Friday, December 16, 2011

Most WONDERFUL Time!

Tooooooooddddaaaaayyy...... Hmm. Well, it's Chrismas!!! Or soon will be! And it's so different because there is no snow here in Tennessee. In fact, it is RAINING today! How strange is that for an Idahoan? And yesterday it was sunny and almost 70 degrees. This is weather fitting for September, not December! But I must say, I am grateful that it is a bit on the warmer side for the season, especially since Sister D. and I will spend about half of it walking to wherever we are going!
  We are asked all the time what it is like to be a missionary around Christmas. Well, it's like Christmas! Everyone is focused on the Savior and His birth and recognize that they need Him in their lives. With the new year fast approaching, the children of God also have desires to start the new year right in studying and accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is one wonderful sister in our area who even wants to have her baptism at midnight on New Year's Eve! What a blessing that will be to her!
   As far as traditional Christmases, Sister D. and I have a 2 foot tall fake tree with ornaments that a member donated to us. Also in the Spirit of Christmas we have a nativity set that my dad mailed me! And it's special. Stay tuned for this next week to find out why! (Basically Sister Franson just realized that she forgot her camera to upload a picture of the nativity today, so she WILL be sure to bring it next time!)
   Do you know what else is great about Christmas time? It's also the birthday of the prophet Joseph Smith on the 23 of December! There is an LDS family I know that on this day celebrates the holiday of Mormonza. (Really it's just a holiday to just have a holiday. We DO NOT celebrate OR woship Joseph Smith like we we do the Savior.) It's kind of fun! They have all the traditional "Mormon" foods- funeral potatoes, green jello with carrots, frog-eye salad, etc., all the things you would see at a pot-luck in Utah....
  So here's a question for you: Why do we celebrate? Not just Christmas, but things like birthdays, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, President's day, and Pi Day..... Why do we make these days different from all the others?
There are a number of reasons. To remember someone or something or some event, to show gratitude for something, to have an excuse to eat as much food as we want and not count calories, but whatever the reason, there is one. Dear friends, do share! Leave a comment, post something on facebook, talk to a friend, but do something special today, and tell someone why Christmas matters to you!

Have an action-packed day!
-Sister Franson

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