The 4-year-old girl's face lit up when she opened a Christmas present from her aunt and saw it was a child-size purse. As she put her arm through the purse's strap and walked around the room showing it off, the little girl's mother asked, "What do you say?"

Expecting to hear, "Thank you," family members were momentarily taken aback when the child looked at her aunt and, with anticipation asked, "Is there any money in it?"

The girl's response is typical in many households where there is an abundance of "stuff and things." Some children look under the Christmas tree after they've opened many gifts and ask, "Is that all?"

Some might think the girl's response is amusing. However, expecting more amid abundance isn't cute. It will serve youngsters well if their parents teach in the early years gratitude for that which has been received and the concept of "having enough."

This is an ideal time of year to teach young children — and to remind ourselves — of the importance of gratitude. Addressing the topic of having "an attitude of gratitude," President Thomas S. Monson related the account in the book of Luke that tells of ten lepers who were healed by Jesus:

"The Savior, in traveling toward Jerusalem, passed through Galilee and Samaria and entered a certain village where He was met on the outskirts by ten lepers who were forced, because of their condition, to live apart from others. They stood 'afar off' and cried, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.'

"The Savior, full of sympathy and love for them, said, 'Go shew yourselves unto the priests,' and as they went they discovered that they were healed. The scriptures tell us, 'One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at [the Master's] feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.'

"The Savior responded, 'Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole' (Luke 17:11-19).

"Through divine intervention, those who were lepers were spared from a cruel, lingering death and given a new lease on life. The gratitude expressed by one merited the Master's blessing, the ingratitude by the nine His disappointment" (Young Women general meeting, 2002; Ensign, May 2002, p. 99).

We have much for which we should be grateful. Yet, at times, we might look around and ask, "Is this all there is?"

The answer is, "No." This life and its "stuff and things" is not all. Jesus said:

"And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;

"And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father's kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him" (Doctrine and Covenants 84:36-37).

Heavenly Father's magnificent Gift to the world — His Son who came into mortality to minister among men, women and children and to offer Himself in the great atoning sacrifice — has made it possible for us to return to our heavenly home, live with Him forever and partake of all that is His. And this, eternal life, is the greatest gift.

The lesson the 4-year-old girl had not learned is to be thankful for whatever gift is given. Not only at this time of year but always, we ought think more about what we have received rather than what we haven't received.

As we ponder Heavenly Father's and Jesus Christ's abundant gifts to us, let our hearts be filled with thankfulness.

To the Prophet Joseph Smith, who was born in 1805, just two days before Christmas — on Dec. 23 — the Lord said, "He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more" (Doctrine and Covenants 78:19).