Thanksgiving in Vanuatu!

      There is no such thing as Thanksgiving Day in Vanuatu.  We wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and then proceeded to explain the concept to them.  They liked the idea!

                     The men had a great conversation while the women were in the kitchen!

    The senior couples in the mission that are in Port Vila celebrated together at the Mission Home. 

Of course, we had chicken.  There is no such thing as turkey here.  In fact, on one of the radio stations here in town, the DJ was trying to describe turkey.  He said, "It is a big fella chicken."  Big fella means large or huge or extensive.  The DJ said turkey is like many big fella chickens together.  We also had mashed potatoes and gravy.  The gravy mix was McCormick and came from the USA in a care package along with the Ocean Spray cranberry sauce.  We had green beans, carrots, and squash for our vegetables. Although here they call all forms of squash pumpkins.  We had a green salad with crasins from the care package and homemade parker house rolls.  Our contribution was the dressing, stuffing.  I really was able to locate all of the ingredients here for the basic recipe- nothing fancy added.  It was the hit of the party.  Because of the sage and the thyme, it really tasted like an actual Thanksgiving Day dinner.  And - yes, I garnished it with fresh parsley!

      For dessert, Sister Call had made three kinds of pie - double crust apple pie, pumpkin pie, and chocolate silk pie with an oreo cookie crust.  There was also whipped cream and ice cream.  It was a wonderful time together.  We did a great deal of visiting -no one was in a  hurry to leave.  By the way we had our celebration on Saturday, November 30th.  And - the men did do most of the dishes!

      After dinner, President Brewer spoke for a long time.  He is a very inspirational man.  He is so gospel centered.  We always have a  wonderful spirit in his presence.  When he was finished talking to us, he dismissed us to our homes.  He does have the last word.

             This is the view from the backyard of the Mission Home.  It is very beautiful!!!!