On a slightly happier note I found myself to be Tim Allen in the 1994 Classic "The Santa Clause". While I did not accidentally kill Santa Clause and put on his coat legally binding him to become Santa I might as well have. We work with the local church leaders here regularly during the week and we were tasked with buying a Papa Noel costume for the branch primary party. Gladly, I bought the costume and brought it to church on Sunday like they had asked. While handing it to the lady in charge she looked at me confused, with befuddlement in her eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"I got the suit like you guys asked"
"Yes, I see that but you know you have to uh.."
"Oh sorry, did you guys ask us to get something else?"
"No Elder Remer, look all of the kids know that Papa Noel is a white man.. so"
And just like that I was found to be legally obligated to wear the Santa Costume for the Branch party; because I was the only white guy. It was really fun to hand out all the gifts and EVERYONE wanted to take a picture with a real white Santa. To conclude with another 1994 popular culture reference, The Notorious B.I.G. said in his song (Big Poppa) "I love it when you call me Big Poppa" and I feel like I can relate to that as I loved it when they called me Big Poppa Noel.
On a slightly more serious note, let's not forget why we celebrate Christmas- the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."(Matthew 1:21) He came and paid for our sins. Because of him we now have the opportunity to gain eternal life. And that was the ultimate gift.
I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas this week!
Elder Remer
