THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS

GIVING THANKS FOR HEALTH & STRENGTH & LEGS & FEET
We can check a car out of the church motor pool for humanitarian project work if one is available. The rest of the time, we do lots of walking and it is wonderful. We go on a walk several mornings a week, we go on a short walk after dinner to keep Elder Lamb’s blood sugar level in check, we walk to the store and we walk to do most errands. Sometimes we use the metro or uber, but we usually walk. We feel blessed to be able to do so.

GIVING THANKS FOR WAZE
We were told Tuesday afternoon that the truckers in the country were on strike. That does not bode well for getting our last 9 projects delivered before the end of the year. We were not sure what we would face but we headed out with hope on Wednesday morning to make two visits for prospective projects, each about 1 ½ hours outside of Santiago. We had not gone far when traffic slowed to a crawl. At several highway off ramps, trucks were parked on the side of the road forcing traffic down to one lane. At each off-ramp there was a small space for one car at a time to squeeze through. Truckers asked for money as we funneled through the opening. It was a day to remember. It amazes us that this is tolerated. We are thankful for our WAZE app that led us to side roads and helped us avoid some of the congestion.

GIVING THANKS FOR PEOPLE WHO DO SO MUCH WITH SO LITTLE
Our first visit of the day was to CESFAM Cartagena- a family health clinic. We reviewed their solicitude with them and await their updated request.

Then on to Casa de Acogida- a combination skilled nursing and rehab facility. We also discussed refinements to their original request.

GIVING THANKS FOR SERVICE HEARTS
This month our church women’s group made covered household baskets that will be donated to the COANIQUEM store.

GIVING THANKS FOR FELLOWSHIP & FOOD
We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at the Santiago North Mission Office with senior missionaries from the Santiago North, West, and East missions. They all inspire us as they serve the Lord in a variety of ways! We get so busy with our own callings- it was renewing to gather and share thoughts and feelings.

We had our usual Friday night date with the Lindquist’s. The walk home was so pleasant. A breeze was blowing, and the sky was clear enough to see the Andes.

On Saturday we took the office elders from the Santiago West mission out to lunch to thank them for helping us unload the wheelchairs last week. What a bunch of fine young men! It happened to be Elder hunter’s birthday. What fun!

We attended church at the Font branch -a half hour outside Santiago. The Lindquist’s attend there regularly. Sister Lindquist oversees the music for the Primary program this year and she needed a pianist.

Sunday dinner with the Lindquist’s at our apartment

GIVING THANKS FOR PEOPLE WHO FOLLOW PROMPTINGS
We had another sweet experience meeting with our ADRA (Seventh Day Adventist) friends last week. The South America director shared a story with us. Several years ago, he was working in India. There had been a devastating flood and ADRA had set a goal of how many people they wanted to help but they did not have the funds. He prayed. The next day a man from our church showed up at his office (he could not remember his name) and asked what they were doing to help the flood victims. The ADRA director explained his vision and our church representative asked how much it would cost. He told him the amount. Our church representative said, “Consider the project funded.” When the two men met after the humanitarian project was complete, the ADRA director asked him if he knew why he came to his office that day. He then proceeded to share how the visit had been an answer to his prayer. Now in South America, years later, we still enjoy a wonderful collaborative relationship with ADRA because one person followed a prompting and answered another person’s prayer.

We have been pondering these Thanksgiving thoughts this week:

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-28

“Could I suggest that we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that stands independent of our current situation? In other words, I’m suggesting that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being thankful in our circumstances, whatever they may be.” Dieter F. Uchtdorf

May you find joy and gratitude in your journey this week.

Abrazos, Élder y Hermana Lamb, (aka Ed & Debbie, Mom & Dad, Pop Pop & Tu Tu)