Geddes Mission: Thanksgiving in France

Sœur Geddes just can't help herself when it comes to celebrating holidays like Thanksgiving. At home that usually means spending days of decorating and cooking in preparation for a big family gathering. Since we are so far from family again this November, my idea of a nice Thanksgiving celebration was for us to go out to some little local bouchon or brasserie for a relaxing dinner and evening together. Wrong!

Our celebration this year was to invite all of the local young adults in our stake plus the missionaries based here in Lyon for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. This would be a heroic feat to accomplish even at home. But here in France, where our little apartment kitchen has a total preparation space of 2 by 4 feet, and where the only whole turkeys you can find are still running and gobbling, it would take nothing short of a miracle. But when Sœur Geddes sets her mind to something, miracles happen!

So last night we had 36 young, hungry people show up for an American Thanksgiving in France. Dinner consisted of turkey (we found enough without needing a hatchet), dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, dozens of homemade rolls, jello with berries and crème fraîche, green beans, pumpkin pies, pecan pies, and chocolate cake with cherry glaze. The missionaries, most of whom are Americans, loved having a little feeling of home. For the locals, many of the things on the table were very foreign, especially the jello, turkey dressing, and pumpkin pie. But no one went home hungry.

For our Christmas celebration we're going out to dinner!