It's Christmas Time!

I simply cannot believe that it is already Christmas time. And what an amazing Christmas day it is already shaping up to be. What comes with Christmas time, besides presents, of course, is why it is we celebrate Christmas. Our mission president, during our "specialized training" (since we can only technically have 4 Zone Conferences a year) asked us why it is we focus on baby Jesus on Christmas. The obvious answer, of course, was that it is because we celebrate the birth of Christ. But then our mission president brought up a good point. Why do we celebrate birthdays? To celebrate our coming into this world. Ok, that's good, but when is the last time others focused simply on you as a baby during your birthday? The reason the Christian community focus' on baby Jesus during Christmas time, instead of celebrating Christ and his life in General, is because Baby Jesus is non-threatening. Baby Jesus just sits and looks cute. He does not ask you to get married, he does not ask you to stop drinking, or smoking, or gambling. It is something very easy and very simple to focus on, without feeling guilty about the way we have been living our lives. So I invite everyone to focus less on little cute baby Jesus, and focus more on what it is that Christ did for us this Christmas season. Our mission president then shared with us his Christmas scripture, and it is a little different than most Christmas scriptures: "For behold, he surely must die that salvation may come; yeah, it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he died, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the lord. Yeah, behold, this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death--that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual. But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yeah, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord." (Helaman 14:15-17)

That is what Christ did for us. That is why we celebrate Christmas.

I love and miss you all!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!