A Wise Elder: The Christmas Tree Tale

**A Wise Elder: The Christmas Tree Tale**

**Author:** Anonymous

Read on Mormon Talk by Fredrick A. Phillips on the "Christmas Edition" episode in December 2019

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> Once upon a grand, merry old time, there was a hidden forest just a few miles from the North Pole.  This was a lively forest that elves visited often.  Life was abundant and there was much activity in the forest: chirping of birds, gnawing of beavers, prancing of reindeer and much more.
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> During the months when Santa's workshop wasn't as busy, there were picnics a-plenty. Santa and the elves would gather under a special set of trees, which had the softest soil for their tushies.  They would sit and celebrate together the many wonderful things that life had blessed them with.
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> The trees would watch frequently with their magical eyes and enjoy the company of the elves and Santa.  There were 5 big elder trees that were in charge of all the wood in the forest.  They watched and made sure that nothing was amiss from day to day.  The names of these special trees are: Binky, Banky, Bunky, Bonky and Mo.
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> They always did their best to make sure that everyone in the forest felt included.  Everything was in harmony in the forest, as far as they could tell.
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> Then one day, the elder trees noticed that a group of younger trees were starting to rebel and not live in a harmonious manner.  This troubled the elder trees greatly.  Had their seed been contaminated? What could have caused this to happen?  Binky was infuriated and he started blaming Bunky. Bunky blamed Bonky. Bonky blamed Banky.  Then all four of them blamed Mo.  Poor Mo.  What the heckle-bejeck did he ever do?
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> Well, since he was being blamed, he was assigned to use his watching eyes to keep track of the mischievous youngsters.  It was about a month before Christmas, the happiest time of the year, and Mo was busy watching the rebels.  He was using the might and tricks of his wood to snoop in on this conversation.
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> He overheard some startling news:  "That's right fellas, we're going to set our wood on fire so that the whole forest burns down.  We hope that the fire will spread to the North Pole, and then Christmas will be canceled forever!"
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> This was not good news and Mo was terrified.  He didn't know what to do.  His wood tricks paid off, but he had to tell the other elders, so that they would know asap.
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> He returned to the elders to report the news.  When they heard the news, they laughed at Mo:  "Mo, what do you think this is, Pa-per view?"
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> "We are not here for your made-up story.  Do we look like a bunch of saps to you?" said Binky.
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> They all laughed their needles off.
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> Mo was infuriated.  "How could my own brethren betray me like this?" Mo said.  He began to cry, getting sap all over the place.  He sulked in his own sadness.  "Christmas will be ruined and no one believes me!"
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> What would Mo do?
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> There was only one option, and Mo knew what he had to do.
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> The next day a group of elves were strolling through the forest with their axe. It was that time of year when the elves would come pick a tree that would go in the Christmas Square at the North Pole.
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> The rule of thumb was that elder trees were off-limits.  The elves usually chose a smaller, less meaningful tree.
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> This year would be different, though.  As the elves walked by Mo, they heard some whispering coming from the tree.  They turned their heads as they heard, "Pick me!"
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> The elves were baffled.  They exclaimed, "But you're an elder tree.  We can't choose you!"
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> Mo said with urgency, "Choose me or Christmas will forever be at stake!"
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> The elves were less hesitant and heeded to the warning of the wise elder. Next thing you know, they were dragging Mo back to Christmas Square.  The elves had chopped Mo's wood.  It was done.
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> Santa came to Christmas Square, confused why one of the older elder trees had been chopped down. Santa's biscuits started to boil.  "Just what have you done?" he blurted.
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> "Mr. Santy-Claus, the tree told us that if we didn't choose him, Christmas would forever be at stake!" exclaimed the elves.
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> Then a roaring voice came out of Mo:  "The new trees are going to set this place on fire and destroy Christmas!"
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> The elves started turning around in madness and chaos.
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> Santa belted out, "Enough! My sleigh sails in the morning.  I will investigate the trees."
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> The next day Santa came back, laughing and jolly as ever.  "My dear Elder Mo, you have saved Christmas!"
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> Everyone jumped for joy. Christmas had been saved!
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> Santa wanted to honor Mo, so he had him petrified.  He would be the permanent Christmas Square tree.
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> Mo's wood was harder than ever, and it would stay that way forever.  Christmas had been saved and it was all thanks to Mo.
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> The end.
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