Elder David A. Bednar asked members of the Salt Lake Chapter of the BYU Management Society Dec. 16, to try to look at Christmas trees, lights and shepherds differently this Christmas season.

"I would like to see if we can cultivate new eyes to see and ears to hear things that we haven't seen or heard before," he said.

Speaking at a monthly luncheon at Little America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City, Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve asked those in attendance to take notes and share their insights with their families on Christmas Eve or another time during this season.

First, he talked about Christmas trees. Quoting from 1 Nephi 8, he noted that the tree is the central figure in Lehi's vision. "The tree is Christ and the fruit on the tree are the blessings of the atonement," he said.

"In the Christmas season what is one of the central traditions that we have in our homes: the tree," he noted. "I hope you can't ever look at a Christmas tree simply as a decoration, as simply a nice tradition, but rather as a representation in this remarkable holiday season of Him whose birth we celebrate."

Next, Elder Bednar spoke about lights. Quoting from 3 Nephi 11, he said, "It is not a coincidence that the Savior, on the American continent, where the sign of His birth was a day and a night and a day where there was no darkness ... said, 'I am the light and the life of the world.'"

Finally, Elder Bednar spoke about the shepherds whose flocks were destined for divine sacrifice.

"There were many shepherds in Palestine, but only to those who watched over the temple flocks did the herald angels come. Only they heard the heavenly choir. Those were not ordinary sheep," he said. "Next to trees covered by lights, many times there are manger scenes with Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus, and sheep and shepherds. Please don't look at the sheep and shepherds quite the same way again."

Elder Bednar said often in the season, people ask the question, "Are you ready for Christmas?"

"I don't think the question is, 'Are you ready for Christmas?' The question is 'Are you and I ready for Christ?'" he said.

He asked those attending to ponder Christmas gifts. "The Father's gift to us was His son. The gift from the Son to us is His atonement. Perhaps the only thing that we could give Them is a growing conviction, a deepening conversion of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and what it means in our lives. Perhaps the only thing we could give would be a more diligent desire and commensurate study, to not just know about the atonement, but to know Him who brought the atonement and to more fully understand the blessings of the atonement in our lives."

Elder Bednar closed by saying in this Christmas season there isn't anything he loves more than declaring his witness — even a special witness — of Jesus Christ. "He lived, He walked the earth. He taught His doctrine. He organized His Church. He is the Son of God. I witness that He was crucified, and more important, that He is resurrected, that He lives, that He speaks, that He stands at the head of His Church in this very day."