Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. - Psalm 107:21-22.

In the words of one historian, when the Pilgrims landed in America in 1620 to create a new religious home, it would have been difficult to imagine a group of people more ill-suited to life in the wilderness. America then was a forbidding place for these Europeans, who brought not a plow nor a fishing line. They were dangerously unready.

A total of 102 landed in December. By the following April, only 54 people - nearly half of them children - were alive. The nearest European settlements were 500 miles away. They were in great danger of starving in a land of plenty. But they had unlikely friends.

The local Algonquian Indians were already eating better than most Europeans, with a diet more varied than the settlers could imagine. Lobsters, for example, were so plentiful that any small boy could catch and eat what he would of them. But the Pilgrims were not ready for this kind of fare, of such food as potatoes and pumpkins and corn. Into this situation came Samoset and Tisquantum, whom the English called Squanto. Both knew English, Squanto fluently, along with Spanish. Squanto taught them how to plant, became their teacher, interpreter, informal ambassador (to other Indians) and friend. The rest is now history.

Thus Thanksgiving is a time when we commemorate not just gratitude, but also friendship and sharing. We should remember that this year as we enumerate our blessings. Few people in the history of the world have as much to be thankful for as do we.

Among our many blessings are that we enjoy a standard of living inconceivable to our forefathers. Education and literacy are universal and the growth of knowledge ranges the universe. Medical advances prolong our lives, creating a new class of healthy retired people. Millions are alive who in earlier years would have died of such things as smallpox, heart disease and simple infections.

Our work is vastly different, with most of us free from the manual toil that robbed young people of their childhood and parents of their strength. We think nothing of making journeys in hours that formerly took weeks if not months.

As members of the Church, we live when the gospel has been restored to the earth, and more saving information is available to us now than any other time. The Church is stronger than ever before, with missionaries in lands that only a decade ago seemed unapproachable. Temples are announced and dedicated in growing numbers, while the ability to proclaim the gospel increases with new technologies.

With all of this spread out before us this Thanksgiving time, we should heed the counsel of many prophets, including President Ezra Taft Benson who thought that ingratitude is one of our great sins of this day. (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 423.)

To be sure, our world, wondrous though it would be to those early Pilgrims, is not without its own problems, some of them created by our own prosperity and advances. Too many people lack the opportunities of this modern age. The wilderness of America is different now, but no less dangerous to young people facing drugs, illegitimacy and dim chances of reaching their potential.

Without our help and concern, they have little chance of enjoying our shared blessings. The gospel is salvation only to those who can hear it.

That's a warning, too. Christ told His disciples, "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." (Luke 12:48.)

"Thankfulness is measured by the number of words; gratitude is measured by the nature of our actions," said President David O. McKay. "Gratitude is the heart's recognition of kindness that the lips cannot repay." (Conference Report, October 1955, p. 4.)

When Saints of this age contemplated a storehouse for the poor, the Lord told Joseph Smith, "He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious. . . ." (D&C 78:19.)

It's clear that common courtesy, if not divine guidance, compels us to gratitude for our blessings. And it's equally clear that the higher form of gratitude is to assist others. Which bring us again to Squanto and his immeasurable help to the early settlers. We, like the Pilgrims, owe much to others. Our duty is not only to be grateful, but also to be helpful.

As Thomas Gibbons expressed in When Jesus Dwelt:

That man may last but never lives

Who much receives, but nothing gives,

Whom none can love, whom none can thank, -

Creation's blot, creation's blank.