The Gift that Keeps on Giving

It’s a pretty safe bet at some point during the Christmas holiday season you will hear my dad say “that’s the gift that keeps on giving.” I’m not sure if he picked that up from an ad or from Christmas Vacation when Clark gets the infamous Jelly of the month subscription as his end of year bonus and cousin Eddie says “that’s the gift that keeps on giving the whooooole year,” but it’s definitely a common saying at our house. Normally it’s said about physical gifts we give one another on Christmas but lately I’ve been thinking about more important gifts. Gifts that aren’t always seen or held but are nonetheless meaningful; gifts that truly do keep on giving.

I taught my first lesson on Sunday on Elder Soares’ most recent general conference talk called “The Savior’s Abiding Compassion” it was honestly one of my favorite talks and has brought comfort, peace, inspiration and an increased love for our Savior every time I read it. We had a really good discussion in Relief Society about what the words “abiding” and “compassion” mean to people. We talked about how abiding was something that was “lasting, enduring, lingered, doesn’t fade, stays, etc.” and that compassion: “loves unconditionally, helps, understands, suffers with.” Then I shared the story of Christ entering the home of Simon the Pharisee and the woman who was a sinner coming into the room and washing Christ’s feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair and anointing them with oil (Luke 7). Simon looks on this scene and doubts Christ’s divinity and ability to receive revelation by thinking “This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner,” (Luke 7:39). Then Christ perceiving his thoughts rebuked him for his unrighteous judgment of the woman and lack of courtesy toward the Savior who was a guest in his home.
And we talked about how we all have been Simon’s in our lives no doubt but we can learn so much from Christ and His compassion that never fades, it abides.

We then listed out several examples of times in Christ’s life when He showed compassion to others: the woman taken in adultery, healing lepers, when he stayed and lingered with the Nephites after they didn’t want Him to leave, when He wept with the family of Lazarus even though He was about to perform a miracle He still mourned with those that mourn, when he healed the Roman soldier whose ear was cut off by Peter, forgiving the crowds who crucified Him… the list goes on and on.

One of the quotes that stuck out to me the most from Elder Soares’ talk was the line “The compassionate attitude of Jesus is rooted in charity.” As I was preparing for this lesson I was reminded of the Christlike attribute quiz in Preach My Gospel so I made a printout of the charity portion of the quiz and had everyone take a few minutes to fill out the quiz and write down a way they can be more charitable/compassionate and to commit to doing it. Especially as we near Christmas we talked about giving gifts to the Savior. Gifts of compassion are truly gifts that keep on giving especially when our compassion is abiding like His.

I was able to offer my gift of compassion as Jaden and I ministered to a woman in our ward who doesn’t have a car and needs help running errands. It was the day before we were supposed to leave to go home for Christmas and when I first saw her text come in I was tempted to say I couldn’t that time. But I thought about the Savior’s compassion and we said yes.

I really am so grateful for a Savior who sets the perfect example for us and who shows us compassion in ways no one else can. I love this time of year when we can reflect more deeply on our gratitude for Him and His divine mission as well as our relationship with Him. I hope I can offer my gifts of compassion to Him so that I can become more like Him and

Peaches:

• Great discussion in Relief Society
• Getting SO excited to go home!!!
• Purple house for mom 
  
• Watching Christmas movies
• Friends birthdays
• Making Casa del Tamal tacos for the Carnegie Crew and Jaden's towel toga  
  
• Decorating gingerbread houses with friends
• Going to a laser light show that was like a drive in movie but had fog machines and laser lights choreographed to Christmas songs
• My job that gives me flexibility to go home and keep working even when we’re in Utah for over two weeks
• Facetiming the babies 
• Going Christmas shopping with Jaden
  
• Eating out at a super yummy Italian place
• Jaden picked the worst cart at the store that had the most annoying rattling wheel so he angled it and pushed it on two wheels the whole time we were getting groceries and it made me laugh
• Dinner with friends and yummy sweet potato fries
  
• Making and delivering holiday potpourri to neighbors and friends
• Our elf Reginald found us in PA
• Helping Jaden make his PowerPoint for our friend Christmas party back home
• Jaden took me to breakfast
  
• Jaden cleaning the house while I worked
  
• Jaden helping back up all of our work computers to the cloud (he’s our IT guy)
• Making plans to see friends and family while we’re in town
• Cute post from Bridge
  
• Getting to know some other couples in our ward at a hot cocoa and gingerbread making party
• Opening Christmas presents together before our flight home  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pits:

• Getting lost on the way to the laser light show
• Misunderstanding over a comment made about a friend’s job opportunity
• Frustration over COVID
• Dropped our gingerbread cookies all over the road
• Wanting to fix a situation so bad in someone's life but knowing I am unable to do so
• Going to four stores before finding gingerbread house kits
• Saw someone collapsed on the side of the road with a head injury when I was delivering Christmas gifts I stopped to help but they said they had an ambulance on the way and it pulled up right after I pulled over. It was still scary and humbling at the same time
  

Lessons Learned:

•  Compassion is the gift that keeps on giving
• Don't trust every address you click on from an email confirmation of a destination, look it up yourself to double check.
• Mercurio's is a solid Italian restaurant choice, the bruschetta was amazing!!!!
• It takes a lot longer to deliver Christmas gifts when your ward is over a 30 mile radius