The Sevey's

For Christmas this year, my side of the family decided to forego presents to one another in order to provide a family in need with Christmas. How it worked out was nothing less than a miracle. My mom has done sub for santa in the past and hasn't been impressed with the program. She wanted to pick a family that wasn't expecting anything at all for Christmas. I asked my mom if we could go through the Church to help provide for a family, she was hesitant at first but as soon as I found the family she was very open to it!

I called the Bishop in my parents boundaries and he set me up with the Relief Society President. I told her about my family and how we want to provide a Christmas to someone in the ward. I asked if she knew of a family in need that we could help. From the moment she started telling me about this family I knew that we needed to choose them for our Christmas this year.

The Sevey's moved to America just a few years ago. They are originally from Africa. They have four beautiful little girls with one on the way this January. The father has been out of work for a while so they've been receiving help from the Church. The Relief Society president told me that every Saturday, the father goes to the Church to clean. It's not his calling, duty, or responsibility. When the Bishop told him he didn't have to do that, he replied "No, I do. I want to do everything I can to pay back the church for helping my family".

Thanksgiving night, my family donated all the money they would have spent on buying presents for one another (We do a family gift exchange every year). Neal, Jayde (our neice), and I were given the task to shop for the four little girls. All they asked for this Christmas was boots, warm gloves, and a barbie. We ended up getting a lot more than that :) It was so much fun to be able to go shopping with Neal and Jayde. It was exciting to think about giving these presents to the sweet little girls. I wish so bad we could have seen their faces on Christmas morning!

My mom worked herself to DEATH on this family project. She went above and beyond to provide for the parents and new baby. She was only supposed to get presents for those three while shopping but she ended up going even more crazy on the little girls. She got the girls everything they wanted and more!

The week of Christmas, we had a "final wrap" party. Once everything was wrapped and ready to go, we set out to meet the Mrs. Sevey. The Relief Society president was wonderful by offering to take the little girls for ice cream the night we wanted to drop off the presents. Neal, my mom, Stacey (sister), and I all drove over together. We were welcomed into the Sevey home with hugs and tears. The presents continued to pile in, we had to hide all of them in the parents bedroom.

Mrs. Sevey told us about her past and how she made it to Utah. Her parents died of AIDS when she was 7 years old. She was raised by a women she had never met and was forced to move to Uganda. Upon moving to America, she has lost all contact with the woman and friends from back home. Mrs. Sevey explained to us, "It's okay though, I have family here, the church is my family now".

We told her that all the presents were for her four girls, her husband, herself, and the baby on the way. As soon as we told her we bought supplies for the new baby she broke down in tears and asked if she could hug us again. She was the sweetest woman and we all loved being able to help her family out for Christmas. It was a wonderful learning experience for all of us. We're hoping to make it a tradition :)