Only a month late...

"The Christmas season is wonderful in many ways. It is a season of charitable acts of kindness and     brotherly love. It is a season of being more reflective about our own lives and about the many blessings that are ours. It is a season of forgiving and being forgiven. It is a season to enjoy the music and lights, parties and presents. But the glitter of the season should never dim our sight and prevent us from truly seeing the Prince of Peace in His majesty."
                                                                                               -Elder Uchtdorf 

I was asked to give a talk on Christmas, and I thought it would be a good idea to share it. So here you are....You're welcome. By the way, I realize it doesn't really flow. It's because it's a talk and I don't write everything down. I promise I did a good job on it. It just sounds disorganized and overly sentimental on paper.

    
Inspired by Elder Uchtodorf’s Christmas devotional, I planned a Grinch-themed day at school on Wednesday. As I read the story of the Grinch to my students, I realized I had forgotten how truly telling this story is. The Grinch hated Christmas. He came up with a plan to rid himself of Christmas. As he leaves the city, after carrying out his awful plan, and delights in the pain he is causing people, we read this: 

Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit,
He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it!

“Pooh-Pooh to the Whos!” he was grinch-ish-ly humming.
“They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming!
“They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!
“Their mouths will hang open a minute or two
“Then the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry Boo-Hoo!
“That’s a noise, “grinned the Grinch,
“That I simply MUST hear!”So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow …
But the sound wasn’t sad!
Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn’t be so!
But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at Who-ville!
The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook!
What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN‘T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”
“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more!”

Brother Jensen left a message Thursday night and as I listened to it, the voice mail suddenly cut off right after he said, “We’d like to have you speak on…” I considered not calling him back because I had a very good idea of what I was going to be speaking on. However my guilt got to me, and I returned the call. My suspicions were confirmed. I was ask to speak on Christmas. He mentioned that it shouldn’t take very much preparation. I should just share the way I feel about Christmas and past memories of Christmas. I almost turned it down. I laughingly told him that Christmas and I don’t always get along. When he mentioned past memories of Christmas, my memories went back to Christmases as a kid when we had no money and 7 children in our family. When we would go to my cousin’s house after only getting one present and watch them open dozens of presents. When I would go back to school and friends would ask what I got, and their response was always, “That’s it?” I thought of Christmases now that I am often stressed about what to get for others and frustrated about the materialism. I called my dad right after and told him of my despair about Christmas. I said, “Dad, everyone has given a Christmas talk. Do you have one I can just tweak and read?” He responded that he has never actually had to give a talk on Christmas. I’ve mentioned that this is my 3^rd. I think the Lord is trying to send me a message. I have tried to understand it this time, so I can someday speak about other things in Church. So after much prayer and thought, I want to mention a few things that Christmas is to me.

As I prayed and thought about this talk, I was a little emotional. At first I couldn’t block out all of the not so great memories of Christmas, but as I focused on Christ, I started to feel very guilty. I, like the Grinch, realized that Christmas means a little bit more.  I remember countless times of waking up on Christmas and having an unknown Samaritan leave $100 in our mailbox or having huge packages on the porch. I remember perfect strangers bringing a car-ful of presents to our house. I remember my parents, brothers, and sisters sacrificing to give us the little presents we got. This is what Christmas is.

Last Christmas was the first time in my life I’ve ever been alone with my parents for any extended amount of time. My mom, bless her heart, always sends me money on my birthday and says, “here’s your birthday and Christmas present” so we had no presents. My parents still have a humble home, but I felt so loved as we sat around and read Luke 2 together. That’s what Christmas is. I wouldn’t have felt any more special if I had 100 gifts. It is a time to strengthen relationships. 

We have a cousin dinner once a month. This past one, my cousin mentioned he thought it would be appropriate that we bore our testimonies due to the season. There’s something special about bearing your testimony in an intimate group of family members. It increased my love and respect for everyone there. This is what Christmas is. It’s a time to break down barriers, to share our love of Christ.

Christmas is a perfect time to reflect. In class we wrote letters to Santa Clause this year but we were not allowed to ask him for anything specific. We were only supposed to thank him for last year’s presents and ask if he will come and bring us something again. One particular boy wrote: “Dear Santa, Thanks for everything this year. I hope you can come because I left you a note. Santa I want to know, am I on the naughty list. I just wanna no. Because I want to know so bad. And how do you get the elves to work so hard like that. Tell me. I don’t know if I am on the good list so tell me. That is it. Love, Bryant “ Although this is the reflection of a 7 year old, I have wondered a similar thing. Have I been focused on the Savior? Have I been kind? Have I found times of others and forgotten myself? Have I been doing all of the things I should be doing? I don’t know that I would deserve very many presents this year either, but this is the perfect time to rededicate ourselves to living the teaching and principles taught to us by our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Lastly and most importantly, Christmas is the birth of our Savior.Elder Uchtdorf’s Christmas Devotional greatly affected me and humbled me. I sometimes search for the magic I felt as a kid about Christmas, but I only see glimpses of it. However, this magic has been replaced with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, a hope in His Atonement, and looking forward to His return.

When I feel sorry for myself for the little bit that I lack, I can remember the poverty of Mary and Joseph. In a devotional address given by Elder Holland, he reminds us that the Christmas story is very much a story of poverty. There may be some significance that the author of Luke 2 did not write “there was no room in the inn” but that “there was no room for them in the inn.” As a purification offering at the child’s birth, a turtledove was offered which the Lord allowed to be a substitute for the impoverished in place of a lamb. Our divine Savior came to us in the most humble of circumstances.  Perhaps remembering our Savior, his birth, his childhood, should remind us of the purity, the faith, and the humility that is required of each one of us. “Except ye be converted, and become as  little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:3) “If we look for the good, we can see this time of the year with new eyes- perhaps even with the eyes of a child.” – Elder Uchtdorf

One of my favorite Christmas carols is the Primary Song, “Away in a Manger”

Away in a manger, no crib for his bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down his wee head. …
I love thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky
And stay by my side until morning is nigh. …
Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay
Close by me forever and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
And take us to heaven to live with thee there.

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! ‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store.’”