Thanks to the Bible and Book of Mormon, there are more than a few different versions of Christmas stories. My favorite is the one told in 3rd Nephi with Samuel on the wall, the almost killing of the believers, the star in the sky. I've heard it many times, sang the song about Samuel, watched the movie and everything else. But last year when I read it, I felt the Spirit so strong and had so many things testified to me. And that was thanks to, you guessed it, Sammy.
My mom keeps scriptures in all our cars, just in case we are ever in them long enough to read. I'm so grateful for that because there have been many times I have needed some comfort and pulled those out.
We were getting Taco Bell during our off hour and for some reason Sammy pulled out the Book of Mormon from the side of the door and started flipping through it. I asked him if he wanted to read a story from it and he said sure. Not knowing exactly what to read, I flipped to the beginning with the pictures and told him to pick a picture that looked interesting. He picked the one of Samuel on the wall. I laughed because they both had the same name, and then flipped to 3rd Nephi and started reading. The more I read aloud, the more I started getting into the story.
As we kept going and read about the new star in the sky and the light after the sun went down, I felt the Spirit so strong. It was reaffirming to me that everything was true. These people lived in the America's. They knew that Christ was coming. Those who believed were going to be persecuted and while Nephi was praying, he was reassured that Christ was coming into the world the very next day. I know that there was a new star in the sky, and I know that when the sun went down it was still light outside, because the son of God was born into the world. I felt it so strong that moment, and every time I think back to it. And I remember marveling at how similar the language is to the Bible, yet it was written by people on a completely different continent.
I know that one of the reasons I was able to feel the Spirit so strongly that day is because I was with Sammy. As I read through those words, I read them as someone who'd never heard them before. As someone who didn't believe in them. As I read, I tried to imagine what he was thinking and feeling about the words. That new perspective made me pay much more attention and left me open to the Spirit. Also Sammy's spirit itself was there too, bringing something new and, just ahh. There's something special about that guy, whenever he's learning, especially about the Book of Mormon, everyone else feels it, that thing he brings. It's not just me, I've seen him touch so many other's as well. It's not even what he says, he usually doesn't say much, it's just, it has to be the spirit it really does. (He makes the missionaries cry on a regular basis.)
There was one time Sammy and I were driving to the mall and I just got this huge feeling of dread and I couldn't calm down, so I asked him to read me some scriptures until we got there. So that sweet boy turned on his flashlight app and read the vision of the tree of life to me as I drove, calming me down. Afterwards, we had a huge discussion about what we read, and it was special. I never would have asked Sammy to read to me if it hadn't been for this earlier experience. I try to read with him out loud as much as possible because I just love it, but lately I've been slacking. I'm grateful that I'll get to read the scriptures with him for a very, very long time and have more experiences like these.
But I'm most grateful that the very first time we read together it was about Christ's birth. About our Savior. What a great version of Christmas, my very favorite.
My mom keeps scriptures in all our cars, just in case we are ever in them long enough to read. I'm so grateful for that because there have been many times I have needed some comfort and pulled those out.
We were getting Taco Bell during our off hour and for some reason Sammy pulled out the Book of Mormon from the side of the door and started flipping through it. I asked him if he wanted to read a story from it and he said sure. Not knowing exactly what to read, I flipped to the beginning with the pictures and told him to pick a picture that looked interesting. He picked the one of Samuel on the wall. I laughed because they both had the same name, and then flipped to 3rd Nephi and started reading. The more I read aloud, the more I started getting into the story.
As we kept going and read about the new star in the sky and the light after the sun went down, I felt the Spirit so strong. It was reaffirming to me that everything was true. These people lived in the America's. They knew that Christ was coming. Those who believed were going to be persecuted and while Nephi was praying, he was reassured that Christ was coming into the world the very next day. I know that there was a new star in the sky, and I know that when the sun went down it was still light outside, because the son of God was born into the world. I felt it so strong that moment, and every time I think back to it. And I remember marveling at how similar the language is to the Bible, yet it was written by people on a completely different continent.
I know that one of the reasons I was able to feel the Spirit so strongly that day is because I was with Sammy. As I read through those words, I read them as someone who'd never heard them before. As someone who didn't believe in them. As I read, I tried to imagine what he was thinking and feeling about the words. That new perspective made me pay much more attention and left me open to the Spirit. Also Sammy's spirit itself was there too, bringing something new and, just ahh. There's something special about that guy, whenever he's learning, especially about the Book of Mormon, everyone else feels it, that thing he brings. It's not just me, I've seen him touch so many other's as well. It's not even what he says, he usually doesn't say much, it's just, it has to be the spirit it really does. (He makes the missionaries cry on a regular basis.)
There was one time Sammy and I were driving to the mall and I just got this huge feeling of dread and I couldn't calm down, so I asked him to read me some scriptures until we got there. So that sweet boy turned on his flashlight app and read the vision of the tree of life to me as I drove, calming me down. Afterwards, we had a huge discussion about what we read, and it was special. I never would have asked Sammy to read to me if it hadn't been for this earlier experience. I try to read with him out loud as much as possible because I just love it, but lately I've been slacking. I'm grateful that I'll get to read the scriptures with him for a very, very long time and have more experiences like these.
But I'm most grateful that the very first time we read together it was about Christ's birth. About our Savior. What a great version of Christmas, my very favorite.
You are amazing. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Kylee! That was beautiful.
ReplyDelete