Spreading Christmas Joy

I had a wonderful experience last night. Every Monday we have Family Home Evening with my parents, and their ward choir had planned to go carolling last night. We bundled up in warm clothes (I wore a fuzzy hat my mom had made earlier this fall...I looked hilarious!) and we set out for a night of fun. We piled onto a flat-bed trailer covered in straw-bales and colored Christmas lights, learned to turn pages with gloved fingers, and set off.

Our first destination was a care center for older people. I had visited this place many times as a teen and always wanted to hurry from there as soon as I could. Last night with the cold air freezing our noses and cheeks I was anxious for a respite from the night air. When we went inside those doors the warm air was heavenly, although the smell was otherwise. We found out that there were two hallways that we could go singing in, and set off. The first song we sang was Silent Night. It was so beautiful hearing that song sung in a quiet part of the building on a crisp winter night. As we walked down the hall and peeked into the rooms we saw few faces, but the ones we DID see were smiling and full of Christmas cheer. One sweet old lady waved at everyone who passed her door.

In the next hallway the smell was worse, but we sang anyway. This hallway was home to the Alzheimer patients. One man came out of his room and watched us sing. His face was that of a little child. It was such a sweet spirit that surrounded him, and I was humbled to be bringing him such joy! As we left I had a happy feeling, I didn't think it could get any better.

The next place we ventured was some senior apartments that has many widows and widowers. We rang doorbells and spread out singing our songs along the way. The faces there were just as precious and filled with as much joy as the previous place. One sweet woman stood outside her door in the cold clapping her hands to the song.

After that we just drove through my parents' neighborhood singing and laughing. It was so much fun, and just brought that Christmas feeling even closer to my heart.

My dear friend Carrie has won my game AGAIN! Like I said, she's SUPERWOMAN! The answer was Oh Little Town of Bethlehem (again!) When we played this game at the party we wondered if they put the same carols in more than once, and they had, so this was the LAST double of the game, if anyone is even keeping track!

Here's the song of the day, I'm so tired of typing up the rules, I'm just not going to! (Call it lazy if you must, because it is!)

Song:

Our fervent hope is that you thoroughly enjoy your yuletide season

Good luck!