One of the greatest blessing I have ever received is being a missionary, and serving with a wonderful companion (Elder Meservy!) I say "one" of our greatest blessings because our wonderful family is right at the top of our "blessings list."
Missionary work at times is hard -- but the rewards are very high. What a blessing it has been for us to study, teach and focus on our Savior, his love and teachings every day.
During December we have tried to emphasize the Spirit of Christmas in our Investigator class. The true meaning of Christmas is not about "things," but the Spirit of Christmas is found in our heart.
This class has been a wonderful opportunity for us to talk about serving others. In fact, in our class today, I told them several stories -- including the story in McKell's blog.
I also told a story found in last year's Ensign that really touched my heart. It was about a family who was very poor, but nevertheless they gave to someone else who was in need. At the end of the story they said, "we wept in gratitude that the little we had was enough to give joy to someone who had less."
You can talk about service a lot, and stories are great, but it is doing something that really counts. (In Jenny's blog she mentions her family doing a Sub for Santa.) We passed out papers and had everyone write down something they could do for someone else before Christmas. Service does not always take money -- sometimes your "time" is very important. I also told them that if something seemed hard to do, they should ask Heavenly Father to help -- such as giving a friend a Book of Mormon and asking them to listen to the missionaries.
Today, one lady in our branch that attended our class, invited a friend to come to church. The friend invited her friend. AND her friend invited her friend. We taught the class in English which was translated into Portuguese for the three investigators. Service has a way of multiplying!
President Monson put it this way -- There are hearts to gladden, there are kind words to say, there are gifts to be given, there are deeds to be done, and there are souls to be saved.
Heavenly Father truly blesses us when we give service because the person receiving the service is blessed -- but the person giving the service is doubly blessed with the joy he feels in his heart and sees in the hearts of others.
Elder Meservy and I love family traditions -- one of the things we enjoy most at Christmas time. Being together with our family, friends and gatherings really warms our hearts. We love the Christmas breakfast, the sleep-over, the pajama kids, the pickle on the tree, the excitement of children's laughter, pulling the string on the musical bell at Grandpa's house, playing games together, and enjoying good food.
Because we are so many miles away from home this year (and last), we have had to look for the Christmas Spirit in many other ways. We have decorated a table in our apartment, sang Christmas songs in German, and made cookies (Yes, and, surprise, I made them all by myself!) We have visited the elderly, the lonely and those living many miles away who have enjoyed our visits and a Christmas message.
Our Christmas wish is that we will all remember that tiny baby that was born over 2,000 years ago. But not only remember his birth -- but know that not many years hence He will come again. He will come in power and might as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The greatest gift we can give to Him this Christmas time is to emulate his life and do the things he did. He gave His life in service to others. May we follow Him and do the same. Remember -- Wise Men Still Seek Him.
