The Christmas Pagent

So apparently Christmas is a Pagan derived Holiday adopted by the early Roman Christians; or at least we have been told so by several people we have tracted into recently. "why do you celebrate a holiday with so many pagan roots?" They ask.
For God so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son, that whosoever Believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joy to the World the Lord is come - Let earth receive her King. Jesus the Christ, Born in Bethlehem is the reason for the season. Its his day even if he wasn't born in December (they were wrong anyway, they said he was born in September).
I Love Christmas. We had a "Joy to the World" DVD referral that we contacted on Monday. His name is Jade . He is from Philippine decent and was born in the Philippines - but grew up his whole life in Sydney and Gold Coast. He looks about 30. He kindly invited us in and wanted to chat with us. He said he had been attending a Born Again Church in Gold Coast, but had some questions. He asked all the right questions - and we were able to teach him the Plan of Salvation. We had to go at 6:00 to dinner at our stake President's - Pres. Reid. President Reid picked us up from Jade's house, so Jade got to meet him. Jade asked if we would come back after our dinner appointment so we could share more. So we went back and ended up teaching the Plan of Salvation, even though that is not what we had planned. He committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon - and he even knelt with us and gave the closing prayer. He opened up to us a lot during the lesson and told us the things that he was struggling with. He came to church with us yesterday for sacrament meeting and I think he really enjoyed it. Our investigator Zinia was also there - but her mother Annie didn't come and is busy again with her studies apparently. We were expecting another family to be there that we had tracted into, but they didn't show up.
I KNOW that the Lord Answers our prayers. The Lord answers in his own way, and in his own time... But he does answer.
I will miss yous a lot this Christmas season. But I love Christmas here - It helps you to focus so much on the true meaning of Christmas - Giving. And Giving the greatest gift we can give: His Gospel. I'm glad the family is unified at this time of year - even though some of us are far apart. I look forward to talking to you on Christmas (even if its Boxing day here) Its another special day for me anyway because it marks the 12 year anniversary of my Baptism.
We are praying for a White Christmas. Please pray with us that we can prepare someone for Baptism before the end of the year.
Thanks for the info on the Christmas call. Its all free then eh'? I'm really excited for that. Today for Pday we are going to the Currumbin Wild Life Sanctuary. I'll take some good pictures for ya mate.
Happy Birthday Chase!! Hope you have a great day today! I miss you mate. How tall are you now and how much do you weigh? What are you gonna do over Christmas Break? Thanks so much for the letter and picture you sent me for my birthday. I hope you have a wonderful fairdinkum Birthday and a Holly Jolly Christmas!
Wow Mum, tell Melissa happy birthday for me. FAR OUT! I can't believe she is 18! That makes me feel so old. haha. take some pictures at the birthday gathering. and tell all those little ninos and chicas that i say hello.
Matt i took a picture of my tie collections for you. I'm planning a tie swap with some of the RMs in our ward, so hopefully I'll get some cooler ones soon. Can you send me a picture of your collection?
I also will send a photo of our new 'tracting planner' that we invented. Maybe you could use the idea. Do you use tracting logs. I used to think they were pointless - but this is actually a good idea. Well my time is up. Merry Christmas!
love you all and look forward to hearing from you on Christmas. I won't be writing next Monday because we have the mission wide Christmas Bash at Karawatha and we won't make it to the library that day.
the Church is True!
Love, Elder R.A.Prina