During the night the baby Jesus was born. He wag wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, but the prophets of the Bible who lived long ago had said that the baby Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the City of David, all of the promises given by the prophets Of Our Heavenly Father concerning the birth of Jesus were fulfilled. The Savior did come to the earth. He was born as a baby in the city of Bethlehem, and he was the Son of God, When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it must have been a very happy time for those who had waited so long for the promises of our Heavenly Father to be kept.

When Joseph and Mary arrived, the city of Bethlehem was full of people who had also come to pay their taxes, Joseph began to look for a place for them to sleep. He went from one inn to another, but the travelers in the city had already taken all of the places to sleep, Even though Mary was expecting a child, no one was kind enough to give up their room in the inn to allow Mary to be more comfortable. The only place that Joseph could find for them to Stay was a stable where cattle were kept. Joseph probably spread out some clean, fresh straw in the stable so that Mary could lie down and rest.

Just before Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary had to go to another city called Bethlehem to pay their taxes. In those days there were no buses or trains or cars such as we have in which to travel, so people could not go quickly from one city to another as we do today. People had to walk or ride on donkeys or camels. Mary probably rode a donkey on the way to Bethlehem which made the journey seem long and slow. Sometimes travelers could sleep in large rooms in inns. Inns were square buildings that were open inside, and the back part was sometimes used as a stable where animals were kept. But there were times when travelers could not find any kind of place to stay during the night. It was a long journey from Nazareth, the town where Joseph and Mary lived, to the city of Bethlehem. It was about eighty-five miles. When Joseph and Mary arrived in the city of Bethlehem they must have been very tired from the long journey and the hard way in which they had to travel.

Nephi, a prophet here in America, saw the wickedness and wrong doings of some of the people who would not believe. It made him very sad. After praying to our Father in heaven all day, the voice of Jesus came to Nephi in answer to his prayers and said: "Lift up your head and be of good cheer; 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 fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets (3 Nephi 1:13)." Jesus himself told the people that he would come into the world. people everywhere had waited for a long time for the promised Savior to be born. How happy Nephi and his people were! They had believed what the prophets had said, and now they knew that the signs and wonders would soon take place. Nephi and the other righteous people must have knelt in prayer many times to thank our Heavenly Father that this glorious promise was soon to be fulfilled and that Jesus would soon come to the earth.

In America, the Nephites and Lamanites also watched and waited for the time when Jesus would be born. Through the prophet Samuel, who lived in America, the Lord gave the people a sign that would let them know Of Jesus' birth. He said there would be no darkness for a day and a night and a day. The sun would rise in the morning and go down at night so that the people could see it, but it would be as if it were two long days and a night without any darkness, The prophets also told the people that there would be many other signs and wonders in heaven and earth. Angels would appear to man, and they would bring glad tidings of great joy about Jesus' birth (Helaman 16:14). And a new star would arise which would be a sign to them about the birth Of our Savior. Many Of the good people who heard these promises knew that our Father in heaven would fulfill every one of them, These people believed the words of the prophet Samuel. As the time for the birth of the baby Jesus grew closer and closer, the people watched and waited for the glorious event to happen. But some Of the wicked people did not believe the words of the prophet. They began to say that the words that Samuel had spoken would not be fulfilled, They were about to harm the people who believed Samuel. They also tried to harm him, so Samuel fled to another country.

In the city ofNazareth there lived a kind and good man named Joseph who loved Mary very much. Mary had promised Joseph that she would be his bride. Not long after Mary returned from her visit to see Elisabeth, the angel Gabriel appeared to Joseph in a dream. The angel told Joseph that the young girl most dear to him was soon to become the mother of the Son of God. He said the baby that was to be born should be named Jesus. The angel also told Joseph that from then on he should take loving care of Mary and protect her from harm. Joseph's heart was filled with joy, because Jesus, the promised King and Savior, was soon to come to earth; and Joseph had been chosen to care for Mary and the baby Jesus, the Son of our Heavenly Father. The words of the prophets were soon to be fulfilled. And Mary, the young woman Joseph loved so much, was to be the mother of the Christ child. Joseph did exactly as the angel Gabriel told him and took loving care of Mary while she waited for the baby Jesus to be born. What a great man Joseph must have been, for he was chosen to help Mary take care Of the Son of our Heavenly Father. What a wonderful blessing this would be!

Mary had received a wonderful message from angel Gabriel, and she happy, She thought at once Of her cousin Elisabeth with whom she could share her wonderful message. She knew Elisabeth would understand. Elisabeth had been told by the angel Gabriel that the baby John who had been promised to her was to prepare the people to receive Jesus, so she knew that Jesus was coming soon. Mary wanted to visit Elisabeth so much that she traveled nearly one hundred miles from her home in Nazareth to Elisabeth's home in Judah.

