Brother and sisters from my lovely home ward of Casas Adobes,
What a pleasure it is
to write to you this day, it has been a, long time since I have written or
prepared a talk in English so I hope that everything is understandable.
I would like to thank everyone for your support and your
prayers, for my behalf and for those other missionaries that are serving from
our ward. Really we are all fighting for the same goal to bring all unto Christ
through his restored gospel. What a great mission we have. An eternal mission. And
one that we are all part of.
The Christmas season is a beautiful time of year for other
people to take a break from the normal hustles and bussles of life and spend
time with the family, to go on vacation, buy presents, get presents to decorate
our houses and prepare for viajito pascuero (Santa clause).
That’s the Christmas
season for some, but for us it is much different. Remember, we are special, we
are a peculiar people.
We have a much deeper and much special purpose. That is to
help others come to know more about the birth, the life and the atonement of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to gain a testimony of Him like we have.
The Christmas season is not for us to only remember Christ,
we do that all the time. But it is the season to help others get to know him.
We as members of the
church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints are so privileged to not have to
wait for December to come until we can think of the Savior’s birth and life. We
have the chance to remember him and renew our devotion to him every Sunday as
we take the sacrament.
We have been celebrating Christmas every day of our baptized
lives!
We have the Christmas spirit all the yearlong because we
have the spirit of Christ.
It’s not anything new...
...we talk of Christ,
we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write
according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may
look for a remission of their sins. 2 Nephi 25 26
But what is so special about this Christmas season is that
we can help others find Christ like we have found him.
There is so many people looking for peace, for comfort, for
the love that only the Lord can give.
What better gift is there, than the one that our father in
heaven has given us? His son Jesus Christ.
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.
And what better gift could we give to him then helping his children
return to his presence
10 Remember the worth
of souls is great in the sight of God;
15 And if it so be
that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and
bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the
kingdom of my Father!
I love a talk that our beloved prophet Thomas S. Monson gave
in a December ensign in 1990 titles the search for Jesus. He said...
In this marvelous dispensation
of the fullness of times, our opportunities to give ourselves are indeed
limitless, but they are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are
kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There
are souls to be saved.
As we remembers that
when y are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of
your God, we will not find ourselves in the inevitable position of Jacob Marley’s
ghost, who spoke to Ebenezer scrooge in Dickens immortal A Christmas Carol.
He was the first of many ghosts that visited scrooge
in this classic tale. Wrapped in large chains that bound his body he exclaimed,
"I wear the chain
I forged in life...I made it link by link, and yard by yard...Why did I walk
through the crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise
them to that blessed star which led the wise men to a poor abode"
Fortunately we have the chance this Christmas season to
render service to others and to help them look up to that star that leads to
our savior Jesus Christ.
I know he lives and I know that this church is true. I am
proud to represent him in his work and I invite all of you this Christmas
season to do the same.
In the name of Jesus Christ amen.
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