"I CAN FIX THAT!"

Hi there Family and Friends, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!  I had a great Christmas, but it was more of the Christmas Season, rather than the day, that impacted my mind. 

Now if you'll bear with me for a moment, I want to talk about the movie Holes.

In the movie Holes, and I will only talk about the movie and not the book because I never bothered to read it, there is a flashback in which we see the quaint town of Greenlake.  This whole flashback focuses on Kate Barlow, but I would like to focus my attention on Sam, the onion farmer.  At various points in the flashback Kate has a series of problems, and when she brings them up to Sam he simply replies, "I can fix that".  Now this short reply shows a great capacity in Sam to serve without any thought for himself.

Now a short story from this Christmas Season (this will all make sense at the end, just wait).  Elder Ayre and I were off to try and teach a lesson to a great young man, unfortunately he was sleeping.  Sure it was 2:30 in the afternoon, but we've all slept in like that before.  We managed to meet with his lovely mother for a while.  I had noticed when we walked in their house that her front door was broken and wasn't working properly.  After sharing a short message and agreeing to come back in a couple days I informed her that I could fix her door for her if she wanted.  She asked if I was sure that I was willing to do that.  I told her that I was more than happy to do so, I felt that fixing her door would be a great Christmas present to her.  After a few days we swung by her house again and I brought a nice new lock set.  I proceeded to dismantle her lock and inspect the damage.  There wasn't much wrong with it and it was a quick fix.  After 30 minutes of tinkering with the door (because I had to adjust the openings on the door MacGyver style), she had a brand new lock and a door handle that actually worked.  Unfortunately we had to run to another appointment, but before we left she informed me that her door had been in that condition for months now, and nobody had offered to fix it until I came along. 

Fixing a door is a small thing for me, I've done it plenty of times.  But that skill that I had gained previously came in handy on my mission.  Never would I have thought that I would fix a door and a lock set on my mission.  But this small gesture seemed to help this wonderfully sweet woman in this Christmas Season. 

Although it was a small gesture a talk by Neil A. Maxwell in the 1998 October General Conference brought to light how these small acts of service are sometimes all that is needed of us, and are able to bring greater blessings in the future.

"We may not be able to fix the whole world, but we can strive to fix what may be amiss in our own families."

Immediately after this quote Neil A. Maxwell shows his great taste in literature by citing J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Return of the King:
"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule"

This woman isn't a member of my earthly family, but we are all God's Children.  And as both Elder Maxwell and Tolkien expressed the importance of fixing what we can, where we are.  We can't always fix everything, but we can do our best to fix what we can because doing our best is always an option.  I'm not able to fix all of this lady's problems, nor will I ever be able to.  But I was able to fix what I could with the time I had.  

This Christmas, and probably for the first time in my life, I had that serving attitude throughout the entire season.  I was filled with joy and love for this lady as I finished fixing her door and left with a smile on my face.  And I've been filled with joy by telling people that, in regards to our sins and sorrows, the Savior is always standing by telling us "I can fix that". 

Let us all do what we can, where we are, to serve those around us.  And for those things that we can't fix, help them turn to the Savior.

I love you all, take care and have a happy New Year. 

--Elder Gailey