~~~Real Joy of Christmas~~~
***For non-members who will read this, look for my post "The Plan of Salvation" before you read this as it may complicate how you will understand this post :) ***
"Two hours ago, 3:40 pm on November 15, 2017, Stacey-Of-Ranzel Papa died at 11 years and 10 months of age. I was on my bed, ready to watch then sleep; suddenly, my brother called out to me telling me that Stacey was dead. I thought he was joking, he usually jokes about that all the time so I shrugged it off and didn't bother but I suddenly heard my sister crying and I rushed to the kitchen abruptly. There she was, lying on her left side with her eyes open. I thought to myself that she still wasn't dead, maybe they were pranking me or something? But with my own two eyes, she was laying still there on the red tiled kitchen floor, lifeless. My sister is crying, her favorite member of the family is dead, her best friend is dead, our best friend, our sister. I did not know what to do, my heart sank to the ground and all I could do was stare at her stagnant body. I couldn't help it anymore so I just broke out into tears, my sister, mom and I were caressing her body, touching her for the last time. I can't believe she was still so full of life just a few minutes ago. My sister and I were the first ones to walk into the door from our staycation in Im Hotel, while I was unlocking it, I could even hear her bark and cry for us. My sister even joked around like we usually do "buhay ka pa din? sayang!". When we walked in, she was still excited, dragging herself to greet us. I even touched her and rubbed her. She even peed on the new carpet that my sister just laid out, I thought to myself that she was a savage. Now, it's 5:37 pm, time passed by so quickly, too quickly. My mom is still crying, regretting that she put the things she was going to clean first before Stacey (Stacey was urging mom to play with her just a few minutes before she died). The sky is reddish orange right now, too bad Stacey isn't here to see the view. I feel so weird, I can't really explain it, just, weird, weird that we won't tell Stacey to shut up anymore because she barks so loudly, weird that we won't need to worry about the carpets being covered in pee and poo, weird that we don't have to lay out a container of water on the bathroom floor anymore, weird that we won't have to worry about anything when we go out, weird that no one will greet us at the door anymore, weird that we don't have a fluffy dog that looks like a potato who comforts us when we are sad and have no one to talk to, weird that we don't have someone soft to hug, just weird, that she's gone. Stacey will always be remembered, she was our first dog, and our first death."
"Two hours ago, 3:40 pm on November 15, 2017, Stacey-Of-Ranzel Papa died at 11 years and 10 months of age. I was on my bed, ready to watch then sleep; suddenly, my brother called out to me telling me that Stacey was dead. I thought he was joking, he usually jokes about that all the time so I shrugged it off and didn't bother but I suddenly heard my sister crying and I rushed to the kitchen abruptly. There she was, lying on her left side with her eyes open. I thought to myself that she still wasn't dead, maybe they were pranking me or something? But with my own two eyes, she was laying still there on the red tiled kitchen floor, lifeless. My sister is crying, her favorite member of the family is dead, her best friend is dead, our best friend, our sister. I did not know what to do, my heart sank to the ground and all I could do was stare at her stagnant body. I couldn't help it anymore so I just broke out into tears, my sister, mom and I were caressing her body, touching her for the last time. I can't believe she was still so full of life just a few minutes ago. My sister and I were the first ones to walk into the door from our staycation in Im Hotel, while I was unlocking it, I could even hear her bark and cry for us. My sister even joked around like we usually do "buhay ka pa din? sayang!". When we walked in, she was still excited, dragging herself to greet us. I even touched her and rubbed her. She even peed on the new carpet that my sister just laid out, I thought to myself that she was a savage. Now, it's 5:37 pm, time passed by so quickly, too quickly. My mom is still crying, regretting that she put the things she was going to clean first before Stacey (Stacey was urging mom to play with her just a few minutes before she died). The sky is reddish orange right now, too bad Stacey isn't here to see the view. I feel so weird, I can't really explain it, just, weird, weird that we won't tell Stacey to shut up anymore because she barks so loudly, weird that we won't need to worry about the carpets being covered in pee and poo, weird that we don't have to lay out a container of water on the bathroom floor anymore, weird that we won't have to worry about anything when we go out, weird that no one will greet us at the door anymore, weird that we don't have a fluffy dog that looks like a potato who comforts us when we are sad and have no one to talk to, weird that we don't have someone soft to hug, just weird, that she's gone. Stacey will always be remembered, she was our first dog, and our first death."
-excerpt from my notes after she died
BUT besides crying, we also prayed. My sister offered the prayer, she prayed that we would get to see Stacey again once we go to the other side and my mom kept saying "Don't worry baby, we'll claim you when we get there". The fact that we had the knowledge of the plan of salvation, we were happy to know that we would see Stacey again, because of the atonement that has been made possible for us through Jesus Christ, and through Jesus Christ only.
On Alma 26:35:
Now, do we have reason to rejoice? Indeed, I say to you that since the beginning of the world, no one has had so many reasons. Will rejoice with us as well; Yea, my prosperity is taken up to the exaltation of my God; Because He has all power, all intelligence, and all understanding, and He understands and has Merciful to the extent that it gives salvation to those who repent and believe in His name.
Brothers and sisters, when we are faced with tribulations or challenges in life, instead of being negative and telling ourselves that we don't have the courage and strength to overcome it, let us look to the Lord and count our blessings. Especially during this Christmas season, let us seek the Lord, seek to become like him. Like what President Thomas S. Monson said "We find the real joy of Christmas when we make the Savior the focus of the season". Only by making Jesus Christ the center of our Christmas, the center of our life, only then will we be truly happy. We can make Jesus Christ the center of our life by simply reading the scriptures and praying every day, by fulfilling our church callings, by keeping the commandments like the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity, by atoning and repenting for our sins so that we too can be with our families and loved ones forever on the other side, or by serving others. By serving others, we can extend the love that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ has given us to others who are in need. Christmas or more like our life is not about taking or getting, it is
about giving to the less fortunate
and I do not just mean by giving clothes and food to the homeless but by also
giving or sharing our spiritual knowledge, the gospel, to those who are in
desperate need of the love that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ has for us.
President David O. McKay said “True
happiness comes only by making others happy”.
Brothers and Sisters, I hope and pray that we will give as the
Savior gave and put him in the center of our life especially during this
Christmas season. Along with our temporal gifts, let us give the gifts of compassion,
understanding, friendship, kindness, and service that we may seek to become like unto him so that we will be able
to spend eternity with our loved ones and with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ
through the Plan of Happiness.
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