The Christmas Gift I Didn’t Want to Give

By Warren Park, Texas, USA

The man probably wouldn’t want to see us, but we decided to drop off a gift anyway.

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container full of popcorn

During my mission in North Carolina, USA, we visited a man who seemed nice at first but then became adamant that the Book of Mormon was false. He also expressed other negative views about the Church. Our lesson just wasn’t a good one. We said a closing prayer and left.

For a time, I harbored some not-very-missionary-like feelings for this man, but eventually I forgot about him. At least until Christmas arrived.

For Christmas, some Church members had given us two large tubs of flavored popcorn. We opened the first one and started eating, but then we began thinking about the man we had visited.

As we glanced at our second tub, we remembered that this man lived by himself. We thought he might like some popcorn too, but we remembered how negative he had been. He was probably off visiting family anyway, and he wouldn’t want to see us even if he were home. Besides, this was our popcorn.

That first impression, however, wouldn’t go away. We pushed aside the excuses and decided to give him our second tub of popcorn.

After church that Sunday, we pulled up to his house and knocked on the door. I started having second thoughts, but then the door opened.

“Merry Christmas!” we said. The biggest grin came across his face, and he welcomed us inside.

“Brother, we have a gift for you,” we said. Then we gave him the large tub of popcorn. He smiled even bigger and asked us to sit on his couch. As we talked, I realized I’d rarely seen someone so happy before.

We learned that he didn’t have family nearby. He had planned to spend Christmas alone. The wrapped presents I saw under his small Christmas tree turned out to be only empty boxes wrapped for decoration.

“I didn’t think anyone cared about me,” he said. “I didn’t think I would get a present this year.”

As we left, I felt so much joy that I didn’t know how to contain it. I didn’t even like this man, but now I felt genuine love for him.

Christmas isn’t about you or me. It’s about Jesus Christ, the greatest gift of all, and about sharing His love with others. When we love and help others, we feel joy because Heavenly Father is pleased with our choice to follow His Son.