Dear home, I love you and the holidays.

It's been so much fun already to be home! I'm so thankful that I have the chance to be in Ephraim and away from home so I get to learn and grow on my own, but also so I appreciate my family and being in their home more than I did before. :) I got to Cedar yesterday afternoon, showered before the sisters got home, and then hugged everyone and went to Harry Potter with Er. It's been fun to become closer with her since the move too. Tonight Bri and I are going to have a sleeping party in her room! What fun, eh?

Well. Today, on the 31st day before Christmas I want to share this short clip of a talk by President Monson with you:

I am the Christmas Spirit.
I enter the home of poverty, causing pale-faced children to open their eyes wide in pleased wonder.
I cause the miser’s clutched hand to relax and thus paint a bright spot on his soul.
I cause the aged to renew their youth and to laugh in the glad old way.
I keep romance alive in the heart of childhood and brighten sleep with dreams woven of magic.
I cause eager feet to climb dark stairways with filled baskets, leaving behind them hearts amazed at the goodness of the world.
I cause the prodigal to pause a moment on his wild, wasteful way, and send to anxious love some little token that releases glad tears—tears which wash away the hard lines of sorrow.
I enter dark prison cells, reminding scarred manhood of what might have been, and pointing forward to good days yet to come.
I come softly into the still, white home of pain; and lips that are too weak to speak just tremble in silent, eloquent gratitude.
In a thousand ways I cause the weary world to look up into the face of God, and for a little moment forget the things that are small and wretched.
I am the Christmas Spirit.

This is the spirit each true Christian seeks. This is the spirit I pray each may find. This is the Christ spirit. No quest is so universal, no undertaking so richly rewarding, no effort so ennobling, no purpose so divine. The Christmas season seems to prompt anew that yearning, that seeking to emulate the Savior of the world.



I love Christmas time. (Yeah, I'm aware that it's still a few days before Thanksgiving. Call me a fanatic.) I love the lights and the cozy fires, hot chocolate and Christmas Caroling. I love decorating for the Holiday, and putting up a tree. I love drawing names for gifts and I love doing the 12 days of Christmas. But most of all I adore the feeling in the air. I love the Christmas Spirit. This is what the real Christmas Spirit is though, and it's my belief that it doesn't have to wait until mid November to show up. :) Christmas is about Christ's birth and life, about all the service he did for others and the example he gave for us. Christmas is about our emulation of our Savior, and I hope that this Christmas is a time for growth in all our lives. :) Merry 31 days before Christmas!