Unlike President Uchtdorf, I'm afraid I can't take an airplane experience or Dr. Suess and turn it into a talk about Christmas. Thank goodness I don't have to. Instead, I'll be satisfied with writing this special Christmas Edition of the ever-continuing adventures of Elder Anderson in the Czech Prague mission. I've been thinking a lot about what I'd like to say today, what I would write if I had the chance to share my testimony of the Savior at a special time of year when we celebrate his birth.
It seems like lately when I write there is a particular piece of something on my mind, a song or a church video clip or something like that. There is a clip of "What shall we give?(http://lds.org/topic/christmas/christmas_video_9.html) that I am rather fond of. The music and it's message mesh so well together, and it inclines me to think about what I can give at this time of year.
I think it goes really well with this quote by Henry van Dyke that I have. It strikes me whenever I read it and I wanted to share it with you all today:
to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe to the world;
to put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance,
and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground;
to see that your fellowmen are just as real as you are;
and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy;
to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life;
to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness - are you willing to do these things even for a day?
Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and the desires of little children;
to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old;
to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough;
to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts;
to try to understand what those who live in the same house with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you;
to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you;
to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open - are you willing to do these things even for a day?
Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and the desires of little children;
to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old;
to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough;
to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts;
to try to understand what those who live in the same house with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you;
to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you;
to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open - are you willing to do these things even for a day?
Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world - stronger than hate, stronger than evil,
stronger than death - and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?
Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world - stronger than hate, stronger than evil,
stronger than death - and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?
Then you can keep Christmas.
And if you keep it for a day, why not always?
But you can never keep it alone."
As I consider these thoughts and questions, it always turns my thoughts to people around me, to that time my companions shined my shoes or made my bed for me, or the door we held open the other day for an older lady, or getting to strengthen a missionary who is struggling, or whatever it might be. The Last line really speaks the message: You can't keep it alone. This Christmas, we've worked hard to prepare our investigators and help them see why Christ is our Savior. Repentance and experiences with the Atonement are two key and vital aspects to missionary work and to the changes people need in their lives. It's evident that people need to learn to forgive one another, to love more and to align themselves with the Great Exemplar. I'm so grateful for the Savior and for His gospel, the template he's given us to pattern our lives so we can have peace in a struggling world.
Tomorrow is the Christmas conference here in Prague. We've organized a great program with scriptures, carols, and a full devotional. We're singing some great music too and (hopefully) we'll get it on film so we can share it with you all. I'm very grateful for this time of year and I hope that you all enjoy this wonderful time of year.
Přeji veselé vánoce a hodně úspechu ve novém roce!
S láskou,
Starší Brent Anderson
And if you keep it for a day, why not always?
But you can never keep it alone."
As I consider these thoughts and questions, it always turns my thoughts to people around me, to that time my companions shined my shoes or made my bed for me, or the door we held open the other day for an older lady, or getting to strengthen a missionary who is struggling, or whatever it might be. The Last line really speaks the message: You can't keep it alone. This Christmas, we've worked hard to prepare our investigators and help them see why Christ is our Savior. Repentance and experiences with the Atonement are two key and vital aspects to missionary work and to the changes people need in their lives. It's evident that people need to learn to forgive one another, to love more and to align themselves with the Great Exemplar. I'm so grateful for the Savior and for His gospel, the template he's given us to pattern our lives so we can have peace in a struggling world.
Tomorrow is the Christmas conference here in Prague. We've organized a great program with scriptures, carols, and a full devotional. We're singing some great music too and (hopefully) we'll get it on film so we can share it with you all. I'm very grateful for this time of year and I hope that you all enjoy this wonderful time of year.
Přeji veselé vánoce a hodně úspechu ve novém roce!
S láskou,
Starší Brent Anderson
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