Actually, nothing much happened the first week of April. Kent had a class on the 1st and he did his best to "fool" his students. First Kent presented parking stickers and told all the students that they had to purchase them to park at the Institute. Later he told them he was mistaken at K-Mart for the son of an elderly lady who clung to him and pulled on his leg - as he was pulling theirs. It was great fun.
We watched General Conference from the comfort of our little apartment. Modern technology is so wonderful. In both our classes on Monday the 7th and Tuesday the 8th we discussed the Conference addresses and how the YSAs were going to apply the counsel given in their lives.
The week of 14-18 was Spring Break at Shasta College. We invited Kent's brother, Kim, and his wife, Patsy, to go with us to "The Coast." They arrived in Redding on Monday evening and we were on our way to Trinidad, CA by 9 a.m. Tuesday. What a great time we had. We looked for agates (Kim found a few) at Agate Beach and went to Fern Canyon (where parts of Jurassic Park were filmed). On Wednesday we went to "Trees of Mystery" and the "Lady Bird Johnson Grove" and basked in the wonders of the huge redwoods. We were back in Redding on Thursday afternoon. After a short nap time we went over to the Sundial Bridge (Redding's claim to fame) and then gave Kim and Patsy a tour of the Institute building. They headed back to Santaquin on Friday morning loaded down with a lot of our "stuff."
Major news during this week was the birth of Kayla Kristine Hughes on Tuesday, 15 April at 7:21 a.m. She weighed in at 7# 4oz and was almost 21" long. Pam delivered at home with the able assistance of a midwife, her assistants, and Don. The boys waited patiently downstairs in the living room watching a movie until they were invited to come see their new sister. Pam's labor was a lot more intense than the previous four but both mother and daughter did well with the delivery.
On Saturday, the 19th, we drove up to Mt. Shasta for Nan to attend the bridal shower for Elizabeth Tavalero, a young woman who was in our classes last year. While Nan was at the shower, Kent went with the missionaries as they taught a new investigator.
Easter was a pleasant day. Because we weren't caught up in the "Easter Bunny" thing, we had a peaceful, quiet day. Very nice.
On Tuesday the 22nd, we contacted Matt Gibson at Senior Benefits Insurance Services and enrolled Nan in Medicare Supplement plans for prescription coverage and additional health care. There are so many things that need to be taken care of just because someone reaches age 65!
On Friday the 25th we received this text message from Gordy: "Search is over for truck. You have to wait until you get home to find out what it is." Attached with the text was a picture of a tail-light. Gordy is sending Kent a picture each week of a very small portion of the truck. Needless to say, Kent is very excited.
We fixed Sister Jacobson's Tortellini Soup for Friday Forum. It's a great soup and the YSAs love it. That evening Pat and Vivi McEuen took us to dinner at the Market Street Steak House. Great company and great food. We have become good friends with the McEuens. We'll really miss them.
Saturday (the 26th) we went to see the movie "Heaven Is For Real." The story was based on the true, near-death experience of a little boy. The boy's dad is a protestant minister. It was a nice, up-lifting, Christian movie although not exactly spot-on with gospel doctrine. All-in-all, a nice two hours.
We were asked to speak in our Branch Sacrament meeting on the 27th. Our topic: "What I Have Learned." We realized this was a very broad topic so we included things we have learned about the gospel, the people here in Redding, and Redding in general. It was a fun topic. Kent focused on what he had learned while on his mission.
In Kent's class on the 28th he covered the story of the Strippling Warriors. In connection with that, he had Sister Lowther make a card with Alma 57:21 on it which talks about the sons of Helaman being obedient with exactness following what their mothers had taught them. Kent purchased a few extra frames and sent the plaque to each of our daughters and daughters-in-law, his mom, and his sister Melody with a handwritten note.
That's it for April. Now on to May and the count-down to returning home begins. Love to all,
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
1 March - 31 March 2014
The 1st of March was a BIG day in the Hughes family - Jaron Don Hughes was baptized by his father, Don. Where did those 8 years go? Jaron's baptism is one of several important family events we have missed while serving our mission. We certainly know what it means to sacrifice in order to serve. Pam filled us in on all the happenings of the day. Jaron is a lucky boy to have such great parents.
