Without Toys or Trees or Tinsel

MERRRRRRYYYYY CHRISTMAS!

Let's start with a.... church signnnnn! *whoo hoo*:

"Mary wrapped the first Christmas present"

Loved that one. Also I wanted to give y'all a special Christmas treat and include one of my favorite, most recent, Sister Owusu quotes:
-"Oh! Santa! Oh no... not Santa. That was a lady dressed in red..."

I am currently typing away while the rain is rain rain raining outside, and the smell of jollof rice permeates the air all around me. Sister Owusu has been cooking all this morning and I'm pretty sure that the smell of African food has permanently entered my skin cells. And I'm totally okay with that. Have I mentioned how much I love that girl lately?

Where to begin? Another rollercoaster of a week. When do I NOT write that...? I haven't been feeling too well, but I'm okay now and no matter what, the show must go on! We had some pretty amazing miracles this week:

Such as C and M deciding that they wanted to be baptized on January 10th!
And B (who is A's stepdad) also wanting to be baptized on January 17th and we are so excited for him! He is so prepared. And Bro H coming to church for the second week in a row! And finally being able to meet with T after a super long time of not hearing back from her. And of course tons of super fun Christmas caroling! Also, my ward is the best and one of the women in the Relief Society presidency posted that it was my birthday on the ward Facebook page, so I was receiving texts and gifts and treats all day. They are too sweet to us! Which doesn't even begin to cover the Christmas goodies and packages that we've gotten. Thank you so much to everyone that sent something, you guys are the best!

And some sad moments: such as K (C's husband) deciding that he doesn't feel comfortable with them getting baptized right now. But, I know that the Lord has a plan and that the strength and good example from C will be an incredible influence to their family and that they WILL get baptized, it's just a matter of time. Extra prayers for their family would be appreciated.

"Tis the season" to all of you beautiful souls out there. Thank you again for your cards and packages and prayers. Thank you for being such strong examples of goodness.

I would like to close with the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, from an address given at BYU in December 1977, entitled "Maybe Christmas Doesn't Come from a Store" (which I HIGHLY recommend reading):

"At this focal point of all human history, a point illuminated by a new star in the heavens revealed for just such a purpose, probably no other mortal watched—none but a poor young carpenter, a beautiful virgin mother,and silent stabled animals who had not the power to utter the sacredness they had seen.

Shepherds would soon arrive and later, wise men from the East. Later yet the memory of that night would bring Santa Claus and Frosty and Rudolph—and all would be welcome. But first and forever there was just a little family, without toys or trees or tinsel. With a baby—that’s how Christmas began.

Perhaps recalling the circumstances of that gift, of his birth, of his own childhood, perhaps remembering that purity and faith and genuine humility will be required of every celestial soul, Jesus must have said many times as he looked into the little eyes that loved him (eyes that always best saw what and who he really was), “Except ye be converted,and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3.)

Christmas, then, is for children—of all ages."

You all know that children are my soft spot; I got that from my dear mother. So this Christmas, I ask that you look to those children around you. Look to them to remember the reason why we celebrate this time of year. I ask you to look at their stress-free, worry-free, excited little faces and try to be a little more like them. Let's all be excited for Christ. I love you all. Merry Christmas.

Love,
Sister Szilagyi