Merry Christmas!!! P.S. This is long...

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas is a time of giving. So I want to give you something. I may not have Pedro Sanchez's power to make all your wildest dreams come true (at least not all of them), but I do want to share with you what I have been given. You are free to do what you like with what follows. Nothing I say is meant to be preachy, so please don't take it that way. I think we live in uncertain times, and I feel it would be ungrateful of me not to share the things I am certain of. We each have certainties in our lives that our dear to us. These are some of mine.

There may be cloudy times in your life when you aren't sure what is real and important and what isn't. Maybe there are many voices in your life, and you don't know which to trust. Maybe you feel alone, adrift, and rudderless in a stormy sea. These are my anchors and my lighthouses, and it is because they bring me happiness, clarity, safety, and purpose that I want to share them with you.

Things I know:

1. God lives.

He is my Father. He loves me. He has a plan for me. He has sent me here with the gift of agency: the ability to make choices for myself, so that I can learn and grow through making choices that will someday lead me back to Him. Through prayer I can talk with Him, and through the Scriptures and the quiet, peaceful voice of His Spirit, He speaks with me. How thankful I am for those gifts of guidance and love.

2. Jesus Christ is my Savior.

Because of my own mistakes, God's plan for me to return to Him would have failed without the gift of a Mediator and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because God loves His children, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to teach us how to make right choices, to love and serve each other, and to look to God and live. The most important work the Savior performed while He was here was the Atonement, His suffering both in the Garden of Gethsemane and upon the cross, which He bore in order that we might be saved from spiritual and physical death. In an act of infinite love and sacrifice, He willingly paid the price for all of our sins, afflictions, illnesses, pains, fears, and sorrows. He died for us and rose again three days later, so that someday we too may overcome death. Through the power of the Atonement, I have been healed in ways I could never have hoped for without it.

3. My Family is my greatest gift.

One of the greatest blessings in my life is and always has been my family here on earth. I love you all more than language can express, and more than time can tell. I owe more to my parents than I will ever be able to repay you, and I love, admire, and look up to each of my brothers and sister. I'm continually amazed by each of you. I am grateful for the assurance that I will be with you in the eternities. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and our own commitment and adherence to sacred ordinances, death cannot separate us.

To my wonderful grandparents, aunts and uncles both of blood and of choice, I express all the love and gratitude I possess, and some regret that I'm not better at keeping in touch with you. One of my New Years' resolutions is to work on that. I am so grateful for the time we had together this last summer, and at other times when we've been able to visit. I hope for many more such times.

I feel very strongly about the importance of family, because in the end, that's all we've got. Friends come and go, health and wealth and fame and fortune come and go, but brother, sister, parent, child, husband, wife – that's ultimately what we're left with. It worries me that there are so many forces at work today which are trying to tear apart and destroy the family, because when the family falls apart, civilization falls apart, our world falls apart. At least, mine will.

I pray for unity in defense of things of eternal worth. I pray that others might find the joy and surety in their lives that I find in these simple truths.

This is my favorite time of year. Christmas brings out the best in the world: with symbols, lights, snow, trees and ribbons and gifts and music, Nativity scenes, stars, treats and some of the loveliest tastes and smells of the year. This season brings out the best in people. It is a time for us to reflect on what is important. It is a time for families and friends to gather together and be unified in cozy celebration of all that is good in the world. It is a time to think over the old year and make plans for the new. It is a time for peace, for reconciliation, forgiveness, gratitude, selflessness, generosity, contemplation, service, unity, joy, reverence, worship, and hope. I pray that it is a beautiful time for you. God bless you.

Abby