Sunday, March 2nd was "Break-the-Fast" at the YSA Branch. We made "Sister Jacobson's Tortillini Soup." A few months back, one of Kent's students, Andrew Jacobson, suggested we make his mother's soup for our Friday Forum luncheon. We did and it was a huge success. We're happy to report we succeeded again in making hungry people happy.
For FHE on the 3rd the Branch met at the Institute building to watch the CES Devotional from last night.
Tuesday the 4th was "transfer day" in the Mission. Sister Nielson came by to say good-bye - she was being transferred down south very close to the Mission Home. She will be attending the Ward that President and Sister Weston and their family attend. We will surely miss Sister Nielson. She has been so instrumental in getting YSAs leaving their home wards and coming to the Branch. Our Branch membership has increased by about 15 which, in large part, is due to Sister Nielson's efforts. She is from the little town of Tabiona, Utah. She has invited us to visit her there when all three of us are home from our missions. That is definitely on our "To Do" list.
On Friday the 7th we attended the annual "Evening With a General Authority" fireside. All Seminary and Institute teachers are invited to attend a dinner and rebroadcast of the meeting originally held in SLC in February. Our Admin. Asst., Sister Lowther, is given the responsibility of making it a memorable night for the local Seminary teachers and us. The evening started with a meal of home-made soups, salads, bread, and delicious chocolate cake all made by Sister Lowther. Yes - she even made the bread. She also made beautiful table coverings using burlap and ribbon. Centerpieces for each table included live potted flowers and lovely knick-knacks. After dinner we moved to the classroom where we watched the fireside. Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve was the featured speaker. We had the opportunity to attend a Mission Conference last year when Elder Anderson spoke. We both enjoy hearing from him.
FHE on the 10th the R.S. was in charge. The YSAs had already made paper hearts and written short notes of encouragement to attach to the doors of some of the inactive members of the Branch. This is called giving a "Heart Attack." The guys were suppose to drive the gals around to all the homes to be "attacked." We didn't join in this activity. They didn't need us to drive so we bowed out on this one.
We decided instead of renting a small trailer to pull behind the car on the way home, we would use that "rental" money to send boxes via FedEx. We sent our first four boxes home on the 11th.
Granddaughter Camille (Barlow) left Post Falls, ID on the 12th heading for the Provo MTC. She will be serving in the Jamaica Kingston Mission. We're looking forward to hearing what it's like being a young, cute, white girl in Jamaica.
32 YEARS - Today, March 13, is our anniversary. Although it's a special day for us, life goes on. We spent the day at the Institute doing what we do. Kent taught classes today - Nan had the day off. We went to Olive Garden for dinner using Gift Certificates from some of our children.
Friday the 14th: Folks around here call this "Pi Day" as in 3.14 (March 14) = pi. For Friday Forum we helped Sister Lowther fix BLTs. What a great success. This evening we attended the wedding reception of a young woman whose mother, Terri, attends our Institute classes. This was a dream-come-true marriage for the Church members in the Palo Cedro Ward. The couple grew up together, share the same convictions, and have the same goals. They were married in the SL Temple on the 8th and were now having their California Open House.
March 15: We started our monthly apartment inspections today. We went to the Red Bluff and Palo Cedro apartments in the Anderson Zone. We spent a lot of time at the Sister's house on James Ave. in Red Bluff. Their garbage disposal wasn't working; their clothes washer had to be leveled and repositioned; the bulbs in the garage door opener were burned out, the blender didn't work and they needed a new set of frying pans. We couldn't fix the disposal; Kent got down on the floor in his white shirt and good pants and took care of the washer; we got the cover off the motor mechanism for the door opener, removed the bulbs and told the girls to get some new ones and submit a receipt for reimbursement; and contacted Elder Bell, the housing director to see what he wanted to do about the disposal, blender, and frying pans. Since Red Bluff has a Wal-Mart Elder Bell gave us permission to go buy a blender, pans, and light bulbs and submit the receipt for reimbursement. The Sisters said they would call Bro. Abdula, a maintenance man in their Ward, and have him look at the disposal.
