12 Days of Christmas 2011 ~ Day 5

Day 5 ~ Five Gold Rings
Frodo Baggins "Ring Bearer"

Greetings from Valinor, the undying lands. Manwe the ruler of the Valar (Beings of great power) and his lady Varda, called Elbereth by the elves who hold her highest in reverence and love, have given me one last chance to help you celebrate Christmas. When Sauron gave out the rings of power, he gave3 to the elves. These the elves hid from him until he lost the ruling ring and then used them to bring great beauty into the earth. There were 3 other rings that were used to bind a golden book which had great value. Not because of the gold but for the wonderful and beautiful messages and teachings written upon the plates of gold! That book was also hidden for a long time until the earth was ready to receive it. My gifts to you this year reflect on those rings and the golden treasure they held. For Elijah I have a special gift and request. If you do not already have your own special Book of Mormon use the gift card towards getting your own copy of the translated book of gold. Read it, Study it, make it a life long companion. It is filled with great heroes who contended against evil men to bring light, life and beauty into the earth. These prophets saw you and your day. This book is their gift to you from out of the dust. Enjoy Christmas, have a wonderful time, live in a way that will earn for you your own undying lands.
All my love and blessings; Frodo Baggins "Ring Bearer"

The Gold Plates is a Puzzle, then there is a Book of Mormon board book for Ben (which he is really into right now), 5 golden picture frames, and $55.00 gift card for Deseret Book! Elijah already has a nice set of scriptures (we give them engraved scriptures for their 8th Bday)...but Bronwynn has been asking for a larger set to take to church (right now she has a blue hardback Book of Mormon for our family scripture study). Hooray!

What a perfect thing to focus on for the 5 golden rings! Each year before school starts in August we begin reading the Book of Mormon. This year we decided to focus on how many times it mentions God or Jesus Christ by highlighting it in our books. Then we decided to keep a running total as we read along. We are on page 247 and so far have counted 2,057 references!

Bronwynn (age 5) has picked up on how to spell God, Jesus Christ, and Son of God so that she can pick them out of the scriptures herself.

Once news broke out about various political people claiming Mitt Romney was not Christian we were able to pull out our Books of Mormon and talk about what it really means to be a Christian and that one way is to study the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. With over 2,000 references and not being half way through the Book of Mormon I think it is safe to say we are Christian. This has also given us a wonderful way to search for other names that Jesus Christ is called. Some examples have been Lord our God, Only Begotten Son, Christ the Son, etc. Hooray for the Book of Mormon!