Ensign

December 2003

Volume 33 Number 12

Contents

• First Presidency Message: The Gifts of Christmas

  President Thomas S. Monson

• Gospel Classics: The Divinity of Jesus Christ

  Elder Orson F. Whitney

• Come, Lord Jesus

• Could I Come Back?

  Susan L. MacDonald

• Joseph Smith: Restorer of Truth

• Catching the Vision of Missionary Work

  Brian Jensen

• Testimonies of Family Home Evening

• Kirtland Restored

• Building for Their Future

  Garth A. Hanson

• Loading Up the Little Red Wagon

  Annette Paxman Bowen

• I Can Make Rolls

  Glenda Anderson

• Not Room Enough to Receive It

• Visiting Teaching Message: Prepare by Living Providently and Paying Tithes and Offerings

• Parables of Jesus: “I Am the True Vine”

  Elder Anthony R. Temple

• Words of the Early Apostles: Safely Anchored by Love

  Elder H. Ross Workman

• Latter-day Saint Voices

• Random Sampler

• News of the Church

• Annual Index

• Making the Most of This Issue

Front cover: Detail from Mary and the Angel, by Carl Heinrich Bloch; back cover: The Birth of Jesus, by Carl Heinrich Bloch, both courtesy of the National Historic Museum at Frederiksborg in Hillerød, Denmark

Inside front cover: The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, by James J. Tissot

Building the Kirtland Temple, by Walter Rane. In late 1832 and early 1833 the Lord told the Saints to “establish … a house of God” (D&C 88:119). In June 1833 the Lord said: “It is my will that you should build a house. If you keep my commandments you shall have power to build it” (D&C 95:11).