A Holly Jolly Christmas

The older I get, and the more Christmases I experience, the more I realize that the joy I felt growing up didn't go anywhere, and it didn't disappear; it is still there, albeit in a different way. It is reborn in the next generation. I see my nieces and nephews open their gifts with wide-eyed wonder and see the gratitude expressed both in those who give and receive, and this warms my heart and soul.

Such was the case Saturday night, as the Plowmans (and Woodsens) gathered to celebrate Christmas Eve together. Steve put together a very nice Christmas program for us all. We are especially grateful that Grandma was with us to bear her testimony of Christ and His divine mission, as it looked like something not necessarily guaranteed all that long ago.

It was eight-month-old Graham's first Christmas (seen here with his 11-year-old cousin Luke):

It wasn't a pink rabbit suit, but Kylee still loved her panda pajamas:

Jackson was over the moon with his Minecraft LEGO set:

And Kira was the same about her presents:

I hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday season (which, by the way, continues through January 5, the real twelfth day of Christmas). And if 2016 has been a rough year for you (it has been for me in the form of my own challenges), I hope that 2017 dawns all the brighter. I'm a big fan of new beginnings. If I can help make that happen for you, I'm here to do what I can. That, I feel, is one of the most important lessons the baby born in Bethlehem came here to teach us.

White Christmas

I don't know if it was particularly the White Christmas Bing |Crosby dreamed of or the one from his nightmares, but whatever it was, this was the scene outside this morning:

I didn't care much for all of the new snow while on my way to our one-hour church meeting (sacrament meeting only), as the roads weren't that cooperative on the way into Bountiful. But they were cleaner and better on the way home, and I'm grateful for the snowplow drivers who left the comfort of home and family on Christmas Day to clear the roads.

Looking out at the scene now as the day winds to its close, I daresay that all is calm, and all is bright.

Blessed to Give . . . and to Receive

I am not a homeless person, though I've played one at the request of an old friend.

Not long ago, one of the men who served as a high councilor over my YSA ward (and also a trusted friend) contacted me with an unusual request: Would I be willing to play a vagrant begging for money to help illustrate an important principle for the Young Men he shepherds in his present calling?

This was an unusual request. For one thing, admittedly, I am not a person you'd take a look at and say *ahem* "He's not getting enough to eat." Anyhow, I accepted and told him I would do my best. His idea was that I would dress as grubbily and as poorly as I could and that I would approach his class (they were having a lesson out of doors on this particularly cool autumn day) to ask for money or food, and this brother would then tell me to go jump in the lake without a life preserver.

It wasn't my best acting (that usually comes when I play dead bodies at improv shows, which actually happens frequently), though we executed our plan the following Sunday afternoon over, and I gave the role my best effort. After being turned away, I waited around the corner for several minutes, then I reappeared, my friend revealed my true identity, and the class discussed how they had felt or reacted when I showed up begging. My friend used the moment to teach the young men a lesson about giving and the whole "Are we not all beggars?" message of King Benjamin.

As for myself, I resolved then and there that the next time I found myself in a similar situation (being asked to give something to a destitute person), that I would help that person out and go the extra mile in doing so.

It didn't take long for an opportunity to present itself. I was getting some work done on my laptop at the local McDonald's because my home ISP (which rhymes with "Mentury Mink") had decided to go on vacation for the week. A young man came up to me to ask for something to eat. I told him that I didn't have any cash on me (which was true and is true the vast majority of the time), but that I'd be happy to buy him anything he wanted to eat with my debit card. He requested only three cheeseburgers to go, and after I paid the cashier and the order was ready, the young man thanked me and went on his way outside.

I share these experiences not to toot my own horn but instead to illustrate a point (in my usual roundabout way), and I feel that it's this: If we ask Heavenly Father for opportunities to serve, He will send people our way. We don't have to look very far (nor to be asked) to see that there are needy everywhere. We don't have to do something big to make a difference. Some of the needy are in want of a meal, like my friend at McDonald's, but others are lonely, or depressed, or ill, or their hands hang low for any number of other reasons. They are in our wards, in our neighborhoods, in line at the store, at our places of work, and even in our homes and/or families.