Tricia (Pam's sister) and Dani (Pam's sister-in-law) were hostesses for an Open House baby shower for Pam and baby girl Kayla from 3-5 p.m. Karlee (Tyson's wife) set up her ipad so I could "FaceTime" into the shower. I watched Pam open all those pretty pink gifts. Since I couldn't be there in person, FaceTiming was the perfect substitute.
The week of the 17th-20th we both gave mid-term reviews and exams. All students in both classes passed the exams. Now on to the final semester we will be here.
Also this week, we continued to inspect apartments. The apartment in Mt. Shasta needs the tile surrounding the tub replaced, the heater doesn't work, and the front door does not stay closed; the Pioneer Dr. apartment still has a leaking ceiling but in a different place - very frustrating; and the refrigerator in the Bechelli Lane apartment has a broken ice-maker water line and the vegetable bins keep filling with water (don't know why the girls haven't reported this before now). We turned in our report to Elder Falls, the brand new housing director, feeling apartment management personnel would feel more inclined to take care of the problems if contacted by an official from the Mission Home.
On Monday, the 17th, Nan thought she found a huge worm in the hallway outside our office. When she went to pick it up to take outside she realized it was a small snake. One of the men from the FM Group happened to be in the building at the time so he took it outside. On Tuesday, the snake was back. Nan found it in almost the same spot as on Monday. One of the students took it outside. On Wednesday, the snake was back. Well - it's "3 strikes and your out" in Nan's book so Kent took it outside and disposed of it permanently. No more snake episodes to report.
On the 22nd, Chris Unger, a Branch member, went with his family to the Sacramento Temple to receive his endowments. Four YSA's have received their endowments since January of this year. Two more are preparing to do so. The current generation is moving forward.
We didn't go to FHE on the 24th - the YSAs were going to play "Zombie Tag" at one of the parks here in town. Since that required running around in the dark, we both decided we would pass on that.
Sunday, March 2nd was "Break-the-Fast" at the YSA Branch. We made "Sister Jacobson's Tortillini Soup." A few months back, one of Kent's students, Andrew Jacobson, suggested we make his mother's soup for our Friday Forum luncheon. We did and it was a huge success. We're happy to report we succeeded again in making hungry people happy.
For FHE on the 3rd the Branch met at the Institute building to watch the CES Devotional from last night.
Tuesday the 4th was "transfer day" in the Mission. Sister Nielson came by to say good-bye - she was being transferred down south very close to the Mission Home. She will be attending the Ward that President and Sister Weston and their family attend. We will surely miss Sister Nielson. She has been so instrumental in getting YSAs leaving their home wards and coming to the Branch. Our Branch membership has increased by about 15 which, in large part, is due to Sister Nielson's efforts. She is from the little town of Tabiona, Utah. She has invited us to visit her there when all three of us are home from our missions. That is definitely on our "To Do" list.
On Friday the 7th we attended the annual "Evening With a General Authority" fireside. All Seminary and Institute teachers are invited to attend a dinner and rebroadcast of the meeting originally held in SLC in February. Our Admin. Asst., Sister Lowther, is given the responsibility of making it a memorable night for the local Seminary teachers and us. The evening started with a meal of home-made soups, salads, bread, and delicious chocolate cake all made by Sister Lowther. Yes - she even made the bread. She also made beautiful table coverings using burlap and ribbon. Centerpieces for each table included live potted flowers and lovely knick-knacks. After dinner we moved to the classroom where we watched the fireside. Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve was the featured speaker. We had the opportunity to attend a Mission Conference last year when Elder Anderson spoke. We both enjoy hearing from him.
FHE on the 10th the R.S. was in charge. The YSAs had already made paper hearts and written short notes of encouragement to attach to the doors of some of the inactive members of the Branch. This is called giving a "Heart Attack." The guys were suppose to drive the gals around to all the homes to be "attacked." We didn't join in this activity. They didn't need us to drive so we bowed out on this one.
We decided instead of renting a small trailer to pull behind the car on the way home, we would use that "rental" money to send boxes via FedEx. We sent our first four boxes home on the 11th.
Granddaughter Camille (Barlow) left Post Falls, ID on the 12th heading for the Provo MTC. She will be serving in the Jamaica Kingston Mission. We're looking forward to hearing what it's like being a young, cute, white girl in Jamaica.
