This frozen turkey has been on the move today!
Once again this coming week, many of us will sit down at the table to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal with family members and friends. It is a time to express gratitude for the blessings that we so abundantly enjoy by acknowledging God's hand in our lives.
The Saturday before Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year at the Bishop's Storehouse in downtown Baltimore. This is the second Thanksgiving that Sister Lindsay and I have been on our mission, and it was my privilege to once again serve as a volunteer at the storehouse helping to distribute food to those in need. In the space of about four hours today, about 50 Church volunteers filled food orders for 151 families, including more than 100 frozen turkeys, 50 turkey breasts, and several thousand pounds of fresh produce, vegetables, dairy products, and canned goods at no cost to those who received these items. All of the food at the Bishop's Storehouse is paid for by the voluntary financial contributions of Church members.
Most of those families who were provided with a food order today were not present when these goods were assembled and boxed. Local leaders from 26 separate congregations in Maryland and south central Pennsylvania delivered the food directly to homes this afternoon. The expressions of gratitude, however, from those families who had come to the Bishop's Storehouse themselves was heart-warming and sincere. In following the admonition of the Savior, who said ". . . by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (see John 13:35), there was no sense of judgment or pity expressed towards those who were given the food on the part of the volunteers who found real joy in serving their brothers and sisters in the gospel.
When the Bishop's Storehouse closed this afternoon, the facility manager who was very gracious and kind in expressing his thanks for my service handed me a large frozen turkey. When I arrived back at our apartment, my wife and I immediately contacted two sister missionaries in Cockeysville with some good news. They had told us a few days ago that a man in his twenties whom they have been teaching about the restored gospel has recently lost his father. The young man lives with his aunt, and she had asked the missionaries if there was any way the Church could assist their family by helping them obtain a turkey for Thanksgiving.
And so, the frozen turkey I had been given earlier in the afternoon was delivered on Saturday evening to the sister missionaries who in turn will present the bird anonymously to the family that needs a turkey from heaven for Thanksgiving dinner. We love being able to give a gift to someone who has no way of identifying us. Our Thanksgiving dinner will taste even better now that we have given our turkey away!
The Saturday before Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year at the Bishop's Storehouse in downtown Baltimore. This is the second Thanksgiving that Sister Lindsay and I have been on our mission, and it was my privilege to once again serve as a volunteer at the storehouse helping to distribute food to those in need. In the space of about four hours today, about 50 Church volunteers filled food orders for 151 families, including more than 100 frozen turkeys, 50 turkey breasts, and several thousand pounds of fresh produce, vegetables, dairy products, and canned goods at no cost to those who received these items. All of the food at the Bishop's Storehouse is paid for by the voluntary financial contributions of Church members.
Most of those families who were provided with a food order today were not present when these goods were assembled and boxed. Local leaders from 26 separate congregations in Maryland and south central Pennsylvania delivered the food directly to homes this afternoon. The expressions of gratitude, however, from those families who had come to the Bishop's Storehouse themselves was heart-warming and sincere. In following the admonition of the Savior, who said ". . . by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (see John 13:35), there was no sense of judgment or pity expressed towards those who were given the food on the part of the volunteers who found real joy in serving their brothers and sisters in the gospel.
When the Bishop's Storehouse closed this afternoon, the facility manager who was very gracious and kind in expressing his thanks for my service handed me a large frozen turkey. When I arrived back at our apartment, my wife and I immediately contacted two sister missionaries in Cockeysville with some good news. They had told us a few days ago that a man in his twenties whom they have been teaching about the restored gospel has recently lost his father. The young man lives with his aunt, and she had asked the missionaries if there was any way the Church could assist their family by helping them obtain a turkey for Thanksgiving.
And so, the frozen turkey I had been given earlier in the afternoon was delivered on Saturday evening to the sister missionaries who in turn will present the bird anonymously to the family that needs a turkey from heaven for Thanksgiving dinner. We love being able to give a gift to someone who has no way of identifying us. Our Thanksgiving dinner will taste even better now that we have given our turkey away!
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