During the Christmas season much thought is given to the receiving and giving of gifts. Sometimes we allow ourselves to become overly stressed about what we should give or what we would like to receive. All of this giving and receiving can be good for us. We all need to think of others and to know that others think of us, but sometimes I think we lose sight of the greatest gift ever given, the gift of a loving Savior for all of mankind. His life, His love, His example, His gospel, and His sacrifice truly are the Source of all hope for each of us as individuals and collectively as a civilization. We can show our gratitude for this incomprehensible gift first of all by acknowledging it, and then by heeding His invitation when He said: "Come follow me." Let us always remember, He is the Gift
Well do I remember the Christmas seasons I spent in Germany (three of them) as a missionary. I especially remember the first one. A couple of special memories stand out. We rented a room form a lady, Frau Sonneson, sounds Swedish to me, but she lived in a little city, Husum, in the north of Germany. She was a widow, having lost her dear husband in the war and had been alone since that time. She had a spare room in her little apartment that was not used and agreed to let the missionaries stay there. She was always smiling and seemed so happy to have us around. She was always making us little treats and every night when we came home from tracting we would find a steaming pitcher full of peppermint tea waiting for us. It was so warming and comforting after a long day outside in the damp cold trying our best to share the gospel with people who were to busy to listen to our message at best or at worst even hostile to our message of peace and joy. I remember on those evenings sitting in her little parlor while Frau Sonneson told happy stories of her childhood in Germany and of the bleak Christmases during the Second World War. She would then teach us to sing some of the beautiful German Christmas carols, such as Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht and O Du Froeliche. These and others are among my Christmas favorites to this day. I was far from home but the Spirit of Christmas was there and brought joy and greater understanding to my soul. This good lady aw not a member of the Church and so far as I know never became one in this life, but she was a saint in the way she lived and showed love to others, especially two young American elders who were spending their first Christmas away from home.
On another occasion just a couple of days before Christmas in 1960 my companion and I had been out visiting a family in a little village not far distant from Husum. As were peddling home that evening on our bicycles we stopped at the top of a small hill to catch our breath. It was a foggy evening and the little village we had visited could only be seen as shimmering light in the darkness of the night. Ahead of us could be seen the lights shimmering in the fog above the city of Husum where we lived. Suddenly we heard the sound of church bells ring in the distance. We recognized that they were coming from the small church in the village we had just left. They sounded clearly in the still foggy air. Then from the opposite direction more bells could be heard sounding from a church in foggy Husum. We stood there in awe as the carol of the bells played out before us as though they were singing to one another. Small moments etched in my memory forever, I have thought of these little incidents many times, especially during this season of the year. These memories bring joy to my soul as we often sing "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" in our church on the Sundays preceding Christmas. I am so grateful that we sing not only of the Saviors birth, but I take great courage in the words of that song: He is not dead nor doth He sleep.
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