32 YEARS - Today, March 13, is our anniversary. Although it's a special day for us, life goes on. We spent the day at the Institute doing what we do. Kent taught classes today - Nan had the day off. We went to Olive Garden for dinner using Gift Certificates from some of our children.
Friday the 14th: Folks around here call this "Pi Day" as in 3.14 (March 14) = pi. For Friday Forum we helped Sister Lowther fix BLTs. What a great success. This evening we attended the wedding reception of a young woman whose mother, Terri, attends our Institute classes. This was a dream-come-true marriage for the Church members in the Palo Cedro Ward. The couple grew up together, share the same convictions, and have the same goals. They were married in the SL Temple on the 8th and were now having their California Open House.
March 15: We started our monthly apartment inspections today. We went to the Red Bluff and Palo Cedro apartments in the Anderson Zone. We spent a lot of time at the Sister's house on James Ave. in Red Bluff. Their garbage disposal wasn't working; their clothes washer had to be leveled and repositioned; the bulbs in the garage door opener were burned out, the blender didn't work and they needed a new set of frying pans. We couldn't fix the disposal; Kent got down on the floor in his white shirt and good pants and took care of the washer; we got the cover off the motor mechanism for the door opener, removed the bulbs and told the girls to get some new ones and submit a receipt for reimbursement; and contacted Elder Bell, the housing director to see what he wanted to do about the disposal, blender, and frying pans. Since Red Bluff has a Wal-Mart Elder Bell gave us permission to go buy a blender, pans, and light bulbs and submit the receipt for reimbursement. The Sisters said they would call Bro. Abdula, a maintenance man in their Ward, and have him look at the disposal.
Tricia (Pam's sister) and Dani (Pam's sister-in-law) were hostesses for an Open House baby shower for Pam and baby girl Kayla from 3-5 p.m. Karlee (Tyson's wife) set up her ipad so I could "FaceTime" into the shower. I watched Pam open all those pretty pink gifts. Since I couldn't be there in person, FaceTiming was the perfect substitute.
The week of the 17th-20th we both gave mid-term reviews and exams. All students in both classes passed the exams. Now on to the final semester we will be here.
Also this week, we continued to inspect apartments. The apartment in Mt. Shasta needs the tile surrounding the tub replaced, the heater doesn't work, and the front door does not stay closed; the Pioneer Dr. apartment still has a leaking ceiling but in a different place - very frustrating; and the refrigerator in the Bechelli Lane apartment has a broken ice-maker water line and the vegetable bins keep filling with water (don't know why the girls haven't reported this before now). We turned in our report to Elder Falls, the brand new housing director, feeling apartment management personnel would feel more inclined to take care of the problems if contacted by an official from the Mission Home.
On Monday, the 17th, Nan thought she found a huge worm in the hallway outside our office. When she went to pick it up to take outside she realized it was a small snake. One of the men from the FM Group happened to be in the building at the time so he took it outside. On Tuesday, the snake was back. Nan found it in almost the same spot as on Monday. One of the students took it outside. On Wednesday, the snake was back. Well - it's "3 strikes and your out" in Nan's book so Kent took it outside and disposed of it permanently. No more snake episodes to report.
On the 22nd, Chris Unger, a Branch member, went with his family to the Sacramento Temple to receive his endowments. Four YSA's have received their endowments since January of this year. Two more are preparing to do so. The current generation is moving forward.
We didn't go to FHE on the 24th - the YSAs were going to play "Zombie Tag" at one of the parks here in town. Since that required running around in the dark, we both decided we would pass on that.
Nan went to her monthly "Lunch with the Ladies" on the 25th. The wives of the Branch Presidency and Nan decided they wanted to be more social so they decided lunch would be a good to do that. This month they went to Red Robin.
A little bit of sad news: Ed(Eddie) Neff from Santaquin passed away on the 26th after a long battle with cancer. Nan served as Counselor to Lynette Neff in the Stake YW Presidency several years ago and they have stayed close ever since. The funeral will be Monday, the 31st.
After our Friday Forum luncheon and gospel message on the 28th, most of the YSAs left but four young men stayed and sang hymns for almost an hour. It was so comforting to hear these young men singing praises to our Lord. Lars Capener sang AND played the piano to accompany Steven Eversol, Clark Marple, and Rion Loader. We both stayed in our office so we wouldn't disturb the spirit the boys brought into the building but we could hear perfectly. It was a great afternoon!
