2010 Nativity at Grandma and Grandpa Randall's house.

I just want to wish everyone a merry Christmas. I have been thinking a lot this year about how to have the Christmas spirit. I used to think it had to do with giving. I had to find the perfect gift for other people and they had to know the perfect thing to give me. Then we all had the Christmas spirit together.

Then one year I got a bunch of presents that weren't right at all. I wondered how my loved ones could possibly have given such wrong gifts. Didn't they know me at all? I didn't think I was being selfish in my indignation. I didn't care what I got, after all. I just cared that people knew me well enough to give the right gifts. But I see now, many years later, how selfish I really was. I was selfish with my relationships. It mattered to me too much how other people showed their love to me. What I should have been more concerned with was how I show my love for them. What gifts had I given?

What gifts have I ever given? I'm terrible at giving gifts. If my loved ones were as selfish as I had been, they would think I didn't love them at all, which isn't true. This year is yet another year I have not had perfect gifts for my loved ones. I hope they all know how much I love them.

My mother-in-law asked me this year what gift I would give the Savior. The first thing that came to mind was service. I hope I can give it this year by serving my loved ones. I can't buy them stuff, but that hardly matters. I can always serve, and that's the best gift of all.