As he delivered his annual Christmas message Sunday night, President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reflected on the plight of a 2-year-old orphan he met in hurricane-ravaged Honduras.
The little girl's mother had died several months earlier, and her father suffered a stroke and died while frantically trying to save her from the rising floodwaters of Hurricane Mitch."No one knew anything of her until a young man, two days later, happened to look up in that abandoned house and saw her still alive," President Hinckley said.
The girl was taken to the home of an LDS bishop, where President Hinckley saw her and was told of her tragic circumstances during his Nov. 19-21 visit to the stricken area.
"The house where she was found and those of many others were flooded, the bedding destroyed and much of the clothing, the food spoiled," President Hinckley said.
Through international relief efforts, including those of the LDS Church, many of those in need have received new bedding, clothing and enough food to sustain life but little else to gladden the heart of a child, he said.
"I would hope that at this Christmas season, where there will be no gift-giving among these devastated people, this small orphan girl might receive perhaps a little taste of candy, something sweet and delicious," President Hinckley said. "I must see that that happens, and will do. Perhaps just a little will be present enough for that tiny child down in La Lima, Honduras."
In his prayer for the season, President Hinckley said, "God bless the people everywhere, that the overpowering spirit of Christmas may come into the lives of men and women and children throughout the world that their hearts may be opened and their hands extended to help the needy."
The gift of giving was the dominant theme of the annual First Presidency Christmas Devotional in the Tabernacle on Temple Square. As in past years, the event drew thousands of church members to the brightly decorated grounds in the heart of Salt Lake City, while hundreds of thousands of others participated via a live satellite television broadcast to 3,000 stake centers throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.
President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, said Jesus, whose birth is celebrated at Christmas, beckoned to his followers to give of themselves.
"Our opportunities to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable," President Monson said. "There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved."
Helping is a "divine duty," he said, and there is no better time than the Christmas season for people to rededicate themselves to the principles of Jesus.
"It is well to remember that he who gives money gives much; he who gives time gives more; but he who gives of himself gives all," President Monson said. "Let this be a description of our Christmas gifts."
President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency, said love of family and friends makes Christmas a special season, "but at the heart of it all is remembering the birth of the Savior."
Jesus' teachings changed the hearts and minds of millions, "transforming them by the power of love," President Faust said. "The love of Christ, which we are to emulate, is the distinguishing characteristic of Christmas."
And it's a contagious characteristic, he added. "People reach out in kindness even to strangers. . . . No one can measure the effect of an unselfish act of kindness."