On the 29th, Nan chose to watch the General Women's Meeting from the comfort of our little apartment. Internet technology is surely a wonderful thing.
Redding Stake scheduled April's Fast Sunday for March 30th. The Branch always has a "Break-the-Fast" luncheon on Fast Sunday. We cooked a pot roast with potatoes and carrots. No leftovers to take home from that one.
That evening, the 30th, one of the young men that attends Nan's O.T. class invited anyone and everyone who wanted to come to his home to support him as he opened his mission call. Neither Tyler's mother nor father are members of the Church. His father is definitely opposed to the mission but Tyler's mother supports him because this is what he wants to do. He has been called to serve in the Canada, Vancouver Mission. He reports to the Provo MTC on July 9th (two years to the day we reported there). There were about 50 people at Tyler's home. His mom had purchased pizzas and made cookies for everyone. She is a nice lady. When we introduced ourselves she said, "It's nice of you to come. I really don't know what to expect." So Nan told her, "There is a formal letter inside the envelope from Church headquarters and signed by our Prophet, Thomas Monson. The letter will state where Tyler will serve and when he has to report to the Missionary Training Center. Immediately after he reads the place in which he will be serving there will be cheers, and shouts, and clapping and people jumping up to give him hugs. It's really a neat experience." Mrs. Wilds felt a little more prepared for the moment after talking with Nan.
Dave Phillips the Regional Director of Institutes droped in Monday the 31st. He attended Nan's Old Testament Class at 11 and stayed around until about 2 PM. Several YM came into our office, pulled up a chair and visited the whole time Brother Phillips was there. As Dave left he commented on how he was impressed that the young men hung around and felt so comfortable with us. He did mention that it did not look like they would send another couple to replace us until July, so the Stake will have to make a calling if they want to have Evening Institute during the summer.
Dave Phillips the Regional Director of Institutes droped in Monday the 31st. He attended Nan's Old Testament Class at 11 and stayed around until about 2 PM. Several YM came into our office, pulled up a chair and visited the whole time Brother Phillips was there. As Dave left he commented on how he was impressed that the young men hung around and felt so comfortable with us. He did mention that it did not look like they would send another couple to replace us until July, so the Stake will have to make a calling if they want to have Evening Institute during the summer.
That's it for March 2014. We're 2 months away from being home. We'll keep teaching, counseling, cooking meals, and being all around good friends to those here in Redding. You all do the same wherever you are.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
February 1st - March 1st 2014
February has come and gone and here we are in March. California is in desperate need of rain. We have been asked to fast and pray for rain this Fast Sunday - February 2nd. We were told by our Stake leaders that the brethren in Salt Lake were also praying for the drought to end in California. On the 6th it began to rain and though we have had a few days where there has been no rain, it has rained much of this month and into March.
We inspected all the Missionary apartments in Redding on the 7th and those in Anderson on the 8th. We have also located a new apartment in Palo Cedro for an incoming set of missionaries. Our mission continues to expand.
There was a bonfire for the Branch on the 7th which was well attended. Shortly after the current Branch Presidency was called, the decision was made to purchase a portable fire pit so the kids would stop using the sand volleyball court as "beach front" for their fires. The Church bought a nice brick fire pit kit and it is portable because the bricks are not mortared together and can be moved any time we want.
On March 8th Mike Cousineau from Cottonwood was baptized and we attended. He is dating a YW, Kendall Enbody, from Cottonwood. They are good friends with Mattew Dragten from Cottonwod. All three have begun attending Institute and coming to the Branch.
On Sunday the 9th, Kent met with Lars Capener, Avery Alexander, and Betty Dionicio, the LDSSA presidency, to review their responsibilities. Lars is a fantastic young man whose father was killed in a plane crash 7-8 years ago. His mother and 4 siblings are rock solid in the church and Lars is planning a mission this summer. Betty is a very recent convert from a very strong Catholic family. Betty's parents aren't happy about her change in religions but they are supportive of their daughter. Avery attended Kent's Book of Mormon class last semester and was quite quiet and reserved. Since being involved in the LDSSA she has come out of her shell very nicely.
