Thanksgiving

As I was writing Adam this week, this is part of what I wrote to him as a Thanksgiving message to him. I wanted to post it here because it made me think of how great it is to just simply express gratitude. I have so much to be grateful for. Here's what I wrote:

We love you Adam. When we are around the table saying what we are thankful for, you will be one that will be mentioned. We are so proud of you and are so glad that things are going so well for you.

On my mission, my first Thanksgiving was in the MTC. You know how that is. We did eat turkey and the main difference was that they gave the teachers the day off. Our teachers came by to say hello though. My second Thanksgiving, I was sick in a hospital in Peru and I spent three days all by myself. It sounds like kind of a bummer for Thanksgiving, but oddly enough it was really quite a special time for me. In the hospital, they didn't have TV's or anything like that. All I could do was sit in bed while we waited for my fever to come down. So I read the Book of Mormon. In those three days I read it from cover to cover and had time to ponder it and go back over things if I wanted and really take it all in. I knew the Book of Mormon was true before that, but at that time I learned to love it and understand it more and in a way, feel what was in the pages. I was not bored for a second while alone in the hospital. My companion told me about the dinner that he and the other missionaries had at one of the members homes. I felt a little left out, but I remember that as they described it, they were actually a little disappointed. They were nice members that knew about Thanksgiving from the American missionaries and were being very nice and trying, but it wasn't like what it is back home. It was an interesting feeling because they missed home by having someone try to duplicate it and missing the mark, while I didn't have anything even remotely like thanksgiving (Peruvian hospital food all by myself) I was so filled and felt so uplifted by the whole thing. (even with a high fever for 2 1/2 of those 3 days)

Whatever your experience is, expressing gratitude is always a good experience. So, we are grateful for you. I am proud to have you as a son.

Love, Dad and Mom