Week 27

Happy Christmas, Harry. Happy Christmas, Ron. I think those two sentences will stick with me for a while...:) It was great to be able to talk with the family back home! I'm glad to hear you're all doing okay. I know the Lord has been blessing and guiding us all very abundantly. Yesterday, Elder Su and I had the opportunity to speak in Sacrament meeting about "the true meaning of Christmas." I was super nervous Saturday and Sunday morning because we were super busy during that time. Saturday we had our ward party, in which we and the Youth sang "Little Drummer Boy" sang in the style of the King Singers (very good song, by the way). But youth leaders wanted to me to direct and arrange it! Oof! So with the couple hours I could spend on it I arranged the background parts for the men and taught it to them, and ended up directing the song as well. It kind of fell apart for the performance...but it was fun. I'm grateful Heavenly Father gave me the opportunity to be able to help the ward by doing something I love doing. On Sunday morning, our ward practiced a musical number, "Angels we have Heard on High" arranged by Sally DeFord It has a two-person accompaniment on piano so they had me play the lower half. But amongst all that, we prepared our talks. I really was braindead all of Saturday morning, even during my studies and at night when I was making my talk. But I was praying really hard, because I was still unsure of what I would even say. But as I laid on my bed that night, I had two thoughts I felt prompted to write down, which became the two pillars of my talk the next day. I was so grateful to be able to receive that revelation to be able to guide and comfort me for the next day. I got up at 6 to start writing my talk. Ideas started to flow through my head, and I was able to pull out a lot of scriptures for my talk. Here's about how my talk was: I remember one time my brother asked me on Christmas Eve, "Do you still believe in Santa Claus?" I thought for a while...and I actually forgot what my answer was. But inside was a feeling of "no, not really." This was when I was pretty young, maybe 12-13 years old. And since then, I just had the idea that I didn't believe in him anymore. But all the same, every year I would see a present from mom and dad, and another present - from Santa Claus. After a few years of this, I thought "strange....I'm pretty sure my parents know I don't believe in him anymore." And yet, the presents kept coming. Without fail, one from mom and dad, and then one from Santa Claus. This is when I truly realized the love that my parents had for me. Every year they gave me what I already wanted from my Christmas list. But they would always give one more, because they truly loved me. They wanted me to be even happier. This let me think of a scripture. In 3Ne 14:9-11, Christ teaches. That we, being mortal and imperfect, know how to give good gifts to our children. Then how much more does our Heavenly Father, who is indeed perfect, will give to those who ask of Him? I know that Heavenly Father doesn't stop at just what we ask. He doesn't stop at what makes us satisfied. He always gives us the other present - the unneeded present - because he truly loves us. In the case of Christmas, we know the Lord has given us the best present that he could. This is, of course, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We know that this present gives us the opportunity to attain true happiness. So what does this gift truly entail? We know that Heavenly Father's perfect gift to us can completely wipe away all sources of unhappiness. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can overcome each and every one of these things. We can narrow down all unhappiness or discontentment to 4 things. I hope you can all think of one thing that you are discontent with, and see if it applies to one. The first is Death (Corinthians 15:22) - the death of a loved one, fear for your own. The second is Sin. (Alma 11:40) As we know, wickedness never was happiness. Every sin brings unhappiness to yourself and others around you. The third is weakness. (Ether 12:27) This might be one of the hardest ones, because we have to bring our weaknesses with us everywhere we go, as well with deal with the ones of those around us. The fourth is any other sickness or hardship not related with sin (3Ne 12:3-4,10), such as financial, educational, or emotional problems. I love the scripture in Mosiah 3:13. Because we have the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, we all can have the effects of having our Savior with us like he walks among us. In His Ministry, he healed all sicknesses, he tended all wounds, and he comforted all who were weary. I testify that we can all receive this comfort as if Christ stood beside us. So what is our responsibility? We've been given this wonderful gift. All he asks us to do is: 1. Mos 2:21-22 All he asks is that we repent and obey His Commandments. Use the gift he's given 2. Mos 2:17 Serve someone. Show your gratitude. 3. PMG says that as you understand Christ and His purpose, our desire to share it grows. So share the gospel with those you love! I love Christmas. I know our Savior lives! I know he has made it possible for us all to be happy eternally. Merry Christmas! I love you, -Elder Liu