Also on the 9th we invited Pat McEuen, 1st Counselor in the Branch Presidency, to come for dinner since his wife Vivi is out of town tending to grandchildren. The invite was simply to give Pat some "friend time" not because he can't take care of himself. He is a great cook! We made pot roast and had ice cream and Kent's homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert. We visited for a bit and Pat left around 6 p.m.
On the 12th we received a box of chocolate covered strawberries from Brad and Kalynne for Valentine's Day. We were a little sad to leave those delicious strawberries for a few days and hoped they would still be fresh and good when we returned on Saturday evening. No fear - they were still great. What a "sweet" gift.
What a wonderful time we had with Brad and Camille in Medford, Oregon. Camille is leaving on a mission to Jamacia in mid March and they took time out of their busy schedule to drive 10 hours to Medford to meet us so Camille could say goodbye. We met Friday night the 14th, staying in Springhill Suites with adjoining rooms (the cost of which was covered by Brad with "free stay" points he and Kalynne have earned). Brad took us out to dinner at Porters Resturant that evening and we visited all evening with them. We got up and had breakfast Saturday morning, went to a session in the temple at 11:30, went to lunch at Keleidoscope Pizza, then they headed north toward home and we headed south to Redding. This was such a thoughtful thing for them to do and what an enjoyable time it was for us.
On Friday the 21st we made sloppy joes for Friday Forum lunch, with a great fruit salad. We are excited to see the numbers grow at the forum lunches. We had 28 there - a record. The Stake President's wife, Sister Bickmore, spoke and President Bickmore came with her. She commented on the numbers in attendance saying the last time she spoke several years ago, there were just a handful of students in attendance.
Our Wednesday night family history class is filled with information that can help us with our history but only 5-8 students attend.
Desiree Broomfield asked us to drive her and her escort to the Sacramento Temple on the 22nd in order for Desiree to receive her endowments. She had to be there by 8:30 a.m. so that left us with time on our hands before her 10:30 endowment session. Cody Ohlau asked to ride with us so he could get to the temple early enough to do inititories. From names the temple had ready, Kent and Cody each performed 15 intiatories each. Cody had done research for some of his family during Wednesday evening class and had 5 men names needing endowments and 6 sister needing initiatory and the endowment. Nan did the initiatory then gave those 6 names to sisters in the branch to do the endowment. Cody gave out 5 cards for the brethren to do the endowment for.
Nan went to lunch at the Olive Garden with the wives of the Branch Presidency on the 27th. The gals get together once a month to just visit and grow their friendship. Olive Garden is one of our favorite places to eat.
This brings us to March. The calender seems full for March. We continue to teach our Old Testament and Book of Mormon classes during the day. We have about 22 total in those classes.
That's is for now.
Kent and Nan
We inspected all the Missionary apartments in Redding on the 7th and those in Anderson on the 8th. We have also located a new apartment in Palo Cedro for an incoming set of missionaries. Our mission continues to expand.
There was a bonfire for the Branch on the 7th which was well attended. Shortly after the current Branch Presidency was called, the decision was made to purchase a portable fire pit so the kids would stop using the sand volleyball court as "beach front" for their fires. The Church bought a nice brick fire pit kit and it is portable because the bricks are not mortared together and can be moved any time we want.
On March 8th Mike Cousineau from Cottonwood was baptized and we attended. He is dating a YW, Kendall Enbody, from Cottonwood. They are good friends with Mattew Dragten from Cottonwod. All three have begun attending Institute and coming to the Branch.
On Sunday the 9th, Kent met with Lars Capener, Avery Alexander, and Betty Dionicio, the LDSSA presidency, to review their responsibilities. Lars is a fantastic young man whose father was killed in a plane crash 7-8 years ago. His mother and 4 siblings are rock solid in the church and Lars is planning a mission this summer. Betty is a very recent convert from a very strong Catholic family. Betty's parents aren't happy about her change in religions but they are supportive of their daughter. Avery attended Kent's Book of Mormon class last semester and was quite quiet and reserved. Since being involved in the LDSSA she has come out of her shell very nicely.
