LDS leader shares Thanksgiving traditions, advice for teens


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SALT LAKE CITY — Thanksgiving is a holiday that unites all Americans, whether they're expressing gratitude with family and friends or sharing their bounty.

For Sister Neill Marriott, second counselor in the Young Women General Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it's one of her favorites.

"I love it because I have this vision of hundreds of thousands of families, maybe millions, all over the nation doing the same thing at the same time," Sister Marriott said. "(It's) one day where we come together and recognize there's an abundance in our life and be grateful to God, whatever faith (we) are."

She was born and raised in Alexandria, Louisiana, and gained a love of Thanksgiving from her mother.

“Mother always said Thanksgiving was her favorite time of all the year," Sister Marriott recalled. "In the South, you know, cooking is an art form, and my mother was an artist in that regard. I’ve kept the pecan pie and sweet potatoes going."

She and her husband, David, are the parents of 11 children and grandparents to 31 grandchildren. Over the years, they've added new moments that have become traditions.

“I love seeing the grandchildren run through the front door, mainly interested in the pie, but willing to wait until we go through our normal traditions and then gather and eat," Sister Marriott said.

A favorite tradition of the Marriott children is centered around a bowl of wheat.

“David, my husband, would pass a little basket around, and each person would put the grain of wheat in as a symbol of giving, recognizing this was harvest time, and then say something they were grateful for," Sister Marriott said. "The answers would range from the silly and the mundane to the spiritual and the holy."


(Thanksgiving is) one day where we come together and recognize there's an abundance in our life and be grateful to God, whatever faith (we) are.

–Sister Neill Marriott, LDS Church


The Marriotts also read Psalm 100, in honor of a Latter-day Saint chaplain, B.H. Roberts, who said he was inspired to read it to a Thanksgiving gathering in 1918, at the end of World War I.

"It is five short verses, and in it it says: 'Enter into his gates with Thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name,'" Sister Marriott read. "We read the Psalm 100 as a reminder that all good things come from God, and it’s a sweet way to start the feast.”

Some now call Thanksgiving the forgotten holiday because of the huge commercial emphasis on Halloween, and the even bigger rush toward Christmas. But Sister Marriott believes this day is what each family makes of it — and for her family, that means giving "the gift of self."

“We give each other time and attention," she said. "There is this sense of: 'I acknowledge you. I love you. I am grateful for you.' It seems to ground you; it’s almost a little oasis in the middle of all the hubbub."

As a leader of the LDS Church's Young Women’s organization, Sister Marriott travels the world to visit with and deliver messages of faith and encouragement to Latter-day Saint teenage girls. Her message to the American young women this Thanksgiving is to try another of the Marriott traditions.

"This could be a day that they could spend a little more time with their Heavenly Father," she said. "I would invite the young women, if they wish, to spend a few minutes with their Heavenly Father, telling him what they love about him and what they recognize are blessings from him. It had a great, softening effect on (my family).”

Sister Marriott also sees this time of year as a great opportunity to give to people you may not know.

“This would be a good time to look past our family limits. Who needs a friend? Who could be welcomed in? Who could we share something with?" she said. "It could bring a goodness, I think, through the whole land if we could reach out, not in some grand manner, but maybe notice others’ needs."

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Carole Mikita

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