Making the Most of This Issue

Family Times and Holidays

• What would you do if your home were suddenly filled with unexpected guests who needed a warm meal and a place to sleep? See “Warmed and Fed,” p. 56.

• Most stories in Latter-day Saint Voices can be used for family home evening. To read about inspirational holiday experiences, go to p. 56.

• What do New Year’s Eve, birthdays, and the Fourth of July have in common? For one family, they mean fun traditions. Turn to p. 60 to learn more.

• Single? Empty-nester? Traditional family? Look on page 40 to see how family home evening can work in families of any size and in any situation.

• How can home evenings include family members who are less active or not members? Find common ground. See p. 61.

Jesus Christ’s Surpassing Gift

Bishop Richard C. Edgley testifies of the Savior’s offering in our behalf: “When I contemplate the magnitude of this gift, the magnitude of His descent, and the extremity of His suffering, the words of a song thunder through my mind: “O Lord my God. … How great thou art!” (Hymns, no. 86). See p. 16.

The Heartbreak and the Joy

There was heartbreak in the baby’s insurmountable physical challenges. Could he bring joy too? See p. 22 for one mother’s answer.

“Do I Really Need This?”

“Do I really need to buy this?” If you ask yourself this and a few other questions before making holiday purchases (or any other purchases), you can learn to enjoy debt-free living all year-round. See p. 60.

Joseph Smith: Instrument of the Restoration

“I testify that the instrument through whom this divine revelation [the Restoration] came was one foreordained—the youthful Joseph Smith,” declares Elder David B. Haight of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. To learn his insights into the life and mission of the Prophet, turn to p. 26.

The Power of Our Choices

“Choices we make now will affect who and what we are in the future,” writes Elder Harold C. Brown, Area Authority Seventy. Find suggestions for making righteous choices on p. 46.

Home Teachers and Visiting Teachers

Find the monthly messages on p. 2 and p. 64.

Did You Know?

Each December issue offers articles about the life and mission of the Savior in a month when the world commemorates His birth. For example, see, “Five Marks of the Divinity of Jesus Christ,” by President Ezra Taft Benson, p. 8.