I can't believe that my baby is 20 years old! I am running out of teenagers :) Zachary we hope that you are having a wonderful birthday this year! Make sure you use all the fun things in your package to celebrate your big day. We love you soooo much, just one more to celebrate so far away!!!! HaPpY BiRtHdAy SwEeT bOy!!!
Dear Family,
Merry Christmas Everybody! From over here on the opposite side of the world, I couldn't be more grateful for the wonderful family that I have been blessed with. I love you all so very much. I miss you more than you know. Not only am I away from family in large part I am away from Christmas. If you walked around here you would 100% not be able to tell it is Christmas. I hope this package will bring a little spark of Christmas to you all. I guess I need to explain everyone's presents. I guess I will start with Matt's present. SO first I got you what is called a (sorry I can't type the symbols that he wrote) It is pronounced D0akaten...have you figured it out yet? It is a door curtain. :) Japanese is a pretty funny language. They have them all over the place in Japan so I figured I would give a little bit of Japan to you. I also got you sli;;ers. Those are the pretty typical slippers that you put on when you take off your shoes and come into the house. Enjoy, they are way comfy. Then I got you a cool pair of socks! I love you Matt! Have a very Merry Christmas. Next, I got Abby a pair of socks too. Because I know she loves them. THen I got her and Tory Japanese door curtains too. I hope you like them! :) Lets see, Dallin and Jaclyn's the worst ever. I struggled to find something so all there is is a hand towel. I was told that it is like a famous hand towel...I would feel bad except that President Uchtdorf said "we cannot bring the gift of perfection" in his Christmas talk so it swept away my guilt. ;) I love you two!!! Dad, I got you a very Japanese tie. They are all thin like this and the purple is totally you. You better wear it to church is all I am saying. Remember, you are a bishop, you're not the pope ;) I love you Dad. Mom, I could not find you a nativity, but I have this wreath thing I will tell you the behind it. So last week we had a Christmas Music Fireside. I was calling around and inviting members and making sure they remembered. As I was flipping through the members record, I came across a really old, tiny lady that lives all alone named Sister Ishida. Knowing that she was so old and fragile, I almost skipped her and moved on, but I remembered that NOBODY should be alone on Christmas. I called her and asked her if she was coming. She went on to explain to me that she would love to go but that the walk to the church would be just too much on her old body. Feeling her desire to not be alone during this christmas time, I hung up the phone and immediately called other members to work out someone to go to her house and pick her up by car. We worked it all out and nobody was left out. The next sunday, as people crowded into the hall before church, I heard a lettle old ravaged voice calling out, "Page Choro! Page Choro! Where is Page Choro?!" Then, came little old sister Ishida carrying a box in her left hand and her cane in her right. She called me over to her side and quickly opened up the box. Inside the box was this wreath. She said to me, "it isn't much and you probably don't need it, but this is the only thing I have to me that means christmas. Thank you so much for calling me the other day. Thank you so much. I want you to have this." She rewrapped the box and put it in my hands as I stood there stunned. She walked away before I could get out a word of gratitude. One of the most special Christmas moments I have ever had. As I thought about what happened between me, a 19 year old American boy from NC and an 87 year old single woman from Niigata Japan, of course there was only one thing that came to mind. What brought us together? Two totally otherwise unrelated existences turned christmas upside down for me. It is Jesus Christ. It is the love that he showed. It is the peace that He offers our Savior Jesus Christ brings different worlds together in a spirit of love and hope. When the Angel appeared to the Shepherds in Luke 2, verse 10 reads, "I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to ALL people." If there is one thing I have learned this Christmas, it is that this great joy is to ALL people. Even worlds apart, when time and distance separates us, Jesus Christ unites us. His love brings us together. His hope gives us a smile on our face and a bright, beautiful sunrise on the morrow. I know that my Savior Jesus Christ was born, lived and died, and lives again for us. I know that through him ALL people can rejoice. Christ is our Lord. Praise his name forever. I love you all so much. I love you from head to toe, from good ole Steve, to Mamma Page, to Dallin (in Tory's Dallliin! Voice) to Jaclyn (in Tory's Jaccclllyn voice!) to Matty Patty, to Abby Bell, and even down to Tor, my forever buddy. I love you and miss you this Christmas. Even though I will miss the gingerbread houses, and presents and the Polar Express, I am with you this Christmas, I love you all, I love my forever family!!! Merry Christmas!
Love you son and brother
Elder Zachary Taylor Page
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