Courtesy photo Student members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pose for a photo in a mock stable that represents the location of Jesus’ birth and will tell the story of his Christmas birth. The Church will be offering tours of the facility on Dec.20,

We could have had a Christmas carnival.

That was the plan for the youth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They wanted to invite others in the community to join in a Christmas celebration and were excited thinking of all the creative booths they would set up.

But then it just didn’t seem right.

This was an opportunity to join with others and remember the birth the world is and has always been so grateful for, the birth of Jesus Christ. Surely we could celebrate his birth with something more meaningful than a carnival. But what? We pondered and prayed for an idea and got one.

The youth are excited to take you on a wonderful tour.

We invite everyone that would like to celebrate the birth of Jesus to take a walk to the stable on Dec. 20. To come visit with Mary and Joseph, walk through the bustling town of Bethlehem, witness the announcement of the Savior’s birth to the shepherds and then gaze on the new born baby himself.

During the walk to the stable, you’ll have a chance to ponder a gift you’d like to give. Rather than gold, frankincense or myrrh, little boxes with golden tags will be given to everyone to represent a gift from your heart to Jesus. As you enter the stable you can place your box near the new born baby in gratitude for his birth, life and sacrifice for you and all of us.

We have hundreds of boxes. Let’s fill the stable up and take a picture to show what the people in Northeast Michigan feel about the savior of the world.

The “Walk to the Stable” will be at the white church on 411 Long Rapids Plaza in Alpena near the small My Michigan clinic from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The tours will run every half hour and people can call Annette Riffel with any questions at 878-335-0902.