What We Are Thankful For, Part 1

We began our interview trip in Vitoria. We decided to take every missionary a small loaf of homemade bread to wish them all a little Happy Thanksgiving, American Style. Muchas Gracias to Hna Belnap. I talked to her about my idea and she said, I'll make them. Yes, 80 little loaves of bread have been filling up the freezer in the mission home. Well our commentary for the rest of this blog and the next one will be what our missionaries are thankful for. I told them that I would say that everyone is thankful for their family and the mission, so if they wanted to come up with something else they could. So here comes all the thoughts from our missionaries. Elder Frank is thankful for his family, of course and Elder Renshaw said the bread! Hna Sieverts said her family while Hna Miskin said she was thankful for the Brigham City Temple to come and for progression!

Our two Zone Leaders of Vitoria seem to be happy about the bread. Elder Smith is thankful for his Dad and his family and Elder Griffith is thankful for his momma!

On to Pamplona with the Guapo Elders are showing their poses with their bread! Elder Chavez is thankful para mi familia while Elder Moya is thankful for mi novia Paula y por servir en la mision. Elder Fowers is thankful for his mom and dad while Elder Griotti is thankful for mi mama y mis 5 hermanas.

The Logrono missionaries are so happy this thanksgiving time. The only piso in the mission with 4 hermanas, wow. Hna Arzola is thankful para mi familia, her cute new haircut and uno cards. Hna Rudder is thankful for 8 full hours of sleep and Salsa Brava. Hna Truscott is thankful for comfortable shoes, a good laugh, prayer and enlightenment while Hna Huntsman is thankful for the Lord's hand in her life and warm showers! (their hot water has been out but is getting fixed) In the rear Elder Harris is thankful for bowls of cereal, good dreams, clean clothes, awesome goals and yoyo's, while Elder Southwick is thankful for family and gospel and a full mailbox. (He might have said cereal too!)

What is this? The Hermana's surprised me with a rose and some chocolate from Switzerland. (This is Hna Arzola's home) What cute sisters. The Presidente and I are definitely thankful for wonderful and adorable Hermanas! (O.K. Elders, better step it up!)

On we went to Burgos, with 4 very happy missionaries. Elder Esteves-Garcia is thankful por la catedral en Leon, Elder Holmes is thankful for his family and his Mission Presidente!!(Hey Elder Holmes, you are making the Elders look good!) Hermana Moraza is thankful for Hna Sanchez y el frio en Burgos while Hna Sanchez is thankful for Hna Moraza, su familia y muchos milagros.

These Leon Elders look like they are happy for their bread. Elder Roldan is thankful to tiene que ser mas osado, while Elder Ciccio is thankful por mi familia y mi novia. Elder Quinn is thankful for his family, especially his brother and the example of his parents while Elder Corbridge is thankful for his calling as a missionary.

The hard working Benavente Elders know they are going to enjoy the bread. Elder Alvarez is thankful for early mornings for running and Elder Bingham is thankful for scarves (It is getting chilly in Benavente)

Our happy Ponferrada Elders are always happy and thankful. Elder Hansen is thankful for his butterfinger desert that he served us as we visited them. Actually they fed us a lunch of baked chicken with green beans, garlic bread and the desert. Who said that missionaries can't cook? Elder Gerber is thankful for eggwhites. (His chicken was fantastic)

Our Vigo missionaries are working extra hard. I think they have had 4 baptisms this past month. Hna Abellan and Hna Patten are thankful for Hna Clegg to be able to come on visits with them and take two buses around Vigo as we got lost and to run and run and run to get to an investigators house before it was too late. Wow, we had such a wild, wonderful night. And yes, they are both thankful for their families and the fact that Hna Abellan is learning English from Hna Patten and Hna Patten is learning spanish from Hna Abellan. Elder Johnstun is thankful for his loaf of bread while Elder Carins is thankful for Elder Dredge. Elder Dredge is thankful for Elder Carins (now wait a minute, didn't we get this in Burgos) and his mom! And Elder Anderson is thankful for hammocks on a sunny day. Hmn, is he going home in 3 weeks?

Oh, the delightful Elders in Pontevedra are bright and cheery for an 8:30 a.m. interview. Elder Garcia is thankful for water-proof shoes and his district while Elder Hansen is thankful for his family, of course, and for croissants, nice and warm!

And finally for this half of the mission, the Ourense Telitubby missionaries (I got it from an unnamed source they were the 4 telitubbies for a branch Halloween party. If I get a hold of a picture, I will have to share it. Elder Webb is thankful for frosted circus animal cookies with the sprinkles on top, Elder Oscanoa is thankful to estar aqui en la mision y muchas milagros. Elder Kofe is thankful for Spanish Bread while Elder Ryser is thankful for Branca, an angel of a member. That will do it for now but we will continue this after we visit the other half of the mission this coming Sunday through Thursday. So stay tuned for "the rest of the story!