Merry Christmas!

Good news! Lately I've been helping write and photograph for a website called Real Life Answers and just the other day one of my articles was put up. It was originally called "How to handle spiritual complacency during the Christmas Season" but nobody knew what the word "complacency" meant. It's now up and you can find it here.

 

Anyway, that was a boring way to start things off.

 

MELE KALIKIMAKA MERRY CHRISTMAS FELIZ NAVIDAD FELIZ NATAL JOYEUX NOEL BUON NATALE

 

It's the absolute best time of the year. I don't care what anyone says, this is the happiest season of all and you could never convince me otherwise. I mean really... mele merry feliz feliz joyeux buon... can you deny that this season is supposed to be happy? 

On Friday we got a group of missionaries and members together to go caroling in Chelsea. At night this is the worst place to find yourself but during the day those same people are lingering around, with nothing to do, no havoc to create, and almost nothing horrible can happen when it's light outside. We went right to the center of the city and put up a table with Book of Mormons, DVDs, hot chocolate and sweet bread. We sang for 2 hours and walked over to the bus stops to hand out food and meet people. Everyone was so happy to talk to us and it was incredible to see their faces change as the Christmas spirit took over. 

I just can't imagine this holiday being sad. Not because I've never been sad during Christmas; I have. But because I know with complete surety that if there is ever a day to rejoice it is December 25th, the day when the world celebrates the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ. A time to focus on all of the good, all of the miracles, and all of the blessings we have in our lives. Everyone always says "it's not about the presents" so that means that it's not about not having presents, either.  It's about family, not the lack of family. It's about the joys that we do have, not the bad that we've found. 

For goodness sakes if I could ask for anything it would be that you make this the happiest Christmas of your lives! Call whoever you need to, forgive, apologize, laugh, invite, and just have a good time! Here's a promise; if you do all you can to make this Christmas merry, then I promise that when you lay down and go to bed at the end of the day, you will have a smile on your face. I can't promise that things will work out the way you want them to and who knows, maybe you really will have a flop of a holiday. But I promise that if you do all you can to assure that it's good, then you will feel that happiness when you fall asleep. 

One last thing

MONO

In Spanish the song "once there was a snowman" is about a monkey. It's supposed  to translate to "stick figure" and somehow that's supposed to make relation to a snow man. But literally in the song it says "once there was a monkey". Yesterday I was leading the music for the little kids in Primary and we picked this song to sing. I was excited to teach them the dance that goes with it when to my surprise, they already knew it! They all started rubbing their tummies and patting their heads and dancing like a monkey. A stinkin' monkey. It's supposed to be about a snowman! 

Go make some snow monkeys everyone, and I'll talk to you next week!

I love you more than I can express. I am happy because I know you!