Dear Family and Friends,
I told Elder Benson some time ago that it was his turn to check in with everyone, but he has been very busy. This is just a little update from me until his gets posted. We may have told you that the Zone leaders asked if we would prepare Thanksgiving dinner for the 24 missionaries in our zone on Monday, Nov 19. Thanksgiving Day is transfer day and will undoubtedly be the last time some of the Elders will have a chance to work so closely together. So we are going to party, eat and give thanks together on Monday.
We have been busy for the last few weeks trying to find American products or reasonable substitutes for the feast. I have to admitt that I have felt a lot of pressure to be a substitute for 24 mothers and the missionaries own fond memories of their mothers' great cooking. But I am going to give it my best shot.Some things have been generously donated by members of the International Ward who have access to the commissary on base, including 2 butterball turkeys. You can buy turkey pieces locally but whole ones are not available until around Christmas. We found a Metzger( butcher) at the local farmers market and I was excited about being able to order a fresh whole turkey from him. He told us to order it on Friday and he woulld have it the next week. So last week we went to place our order. We figured the weight of a 16 or 17 pound bird and decided to ask how much it would cost per kilo. With the exchange rate of dollars to Euros it came out to about $80.00. Needless to say we quickly abandoned that idea. But the sisters donated canned pumpkin for the pies(so I don"t have to cook my own fresh ones) and we have found sweet potatoes and marshmellows. Pie plates are a problem since they don't exist here. I had one of the young adults bring me disposable ones from the base but they turned out to be cake pans. So we are making adjustments as we need to. We have begged, borrowed and bought to make this as "American" a Thanksgiving as possible, which were my only instructions from the Zone leaders. The ovens are tiny but fortunately big enough to get the turkeys in. I'm glad someone got us disposable roasting pans on base that we can bend a little to make them fit the ovens. I'm not sure how everything will work out, but with a lot of prayers, I'm sure they will.
Well, we are off to start the bread for the stuffing. We bought the wrong kind yesterday so we had to start over this morning. We had to make our own turkey stock because it costs about $3.00 for a Campbell Soup size can of stock and it took us days to even find it. Flour came from the base because we have heard that the flour is even different. There aren't any Idaho potatoes to mash. Most potatoes cook up hard for things like potato salad. There is no brown sugar(we got ours from the base) and no vanilla extract( you have to use a vanilla bean). No heavy whipping cream(where is Costco when you need it) and fresh cranberries were very difficult to find and cost a lot. We'll take some pictures Monday so you can see how it all turns out.
Love to you all and have a very Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be grateful for. We love the Saints here, especially the young adults we are working with. They are so dedicated to the gospel. The missionaries are amazing with firm testimonies and a dedication that I am hard pressed to match. They are so committed to the Savior. And that is why we are here.
Love,
Sister Benson
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