As I have observed friends and acquaintances share their experiences following the Church's "Light the World" campaign this month, I've witnessed many wonderful things happening. Again, these simple acts of service and the kinds words aren't grandiose, but they add up to mean a lot.

"Christmas means giving," taught President Gordon B. Hinckley. "The Father gave his Son, and the Son gave his life. Without giving there is no true Christmas."

If people don't receive that great gift, then there's no true Christmas, either. Receiving, I think, is just as important as giving. Both giving and receiving are part of a cycle that will continue to bless the giver and the receiver.

In my own, imperfect way, I've tried to give throughout this season of "Light the World." But I have also been blessed to receive a great deal from others who have been lighting the world, too. A little over a week ago, I came home feeling less than wonderful about myself, and I found that one of Santa's elves had left me a care package that included 12 gifts to be opened over the next 12 days, culminating on Christmas Day.

I hope the person who did this, whom I hope is reading this, knows what an enormously needed, timely, and appreciated gesture this has been for me. It alone has made Christmas for me this year. It has also inspired me to do the same for others as I go forward from the Christmas season that will be a thing of the past all-too soon. (Well . . . have a merry little Christmas now, as the song says.)

Who knows? I may even have chances to "Light the World" in January, or even in February. This thing could catch on. Giving and receiving are contagious.

God bless us every one, my friends. And speaking of receiving: Let Earth receive her King.

Family Dinner/December 2016

Over the weekend, we gathered as a family to celebrate our December birthdays: Mike and Kylee. (My oldest niece has one year remaining as a teenager!)

Kenna and Kate were looking cute in orange:

While Grandma enjoyed some time with 16-month-old Daniel:

And following "Pass the Parcel," Jackson taught us all how to dab:

So, it was an eventful night!

"Papá Noel in Perú"

Twenty years ago (twenty!) this week, I had one of the most memorable weeks of my mission. My companion and I saw the baptism of two sisters who (1) remain good friends of mine, (2) remain active in the Church, and (3) would bring the remainder of their family into the Church in the years that followed. Our week culminated with a stake Primary program, for which yours truly got asked to play Santa Claus (or, colloquially, "Papá Noel").

It wasn't one of my best acting roles, although it has remained one of the most memorable. I wrote an article about the experience, which was published in the Church's Liahona (international) magazine in December 2001. (As a side note, one of the other articles, published adjacent to mine, was written by the mother of one of my fellow Improvables troupe members! Incredible.)

I don't have the rights to re-print the text here, as I signed them away and whatnot, but you can read all about it by clicking on this link. And if you don't, well, I'll still be your friend.

May the Spirit and goodwill of the Christmas season be with you all.

These Shoes Were Made for Walkin'

M y 16-month-old nephew Danny is walking like a champ these days, and his skills were prominently on display recently here at the homestead.

Improvables: Christmas Party 2016

My troupe is filled with some pretty amazing people. Our gatherings are always a blast, even away from the stage, and our annual Christmas party is no exception.

One of the highlights is the white elephant gift exchange, which this year included a Steve Buscemi calendar, a Vladimir Putin calendar, an R2D2 piggy bank (which yours truly held in his hands until it was Yankee swapped, dang it), a set of custom-made Improvables dolls, and other goodies, including this gift that Parker ended up with, presented here without comment:

Jamie and Tanner ended up with the bag of goodies I wrapped up after a recent shopping spree at Dollar Tree (because that's just the kind of classy guy I am):

And it made them plenty happy, so that's good enough for me.

Light It Up

Previously on Paco Nation, I've written some of my thoughts on the mid-singles fireside message delivered by Elder Dallin H. and Sister Kristen Oaks back in August. Though this was four months ago, I am still reflecting on both things I learned and things I've pondered about from time to time.

One item I do not I believe I addressed fully at the time of my initial blog post on this talk was the topic of fear. At that time, Elder Oaks spoke of a conversation he had with someone who had fulfilled a Church calling to minister to the inmates at one of the LDS branches at a local correctional facility (AKA "jail"). The lesson that he taught us from this experience, as I recall, was: "There are more shackles on singles in the Church than there are on these prisoners, all because of fear." (Those were my notes from that night, so I may be paraphrasing the exact quote.)

The question that I am then led to, and which I put to my fellow mid-singles is: What, exactly, are you afraid of?

