Is what I’ve gathered from my first couple of hours in the city of Roseburg. I’m not going to take super long since the first week is super wack, and we’re going into Christmas week things get crazy.
3: Elder Horne! Is from Colorado(exotic, I know) and has been out just a few transfers less than me. We get along just fine, he speaks his mind sometimes a little too often though lol. I’m looking forward to working hard with him and having a good time.
2: Holy baptisms Batman! In this last weekend I’ve been to 3 baptisms and have missed one. This zone is doing great! We have someone on date for baptism, only problem is it’s a little far out (August) but we’ll see if we can’t move that up. I love the Spirit that accompanies a baptism, how you know in your heart of hearts that it is just right. Funny how the light of Christ works that way.
1: The true meaning of Christmas Gets missed pretty often. I don’t just mean that people focus on the presents more than they do the birth of Christ, but people also get more wrapped up with the beautiful tale told in Luke 2. I love the story of Christmas, but often we think mainly of the newborn messiah, rather than why he was born. I can’t remember if I’ve shared this before, but many many parts of the Christmas story reflect on Christs mission on earth. Starting with the swaddling clothes, I always assumed and was told that they were just blankets, long strips of cloth to wrap babies in. Little did I know that using swaddling clothes wasn’t typical for newborn babies, but for lambs. Not just any lambs mind you, but pure, white unblemished ones. Lambs that would be used for sacrificial purposes, in similitude of the one who would also be wrapped in the same clothes they were. The shepherds who came, and testified of the newborn King of the Jews weren’t just any old shepherds, but ones who had a priestly duty. They were to take the pure lambs, and protect them, making sure they remained ready for the purpose for which they were born. When these holy shepherds saw the child bound in the strips of cloth that held so much meaning for them they would have known immediately who this was. The lamb of God, their Saviour. Knowing this has brought so much more meaning to the tale that I thought I was so familiar with. I have loved reading through the scriptures and learning about the real people who were going through their lives, not knowing how it would be recorded and read millennia into the future. Merry Christmas, and may you all remember the baby dressed in the same way as a lamb. May you all remember how he was sacrificed for us. How that is why we are able to have the joy this season.
Ya boi,
Elder James Berky