Dear Jesus,
This
year we wanted to give you the gift of service. Our hearts were focused on thee
throughout this season and were constantly on the lookout for opportunities to
serve. We were given a special gift at the beginning of the Christmas season of
a manger. Each gift of service we gave we were able to put a piece of straw in
baby Jesus’ manger so that thou would have a soft place to lay thy head. The
kids enjoyed doing acts of service and filling the manger with hay.
One specific
place we chose to focus our service was on a local group called Coins for Kids.
They raise money and donate Christmas gifts to families in our area that are in
need this Christmas time. In our community they were able to raise a little over $95,000 and serviced over 1,600 children which was
over 600 families.
We played a very small part in this endeavor. Telsha
was able to input about 70 families into the database. In doing this she was
able to see and understand the different circumstances that place these
families in need. Many were unable to find work, unable to pay the bills let
alone buy Christmas presents, many expressed their desire to give their
children a good Christmas with just no way to provide it. Many expressed thanks
for all that was going into making this a reality for their family. It was a
very humbling experience to learn a little about each family as their names
were entered.
Skylee’s
school was raising money for Coins for Kids so we were able to take our money
for Jesus and donate it to the school. They were able to raise over $3,000 to contribute
to the children.
Jaston,
Telsha, and Grandma had the privilege to go and shop for a family. We had three
kids in the family we shopped for and were able to shop specifically for
clothes for them. It was a lot of fun and amazing to see the hundreds of
volunteers come out to shop for these families.
The
day before Christmas Eve, Telsha and Jeff were grateful to have the opportunity
to serve the Lord by going to the temple. As Telsha received the name she was
going to take through the temple she was touched to see the woman was named
Mary. Her thoughts turned to Mary during the session and the wonderful woman
she must have been. She thought of all the sacrifices she must have endured to
raise the Son of God. She felt it was a tribute to thee, Jesus, to honor
thy mother during that session. As she
finished the session and walked into the dressing room, a large, beautiful
picture of another Mary, Mary Magdalene, stood before her. This was another
Mary that was very special in the Savior’s life and again touched her heart. As
she went into the foyer of the temple there was another gorgeous picture of
Mary, Jesus’ mother, holding baby Jesus
as a baby. What an overwhelming
testimony filled her heart of Christmas. We love that wonderful video the first
presidency sent out stating that “He is Christmas!” What a powerful statement.
We
are so grateful to have this time of year and to have the reminder that ‘Thou
Art Christmas!’ We hope our gifts are acceptable unto thee. We love thee and
offer our love this Christmas time. Happy Birthday Jesus! We love you!
Love,
The Wingers (Jeff, Telsha, Skylee,
Jaston, and Brielle)
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