Thanksgiving and Christmas
are the happiest holidays of the year for many of us, but they
represent the saddest holidays of the year for others.
Even as you gather your loving
family members around you, there are people in your ward who will
feel adrift at Thanksgiving time — and, later,
at Christmas. These include missionaries who are away from home
— although truth be told, missionaries usually
get a lot of attention because they're so noticeable. There are
other people whose needs are more likely to be overlooked —
newlyweds who are too far from home to return to one family or
another for the holidays, single people who live far from their
own families, empty-nesters whose nestlings are not returning
for the season, widows, servicemen, and many others.
If you open your eyes, you'll
see people all around you who are dreading the Thanksgiving and
Christmas holidays. These are people that you can help.
If you have found a way to
include other people as part of your family gathering at Thanksgiving
or Christmas, please send us your ideas. Or if other people have
included you and made your own holiday bright, let us know what
was done and how it affected you.
Your responses can make a
world of difference for people who are about to embark on the
saddest time of the year, so I hope you'll write and help others
with ideas for how to love their neighbors — member and nonmember
alike — during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. So please
send your suggestions to meridianmagazine@aol.com.
Meanwhile, I do have a last nice letter regarding missionary
gifts for Christmas. It arrived over the weekend last weekend, before
the technical snafu occurred on Monday. Read on for what one reader
had to say:
I know most of this is about sending gifts to missionaries serving
from your ward somewhere in the world. One idea is to make sure
you don't forget those serving within your ward.
Some time ago, I read a suggestion that someone had about contacting
your local mission office to see if there were elders/sisters who
might need a gift. Also, sometimes the local missionary might not
be so much a physical need as an emotional need for strength and
support.
I have a couple of ideas for gifts that we can give to local missionaries,
though the ideas are buried in some rambling memories:
I wanted to share that back in 1992, when I was serving as a missionary
in Eastern Idaho, I received some beautiful gifts. First, due to
a transfer that occurred a couple days before Christmas, I was in
a brand new area, Blackfoot, Idaho. Change and transfers were usually
difficult for me. I was the type who at times called my mission
president and would leave a message on his phone to please not transfer
me. This transfer in particular was rough for me; I was actually
teary in anticipation of this transfer. My wonderful missionary
companion was returning home, and though I was happy for her, I
would miss working with her. In addition, our area was being closed
to sisters.
The first good gift was due to the kindness of a family in a nearby
stake: The other sister missionaries in our zone and who served
in that stake had been invited to Christmas Eve dinner with that
family. They invited us to attend as well. As part of their large family
Christmas Eve celebration, they went caroling while on a horse-drawn
carriage. They delivered oranges to their neighbors. Upon returning
to their home for dinner, they had a Christmas Eve family testimony
meeting. As I recall, the lights were dimmed and by candlelight
they shared their testimonies of Jesus Christ. As one who grew up
in a large metropolitan area, I had never before seen such a way
of celebrating Christmas, from the horses to the special testimony
meeting.
A second gift involved a material gift: In part due to this transfer,
I hadn't received any gift from home. I was totally fine with this,
because my family and I tend to procrastinate sending gifts, so
more often than not, gifts arrive late. So even without the transfer,
my items from home would have probably arrived late. I knew I'd
have a gift from home, just not before Christmas. My new companion
noticed I didn't have anything and gently inquired about this, and
I explained how my family and I are talented gift-sending procrastinators.
What happened next really touched me though at the time it was
embarrassing, as I'd always been more of a gift-giver than a gift-receiver.
I learned that she mentioned my situation to some of the other
missionaries. So on Christmas Day, I learned that
one of the elders had offered her $30 to give me something.
Luckily she didn't accept that money. However it touches my heart
to this day that one of the elders would make such a kind offer.
The second gift was that one of the elders asked one of the people
in his stake (each companionship served in one stake) to provide
me with some kind of gift. And so I anonymously received from
this family a few items, such as book, perfume from this
family. One of the items they gave me was a blue wood heart with
a mini candle that says, "Charity Never Faileth"
and on the other side it says, "Let Your Light Shine." When
the candle in that wood heart fell off, I replaced it with a small
Idaho flag to remind me of the love and kindness I felt from those
Idahoans on that particular Christmas. The elder refused to provide
me the name of the gift giver so that I could thank these people.
He said the family didn't want to be revealed. I did write
a letter that I hope he gave to them.
The final gift was especially meaningful, for it is what
Christmas is all about: We were given permission to return
to my old area to witness a Christmas Day baptism of a young woman.
What a special way to celebrate Christmas! And by the time I had
received these gifts, I felt I had been renewed and felt at peace
in the new area, and I was no longer teary-eyed about having been
transferred right before Christmas.
So my take-home message to Meridian is just to find ways to remember
and serve the missionaries in your current ward, and to reach out
to the others in your local area, you never know when the missionaries
might be having a hard time being on a mission.
Juanita in Virginia
Well, Juanita, even though you sent your letter before
my request about helping people celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas
was published, your experience certainly fit the category. Thanks
for writing. Your letter is a reminder that among the people around
you are those whose Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays will not
be bright unless someone takes them in.
I hope Juanita's letter inspires all of you who have ideas
or experiences to help our readers extend Thanksgiving and Christmas
to others. Sit down and send us your ideas (or forward the ones
you sent to me last week) to the real address — meridianmagazine@aol.com—
so I'll get them in time for our next column. Put something in the
subject line that will let me know your letter isn't spam. And when
you write, be sure to include your full name, city and state or
province. (If you'd rather be semi-anonymous, sign your name as
“A Reader from Michigan” or “Sandy from Timbuktu.” The important
thing is that we hear from you.)
Until next time — Kathy
I expect to pass through this world but once; any
good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show
to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect
it,
for I shall not pass this way again.
Ettiene De Grellet
