thanksgiving

In San Luis, many of the members and investigators are new to the United States. They celebrate all the Mexican holidays with vigor and traditional exactness, but sometimes the American holidays seem strange to them. I admit, Halloween is stupid- I don't like it, much like many of them. St. Patrick's Day- who was St. Patrick anyway? We have several holidays that are very strange with a purely analytical outlook.

As time has been coming into Thanksgiving, there have been plans in Branch Council for the dinner we had for "el dia de pavo": Turkey Day. They were sure to make arrangements for a strictly American meal with turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy. They even almost bought pumpkin pie for dessert, but then decided to stick with pastel de tres leches, a very good Mexican cake. All to stick with the strict celebration of the holiday. But they kept talking about Turkey Day this and Turkey Day that, until even I was referring to it as "Turkey Day." Elder Snyder, before he was transferred had started to joke about how in America, we worship turkeys and that's where turkey day comes from. That, of course, is ridiculous. But it gave me a good opportunity to think about what we are celebrating. I would never call Thanksgiving "Turkey Day" in English, but it just became so habit in Spanish. The routine of it all caught up to me so quickly. The food, the decorations, the dessert- it all required so much of our focus that it was easy to lose touch with the point. I wanted all of the members to know what we celebrate.

As times get harder and harder, we often see all the things that aren't right with life. We see what we lack and what is not going well. We see economic struggles, and suffering around the world. We remember how we sometimes feel lonely or unloved and how we don't meet our own expectations. We feel how far away we are from family and friends, and wish things could be different. But these do not come from God. Even to His children suffering afflictions of great measure, our Father in Heaven has declared peace, joy, and comfort. A positive and grateful attitude bring us closer to God, whereas we will drive ourselves downward by putting our focus of the negative aspects of life. When troubles get so high we feel we have been forgotten by our Maker, let us remember the words given to Joseph Smith when he was despairing at the tragedy of his situation. All things will be for our experience and benefit. Even the Savior suffered greatly, how is it that we would be exempt from the hardships of the world. In it all, let us "be still, and know that [He] is God,"(Psalms 46:10) and remember that Elijah endured thunderings and storms and earthquakes before he could hear the voice of God.

I am grateful for Thanksgiving. What a wonderful time to look at our lives and identify our blessings. We will find great blessings, of course, being thankful every day of the year, but it is fantastic to have a day set apart just to be thankful. Is that really how we feel on Thanksgiving? Do we focus our thoughts on our blessings, raising a voice of gratitude to our family and our God? Do we lose focus and begin worshipping turkeys? I am continually amazed at the lessons life throws to us every day as we are watching for them, and grateful to be able to share a few with you readers. Thank you for reading my thoughts. Thanks for supporting me by taking time to think about me. That means a lot that I would be worth your time. I feel like every day gets busier and busier and time is a commodity of higher and higher value. Thank you for lending a bit of time for me. My greatest blessings have always come in the meaningful relationships I have been given. Thank you for sharing your lives with mine, and being good to me. I love you all--God bless you on this Thanksgiving day. Enjoy the food and family, and be thankful.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

P.S. The Tempe postmaster is finally tired of forwarding missionary mail. The Mission President has asked that our families and friends send mail to our current address, rather than the mission home. Jay, [will] post my current address on my blog in a very conspicuous way [...]. Each six weeks, the week before transfers, mail is then to wait if possible until the new or continuing address can be confirmed. Thank you.