but it is also difficult to understand.
Nephite #2: What don’t you understand?
Nephite #6: Well, why did the Son of God have to come to earth?
Nephite #4: Samuel said that Christ would come to save all those who have faith in Him and keep His commandments. God loves us, so He sent His Son to show us the way back to heaven.
Song: “He Sent His Son” (pp. 34–35)
Nephite #3: I remember that wicked people did not want to listen to Samuel. They were mad because he spoke the truth.
Nephite #1: They tried to kill him just for prophesying of the birth of the Son of God.
Nephite #5: If people here tried to kill Samuel just for prophesying, I wonder if wicked people will also try to kill the Son of God in His country!
Nephite #1: Don’t be afraid—the Son of God will be safe, I know it. Tonight is a night of peace and joy, not fear.
Nephite #7: Yes, and He has a mother, remember? She will watch over Him.
Nephite #5: I wonder what she’s like.
Song: “Mary’s Lullaby” (pp. 44–45)
Nephite #6: Do you think we’ll ever get to see the Son of God?
Nephite #4: Well, if He’s the Son of God, He can do anything. The Savior could even come and visit us!
Nephite #2: He will come. I feel the Spirit testify to me that He will come. I only wonder when.
Narrator #1: We share these same feelings today. We wonder when the Savior will return in our time.
Song: “When He Comes Again” (pp. 82–83)
Narrator #1: In spite of the great ocean separating these two continents, people in Judea and America recognized the promised signs of the Savior’s birth.
Narrator #2: We can feel peace as we read about Christ’s birth in the Bible and Book of Mormon.
Narrator #1: Sometimes we can even feel it when we look up at the stars, and think of the joy that was experienced by so many when they saw the star 2,000 years ago.
Narrator #2: Just as the Nephite and Judean children of old were joined together in love for one night, perhaps we can feel peace and love right now as we join in singing “Silent Night” together.
Song: “Silent Night” (Hymns, no. 204)
Back-to-the-Basics
Costume and Prop Ideas
It’s time to put on another year’s Christmas program, and once again there are shepherds to dress and stables to create. Here are some helpful hints:
• Bathrobes, large towels, and sheets make great costumes. They are easy to get in and out of, come in a variety of colors, and can still be used after the program ends. (Make sure costumes aren’t too long so no one trips.)
• Remember to keep costumes simple—more than two layers will be too bulky to manage easily.
• If you don’t have any wood for a shepherd’s staff, try using cardboard from a roll of wrapping paper or a length of plastic PVC pipe wrapped in brown tape.
• For large scenery backdrops, ask a home improvement, furniture, or appliance store for old cardboard refrigerator boxes. These are free and large enough to create scenery that is visually appealing. They can be painted using acrylic paints—but remember to focus on shapes and ideas, not small details.
• Many tissue boxes come elaborately decorated for the holiday season. Try using three different sizes of decorated tissue boxes for the Wise Men’s gifts. If they are empty, fill them with something so they are handled more realistically. You could even fill them with treats to hand out after the Christmas program ends.
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I have written a base script for an LDS Christmas program found here:
Jenny’s Super Simple lDS Christmas Program Script
It includes the nativity story as found in Luke and Matthew of the King James version of the Bible. You need very little preparation for this script: just assign out the readings, and share the music selections you’ve chosen for each part. If you like, you can ask people to sing solos or perform on instruments. You might even ask families or auxiliaries to sing certain songs.
This script is very versatile and parts or all of it can also be used to perform a nativity scene during a ward activity or family home evening.
You’ll note there are several hymns suggested at each break in the reading – just choose a hymn (or two or three) that you like, and enjoy! I have marked in bold the songs I think fit the scriptures best. There are also suggestions from the Children’s Songbook (CS) if you want to use Primary music for your Christmas performance.
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AFAIK, there’s never been a requirement that only YW can earn the Personal Progress award. YW leaders frequently earn their medallions as a way to help motivate young women. In fact, our YW president is now earning her medallion for the THIRD time!
Here’s the latest on mothers earning the Personal Progress Award:
http://www.lds.org/pa/display/1,17802,8551,00.htmlThe FAQ says mothers can not earn the award before their daughters. If you did not have a daughter who was in Young Women’s, I’m sure you’d earn it when you completed all the value experiences and projects. The only difference I can see is that I don’t think the ward would automatically be required to pay for your necklace, but would be up to the Bishop.
Here are the requirements for YW leaders (it’s shorter for them):
http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,6887-1,00.htmlThere is a very old program for Relief Society sisters called the “Pursuit of Excellence” that can be done as well. There’s no cool necklace associate with it but you can still order the program from LDScatalog.com:
http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10151&productId=38621If you have further questions, your RS president should address them with the Stake RS or Stake YW president in your area. It’s likely they know the answer for sure, or can find it.
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The EQ and HP will
plan to cut a tree,
While the RS sisters plan
a way to do VT. -
My sister was friends with President Hinckley’s grandson, and when they saw a big thing of macadamia nuts on his desk, the grandson told her that GBH liked macadamia nuts.
