I was asked to speak on developing charity in our homes. Charity is the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love. It is the pure love of Christ. Our homes are one of the best places to learn to love one another and Christmas time is a wonderful time of year to remember how much we love our families. Of course we love our parents, and brothers and sisters, but it’s easy to forget to show it.
One thing we try to do each year during December is to read “the last straw” which is a story about a family who fights a lot and then decides to build a manger and fill it with straw. In order to put a piece of straw in the manger, they had to do something nice for someone else in the family.
In my family we haven’t built a manger or found any straw, but we use a basket and put cotton balls in it every time we do something nice for someone else. It’s fun to see the basket bed get softer and softer until Christmas Eve when we put our baby Jesus in the manger.
I like doing this because it helps me focus on serving others instead of getting presents. I know we’re happier when we’re thinking of others instead of ourselves.
A few years ago, A reporter asked Pres. Monson what his best birthday gift would be. He replied…”to find someone who is having a hard time or is ill or lonely, and do something nice for him or her.” After his birthday he was overwhelmed when he received hundreds of letters from members of the Church telling him how they had fulfilled that birthday wish.
One Primary sent a large jar containing hundreds of “warm fuzzies,” each one representing an act of service performed during the year by one of the children.
One small child wrote, “My grandpa had a stroke, and I held his hand.”
An 8-year-old girl said: “My sister and I served my mom and family by organizing and cleaning the toy closet.”
An 11-year-old girl wrote: “There was a family in my ward that did not have a lot of money. The mom and dad had to go somewhere, so I offered to watch their three little girls. The dad was just about to hand me a $5 bill. I said, ‘I can’t take [it].’ My service was that I watched the girls for free.”
A child in Mongolia wrote that he brought in water from the well so his mother would not have to do so.
An 11-year-old boy said: “I went to a lady’s house and asked her questions and sang her a song. She was happy because she never gets visitors.”
President Monson said, “My heart has seldom been as grateful as it was when Sister Monson and I spent hours reading of these gifts. Recall with me the words of King Benjamin: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” We are surrounded by those in need of our kindness. We are the Lord’s hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve His children.”
I know that our prophet wants us to serve because it will make us and others happy. The most important people in our lives are our families. Let’s try to put smiles on the faces of our brothers, our sisters, and our parents. Let’s always remember to have charity in our homes.
