Our Christmas Greeting

Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem

We have the privilege of home teaching several families with three or four children.  When we were assigned to one of the families last summer we gave the parents and each of the three kids the assignment to give us, respectively, a topic for our discussion each month.   Last week it was the father’s topic for discussion.  His subject was Visions.  He has a particular interest in meditation and out-of-body experiences.

While preparing the lesson we decided to use the history of visions as a preface to discussing Joseph Smith’s First Vision, and the restoration of the gospel.  We started with Moses, the brother of Jared, Lehi, and Alma the Younger.  While doing this we established the need for visions as witnesses of Christ.  This became a Christmas message.

Our Christmas Message

Starting with Gabriel’s appearance to Elisabeth’s husband Zacharias that John the Baptist should be born:  “And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.”

Gabriel then appeared to Mary:  “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”

Joseph was visited by the angel of the Lord:  “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

Nephi the son of Heleman was visited by the Lord:   “. . . and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying:  Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.”

Christ's Birth

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.  And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, 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.”  Quotes from Matthew, Luke and Third Nephi.

Shepherds seeing the angel

Vi har det privilegium at hjemmelærere flere familier med tre eller fire børn. Da vi var til en af de familier, sidste sommer gav vi forældre og hver af de tre børn til opgave at give os, henholdsvis et emne for vores diskussion hver måned. I sidste uge var det faderens emne for diskussion. Hans emne var Visioner. Han har en særlig interesse i meditation og ud-af-kroppen oplevelser.

Under forberedelsen af den lektie vi besluttet at bruge historien om visioner som et forord til diskutere Joseph Smiths første syn, og genoprettelse af evangeliet. Vi begyndte med Moses, Jereds bror, Lehi, og Alma den Yngre. Under forberedelsen vi etableret behovet for visioner som vidner om Kristus. Det blev en julehilsen.

Vores danske julehilsen

Gabriels udseende til Elisabeths mand Zakarias, at Johannes Døberen skulle være født:  “Da svarede englen ham: Jeg er Gabriel, som står for Guds ansigt, og jeg er sendt for at tale til dig og bringe dig dette glædelige budskab.”

Gabriel så syntes til Maria: “I sjette måned, blev englen Gabriel sendt fra Gud til en by i Galilæa, der hedder Nazaret, til en jomfru, der var forlovet med en mand, som hed Josef og var af Davids hus. Jomfruens navn var Maria.  Og englen kom ind til hende og hilste hende med ordene: Herren er med dig, du benådede!”

Josef fik besøg af Herrens engel: “Mens han tænkte på dette, se, da viste Herrens engel sig for ham i en drøm og sagde: Josef, Davids søn, vær ikke bange for at tage Maria til dig som hustru; for det barn, hun venter, er undfanget ved Helligånden. Hun skal føde en søn, og du skal give ham navnet Jesus; for han skal frelse sit folk fra deres synder.”

Nefi søn af Helaman blev besøgt af Herren: “Herrens røst kom til ham og sagde:  Løft dit hoved, og vær ved godt mod; for se, tiden er for hånden, og i denne nat skal tegnet blive givet, og i morgen kommer jeg til verden for at vise verden, at jeg vil opfylde alt det, som jeg har ladet tale ved mine hellige profeters mund."

Kristi Fødsel

“Og hun fødte sin søn, den førstefødte, og svøbte ham og lagde ham i en krybbe, for der var ikke plads til dem i herberget.  I den samme egn var der hyrder, som lå ude på marken og holdt nattevagt over deres hjord. Da stod Herrens engel for dem, og Herrens herlighed strålede om dem, og de blev grebet af stor frygt. Men englen sagde til dem: Frygt ikke! Se, jeg forkynder jer en stor glæde, som skal være for hele folket: I dag er der født jer en frelser i Davids by; han er Kristus, Herren.” citater Matthæusevangeliet, Lukasevangeliet og Tredje Nefi

Hyrder og Engel

After the Christmas message we concluded the PowerPoint lesson with images and brief discussions of:  The resurrected Christ appearing to Mary, the Disciples, and the Nephites.  Then the appearance of God and Christ to Stephen and Joseph Smith.  The visits of John the Baptist, Peter, James, John and Elijah restoring the priesthood and sealing powers.  There was a very nice spirit in the meeting. 

While we are away from the day-to-day events back home the majority of the family is dealing with those daily events of life.  Angie and Zach and the boys, McAllister, Jake and Ben, are busy with school and mission activities.  Jake has now served a couple of months of his mission in California and writes colorful accounts of his experiences.  McAllister is a student at BYU Idaho when he’s not in Portland earning school and mission money.  Ben is a senior in High School and also making plans for his mission in a couple of years.  Bo, Teresa and Quentin are working hard to build their remodeling business.  While Quentin has his eyes focused on his mission in the future, he is studying hard in school and playing football.  Lis, Nathan, Toby and Ali have accelerated their remodeling efforts on the house this year because it looked as though they may have to move because of employment changes; however, Nathan has accepted a new job in Aurora, although it is not close to Hillsboro, they do not plan to move.  Toby and Ali are both “A” students in their “Home Schooling” program.  Kae and Kerry and the kids, Dakota, Emerson and Dash live in our house and care for the many “landlord” needs that arise.  We can’t thank them enough for the hard work they do in our behalf.  Dakota is doing well in school.  Dakota and Emerson are doing their sisterly duties in caring for Dash, who was born in March.  Dash could have been hired by any football club at birth.  He is a chunk with a smile to melt your heart.  The Cortez family, Tova, Jeff, Kyton and Simon are all working together as a family.  Kyton is in Grade School, and Simon is in Pre-school.  Simon is getting ready for the Christmas program this week, which is one of the highlights of the Christmas season for our family.  Kyton and Tova have become medical practitioners this year while working hard to become expert on the subject of diabetes. Kitta, Peter and Case have had a very busy year.  Peter is pulling high grades in his studying to become a Physician’s Assistant.  He is also working full-time at the hospital.  He has applied to several schools for acceptance in their medical programs.  He is on the short list at one school and is scheduled for an interview at OHSU.  Kitta is working hard with her photography business, and harder at being a mother to Case.  Karen is successful in her sub-contractor endeavors and is enjoying living close to her sisters on the West side.  She is beginning a new business.  Kirsten is busy with a new job, her gardening and school.  She is a great candidate for a college degree, and there is still lots of time to do it.


We'll close for now.


We love you all.
Mom and Dad
Ældste og Søster Larsen