Festival of the Nativities

Sunday evening Chuck, Jared and I attended the "Festival of the Nativities" at our stake center.  It was amazing! The outside and inside of the building were decorated with white Christmas lights, 200 pointsettias and hundreds of lit christmas trees both large and small, including a 20' tree in the center of the cultural hall that reached to the ceiling. On display were hundreds of nativity scenes from all over the world.  While we were browsing thru the display, live music was being performed in the chapel.  There were other rooms in the building to visit as well. There was a "life of Christ" room that was filled with beautiful framed pictures of Christ, depicting scenes throughout his life and ministry. Another room that drew a lot of attention, was the "tent room".  The inside of the room had been draped dramatically with fabric to give one the impression that you had walked into a tent from biblical times.  Once inside there were gorgeous theater quality costumes that families could put on and pose around a manger as if you were present in Bethlehem on that first Christmas night, with a photographer on hand to record the magical moment. At the end of the evening we were able to retire to the chapel and watch a broadcast of the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.  It was a beautiful and spirit-filled experience.