Looking for ways to serve this Christmas season? Participate with millions in Light the World 2017 to focus on what will I get, to what will I give.
Last year for Christmas we participated in Light the World. It is a great family tradition to reach out and serve others in 25 ways in 25 days.
What is Light the World?
This is a program to help us focus on Christ during the Christmas season. Each day in December leading up to Christmas day there is a video to introduce a way to serve someone during the day.All the videos can be found at mormon.org. Another easy way to view them is on the LDS Gospel Library app which is free.
Each day there are suggestions on how to serve others throughout the day. These suggestions range from large projects to simple acts of kindness. You can tailor this to fit your family, your needs, and your desired level of involvement.
How My Family Participates
I like things that are thought provoking, but don’t require a ton of extra work on the parents, especially around Christmas time. Each day in Light the World we watch the short video on my phone while the kids eat breakfast. After watching the video we discuss ways that we can fulfill the challenge throughout the day. Then, at night over dinner we all share our experience.
Let me give you an example:
Intro:
We watched this video to explain to the kids what we were going to be doing this month and discussed why we should serve others.
Day 1:
This morning over breakfast we watched this video:
First off, I would LOVE if we had these machines more available! We talked about the movie, and then read over these suggestions:
We decided as a family that we were going to make a sacrifice to make someone’s day better. Some kids already had ideas of what they wanted to do. One child said they were going to sacrifice playing with their usual friends at recess to play with a classmate that they had noticed looking lonely at recess. When they get home from school, we are also going to write letters of appreciation to someone.
See, easy peasy, yet what a difference it will make in their day, month, and hopefully their life.
I love the Light the World initiative. In the month where everything is about me, me, me, and what I’m going to GET, we have a way to quite simply change the view to what am I going to GIVE.
To see all the days at a glance, there is a calendar that you can download and print. 
How will YOU Light the World this Christmas season?
