Christmas, Christ más

This Sunday on the way to church my mom handed me her phone and said, “here, watch this.” I didn’t know what it was. My mom has been known to show me everything from jib jab videos to pictures of ingrown toenails…but instead I saw this:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

I love my Savior. That’s really what this whole little post comes down to. I will never be able to fully express the immense gratitude that I feel for Jesus Christ. He is my dearest friend and the only hope I (or anyone) have for joy and peace. In a season that is full of celebration let us remember to be a little more like him. For me that means being more patient, treating myself kindly, thinking before I speak, and being consistent in the things I do that are right (as well as a million other things, but it’s a step-by-step process).

I know that by myself I could not develop the attributes and attitudes I need to be more Christ-like. That is why I am even more grateful that he helps me along the way. Through prayer we can ask for help. With heavenly aid we can change who we are and become better. There’s a scripture in the Book of Mormon that always motivates me to be more like Christ. It says, “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19, page 153)

So bring on the wassail and cocoa dusted truffles. I’m ready for wrapping paper tube wars and watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” However, I also pray that God bless each of us as we show our gratitude for the gift of His Son by trying to be more like him and help others along the way.

Merry Christmas

Feliz Natal

Feliz Navidad

She's Outta Here

It's taken me almost two years to get to this point, and after prayers and trials and travels it's finally here. In about 4 hours I will be set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I don't even fully understand the meaning of that role, and how I will be made to fill it. What I do know is that despite all the chaos that accompanied the making and following through of this decision that I have felt constant peace. I know that I am doing what is right for me at this time. So off I go with this as my compass:

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

Proverbs 3: 5-6  

Oh, before I forget. If you want to keep up with me this blog will be maintained by my mother and sister with excerpts from e-mails that I'll be able to send them. AND if you're really cool you can find my address on the right and send me a letter. Catch you in 18 months. 

Life Lately

Let's jump back to December for just a moment. I was trying to make a lot of difficult life choices back then. One day I was applying for grad programs, the next I was going to work as a country director for HELP International, another day I would be making elaborate travel plans, and a day later I was on to something else. The whole process was becoming exhausting, this was especially true for my parents. One day my dad called me and said frankly (more frankly than I would have liked) "Jari, you're 22 years old. It's time to grow up and make a decision so pick whichever one is right and stick to it. You're done flip-flopping around." So I thought a lot about it, I prayed about it, and that night I decided that the plan that I liked best, and the one that felt the most right was to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So that's what I am doing. On May 16th I will report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah then approximately 9 weeks later I will head to the Morristown, New Jersey Mission. So there you have it, I am capable of making decisions and I'm rather excited about this one.

Since I am reporting just a little over a month from when I graduated I decided to play pretty much the entire time in-between the two. First stop, Utah. I only stayed two days but I was able to visit with some of my most favorite people chatting, eating, and enjoying the lovely spring weather. Brenna made a delicious Easter dinner, Michelle taught me how to skip a rock, Holly and I had a lovely chat, and Sean even recounted all his favorite things about Utah and college life. Those were three days well spent. 

Second stop, Chicago. I wanted to spend time with my dear friend, Courtney. She is getting married in August to another friend of mine, Israel. Since I decided to serve a mission I will no longer be able to stand as her bridesmaid which breaks my heart. I still wanted to be a small part of the planning and see her before I left. We spent the week trying food and exploring the venue for her reception, shopping for dresses with the bridesmaids, laughing at wedding comedy movies in the man cave, baking treats, and oohing and awing over shoes, cakes, and Ryan Gosling. I adore Courtney and her family, they are so fun-loving and easy to get along with. Thank you again Shade family for letting me join in on the fun for a week. 

