DECEMBER 22nd

DECEMBER 22nd

• Thought/story: "The Gift of Presence"
• Scripture: Luke 1:26-33
Event: Mary's visitation
Jesus Christ was Son of the Highest

• Recipe: New & improved rice krispie treats (If you'd like to try something
different from the standard rice krispie treat, these are a nice variation).
Ingredients: 6 c rice krispies, 1 c sugar, 1 c karo syrup, 1 1/2 c creamy peanut
butter, 1 tsp vanilla, 6 oz butterscotch chips, 6 oz choc chips
Instructions: Pour karo syrup and sugar into saucepan on med heat. Stir and
remove from heat when the mixture boils. Pour peanut butter and vanilla into
mixture. Pour entire mixture over rice krispies in a large bowl. Stir quickly to
blend. Pour into 9x13 cake pan. Melt choc and butterscotch chips together on
low heat. Pour evenly onto rice krispies. Refrigerate to set if you want to, but
store at room temp.

• Tradition: Another tradition I especially enjoyed at Christmas was that my mom
and dad would leave usually at least one or two gifts unwrapped. These gifts
would be left lying on the couch (often clothes, dolls or other stuffed items that
my mom had made for us). Sometimes they were large gifts that needed to be
assembled before-hand. Our Christmas tree was in the living room upstairs and
at that time all us "girls" slept downstairs and we would take turns on Christmas
Eve running Covert Operation up to the living room to see what all we could
with all the lights out (after making sure Mom and Dad had gone to bed, of
course). With six children the living room was fairly stuffed with Christmas
goods. We would then go back downstairs and give the other sisters a full
report of what we had seen! We would laugh and talk and could hardly sleep at
all. I think one year we literally did not sleep one wink! Of course we would
still try to wake Mom and Dad up at 5 a. m. to open gifts.

• Small gift idea: Candy-filled reindeer
Cut a small piece of cellophane approximately 24x24". Place holiday candies
(wrapped peppermints, malt balls, gumdrops, etc.) In the center of the
cellophane. Add enough candies to make a large popcorn ball size. Gather up
the cellophane around candy and tie with a bow. Tie on a jingle bell. Glue on
wiggly craft eyes (3/4") and a red pom-pom nose (1/2"). Use 2 brown pipe
cleaners to make antlers (wrap smaller pieces on the ends to form 3 points).
Poke antlers down between gathers and cellophane and tack withhot glue. Use scissors and trim cellophane if needed. Add a tag for gift giving.



