Thanksgiving holiday was over. I left my parents’ home in Kaysville, Utah and drove to our Santa Clara, Utah home. My children, Jordan, Ryan, Cam and Maddy were all sleeping in the car as Christmas music softly played on the radio. Dread was growing in my chest as I contemplated a second Christmas without Mark. Pain and anguish, words that I had never before associated with the holiday season…this is how Christmas had begun to feel for me. Somewhere on the road between Fillmore and Beaver the idea of asking for a Christmas kiss came to my mind. We are told to “ask and ye shall receive”, what if I were to prayerfully ask for a Christmas kiss? Would I receive? I did not know how it would happen, but I believed that if I asked in perfect faith, I could receive a Christmas kiss from Mark Mulford, my husband who had unexpectedly died 20 months earlier. I began to fervently pray for this gift. I also fasted three times in the coming weeks for this specific request. Miraculously, Mark gave me a wonderful, passionate and fulfilling kiss in a dream on Dec. 22, 2003. This is the story of that kiss.

In my sleep I had a dream that was very vivid and real! I was in my classroom at Snow Canyon High School, where I had taught classes in Family and Consumer Science education prior to Mark’s death. It was after school on a sunny day, I was at my desk typing. Three of my students came into the room to visit with me. They sat at long table next to my desk while I sat in my chair facing them with my back to the classroom door. I remember that we were laughing together when two of my students looked up, one of them said, “Hey, Coach Mulford!” Quickly I spun around in my chair! There was Mark, leaning with one shoulder against my blackboard, smiling and looking so tan. I jumped up, raced around my desk and into his arms. He pulled me close, looking intently in my eyes, and began kissing me. And I thoroughly enjoyed kissing him right back! Then I remembered that my students were in the room, watching us kiss. I pulled back, turned my head toward my students to tell them I would visit with them another day. When I looked back, hoping to continue with our kiss, Mark was gone. I immediately woke up. I sat up in my bed. My heart was pounding hot and fast, my lips burning. I reached over for Mark, only to starkly remember that he was gone. I began to cry. I wanted that dream to continue. I didn’t want it to be a dream at all, I wanted to really be with my husband. Everything had felt and seemed so real to me. I touched my lips with my hand, they still tingled and burned lightly.

With my hand on my lips, a sudden realization lightened my mind, I had received my Christmas kiss! I believe that my husband’s spirit had somehow really kissed me. The burning and tingly sensation remained, confirming to my mind that this thought was indeed true! My prayers had been heard, and my prayers had been answered! Then the tears really began to flow. Climbing out of bed, I fell to my knees in gratitude for a loving Father who had heard my prayers.

Whenever I read or hear the phrase, “Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you,” my mind recalls this special experience. I know that with determination and faith, we have the ability to call down the powers of heaven to bless our lives. The initiation of the gift came through asking in faith and choosing to believe that it could happen. I am eternally thankful for the knowledge that we have access to eternity. I will always remember with fondness my Christmas kiss; it was a gift to me from heaven.

May you feel the love of Heavenly Parents, and our Savior this holiday season as we celebrate His birth. I know He lives.