Now I'm home in perfect, sunny, wonderful Florida. About a week ago my aunt and uncle flew in from Brazil so we headed off to the emerald coast for five days. Make that 7 Brazilians, 3 Americans, 4 Halvsies, and 1 RV. It was a party. Lots of beach volleyball, frescoball, fruit, golden corral stops, made up sign language/English/Portuguese/Spanish communication, singing, and lots of laughing. I'm rather fond of hanging out with my huge, crazy family. Of course there is no such thing as a vacation without an adventure, so it shouldn't have been a surprise when the RV broke down for a little bit. Luckily everything got fixed and we were able to all travel back home together, and we definitely made the most of it. You haven't lived until you've had a traveling karaoke night complete with dance instruction courtesy of my father. It was a happy vacation full of sweet memories and gorgeous scenery. I'm so lucky to live in such a beautiful state. 

You would think that maybe I'd slow down for just a second, but that would be completely out of character. The first night back from the beach my family "surprised" me with tickets to the Lion King Broadway tour. I'm terrible about finding out about surprises just barely too early, but at least we had an extra ticket and were able to surprise Blake's mom, Liz. Surprise or not the show was beautiful. The Lion King has always been one of my favorite movies, and the show was just that more striking and emotional. Personally I feel that there are so many levels past entertainment and towards spiritual that the story line is capable of covering. If you ever have a chance it see to I would definitely recommend it. 

And the adventure continues...

Before the 16th the agenda still includes a Honduran dinner, two Brazilian dinners (can you tell my family is into food), scuba diving, blueberry picking, and a little Utahan get together with some family there. Life lately is pretty good. 

Sunday lessons: thou shalt think before you speak

I live in Utah these days. I know I've mentioned this before, but normally I'm teasing the state or myself when I mention that fact about my life. Today, however, I'm really happy that I live in Utah. Why, you ask? Five words: Music and the Spoken Word. That's why.

A Louisianan friend from efy found herself in Utah this weekend with a hankering for some MoTab. So we filled Gus with a couple more efyers and off to Temple Square we went. Let it be known that Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing as arranged by Mack Wilberg is my absolute favorite hymn at the moment; and today's broadcast closed with that song. The music filled my soul, found my pride, beat it to a pulp, then left me with the hope that I can be so much better than I currently am. "Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above." I am so grateful to have witnessed that presentation and to feel of the testimony shared there.

Utah, you have your perks.

In fact, Utah, since I'm being nice to you today I'll keep talking about how awesome spending Sunday on Temple Square is. It's stunning. You can't help but be completely overcome by the sheer majesty of the Salt Lake Temple. I admire and greatly appreciate the effort and sacrifices made by early saints to build a "sacred structure where the Lord could teach, guide, and bless" them and future saints.

The visitor's center, also great. It's filled with cute sister missionaries who are such pleasant company and great conversationalists. One even thought that we were all childhood friends, what a compliment. Then we listened to a presentation in Spanish, and I understood it! Happy day in the world? I think so

Another favorite from my Sunday on the Square was watching countless presentations of I'm a Mormon. They are incredibly uplifting stories of real people. Each story ended with the person explaining their different roles in life (fathers, mothers, teachers, publicists, professional football players, olympians, lawyers, friends, painters, etc.) followed by the standard quote "and, I'm a Mormon." Sometimes I couldn't contain myself and would follow up by cheering "yeah you are!" or "I just love him/her." I'm probably not the most reverent person alive, and I should probably learn to think before I speak seeing as this action repeated itself anywhere from three to seven different times. But, ya know, sometimes I can't help myself. My heart gets so full of happiness, and confidence, and triumph, and other goodness...and sometimes it has nowhere to go, so it comes out my mouth.

Stephanie, Michelle, and Sean you are absolutely wonderful. I'm so glad I spent my Sunday with you three. You are all amazing and inspiring people, and I definitely look up to each of you. Oh, and thanks a whole lot for putting up with my ridiculous nature.

Anyway, I guess all I'm trying to say is that my name is Jari Santos. I'm 22 and still learning to think before I speak, I love spending time with good friends at good places, I'm about to graduate and have no idea where my future is headed, I'm loud, I like to travel, I'm a halvsie, and I'm a Mormon.

(I'm sorry that I sound all kinds of crazy, bright-eyed and bushy tailed. But, hey, you're the one who stayed to read. So happy Sunday to you.)