Candy.
The End
Actually, most of them don't even want that. The members will make sure they are well supplied with candy, cookies and all kinds of food--delicious and otherwise :)
Some may need new shirts, shoes, skirts or a tie/blouse/whatever that they haven't worn 500 times. But that isn't it either.
As families begin the countdown to the Christmas Day Skype call, take a moment to put yourselves in your missionary's well-worn shoes.
Christmas as a missionary is different. Because Christmas is so filled with family, community and neighborhood traditions, it is easy to imagine what your family and friends are doing--doing without you. You know what they are doing, you know what they are
eating! It is a time of homesickness for many, even seasoned missionaries. Today we picked up 21 missionaries fresh from the MTC. They are exhausted, they are in a new place, they are in sunny Southern California--in December. It will be a challenge for some of them to have Christmas directly after leaving home.
But they will do it, and it will change them.
Elder Holland put it this way:
For such an uneventful Christmas—clearly the least festive of any I ever had before or since—it says something that those special days in December of 1960 remain in my heart (after more than 50 years!) as one of the sweetest Christmases I have ever had. I think that is because for the first time in my life, I found myself understanding Christmas rather than just enjoying it. I think for the first time in any truly significant way, I was getting the message of Christ’s birth and life—His message and His mission and His sacrifice for others.
Instead of celebrating Christmas, understanding Christmas. Instead remembering Christ, representing Christ. It is a unique and wonderful privilege.
So what does your missionary want for Christmas?
Your missionary wants you to understand why she is not home for Christmas. Your missionary wants you to understand what he has committed to do.
What your missionary wants for Christmas is your testimony. Specifically, your testimony of missionary work. Your own missionary work.
When you finally see each other through the miracle that is Skype, your missionary wants to hear how what they are doing and sacrificing is so important, that bringing the gospel is so vital, that
you are doing it too. You understand that Jesus Christ was born in that manger so that all mankind could be saved. That the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth and with it the priesthood keys and ordinances that bind and seal us together for all eternity. That because of Christ's atoning sacrifice we can change, we can improve, we can return to God again.
You've got three weeks.
Start by praying every morning and every evening for missionary experiences.
Keep a pass along card, mormon.org card or Book of Mormon with you--just in case.
I know you have a ward party, a RS dinner, a choir performance that you can invite people to--invite them!
When you are chatting at work about how busy the season is, how far behind you are on your preparations, etc. go the extra step and say how much you love Christmas and how amazing it is that Jesus was born, lived and died for us.
Actually bear your testimony to your visiting teachees.
Ask the missionaries in your area to find someone to teach in your home.
Easiest of all, TELL PEOPLE YOUR MISSIONARY WILL NOT BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS AND YOU ARE SO GLAD! Sorry for the yelling, but if you have a son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandmother, aunt, neighbor or former cub scout on a mission, tell the world! I guarantee if you start talking about how your missionary being away, or how you only talk to them
twice a year, people will want to know what kind of crazy peppermint you've been smoking. Tell them!
We know you miss them, but we also know how proud you are of them.
Come Christmas morning--tell your missionary what you did because of their example. Tell them how you wanted to be a part of something so very dear to their hearts.
Christ
is the point of Christmas. Joy to the World!