Such a long journey was very hard in those days, because Mary either had to walk or ride on a donkey or a camel. When Mary walked into the home of Elisabeth, the spirit of our Heavenly Father told Elisabeth that Mary, her beautiful, young cousin, was to be the mother of the promised Jesus. Mary and Elisabeth spent many happy days together, and then Mary returned to her own home in Nazareth before Elisabeth's baby came. Here Mary waited for the coming of her Own baby and made preparations for this great event.

In the city of Nazareth there lived a maiden most beautiful and fair above all Other maidens. Her name was Mary, and she was loving and kind to everyone: she was precious to our Father in heaven. He had chosen her to become the mother of his own Son, Jesus our Savior. When our Heavenly Father knew it was time for Jesus to be born, he sent the angel Gabriel to tell Mary that she was to be the mother of Jesus. This is how it happened. One day when Mary was alone, the angel Gabriel stood before her. Mary was surprised and frightened. But the angel told her not to feel afraid, for Our Heavenly Father loved her dearly. Then the angel told Mary that she was to be the mother Of Jesus, our Savior, for whom the people had waited so long. The angel said, Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shall bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus (Luke 1:30, 31)." The angel told Mary that her son would be the son Of our Father in heaven and would be the promised King, who would teach the people how to live and be happy. At first Mary was surprised and somewhat troubled, She had known that a woman from the land of Palestine would be chosen to be the mother Of the Savior and King, but it was hard for her to realize that she was the chosen one. Then the angel explained to Mary that through the power of our Heavenly Father this child would be born to her, and he would be the Son of God. The angel Gabriel also told Mary that her cousin Elisabeth was soon to have a child, even though she had thought it wag impossible. Then Mary spoke to the angel and told him that she was willing to do whatever our Heavenly Father wanted her to do. The angel left, and Mary thought and thought about the words that he had spoken to her.

The days and the years must have gone by slowly for the people who lived in Palestine before Jesus was born. Many, many years before, these people had been promised by our Heavenly Father that He would send them a King who would be their Savior and teach them to love each other and make each other happy. The people knew that our Father in heaven would keep this promise and send his Son, Jesus, to be born as he told his prophets he would; but the people did not know exactly when this great event would take place. The prophets gave the people promises that certain things would happen that would let them know when Jesus was born. The righteous people in Palestine watched and waited for the promises to be fulfilled.

Hi and thanks for checking out the Christmas Advent Podcast. Before we get into the Christmas Story I want to share a little bit with you What this is and why I am sharing it.

The Word Advent can be described as the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event and this Christmas my goal is to help you and your family keep the arrival of Christ central to this holiday season. It is so easy to get lost in the busy hustle and bustle of the Holdays and forget that undereath the wrapping paper, treats and Santa Claus is Our Savior Jesus Christ.

Some years ago my family moved in with my Wife's grandmother to help take care of her and one Christmas my oldest son was two and my second child had just been born. With all of the stresses and commitments that come with a young family during the Holiday season a sweet Lady in our LDS Congregation made an Advent calendar with a sillhouette of Mary and Joseph on the path to the manger where the Baby Jesus would be born. Along with the calendar she compiled the Christmas Story into daily sections from both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. When I called Nancy to ask her if I could put this on the internet she told me that I was welcome to, but wanted to make sure that I didn't give her credit for the story because she compiled it from lessons that she taught to children in Sunday school.

This was included with the nativty

The following is a personal story about why this calendar is so precious to our family. On Christmas morning our family gathered in our room to read the Christmas story and have family prayer before going out to the tree. Our now-adult daughter who was then about 3 years old escaped from the rest of the family and a few minutes later came back into Our bedroom with bright eyes saying, "Mommy! Daddy! Guess what!" We thought she would tell of treasures she had found under the tree or in her stocking, but what she said warmed our hearts. She said, "Jesus got borned!!" She had seen Jesus in the manger on our calendar — the event to which we had been counting down. This calendar and the accompanying readings had helped our little 3-year old know the real meaning of Christmas. In a world where there is so little talk of Jesus at Christmas time, we hope this calendar can help your whole family focus on the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

I am grateful to Nancy and her thoughts and her work that she put into helping my family focus on Christ during this busy season, and I Sincerely hope that I can help you and your family remember the true reason for the Christmas Season as much as Nancy helped Mine.

If you would like to give back all that I ask is for you to let me know whether you enjoyed it and what can be improved on by either going to ChristmasAdventPodcast.UshioLabs.com/Contact (I know its a Long URL, but if enough people get use out of this I will probably invest in a shorter name) or email me [email protected]