THE GIFT OF PRESENCE
Art E. Berg

As a young man I was eager to serve a mission. From the time I was eight years old, I counted the days until I could serve the Lord in a full-time capacity. In the years I waited the official call, I wondered where in all the world the Lord might send me. I had one friend who went to South Africa, another who went to Korea, and still another who served in Japan. I wasn't interested only in foreign missions; there were also many places in the United States where I would have loved to have served. As a boy, I had traveled with my family all over the United States visiting relatives. By the time I was eighteen, I had seen forty-two of the fifty states.
On the day my mission call came, I was as eager as any young man would be. My family gathered around me, and we all held our breaths as I tore the letter from the envelope. I would be a little less thanhonest if I didn't say that I was somewhat dissapointed when I read that I would be spending the next two years of my life in North or South Dakota. After I figured out which country those places were in, I asked my father why, in all our family travels, we had never been to North or South Dakota. He replied "Son, when you get there you'll know!"
My first area was in Mandan, North Dakota. It was a small community beside the missouri River. While the people were principled and God-fearing, they were not very fond of out-siders." North Dakotans almost had a sense of pride about their harsh and frigid winters. They felt their winters kept the "riff-raff" out. I felt like I was Elder Riff and my companion was Elder Raff.
My first winter in the Dakotas was one of the coldest on record. I remember one day we tracted for more than three hours in below-zero temperatures--53 degrees below zero! We were so bundled with cloths, coats, scarfs, and gloves that all youu could see from beneath our protection was the determination in our eyes. Our feet were frozen and our hands numb, but still no one would let us in, whether to receive our gift of the gospel of Christ or to offer us a cup of hot chocolate. Their hearts seemed t be as cold as their winters.
As Christmas neared, I began to feel pangs of lonliness. I felt like a stranger in a foreign land, among people who didn't dislike me as much as they just ignored me. I'm not sure which was worse. My heart longed for the smells and sights of a familiar Christmas. I yearned to be with family and friends who loved me. I was finding it difficult to keep a gentle tear from rolling down my frozen cheek from time to time.
On Christmas Eve, alI of the missionaries in the area gathered together at a member's home for dinner. The smelIs of turkey and hot homemade rolIs emanated
from the direction of the kitchen. A soft, crackling fire popped in the comer of the room. Stockings hung from the chimney with children's names on them. Everything
looked familiar. But still there was a holIow, empty feeling in my heart. In a room full of people, I felt alone. That's the most terrible kind of loneliness there is.
After dinner, we crowded into the small living room to watch a 16 mm film of a movie I had never heard of or seen before-It's a Wonderful Life-with Jimmy Stewart. As we watched, the room began to feel warmer, not in temperature, but in spirit. The movie reminded me that even under the worst of circumstances, there is a lot to be grateful for. My heart was filled with gratitude and thanksgiving. The film taught that the measure of a person's life could be found, at least in part in his relationships wlth others. Although the principal character of the movie, George Bailey, felt very much alone in his frustration and seemingly hopless plight, he found comfort in his guardian angel, Clarence, who never left his side. My purpose
and vision as a missionary became clearer as I felt the influence of the Spirit whispering to my heart. Unashamed, I let tears fall from my eyes and I wept as
a child.
In the final moments of the classic film, Clarence the angel leaves a book which includes the personal inscription, "No man is a failure who has friends." I wasn't alone anymore. I looked around the room and, perhaps for the first time, saw other missionaries who shared the same heartfelt desires to serve the Lord as I
had; only now they weren't Just companions, but friends.
But something even significant happened
I felt the presence of the Lord in a speciai way. More than just sensing his presence, I felt his love for me. For that moment, my heart felt embraced by the understanding, empathy, and compassion of my Savior. And despite the fact that I was a stranger in a foreign land,I didn't feel alone anymore. I knew from that moment that I had a friend I could trust in forever, a friend who would never leave or fail me. I had received a most wonderful Christmas gift that served me for the remainder of my missionary expenence.
Having served the eighteen-month mission that was required at that time, I was home again for my next Christmas with my family in sunny California. I rejoiced in the-experiences of my mission but even then I never realized how significant that Christmas gift from my Savior would become.
After enjoying a traditional California Christmas at home with my fam1ly, I prepared to travel to Utah to spend the rest of the holidays with my fiancee and her family. I left on Christmas evening with a friend of mine named John. I drove for the first eight and a half hours, then grew tired and swapped places with John, who drove away into the night. I soon fell asleep In the passenger seat. John drove for the next hour or hour and a half; then he too became tired and fell asleep at the wheel.
The car hit the comer of a concrete divider and rolled down the side of the road a number of times. Despite the fact that I was wearing a seat belt. I was ejected from the vehicle. The car finally came to a stop
in a pile of twisted metal and broken glass. John, still in the driver's seat, looked to his right to see if I was okay. I wasn't there!
Lying on the cold desert floor, I could feel the warmth of the blood on my face. My neck and head surged with such intense pain I thought I was going to explode. I struggled to lift myself from the earth, but I couldn't move. It was then that I realized that I couldn't feel my legs and that I couldn't move my hands. I was
paralyzed from the chest down.
ln the still air of the crisp night, I felt alone. I knew that what had happened was terrible. I knew it was serious. Where had all my dreams gone? I was twenty-one years old. It was the morning after Christmas. A time for celebration? Love? Joy? Family?
It was four-thirty in the morning. still dark outside. My future looked as dark as the sky above me. The pain was greater than I could bear, and I could feel myself
slipping into unconsciousness. God help me!
It started as a small, warm feeling and quickly grew to an overwhelming surge of confidence. I was not alone! The Lord of the sparrows and lilies had not overlooked his broken and hurting son lying in the desert. In a moment, I knew in my heart that God had not forgotten me. I knew he loved me and, perhaps even more significantly, that he would never stop. In perhaps the darkest hour of my life, I felt the very real presence and love of my Savior. I was not alone and, by his promise, I never will be. Tears stung the open wounds on my face.
Whatever the future would hold for me (and I am paralyzed to this day), I knew it could not include failure. "No man is a failure who has friends." And I had the greatest friend of all-He who descended beneath all things to lift me up. I would never be alone again. For a second time, I had received the greatest gift of all for Christmas-not in the form of presents, but presence. And I thank God for that.


Art E Berg is a proffessional speaker and pesident of Invictus Communications, Inc. A popular speaker for Brigham Young University's Especially for Youth and Know Your Religion programs, he is also the author of Some Miracles Take Time and Finding Peace
In Troubled Waters.