Love, Service: Giving as the Savior Gave
Contributed By By the Relief Society general board
Becky Hunt and her husband, Kirk, carry on a Christmas tradition started by her parents years ago by inviting older members of their ward for a Christmas dinner. From left, Marge Kircher, Devone Hoggan, Loretta Cleghorn, Carol Huckaby, and Beth Campbell attend the annual gathering.
Article Highlights
- For many years the Margetts family has hosted a Christmas gathering for older single adults in their ward.
- The tradition has brought an added measure of love and the spirit of Christ into their home.
- Jenny Williams found added joy and love in her life as she developed a Christmas tradition of writing and delivering letters of gratitude.
“It is amazing that as I try to show love to them, that same love is paid back to me and my family tenfold.” —Linda Margetts
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For many years an annual tradition of Bert and Linda Margetts of the Farmington 5th ward, Farmington Utah Stake, was to host a Christmas gathering for the older single adults in their ward. It was a way for their children to share their talents, as well as an opportunity for them to get to know, serve, and love the senior brothers and sisters.
The evening started with Brother Margetts and his sons stopping by to give rides to all who could attend. A dinner of clam chowder and homemade bread was served by their children. A family program was provided and guests would be invited to share memories from a Christmas past. Concluding the festivities was the reading of Luke 2 by Brother Margetts.
“We wanted them to learn to be gracious hosts, and our guests had such a love for the children,” he said. “I think it helped our children to feel comfortable around the older people.”
Now that their family is grown, their children are continuing the tradition in their own homes. A daughter, Becky Hunt, and her husband, Kirk, began the gatherings in their family six years ago.
Sister Hunt recalled the joy she felt as a child while passing out invitations. “It was almost as much fun as the Christmas gathering. They would invite us in to their homes and talk with us and sometimes offer us a treat.”
A son and his wife, John and Sara Margetts, said it is a huge blessing to be thinking of others at Christmastime. “It is good for our children to get to know the senior people in our neighborhood.”
John Margetts recalls, “Christmas was never complete until we hosted the Christmas gathering. I grew to love the single sisters and brothers as I served them. I was always fascinated to hear their stories about how Christmas was when they were children. ... Now, as a father hosting the gathering in my own home, I notice how much they love my children. ... It is amazing that as I try to show love to them, that same love is paid back to me and my family tenfold.”
This year, as in past years, he said his family will be inviting several nonmember or less-active single brothers and sisters to their Christmas gathering. “If anything, it is an opportunity to share the true spirit of Christmas with them—the spirit of Christ.”
Sister Linda Margetts said her family learned much from hosting the event. “I thought that we were doing a service activity, but it turned out to be the other way around; they were serving us.”
Gifts of Gratitude
Jenny Williams discovered another way to participate in the work of salvation through loving and serving others in small and simple ways. During a Relief Society meeting several years ago she was pondering how to follow the Savior in gift-giving during the holidays. As she listened to the comments of the sisters, she felt a prompting about how to share the special gifts of giving and gratitude. She had been thinking she would take a gift to someone each day of the 12 days before Christmas.
Instead of doing it for one person, she would do it for several different people. She decided to write letters of gratitude to people who had made a difference in her life during the past year. She wanted to tell them how much they meant to her, that she has felt the Savior’s love through them, how they blessed her life at that time, and that they helped her be a better person.
Each Christmas holiday she delivers letters of gratitude. It might be a family member, a friend, or someone in the ward or community to whom she would like to express gratitude. One of the first letters of gratitude that Sister Williams wrote was to a sister in her Relief Society. Sister Williams was a new mother. She asked a sister if she could come to her home and talk about motherhood. She later found that this woman had 10 children. She felt Heavenly Father had directed her to seek advice from this dear sister who was experienced in mothering.
Sister Williams recalled, “The main difference in writing these letters of gratitude has been my own self-reflection. It has helped me feel more positive.” She has felt thankful for those who have influenced her life and gratitude to a loving Heavenly Father who sends others to bless her life.
