Today we had a lovely Christmas sacrament meeting at church. I played a small part and want to record the program and my talk here.
Brothers and Sisters we live very busy
lives! I don't know about you, but I feel like each day is getting
busier and busier and every year is going faster and faster. I feel
like I am always running yet I am always behind. That's why I was
happy to study and give thought on the topic: “Brighten your life
by Lighting the World: how serving others lessens our own burdens at
Christmas and throughout the year.”
My first thoughts led me to the story
found in Luke 10: 38-42. “Now it came to pass, as they went, that
he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha
received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which
also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was
cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost
thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her
therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her,
Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But
one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which
shall not be taken away from her.”
As I read these scriptures again, the
phrase, “but one thing is needful” really jumped out at me. What
is the one thing that is needful, what is that good part that Mary
hath chosen? Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. The one
thing that is needful in each of our lives is to hear Christ's words
and to develop a relationship with him.
My thoughts then turned to King
Benjamin's words in Mosiah 2:17. “And behold, I tell you these
things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are
in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of
your God.”
Members of our church are taught early
in our youth that when we serve others we are serving God. In a talk
my husband recently gave in the Fallowfield ward he flipped it and
said to be in the service of our God, we must be in the service of
our fellow men. I like the emphasis that this flip gives.
My thoughts then took an unexpected
turn to the story in Mark 12: 41-44. “And Jesus sat over against
the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury:
and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor
widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he
called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto
you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have
cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance;
but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her
living.”
I have always been impressed with the
faith of this poor widow. She gave ALL that she had! It has made me
reflect, am I giving all that I have? I feel that in other seasons
of my life I have been able to give a lot more than I currently have
to offer. I was humbled with the thought that I only have 2 mites to
give right now, but yes I am offering those 2 mites to the Lord, and
I have hope that at another season of my life I will have more to
offer, but the amount- 2 mites or 2 million doesn't matter. What
matters is that I give my ALL.
For the third year in a row, the church
has had its Light the World campaign. For the past couple of weeks,
I have prayed every day for an extra opportunity to share light
somehow. The very first day I prayed for this I went to meet our new
family doctor. After I parked and was leaving my car to go into the
office, a woman came out to the car parked right next to me. I heard
her say, “oh dear, and she began wiping snow off her windows with
her hands.” I told her to wait just a minute, so I could grab my
window scraper. I was able to brush all the snow from her windows
and scrape the ice off her front windshield in just a couple of
minutes. She was most appreciate and kept thanking me. I felt even
more gratitude that Heavenly Father had heard my prayer, and led me
to park right next to someone who could use my help.
The spirit has guided me to seek out
the lonely and offer my friendship. In our annual Christmas cards,
we put invitations to the Stake Nativity pageant in those to our
neighbors, Len's work colleagues, and the children's school teachers.
The spirit has also guided me to realize that the things our family
was already doing, count as lighting the world. Every year we give
food and gift donations, and this year Leonard and I offered on
social media to give a copy of the Book of Mormon to anyone who would
like one. Leonard also gave a Christmas stocking to a homeless man
that Noé and I made at our Relief Society's Christmas Extravaganza
last month. We are planning to make this a new yearly tradition.
I am grateful for the gifts that
President Nelson mentioned in the First Presidency's Christmas
devotional that the Savior gives to us at Christmas time and always.
They are: 1- the unlimited capacity to love; 2- the ability to
forgive; 3- the gift of repentance; and 4- the promise of life
everlasting. I am so grateful to love and be loved. I am so
grateful to be able to repent and be forgiven and to forgive others.
I am so grateful for the promise of everlasting life. My heart's
greatest desire is to return to live with my Heavenly Parents someday
with my Savior, Jesus Christ, with all of my family, with all of my
friends, with all of you. I hope that that time is still yet a far
way off and until then I desire to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ
and hope to use my life giving gifts to others.
In the 1994 First Presidency's
Christmas devotional, President Howard W. Hunter said, [“This
Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss
suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft
answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep
a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to
understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone
else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your
gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take
pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and
then speak it again.
Christmas is a celebration, and there
is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true
meaning—with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended
itself unselfishly in the things that matter most.
A life filled with unselfish service
will also be filled with peace that surpasses understanding. The
Savior said: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not
as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled:
neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). “Ye believe in God,
believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it
were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you …
that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1–3).]
Last week, my husband shared some
thoughts on the song, “Joy to the World” and I just wanted to
clarify that it is still one of my most favorite Christmas songs. I
just think of it now as a Christmas song and a Millennial song. I'd
like to close with another favorite song of mine. It's not a
Christmas carol, nor a hymn, but it is a Primary song from the
Children's Songbook.
Little purple pansies, touched with
yellow gold,
Growing in one corner of the garden
old;
We are very tiny but must try, try, try
Just one spot to gladden, you and I.
In whatever corner we may chance to
grow,
Whether cold or warm the wind may ever
blow,
Dark the day or sunny, we must try,
try, try
Just one spot to gladden, you and I.
I say these things, in the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
.
