The TRUE meaning of Christmas.

Tomorrow, I have to give a talk in Seminary on what the "True meaning of Christmas" is... Seeing as I write the best when I'm blogging... I'm going to write my talk here. :))

Christmas is such a special time in my heart. I love being surrounded by my family, I love the warm smell of bread baking in the oven, and the cranberry candle that my mother always puts in our downstairs. Christmas is a truly amazing time of year. Too often, is the TRUE meaning of the Holiday overlooked though. The reason we celebrate Christmas is because of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Christmas is a time for giving, not receiving. We are all so spoiled with the things we have. A home, a car, food on the table, Christmas presents, school clothes, school supplies, and so many more things. There are so many people in the world, that don't have anything. Our Savior gave us everything. He gave us his very life, so that we might be able to repent, and live with him, and our Heavenly Father and Mother again someday.
My favorite Christmas Story is "Christmas Jars" It's about a family that saves up their spare change in a small glass jar every year, and at Christmas time they anonymously give it to someone who needs it. The family in this story does such a small thing, putting a few pennies, and maybe a nickel or dime into the jar every day when they get home from work, or School, but by the end of the year the amount of money in the jar ends up helping someone else who is in need SO much. One of my favorite parts in the book is when a man who receives a Christmas Jar says, "The money did not save my life, but it did save my faith in men."
My mom is one of the greatest examples of service. Whenever I come home and smell cookies, or bread that has just come out of the oven, I always know not to dig into it, because it's probably for someone that my mother knows needs it. My Dad is an amazing example of service as well, he knows how to do EVERYTHING. And I mean everything, and he is always the first person to step up and volunteer to help when someone is in need, whether it be fixing a car, building something, or moving to a new home.
Giving is such an important aspect of our lives, at least it should be. Service, and charity is one of the most amazing things in this world, and we have the opportunity to be surrounded by it. In our community there is always some act of group service being performed, and we have the chance to help out with it. I want to challenge you all to do something nice for someone else this season. Bake cookies for the elderly woman down the street, visit your young womens, or young mens leader that is sick, or even write a Thank you letter to your Bishop for all of the hard work that he does.
Service, and Family are what the holidays are about. It's not about the presents, the wreaths, the tree, the lights, the colors, it's about recognizing what the Savior did for us, and trying to pay a fraction of it forward to someone else. In closing I want to give this scripture, " When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. - Mosiah 2:17" When we are giving service to others, we really are serving our Heavenly Father. He wants us to help out as many people as we can, because he knows that we can impact their lives greatly. I hope that we all might be able to bless someone else's life with service this season. I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday, and I pray that you keep the Savior, and everything that he has done for us in mind.