LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Nearly 4,000 people attended the lighting ceremony at the Los Angeles Temple Visitors Center Nov. 28, gasping in delight as 400,000 lights were turned on to usher in the Christmas season here.
Speaking of the annual festive ceremony, Keith Atkinson, public affairs director for Southern California, said: "This has now lasted more than 10 years, and every year the crowds get larger. Members of the community — both LDS and non-LDS — look forward to the lighting ceremony event on temple hill like no other during the year."
Among many local Church leaders attending were Elder Douglas Callister, an Area Authority Seventy, and his wife, Jan; and temple Pres. Niles Sorensen and his wife, Charlene.
This year, the multi-colored lights — spread throughout the grounds and on palm trees and bushes — burst on at the conclusion of readings pertaining to the Christmas story. The script for the ceremony, read by local television news anchors Chuck Henry of KNBC and Carlos Amezcua of KTLA, both of whom are LDS, was taken from the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
Brother Atkinson explained: "This is the one opportunity during the year that we have to represent to the public the unique Christmas story as found in the Book of Mormon. We share the story of Christmas both from the Book of Mormon and the Bible, which really seems to move the hearts of those in attendance."
