Living Life and Loving It
For one of our Mutual Activities with our Young Women we decorated a Christmas tree for the ward. We decided to do it in the Young Women value colors.
Young Women Christmas tree in Young Women’s Value Colors
Everyone loves Christmas Stories and the spirit of Christmas.
Young Women Christmas Lesson (Christmas Story Advent)
To encourage the Christmas Spirit all month long the Young Women Christmas Lesson was given on the first Sunday in December (instead of the Sunday before Christmas). I wanted it to be fun for the Young Women but also spiritual creating that wonderful “Christmas spirit” for them all month. I also wanted something that could take home with them (in spirit but also some kind of Christmas ‘keepsake’). But they needed to learn something too. So, as an introduction we discussed all the names of Christ and they received a small booklet (I found this online shared generously and downloadable on the blog ‘Chocolate on My Cranium’).
Advent Calendar
Then I had them pick a number from 1-25 using an advent Calendar (Deseret Book). This number corresponded to a Christmas Story in a Advent Christmas Story Booklet I made for each of them. (There was also a small nativity ornament in it for each of them, which they got to take home.) I placed a stool up front and then one-by-one they sat on the stool and read their Christmas story to everyone. For years I have collected christmas stories and have hundreds of them. (The ideas was to clear out a paper file to go paperless-I still have a file full of stories and a computer file bulging with stories.) A copy of this booklet can be downloaded in Christmas stories (.pdf format).
Christmas Story Advent Cover
Another set of Christmas Stories can be found here.
Another presentation I wrote and used over and over and over was the Mary, Mary, Mary Christmas Program. Mary, Mary, Mary is a reader’s theater Christmas Program presenting Mary and “her story” when she was a “Mary” a young woman, “Mary” a little older and then “Mary” as an older Mary and her feelings being Mary Mother of Christ. I am re-editing the program but the original can be found here.
Nativity
A great Christmas Program is the Vignette called; Mary, Mary, Mary. It is about the mother of Christ. There are three Mary’s; one the young Mary when she finds out she is to have the Christ Child. The second is the mother Mary, a new mother, pondering how she is to raise Jesus and the final Mary is older Mary wondering how it is her son, is the Savior to the world. It is the nativity story told from a fresh perspective, from the viewpoint of the mother of Jesus the Savior. It has every mother’s worry’s and every mother’s concerns, but it is the mother of Christ our Savior. This vignette evolved over several years, evolved with each performance until it evolved to this moving story of Jesus Christ and his birth, his life and his crucifixion through the eyes of his mother, as only a mother could tell the story. I am glad to share this story with everyone. Please make sure that credit is given to the author; Shelley Smith Beatty.
Mary Mary Mary (.doc format) revised 2017
Mary Mary Mary (.pdf format) revised 2017
Please leave your comments and let me know if you use the program.
Mary, Mary, Mary A Christmas Program
Beaverton Ward, Beaverton Oregon Stake did the Mary, Mary, Mary program for a special Relief Society Christmas Program. They did a shortened version of the script (only about 10 minutes total). It was edited by their Relief Society President Lynn Stephens. In Sister Stephens own words, “Today at our Christmas Breakfast, three sisters performed the shortened version of MARY, MARY, MARY. It was so loved and touching…the 3 perspectives were so unique, engaging, & insightful! ”
Thank you for sharing with us!
Here are the links to their shortened version:
YOUNG MARY (shortened version)
NEW MOTHER MARY (shortened version)
OLDER MARY (shortened version)
Another idea for a Christmas lesson:
Link to my new Christmas Program idea with favorite Christmas stories.
and another set of Christmas Stories can be found here!