The Joy of Giving

Meet Jean Brazil--a cute lady from Napa, California. She is a great lady, full of faith, compassion and kindness. She enjoys learning more about Christ, loves to write, and is a good dancer. I admire her how courageous she is. She is such a strong lady.

This Christmas I received gifts from our Mission President's wife, Sister Bunker. And I couldn't wait...so I opened them all:) It was so much fun. I received a lot of good gifts and I had a few that were the same. I felt like I didn't need to have 3 pairs of gloves. I was inspired to give away some of my gifts that I don't need. Jean came to mind. She loves gloves, scarfs, boots, and beanies. I wrapped her a pair of gloves and gave it to her the next day. Later on that night I called her to see if she was still coming to the ward activity. The first thing she said, in a shaky voice, "I really loved the gloves...thank you so much!" Just listening to her voice, my heart was full of joy. President Eyring said, "That is a wonderful assurance that God knows all of our needs and counts on us to fill the needs of others around us." Heavenly Father knows us more than we know ourselves. And He has given us that gift so we can help the ones around us. Because "when we are in the service of our fellow beings we are only in the service of our God." (Mosiah 2:17)

I have come to learn a lot about service. A friend once told me, "A service is not a service when you are expecting something from it." And I have come to learn that a lot as I am out serving the Lord. Just think of Jesus and the great example that He showed while He was here serving our Heavenly Father. One of the great attributes that Christ had was generosity. "This Christmas season gives us the encouragement to remember Him and His infinite generosity. Remembering His generosity will help us feel and respond to the inspiration that there is someone who needs our help, and it will let us see the hand of God reaching to us when He sends someone to succor us, as He so often does. There is joy in giving and receiving the generosity that God inspires, especially in Christmas." (President Eyring)

Giving Jean the gift was an inspiration I got from my Father in heaven. He leads and guides us to the ones around us that we can help. I know that there are many of His children out there that are waiting for us to be lead to them. Just tonight, after dinner we went to K-Mart to get some cough drops for me. As we were driving away there was a home-less guy just sitting by the building. My companion flipped over and said she wanted to give the man McDonald gift cards that she got as a gift. Just the look on the man's face, Josh was his name...my heart was so full of joy. Serving and being generous to others not only helps the ones in need, but helps you as your serving too. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ's example and how we all have those attributes that we can share with others.