Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving Day in Birmingham, England 2014. We gathered with a few missionary couples we had met and a lot that we had never met before. We had a great time and the food was amazing! If you use a magnifying glass you can see those heavily laden tables in the background.

                       Closest to the camera - Elder and Sister Hilton who leave in December -                  
Heading home to St. George.  They're so fun...we will miss them!
The others at that table are unknown to us...

Sister Burt and Sister Gray who work next door to us. Oh! Look behind these
sisters and you'll get a tiny glimpse of our delicious feast! 

  Two sisters on this end of the table work in Solihull with the Jones.                                                                                          At the far end are Elder & Sister Gray& Brother & Sister Fell.
Sister Fell is one of Sister Jolley's visiting teachers.
Next to them are Elder & Sister Jones. Not sure who is in the purple.

In addition to the usual missionary meetings and conferences, Sister and President Rasmussen hosted a Thanksgiving luncheon for all the couples in the Birmingham area. We met over at the Wylde Green Ward next door to the mission office. Everyone brought something to the feast. Sister Rasmussen set up the tables and decorated them, and ordered the turkey and ham. She also made 3 gallons of gravy! Everything tasted yummy especially that pumpkin pie! :-)  You will notice that the cameraman did not take close up photos of the food! The most important thing about Thanksgiving - other than being thankful for our blessings! Sigh...Boring!

President Rasmussen had a rough week last week. He got very little sleep since he had a suicidal missionary on his hands. The poor missionary will be taken to board a plane for home tomorrow. We hope the young man will find help, since it sounds like he doesn't have a supportive family waiting.

The President gave a brief message on gratitude. Across the table, hidden by Sister Burt,  
sits the missionary who will be sent home the 1st of December. At the end of the table
is Elder Higham, head office assistant, who will be getting a transfer any time now.
We just start to like them and suddenly they're gone. :-(

Sister Julie and President Craig Rasmussen in early November 2014