Traditions matter :)

We love our American holidays!  Thanksgiving is one of them.  It’s just another day here in the Netherlands of course….so do we make it a holiday or just ignore it?  Since I was cooking dinner on Wednesday and Friday for the YSA’s in Utrecht and Den Bosch as usual and Sister Hill had invited us to a potluck Thanksgiving dinner on Sat., I sort of decided by default that I would ignore Thanksgiving on Thursday. 

But our amazing District Leader, Elder Roberts,  called and asked if I would host Thanksgiving for the elders and an investigator (potluck, of course!).  Sunday in Relief Society I was mentally wandering during the announcements (after 2 hours of listening to Dutch and straining to catch a word or two I sometimes find this happening!) when I heard the RS president say my name.  I looked up and she asked me if I was going to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the missionaries. As the sisters all looked at me I was happy I could say yes….it would be awkward to be called out in RS and not have the right answer!  She was happy and said she just wanted to make sure the missionaries had their holiday dinner (LOL!).

It sounds easy enough….but finding a turkey proved anything but.  I finally found a whole, frozen turkey but it was too big for my crockpot and my microwave/oven just won’t do the job.  So I settled for turkey roasts.  I decided we needed one our family’s traditional foods….homemade rolls.  So I 

 started experimenting.  My oven bakes unevenly, burning the edges and the bottom so I have been looking for a silver cookie sheet to replace the black one I have.  No luck but I did finally find a silver pizza pan!  I found the warmest place in the house, the entry way, and set the rolls to rising.  To my joy they baked up better than expected….just a little strangely shaped and a little unevenly browned but they tasted delicious! 

The missionaries did their part

and brought a pie and the yams.  Our new friend, Jacqueline brought green beans and a delicious pear/cinnamon fruit dish.

We are grateful for traditions! It was a lovely evening with good food, a new friend, kind and caring missionaries, and gratitude for all we have been so abundantly blessed with….especially the privilege to be here, together serving our Heavenly Father’s children in the Netherlands.