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Brigham was apparently a big fan of doughnuts, and his recipe was so popular that the donuts were sold at ZCMI for years. Here’s the recipe from MormonTimes:
Brigham Young’s Buttermilk Doughnuts
This version of Brigham Young’s buttermilk doughnuts has been modernized by Brenda Hopkin, head baker at the Lion House Pantry Restaurant. She halved the recipe, specified the amount of flour and added more butter and soda:
* 2 cups buttermilk
* 2 large eggs, beaten
* 5 1/2 cups flour
* 1 1/4 cups sugar
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
* 6 tablespoons melted butterIn a medium bowl stir together all dry ingredients (except sugar) and set aside. Whisk together buttermilk, eggs and sugar. Add melted butter and whisk again. Add dry ingredients and gently stir together — do not use a mixer. Dough will be sticky. Start heating frying oil to 375 degrees. Roll or pat dough on a well-floured board about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Cut with 2 1/2-inch doughnut cutter. Form the scraps into a ball and reroll and cut. (The dough could be cut with a knife or pizza cutter in small squares or rectangles to speed up the process). Fry in hot oil. Doughnuts will start to crack on top when they are ready to turn. Remove from oil when golden brown. Drain on paper towels. While warm, roll in or sprinkle with granulated sugar as desired. Makes 2 dozen doughnuts.
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President Monson, at the press conference where he was introduced, said his favorite ice cream flavor was ANY ice cream. His favorite color is yellow, so you could pick a yellow ice cream for him. (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/695250131/Thomas-S-Monson-named-as-new-LDS-Church-president.html)
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I don’t know Joseph Smith’s, but you could use Johnny Cakes because of the story about praying for something better :). (See http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/REC-JS.html) I also know he ate ham, because of the Johnny cake story, and because of the one about Emma dressing the ham her way.
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There’s a recipe book with prophet recipes described here:
http://nn.byu.edu/story.cfm/72657 -
Posts aren’t available publicly until they are reviewed by me. I’m sorry for the delay in publishing these most recent posts. I’ve been out of the country.
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I almost put IKEA down, too. I know who you are, Sister Gingerich, but you don’t know me — I live in Rock Hill. You left a legacy!
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July 15, 2009 at 11:57 am in reply to: Any idea on the course of study for Relief Society and Priesthood in 2010? #244377
I haven’t heard yet, but maybe someone else is in the know. Hopefully we’ll get Joseph Fielding Smith. The 2010 LDS Mutual theme has also not been released, and it came out July 1 last year.
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What a fun idea! This sounds like it will be a great activity!
Dollar Tree routinely has wooden frames for $1.00 each you can use. I see you’re in VA like me, so you should have a Dollar Tree near you. They have a website you can use for bulk purchases, too, and that is http://www.dollartree.com/ . I have also seen very inexpensive unfinished frames at Michael’s Craft store, too.
If you go with a larger frame, say 5×7 or 8 x 10, you could have the children decorate the paper inside like a mat and they could put their own writing on it.
You are definitely not going to find a frame that already has “My Eternal Family” on it in your price range. I’d suggest that you have the words added to the picture itself, maybe with the date, too, when you print the pictures. Remember to include the cost of photo printing in your estimate, which could be as high as 30 cents for a 4 x 6. If you can do 2 pix per 4×6, you can cut that cost in half. Printing on your ink jet printer will end up costing far more than having them printed at Target or CVS or wherever: trust me.
When I visited a church with about 20 kids in England, they took the kids around the grounds to do a “scavenger hunt” looking for different religious iconography in the building. That might be something you could work into your schedule, but reverence and logistics (especially manpower) could be an issue.
I hope you’ll post information and pictures about what you decide to do! This sounds like a great activity!!!!
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I guess you saw this post:
http://www.mormonshare.com/node/7058You can get lots of ideas for Women’s Conferences from the BYU Women’s Conference section here:
http://www.mormonshare.com/relief-society/womens-conference-virtual-sharing-stations.phpMost Women’s Conferences seem to follow the mini-class format. Do you have a theme for your conference?
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Object Lessons on the Holy Ghost are available here:
http://www.mormonshare.com/taxonomy/term/1239/lds_object_lesson -
Baptism program templates are now available in the clipart section:
http://www.mormonshare.com/taxonomy/term/7726 -
The new illustrated scriptures stories are now available online at the Church’s website, and you’d be fine print them, photocopy, and send them home.
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=12f1d9e1ec1cb110VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRD&locale=0
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Do a search for “primary picture list” in the search box above, and you’ll find the picture lists.
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Do we still hold the Primary Quarterly Activities? I have a copy of CHI Book 2 (1998), and there is no mention of quarterly activities in it for Primary. I can’t find any mention of them in a friend search from 1998 on either, and there is no mention of Quarterly Activities on the Church’s website either. Our ward still holds them, as have the other wards I have lived in.
Does anyone know if these meetings are still held, and if so, where the guidelines are for them?
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