Christmas

This Christmas means something very special to me. This will be the last time that I will be a full time missionary out for Christmas.

 I remember as a kid that when it was Christmas that my biggest concern was to see what presents I would be getting. Truly I did get some amazing presents, like when my extended family got together and bought me the Ticket to Ride board game, the white elephant exchanges, the pajamas and socks that my parents would always buy us, or the endless amounts of other things I have received throughout the years.

With time though my attitude towards Christmas started to change. I started to realize that Christmas is a time of giving. So, before my mission, I started trying to look for service opportunities. One time I even piled in the car with some of my friends and we went around plowing peoples driveways after it snowed. I felt like I understood the true meaning of Christmas. It way exciting to see different ways to serve.

I also started to realize that Christmas is a time for family. It is the season when people go home to be together and do things as a family. One of the traditions that we did each year is that my mom would work really hard to make a whole bunch of Christmas candy. Eventually as we got older we tried to help her more. After she made all of these treats should would sort them out into different plates and then we would take them to different people as we went caroling. Another thing that we loved to do as a family was go skiing.

This Christmas I feel something special about Christmas. After trying to serve God every day for a year and a half, I feel something different about Christmas. I understand a little bit better now what the greatest gift of all is.

 I love the new church video He is the Gift. It reminds me of what the true gift is. As the famous scripture says, John 3:16 " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

I love my family and am so glad that I have had many Christmas times with them. I am so grateful to be serving a mission for the Lord right now. Most importantly, I am so very grateful for the gift that Jesus Christ, my brother, gave to us.