Temple View, New Zealand will do its part to “Light the World” this Saturday, 10 December as hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights will be turned on to celebrate the birth of Christ.
The popular Christmas lights display can be seen each night, continuing through 31 December at the Hamilton New Zealand Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 509 Tuhikaramea Road. All are welcome to attend this free event.
The lighting tradition was begun in 1985 by Glen Rudd, who was the president of the temple at the time. He collected about 10,000 donated lights with help from family and friends. This year the display will include more than 200,000 LED lights. Volunteers started stringing the lights on bushes and trees in October.
The first year saw 5,000 visitors. Over the years those numbers have grown as people have learned of the event. This year organizers expect up to 50,000 visitors.
In addition to the massive lights display, choirs will sing Christmas music every Tuesday through Saturday until Christmas Eve on the plaza in front of the Visitors’ Centre, beginning at 8:30pm. In case of inclement weather, the choirs will sing inside the Visitors’ Centre.
Sunday and Monday nights the public is invited to attend special Christmas devotionals held inside the Visitors’ Centre from 7:00 to 7:30pm. These will include a choir, a tour, and a short Christmas video depicting the birth of Christ. Visitors will also see a Christmas room filled with artwork showing the life and mission of the Saviour.
The Visitors’ Centre is also showing the Church’s “Light the World” video which invites individuals and families to "light the world in 25 ways over 25 days.” The initiative encourages people to go to mormon.org to find ways to enhance their enjoyment of the Christmas season by doing small acts of service similar to the kinds of things Christ did to lift and bless the people 2,000 years ago.
Elder C. Michael Zundel, director of the temple’s visitors’ centre, said, “The lights are an annual gift to the people of the area for their great support of the church and its programs. They come and enjoy it—a celebration of the birth of Christ and a beautiful gift to this people.”
Photo credits: Linda Champlin