My Gift from the Ghetto

Autumn M., Utah, USA

I was wearing the embarrassing Santa Claus sweatshirt and jingle bell necklace my mom had picked out. My mother had served as a chair of an organization that provided limited resources to homeless children. This year she talked me into volunteering at the Christmas party.

When we arrived the director of the program led us into the room where several volunteers were already helping children decorate Christmas cookies, make ornaments for a Christmas tree, and paint stars and angels on white T-shirts.

After we had all sung Christmas carols, eaten the cookies, and read the Christmas story from the Bible, it was time to go. As I sadly waved good-bye from the front door, a little boy ran forward.

I handed him the jingle bell necklace. His wide eyes filled with tears and he whispered in awe, “For me? This is the best Christmas ever!” He wrapped his arms around my neck and said, “I love you.”

As he ran off to show his friends his new toy, an overwhelming feeling of the true meaning of Christmas filled my heart with love.

Though the small gift I gave Markus did not cost a lot, his gift of love toward me was priceless. Moroni 7:47 says that “charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever.”

That Christmas, a five-year-old boy allowed me to sample the greatest gift of all.