It's Not Actually Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you probably know, today is Christmas Eve, or the day before Christmas in other words. A wonderful time where people get extra excited for Christmas since, it's the next day. Some people hang up stockings, for candy to be put inside of them, which seems like a really gross tradition the more I think about it.

Everyone has family traditions though which is always really cool. For example my family tradition is to have homemade chicken noodle soup for Christmas Eve dinner. That is something I will not be doing this year because I don't have time for that. I will however probably buy a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup and feel very sad as I eat the three chunks of chicken floating in a disproportionate amount of water. 

Now that I type that out loud, that sounds really sad so I might not actually do that.

I do get to participate in another family's Christmas Eve traditions though and so that is really exciting. 

I actually cannot even believe I am writing an email already. This last week felt like it didn't even happen. Honestly I don't even know what to write this email about since I feel like I just told you everything in the last email 

We did a lot of inviting people to church, since yesterday was the special Christmas service. And we've been talking to people about Christmas a lot and about "Light the World" which is the thing I explained a couple emails ago. And that has been really cool. This morning was a lot of fun actually. We just went around on our bikes spreading some Christmas cheer. I honestly can't think of a better way to spend Christmas Eve. 

Oh yeah, so something fun from this morning that happened, well before that, something fun from this month was that Elder Bower, my companion's Mom sent four advent calendars, the ones that are cardboard and have waxy chocolate inside for each day of the month. And the reason there was four of them was for each elder in our apartment. Because there are four elders in our apartment. So that was really fun this month to do every day. But then this morning was particularly fun because Elder Dougherty, one of the other Elders who lives in the apartment's Mom sent four waxy chocolate advent calendars as well. And so this morning we each got to eat an entire advent calendar full of waxy chocolate. Which was a lot of fun. My body is kind of regretting that though.

So it really does not feel like Christmas Eve. I am currently wearing a short sleeved shirt as we speak, well as we type I guess, well as I type I guess. Unless you happen to be typing something as well while you are reading this, which I imagine would be very difficult to do. If you are however, I am impressed.

But yeah it's just unbelievable. I was just out riding a bike, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and there were cacti. Now, I realize that cacti do not have a whole lot of influence over the weather, but I included them in my description because I felt like it really added to the scene. It's seriously crazy though. We had the A/C, or Air Conditioner as they say, on in the car full blast. It was such a hot day, especially for it being Christmas Eve. Which actually makes me a little frightened because sooner or later Summer will be here and I don't think I'm ready for that.

So here is the thing I learned for the day:

Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve happens to be busier than when it's not Christmas Eve. I found that out and I just wanted to share that with you.

Also, here is my favorite joke from the week:

Q.) What did the janitor say when he jumped out of the closet?

A.) Supplies!!!

Well, before I wrap up, I shall share with you a spiritual message. Because this email is starting to derail. 

Before I had mentioned something about spreading Christmas cheer. And that will probably be what I write about today for the spiritual message.

Much like your favorite kind of jam or jelly or even marmalade if you're about that, cheer is something you can spread. But unlike jam or jelly or even marmalade if you're about that, it isn't a food, and it's certainly not something you spread on bread or biscuits or waffles. Cheer is something you can spread to other people though, and you don't even need a butter knife to do it. In fact you don't need any knife at all. To quote the Beatles, "All you need is love."

Jesus Christ gave us a commandment to "Be of good cheer." Many people think of commandments with a negative connotation. Like they're all restrictions that take the fun out of life. But actually, commandments are just the things that God asks us to do because He loves us and He wants us to be happy. For example, if you were a parent, and you love your child, and your child says, "I really want to play and run around on the busy freeway, it sounds really fun." You would hopefully not respond by saying, "Well you know what, I love you so much that you deserve to have fun, go and do that, live your life, be free, you be you." What you would most likely say is, "I know it looks really appealing and fun, but it will cause problems for you like death, and because I love you, I will ask you to not do that." 

That's what God means when He gives us commandments. And in fact, before I went on this tangent, I had mentioned that one commandment is to Be of Good Cheer. Which I really love because its just such a happy commandment. Because no matter what, we can find ways to be happy. Even when sad things happen, we can always find peace. And when stressful things happen, we can always find something positive. And we can do those things, and anything, through Jesus Christ.

And so everyone, Merry Christmas. I hope that you keep the Savior in your thoughts this Christmas, and every day of the year, and as you do that you will always find a way to be of good cheer.

Til next time!

~Elder Oswald