This bird seems a bit scrawny for Thanksgiving
Writing out a few thoughts, just in case, is NOT a bad idea. We attended sacrament service in Yverdon. Since there was no fog and the traffic was light, we arrived 15 minutes early. Bishop Bonny and his family were ill, so Guy Rottermann (Eric’s brother) conducted (he’s the 1st Counselor). Before the meeting began, he had time to come down from the podium and ask us if we’d be willing to share a few words. This time I was prepared. Back in August I’d written a page worth of testimony, including 3 scriptures I’d printed out. Sister Hinman speaks well enough not to have worried about such things, and she did well. At least, since I had something to review before having to get up and read it, I felt much more comfortable looking at people in the congregation. As usual, we munched our peanut butter and jam sandwiches on the way back to Geneva. That evening, we enjoyed a dinner of pre-Thanksgiving leftovers from Friday’s event at Yverdon, which gave Dede the inspiration to share what remained with the office elders and with the missionary assistants to President Murdock. As we arrived at the mission home around 7 pm, we noticed numerous cars in the parking lot and remembered the rumor of a fireside for new members and friends. Since we were a full half hour late, I very much wanted NOT to go into the mission home itself, but rather just to leave the food with a note in the elders’ apartment in the other building. But the better half of our team prevailed, and I acquiesced. President Murdock invited Ilana (from Brazil) and Degmar (from Mongolia) to come up and tell us what was going to happen in the coming weeks. Both young women had decided to be baptized, Ilana this Saturday and Degmar the week after. As usual, my wife had been correct in her urging us to participate. It scares me a bit that my own pride seems to keep me from listening to the whisperings of the Spirit. Fortunately, when my sweetheart speaks, it seems to impinge a bit louder on my consciousness. Monday at the Spanish family home evening, five of the nineteen present were nonmembers. Around 9:30 pm, Ciara came in and told us about her life in northern India. One of the Hindu principles, as we understand, is that because all religions have truth, there are none that are “right” or “wrong” – meaning that to them, all are more or less equal and so one does not have to give up Hinduism in order to accept another religion.
Even the grocery store decorates
Our Young Adults may be few in number, but they have great faith. Tuesday evening was special in that we had an appointment with Bishop Bonny in Yverdon to explain the Outreach Initiative and to see about obtaining a key to the building and its facilities. We felt rather sorry for the bishop, who is still recovering from the severe cold that kept him and his family home from church on Sunday. He looked better than “death warmed over,” but not very much. We were very much impressed with the scripture he chose to begin the meeting, from Alma 58:32-33, which he likened to our situation and efforts to build a solid group of stalwart young single adults: “But behold, our armies are small to maintain so great a number of cities and so great possessions. But behold, we trust in our God who has given us victory over those lands, insomuch that we have obtained those cities and those lands, which were our own.” We were quite touched when at the end of a 45-minute discussion, he asked if there were anything else they could do to help us get the program rolling.
Sweet potatoes can’t be gray, can they? Wednesday, we started preparing for the Thanksgiving dinner we’ll provide for the Spanish family home evening group – and also for the Thanksgiving dinner at the mission home on Thursday. After putting things together for two 9x13 pans of sweet potato casserole, it was necessary buy some more sweet potatoes. Tuesday, we’d bought the only large potatoes at our usual grocery store, but after some searching I grabbed the last two available at a third store. They were large, and had typical red skins. It was a bit scary when they were peeled, and were neither yellow nor orange, but rather white, and they turned gray when they were cut and cooked. But they tasted more like sweet potatoes than like poi, so we proceeded. Since we were going to have the Spanish dinner at the Institute, we took the pans down there to finish cooking. Somehow, perhaps in transporting the partially cooked casseroles, the topping went south and settled in the bottom. Our recourse was to stir things together and hope for the best.
A Mission home Thanksgiving place setting
Thursday was Thanksgiving – with the senior couples and President and Sister Murdock at the mission home – it was terrific – and the sweet potato casserole with the gray potatoes tasted just fine. A cup of sugar and a stick of butter in the potatoes, plus another stick of butter and a cup of brown sugar with chopped pecans in the topping can fix almost anything.
Googledocs and Advent crowns: Friday we took about an hour’s walk to the bank and then to the grocery store – in a light drizzle – in Oregon, it would not have been called rain, so I rarely opened the umbrella we carried. That later proved to have been a bad idea, since cold viruses began to dance in the chest. That evening we again went to Yverdon for our meeting with Eric, Sabrina, and the full-time elders. Eric had sent out a Googledocs agenda for our meeting, which had had input from 4 people in our group. When we went thru it at the meeting, much time was saved because we already knew what the others were thinking on a certain topic. After classes, Eric showed the 17 young single adults how to make “Advent crowns” – decorated fir wreaths with four candles, one of which is lighted each Sunday before Christmas, a German and Swiss tradition.
Who says guys don’t do crafts?
On the way to an Advent crown
It took about an hour and a half to cut little pieces of fir boughs and wire them to a Styrofoam ring, to put four nails up thru the wreath, and then heat another nail over a flame that could be used to make a hole in the bottom of each candle (hopefully without splitting the wax of the candle). We also wired on cinnamon sticks and baked orange slices, and then flocked the whole thing with spray. Again, it was just great to see how well everyone worked together.
Don’t forget us seniors
Thanksgiving again and again: Saturday, Dede prepared the 6 turkey legs and thighs and the 12 turkey breasts for Monday’s Thanksgiving dinner. While they were cooking, she made two pumpkin pies. We deboned the baked turkey, and figure we have about 11 pounds of meat for the expected 25-30 people to share. Around 3 pm, we got a phone call from the Kester family, who invited us to come over to help them consume a giant Thanksgiving dinner they’d just had for a number of her friends at the World Health Organization here at the UN. It was a delicious meal, and we visited until 6 pm, when we had to zoom back to Geneva for Ilana’s baptism.
Ilana, with Elders Welch & Sorenson
Since Stake conference is next weekend, tomorrow is fast Sunday. We decided to fast in gratitude for our many blessings. Among these are health miracles: granddaughter Abbie’s safe arrival; Allie’s natural delivery; the timing of Abbie’s arrival; Andrew Powell’s stabilization and opportunity for further surgery; Kristy McVicker’s receiving the new heart she needed, just after her son Hunter’s birth; Dede’s resolution of stomach problems, and my quick recovery from the back pain a month ago. We’re also grateful for miracles in some of the recent convert’s lives: Sonia getting a much better job; Shideh’s receiving permission to stay in Switzerland to further her education. And certainly we appreciate our children’s blessings and happiness and the many blessings we’ve seen while serving here.
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