“Contents,” Ensign, Dec. 1997, 1 Ensign December 1997 Volume 27 Number 12 Contents First Presidency Message: A Season for GratitudePresident Gordon B. Hinckley Major Curriculum Changes in Priesthood and Relief SocietyDon L. Searle I Remember WhenNorman Hill The Unexpected ChristmasEnid O. Ellis Putting Down Roots in UruguayNéstor Curbelo Living SinglyIrene E. Dearden “Because I Have Been Given Much”LaRene Porter Gaunt “Let Earth Receive Her King!” Joy to the World from BulgariaBeth Dayley Bangkok’s Journey to BethlehemLynne Waits Birth of the MessiahPaul Thomas Smith A Child’s View of Pioneering On the Trail in November and DecemberWilliam G. Hartley Poetry: PioneerEd D. Lauritsen Mormon JournalReverencing His Name Evelyn CandlandWho Was That Man? Sheri E. SlaughterPartaking of the Fruit Janna K. FindlayThe Crumpled Letter Chris GeilmanRoast Beef for Two Jody Marie Saunders Random Sampler The Visiting Teacher: “Always Remembering for What They Are Given” I Have a QuestionAvoiding unnecessary debt Max W. Brown Portraits News of the Church Annual Index On the cover: Front: The Prophet Isaiah Foretells Christ’s Birth, by Harry Anderson, oil on canvas, 85″ x 130″, 1968. Back: Even the “Wise Men” of the Earth Must Follow Divine Direction, by J. Leo Fairbanks, oil on canvas, 25.75″ x 36″, 1933. (Courtesy of Museum of Church History and Art.) Inside front cover: Nephi’s Vision of Mary, by Judith Mehr, oil on hardboard, 44″ x 34″, 1994. (Courtesy of Museum of Church History and Art.) Inside back cover: Beehive, Lion House, and Salt Lake Temple, by Rebecca W. Hartvigsen, watercolor, 22″ x 30″, 1994. Courtesy of Duff and Sharlene Thompson. Shown here with a light blanket of snow are the Beehive House (center), built in 1854, and the Lion House (left), constructed in 1856. Eagle Gate, which spans State Street at its intersection with South Temple Street, was built in 1859 and modernized in 1967. The Salt Lake Temple was dedicated in 1893.