Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Today is Thanksgiving for those living in the United States.  It is one of my favorite holidays.  It is the beginning of the holiday season and a time to remember all of our many blessings.

We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday.  We put up the Christmas decorations to bring the holiday spirit.

 

Hermana Ehmke and I put our heads together to create a delicious meal.  She even made little turkey name cards for each of us!

 

There were no turkeys to buy but we roasted three chickens and they turned out great.  President Lovell is carving the chickens just as he does the turkeys every year!  We tried to include traditions from each of our families.  I made my mom's sweet potato and apple dish.  It was a real hit. Hermana Ehmke made the dressing for the turkeys and made them look delicious!   Just so you know... I am not chastising anyone here!

 

A Thanksgiving Dinner is not complete without friends and family.  We talked the Office Elders, the Assistants and Lorena and Rodolfo into coming.  We turned on beautiful music and had a wonderful time.

 

Hermana Ehmke provided all the deserts.  What a decision!  Which one should she choose?

 

We ended the time together by each of sharing something we are grateful for.  We decided we have lots to be grateful for!

 

Later that afternoon we took some things to Lorena and Rodolfo's home. (Lorena helps at the mission home and is such a blessing especially during transfer week!) They are feeling very grateful because they have been able to rebuild part of their home.  This is what they have built so they have a place to sleep while they gradually work at replacing their home. 

 

Several months ago they lost everything they had when their house went up in flames except the walls of their home and a few things they were able to salvage after the fire. Most people do not have any fire insurance here so it was so devastating to them. Rodolfo does leather work at home and he lost all of his tools in the fire he uses to do his work. Not only did they lose everything but now he couldn't even work to start replace things. A few days after the fire I asked Lorena how she was doing. She said she was fine and that the things they lost were just things. They were just so grateful that they still had each other and their testimonies. I have learned a lot from watching the courage and faith they have. 

 

They are so grateful for the missionaries and other friends that came and helped them.  There have been unknown friends from the United States that have contributed money to help them get the roof and the windows redone.  One neighborhood from the United States was kind enough to donate early to their annual neighborhood charity fund that they usually do at Christmas time to help Lorena and Rodolfo.  What a wonderful tradition they have to be able to bless families in need.

 

 

This is an oven Rodolfo built so Lorena could cook! She is looking forward to the day that she will have a kitchen again but they are still enjoying life and feed the missionaries in their ward several times a week! They are such an example of patience, faith and love of the gospel and of each other. It is easy to see that happiness is a choice and that we can be happy even when things are hard.

I am so grateful for all we are learning here in Argentina.

Happy Thanksgiving!