Certainly, many of us fear being vulnerable and putting ourselves "out there" in pursuit of a relationship only to fall flat on our faces yet again. For some of us mid-singles, this might feel like it has happened not only hundreds but instead thousands of times by this point. This feeling of frustration creates a term I call Rejection Burnout. (Don't worry, single friends in your teens and/or early twenties; you still have plenty of chances for heartbreak ahead of you.)

I'm only kidding about that last comment. Partly.

Others, I believe, fear not rejection but actually fear being successful. In other words, they've become used to being independent rather than what would be a better option: becoming "interdependent" with another.

"Interdependence is the kind of life the Lord desires for us," Elder Oaks taught.

Further, he added: "We have to be careful when we are single and we don't have a spouse to steady us, that we are not unduly influenced by worldly messages. For example, the world seeks and honors the accumulation of money, property, car, home travel, graduation before marriage, etc."

If I understood the message correctly, being successful, then, might put a damper on some of these pursuits.

In my own brainstorming, I've come up with a few other possible fears, and they include: social anxiety; self-esteem challenges; and health or financial difficulties.

If there are other fears I've failed to include here, well, please include them in the comments. I'd love to hear your point-of-view. Or talk to me about them in person over a froyo (your treat, of course!).

In addition, we singles, at this time of year, are bombarded with messages about how wonderful and great it is to be in love, and it comes in many forms. It's the songs about riding in one-horse open sleighs, letting it snow outside while staying indoors to cuddle, or going outdoors in the cold and getting married by snowmen acting as wedding officiators (which is, apparently, a thing). It's the countless Hallmark movies (which, admittedly, are one of my guilty pleasures) about people finding that special someone at long last under the mistletoe or in some other filmed-in-Canada location made to look like a setting somewhere in the United States. It's also possibly in the form of seeing others who have already been granted the blessing we desire to have, who get to enjoy it with their spouses, children, pets, etc. All of these can lead to some sort of envy.

In the movie Roxanne (which is not a Christmas movie, though I think the sentiment is applicable), C.D. Bales, he of the big nose, portrayed by Steve Martin, laments:

"Sometimes I take a walk at night, and I see couples walking, holding hands, and I look at them, and I think: 'Why not me?' Then I catch my shadow on the wall."

Maybe it's not a "shadow on the wall" that causes you and me this grief but (X) worry or concern, (Y) health or financial challenge, or (Z) other issue entirely out of our control.

What I'm getting at with this, and why I bring it up during the Christmas season, to boot, is that the angels who visited the shepherds and other witnesses of the birth of the Christ child began their proclamations with two simple but powerful words:

"Fear not."

"I don't have the answers," types a single guy wondering about these very things in his own life. But, as for myself, I've committed this holiday season to focusing on controlling some of the things I do have control over, and one of them is to do my level best to follow the Church's "Light the World" campaign, which is a wonderful initiative. It encourages us to perform one act of service or kindness every day in December. (But, if you can, why limit it to just one?) I've already tried a few things that were out of my comfort zone, and I'm looking to try a few others in the days ahead, including anonymously done deeds for family, friends, and neighbors.

If you're feeling down and out this Christmas season, whatever the reason(s), I invite you to join in on the fun and to see what miracles, small or large, occur in your life as a result.

I don't understand many of the reasons behind my own challenges right now, and I surely don't understand yours (although I'm willing to try), but I join with the prophet Nephi in proclaiming that "I know (Heavenly Father) loveth his children" (1 Nephi 11:17). And as Tiny Tim observed, I believe He does and will "bless us, every one" in ways we may not now expect as we strive to serve His children in whichever way His Spirit prompts us to do so.

My Dinner with Luke 2016

My nephew Luke reached his 11th birthday Tuesday, and tonight I got to play the "fun uncle" and take him out to dinner for his Big Day. He chose Chuck-a-Rama, where we had a most enjoyable meal.

In talking to him, I realized that he knows a heckuva lot more about football than I'd given him credit for, and that he wants to eventually play high school ball and then, afterward, in college. He's an excellent student in his fifth-grade class and is overall a wonderful kid.

Am I biased when it comes to my nephews and nieces? Maybe a bit. But in this case (and in 11 others), it's true.