Thanksgiving

We were able to get turkeys for our upcoming December Zone Conference. But that was a huge undertaking. We sent Brother Pete (An American retired chef living here in the Philippines) to Manila. He bought 12 turkeys for us and we've been carefully keeping them frozen (in various freezers) during the past month or so. We've had numerous brown outs and we always ran to get the generators running so that we didn't lose a turkey. Needless to say, we didn't have a turkey to spare and so eating turkey for Thanksgiving wasn't an option. We cooked a pork loin instead and made an apricot glaze, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade rolls, glazed carrots, broccoli and pretzel jello salad (a family favorite).

Sister Breese outdid herself with delicious desserts. She made a pecan pie (with pecans that she brought in her suitcase) and a cherry pie and apple crisp.

We invited a few of the local missionaries to come and dine with us. Each person spent a minute sharing what they were most thankful for this year. It was heartwarming to hear our young missionaries think of family at home and the gospel of Jesus Christ and be so very grateful for them.
We didn't take the day off of our missionary work, but it was wonderful to take a short break and dine on a feast while counting our blessings.
President and I have so many things to be thankful for...two amazing sons who bring us such joy...their two amazing wives who love our sons and work very hard to make them happy...four amazing grandchildren who are the cutest, smartest, nicest kids on earth...my dear parents who are the greatest parents any person could ever hope to have...Rudy's mom who has such a sweet, kind heart...our brothers and sisters and their families. Yes, our family is right at the top of our list of blessings.
We also are thankful for the opportunity we have to serve full-time at this season of our lives. It's not something we ever expected to happen, but we are very thankful for the opportunity. We are grateful for the 140+ missionaries who were willing to take time out of their busy lives to come here to the Philippines at their own expense to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. We love them and are honored to work with them.
We are also grateful for our testimonies...We know that God lives and knows us personally. We know that he answers our prayers and if he will answer our prayers, we know he will answer your prayers as well. We are grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ who atoned for our sins and paid the price so that we would be able to someday live in the presence of our Heavenly Father through eternities.

We pray that each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!