Elder Vaughn says that Christmas here in Japan is a lot like Valentine`s Day in America, it is pretty much an excuse to party and stay up late with members of the opposite gender as well as an excuse to eat a bunch of candy. Kids here actually still have school on Christmas so that is a huge bummer. It is amazing though how this Christmas Season I can still feel the Christmas Spirit even though I am in a country full of Buddhists who don`t really understand the true meaning of Christmas. I think I understand finally what the Grinch realized after he stole all of those presents that fateful Christmas morning. It isn`t about presents or getting school off or huge football games or even Santa Claus, Christmas is really all about Christ. It is more of a feeling instead of a set of traditions or a special day. I never understood why people would say `Have the Christmas Spirit with you all year.` Santa doesn`t come everyday of the year, I don`t eat Grandma`s delicious ham rolls every day, I don`t spend time with my extended family everyday. But Christmas is more than that; it is a Spirit of gratitude and appreciation for what Christ did for us. It is the Spirit of change and of improvement, to be better. Christ came into the world as a newborn babe so that he could grow and learn like we do and eventually give his life to atone for the sins of all of us. While a lot of the times, we are thinking throughout the Christmas season `What am I going to get for Christmas` or even `What am I going to give so and so for Christmas` but the most important gift has already been given to us by Christ. He is the Gift that Our Loving Father in Heaven gave to us because he loves us and wants us to return to Him. So maybe instead of dwelling on the physical as I have around Christmas time, we should focus on the Spiritual. God has given us Christ; now, what shall we give him? We will never repay him for His gift to us but we can show our gratitude by improving and choosing something to give to Him. Maybe it might be being more charitable to those around you. Maybe the gift might be to share the gospel with those around you. Maybe the gift could be reading the scriptures more diligently. Whatever it is, Christmas time should be a time of improvement and giving back to God so that we can live with Him again.
I am grateful for the opportunity to serve in Japan this Christmas Season to tell others of the gift of Christ that God has given us. I am grateful to be able to improve myself everyday and become more converted to Christ by sharing His gospel. While I will miss seeing all of those I love this Christmas, I will be serving among others that God loves and those who He wants to use the gift of Christ`s atonement to help them in their lives. One gift we gave as a mission to Christ was memorizing the Living Christ in English, given by the 12 Apostles in 2000. I`d like this to be my Christmas present to you: `We solemnly testify that His life, which is central to all human history, neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary.` I know that Christ lives and that even before that very first Christmas, he loved us and decided to give his life to make us happy. May we all remember Christ, not this Christmas or next Christmas but also throughout all of our lives. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope that you enjoy this wonderful Christmas Season, wherever you may be.
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