Those having this desire become like Melchizedek of old, seeking to establish peace in
their home communities and local neighborhoods. Melchizedek was after the order of Enoch, the
same who beheld the wickedness and misery of those who would come later in the generation of
Noah; he who stretched forth his arm towards heaven; he \"whose heart swelled wide as eternity,
and whose bowels yearned... that all eternity shook and wept mightily.\" It was Enoch who
established a great city, a Zion that all mankind might look to as the model for civilization, a city
the Lord himself took to His bosom to abide with Him forever in heaven<\/span>. <\/p> <\/p>
Zion is surely one of the favorite––if not the actual favorite––subjects of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Standing at the right hand of God the Father, with a breastwork of gold
under His feet, and accompanied by a choir of angels, what delightful song of Zion might He
sing to all the earth?<\/p>
<\/p>
In the story that follows, we shall see that, with an important decision looming in the
lives of Mark and Kathleen, it will be this same Spirit of Enoch that fills their home on this
evening, transforming an already happy family gathering at Christmastime into something
celestial in nature.<\/p>
<\/p>
Returning now to the scene of the party, the reader will recall the layout of the downstairs
rooms. As they had entered the large family room earlier that evening, the eyes of the small
children had been drawn first to the tree, then to the packages underneath, then to the stockings
near the fireplace, and lastly, to all other unimportant things in the room. But in those first few
glances around the room for the things of Christmas, there had been a great stir among them as
they took special notice of something unusual sitting alone in one of the connected rooms off to
the right. What a great curiosity this was! A platform of wood standing one foot off the ground
and covering an area roughly ten by ten feet. A heavy canvas had been draped over it as though
this was another carefully wrapped Christmas gift that needed further inspection. What was this<\/i>?<\/i>
Both grandmother and great-grandmother, Kathleen and Jerilyn, were very much familiar with
the goings-on under the canvas, but neither was disposed to divulge anything. This was to be
revealed later, after dinner and after singing, as the final event of the evening.<\/p>
<\/p>
But now, the moment for the great unveiling had come. Kathleen directed everyone to the
adjoining room, and the small children moved quickly in hopes of finding viewing positions as
close to the platform as possible. Mark and Jeff, his oldest son, removed the canvas and carried it
off to another room. The room had been left intentionally dark, so for a moment, there was very
little on the platform that could be seen. Kathleen moved to an open space near the back corner
where she took hold of a small control box. <\/p>
<\/p>
With light filtering through from the main room, it was possible to recognize a few things
already. There were two separate mountain scenes crafted of papier-mâché laid out on the
platform, one on the left and one on the right, and mountains separated them in between. Sunken
into the valleys of both scenes, and enclosed by the mountains, were two small villages, although
only dark silhouettes of these were visible. The mountains were three feet high at their peaks,
sloped downward into the valleys, and were painted with the colors of mountainous terrain on
the sides and covered in soft white material for snow on top. <\/p>
<\/p>
“Mother and I,\" said Kathleen, “have worked together since Thanksgiving to create these
two little Christmas villages. Mark helped, too, constructing this control box and figuring out the
wiring to control the timing of the lights and the stop and starts of the train. We quickly realized
it would be too big to set up under the tree, so Mark built this wooden platform for us to use
instead. <\/p>
“Some of the older kids may remember these little houses, streets, and figurines from
Mother’s old Christmas village, but the mountains and everything else are new this year.”<\/p>
<\/p>
With that as introduction, Kathleen turned the switch to begin activity in the mountain
scenes, starting with the one on the right. Instantly, ambient lights on the opposite side came on
at a tunnel entrance halfway up the mountain. A tiny train with three cars, each car a couple
inches in length and one inch in height, pulled out of the tunnel and started its journey. The
locomotive moved the train along swiftly, shining its tiny light into the watchful eyes of the
children as it came towards them. Reaching another tunnel below them, and in gradual ascent,
the train performed a complete turn and exited the tunnel at the top of the mountain. <\/p>
<\/p>
About halfway along in its return journey, Kathleen slowed the train down and brought it
to a complete stop. She then touched another switch on the control box and a small flat plain near
the peak of the mountain became lit up. Here, a small group of Mormon pioneer figurines were
positioned near a campfire, a small light flickering to create a fire effect. A series of small
handcarts were secured around them, as though they were parked and the pioneers were resting
for the night. The little pioneer people––about fifteen of them, men, women and children all––
were outfitted in traditional pioneer dress. They stood at the edge of a mountain cliff, gazing
towards a central spot in the valley below. <\/p>
<\/p>
Leaving the pioneers scene lighted, Kathleen started the train again, allowing it to
continue on towards a tunnel on the other side. Following a descent on the tracks, it performed
another turn and ended up on the valley floor. Stopping the train once again, Kathleen turned on
the lights in the center of a small village. Other details quickly became visible––small, snow-
covered streets and houses, a large, dome-shaped tabernacle structure, and a small “Eagle Gate”
entranceway set up on a large street of the village. But what caught everyone’s eyes was a small
replica of the Salt Lake Temple as though it had already been built during the time of the early
pioneers. Created by Jerilyn with gold, silver, and other glittery material from old tree
ornaments, with lights directed upon it from all angles, the temple sparkled magnificently.<\/p>
<\/p>
Delighted by the oohs<\/i> and ahhs<\/i> from the small children, Jerilyn moved next to Kathleen
and directed everyone’s attention back to the scene of the pioneers camped on the mountain. She
pointed out the little rags of wool wrapped around their feet and hands to keep them warm from
the cold and snow, noting how some of them were pointing towards the temple. <\/p>
<\/p>
She commented: <\/p>
<\/p>
“Children, this was the dream of the pioneers as they crossed the plains. They dreamed of
a beautiful city with a magnificent temple. They called it Zion.”<\/p>
<\/p>
Kathleen waited a few moments, then started up the train again. Circling through the
streets of the village, it turned on the lights of all the homes one by one as it passed. Reaching the
end of the track on the right half of the platform, it began a slow, steep ascent up the mountain to
reach the other side. The exit of the train caused the lights of the temple, the village houses, and
the scene of the pioneers to slowly dim. The children watched all of this with great excitement,
fully enjoying Kathleen’s electric train, miniature village, and festival of lights.<\/p>
<\/p>
With this, the last activity of the evening had been completed. It was time for everyone to
return home. There were still many packages from Grandma and Grandpa to be opened, but
those they would take home with them to open on Christmas Day. The packages, large and
small, filled all available space in their cars during the trek home. <\/p>"}