THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS

We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving at zone conference, feeding the missionaries a home-cooked turkey dinner and watching their talent show.  Now, you have to understand that pulling off a real Thanksgiving feast in Denmark is quite a juggling act.  First of all, turkeys are hard to come by, bread stuffing ingredients are non-existent, and they don't do Jello in Denmark.  Who doesn't do Jello?  Our turkeys were only about 10 pounds and cost $45 each.  E X P E N S I V E.  We had to do the pioneer thing and make our dried bread cubes  (we are so spoiled in America),  and we had to beg Jello off anyone who had received a care package during the last year.  Shhh......we have Jello Hoarders here. Secondly, each apartment has an itty-bitty oven and a miniscule freezer/fridge. Good thing the turkeys were small and some of us had a freezer big enough if everything else was removed.  Turkeys were cooked  in shifts.  The dressing rotated into the oven after the turkeys came out to be carved and put in crock pots to stay warm.  And, have you ever tried to maneuver a cake pan full of  red jello into a fridge with no wiggle room?  Tricky. Sticky.

Of course, the missionaries ate every bite of food and were geared up for the "Turkey Bowl."

I told them to look "tough."  By the way, the word on the pink t-shirt, "kærlighed" means "love."  Appropriate. 

We are thankful to be here in Denmark with such kind, warm-hearted Danes.  They are beautiful, warm and generous people.  We love our branch and all the friends we have made already.  We are grateful for the missionary couples we serve with and their kindness to us.  We love the young missionaries here and their willingness to work and work and work with few baptisms.  Great leaders. Great testimonies.  Great spiritual strength.  The church is in good hands.
We are grateful for our good friends at home and for their support.  We pray for them and for our ward family and our temple family.
We are grateful for our family and for their encouragement and love.   We love them.  We love their uniqueness.  We love their strength and goodness.  We love how they have supported one another this year through thick and thin.  We admire them as parents and wives and husbands.  Most of all, we love them for giving us 26 beautiful grandchildren who are so much fun.  Each grandchild is absolutely special to us.  From the married , engaged and missionary ones,  to the braces-on-the- teeth girls,  right down to the two-year old tantrum throwers.  Wish we could hug them all.
We love the gospel and the strength we feel from living the best we can.  We are grateful for the priesthood in our lives and the temple blessings.  We love our Savior and have felt His peace and comfort and know that he is watching out for us and our family.
Even though we are away from home this Thanksgiving season, we have truly felt thankfulness for all we have and for the opportunity to serve here.