Add Your Light
Every particle of light you add this Christmastime makes the world brighter.
Illustrations by Gabriele Cracolici
Every two-year-old human (along with every housecat) knows that the gift inside a box is rarely as exciting as the box itself. Boxes hold limitless possibilities! Is it a time machine? A science fair masterpiece in the making? A section of tunnel?
With help from an inspired group of young women in Oregon, USA, a certain refrigerator box rose to its full potential: it helped bring about an entire season of Christmas miracles.
One Box, Many Miracles
When the Young Women organization was put in charge of their ward’s Christmas party, they decided early on to have a Light the World theme. The first giving machine in their area had shown up a year earlier. “I thought it was so cool to be able to serve in such a simple and easy way,” says Kisiah H., one of the young women.
So the young women wanted a customized giving machine for their ward and stake. One of them, Rita P., offered to help build it. The machine would contain “service opportunities that anyone could do, no matter their age,” says Rita. They included such services as “Make dinner,” “Pray for someone in need,” or “Go caroling.”
Thanks to a Young Women president who had just purchased a refrigerator, they had a perfect box to wrap in red paper and tape. Then they added stickers with service opportunities and placed small business cards beneath for people to take. Once somebody completed their task, they could hang the little red business card as an ornament on the ward Christmas tree.
“It was really cool to see the tree fill up over time,” says Kisiah.
After the ward party, people wanted to use the giving machine at a stake Light the World activity. And so the light continued to spread. “Somebody said they wished we could have one of these in every ward in the stake,” says Kisiah.
A small idea, a big box, and some hard work led to a much brighter Christmas for all.
Kisiah enjoyed the giving machine too! Her family chose “Go Caroling” as a service project. They started by visiting a handful of ward members. Then, as they saw the grateful tears and broad smiles of those they visited, Kisiah’s family kept deciding to visit just one more house. And then another. “We wanted to spend the whole night out, but we had to cut it short because people need sleep!” she says.
You don’t need go to great lengths to make a difference this Christmas, of course. “Service doesn’t have to be big,” Rita explains. “Do something small, and it will bring the joy of Christmas. Focus on others, not yourself.”
Rita (left) and Kisiah (right) were grateful to see how many people used and loved the giving machine.
You + Inspired Effort = Light
Of course, you don’t need a giving machine—homemade or otherwise—to brighten somebody’s Christmas. We asked youth around the world how they like to Light the World at Christmastime and received all sorts of answers. Some share music and other inspiring messages online. Others give treats or write kind notes. Still others serve in the temple or visit people.
Emalyn, a 16-year-old young woman, described a favorite tradition she’s been doing since she was 7. “I participate in a live Nativity from Thanksgiving to Christmas,” she says. This is no simple gathering of siblings wearing bathrobes either, mind you! It’s a free community offering that’s been going on for many years.
Emalyn performs as the narrator in a live nativity that blesses thousands each Christmas.
Here’s a typical performance day: Emalyn starts at 9 a.m. with her mother and the main organizer. They spend six hours making 500 donuts for that evening’s guests, and then Emalyn dresses in costume to be the narrator. The live Nativity offers scenery, lights, animals for the manger, a cast of 20–30, and a 15-minute performance that is seen by thousands each year.
“The Spirit is so strong when we perform,” she says. “Last year a little boy I’d never met came up and gave me a hug and said, ‘This is exactly what I needed!’”
Whether it’s an everyday experience like sharing a treat with a neighbor or an extraordinary one like seeing a friend choose to be baptized, every single act that shares the light of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will make the world a brighter place. Such light is felt, not merely seen.
Christmastime can certainly be busy—maybe even too busy if we’re not careful. Yet with a little care, we can find enough time to make a difference. Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has reminded us, “As this Christmas approaches, let us do more of what matters and much less of what doesn’t.”
Who needs a little more light in your world today?