Also on the 9th we invited Pat McEuen, 1st Counselor in the Branch Presidency, to come for dinner since his wife Vivi is out of town tending to grandchildren. The invite was simply to give Pat some "friend time" not because he can't take care of himself. He is a great cook! We made pot roast and had ice cream and Kent's homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert. We visited for a bit and Pat left around 6 p.m.
On the 12th we received a box of chocolate covered strawberries from Brad and Kalynne for Valentine's Day. We were a little sad to leave those delicious strawberries for a few days and hoped they would still be fresh and good when we returned on Saturday evening. No fear - they were still great. What a "sweet" gift.
What a wonderful time we had with Brad and Camille in Medford, Oregon. Camille is leaving on a mission to Jamacia in mid March and they took time out of their busy schedule to drive 10 hours to Medford to meet us so Camille could say goodbye. We met Friday night the 14th, staying in Springhill Suites with adjoining rooms (the cost of which was covered by Brad with "free stay" points he and Kalynne have earned). Brad took us out to dinner at Porters Resturant that evening and we visited all evening with them. We got up and had breakfast Saturday morning, went to a session in the temple at 11:30, went to lunch at Keleidoscope Pizza, then they headed north toward home and we headed south to Redding. This was such a thoughtful thing for them to do and what an enjoyable time it was for us.
On Friday the 21st we made sloppy joes for Friday Forum lunch, with a great fruit salad. We are excited to see the numbers grow at the forum lunches. We had 28 there - a record. The Stake President's wife, Sister Bickmore, spoke and President Bickmore came with her. She commented on the numbers in attendance saying the last time she spoke several years ago, there were just a handful of students in attendance.
Our Wednesday night family history class is filled with information that can help us with our history but only 5-8 students attend.
Desiree Broomfield asked us to drive her and her escort to the Sacramento Temple on the 22nd in order for Desiree to receive her endowments. She had to be there by 8:30 a.m. so that left us with time on our hands before her 10:30 endowment session. Cody Ohlau asked to ride with us so he could get to the temple early enough to do inititories. From names the temple had ready, Kent and Cody each performed 15 intiatories each. Cody had done research for some of his family during Wednesday evening class and had 5 men names needing endowments and 6 sister needing initiatory and the endowment. Nan did the initiatory then gave those 6 names to sisters in the branch to do the endowment. Cody gave out 5 cards for the brethren to do the endowment for.
Nan went to lunch at the Olive Garden with the wives of the Branch Presidency on the 27th. The gals get together once a month to just visit and grow their friendship. Olive Garden is one of our favorite places to eat.
This brings us to March. The calender seems full for March. We continue to teach our Old Testament and Book of Mormon classes during the day. We have about 22 total in those classes.
That's is for now.
Kent and Nan
Monday, February 10, 2014
January 1st - January 31st 2014
January 1st: We had a great New Year's Eve party last night. We went over to the Institute this morning at 10 to help Pat and Vivi McEuen clean up the building following the party. We had put left-over food away last night before we went home so it was just a matter of taking down decorations today.
Thursday the 2nd was Pat's birthday and he took us, with his wife, to Kobe Japanese Steak House restaurant. The food was excellent and cooked in front of us like at Beni Hanna of Japan. We had a great time and a good visit.
For Break-the-Fast on the 5th Nan made a fresh fruit salad which was a real hit.
On Monday for FHE the Branch kids took down the Christmas Tree and put it away for another year.
Wednesday the 8th we inspected all the apartments in Redding Zone. Nan had lunch with the wives in the Branch Presidency at Marcia Lopman's home.
On Thursday the 9th we took lunch to the Anderson Zone. We served 10 pizzas; a bag of oranges; bananas; 2 boxes of mini donuts and pop to drink. There were 22 missionaries there.
On the 10th we inspected the Red Bluff apartments and then on Friday the 11th we inspected the apartments from Cottonwood north to Redding. Following the inspections we used the gift card from Tyson and Karlee to eat out at the Olive Garden. A very full morning.
Nan was asked to teach lesson #2 in R.S. on Sunday the 12th.
We were back to Institute on Monday the 13th as classes started at Shasta College. That evening we showed the CES Broadcast of Tad Callister. A wonderful talk on following Christ's blueprint. We had a good crowd at FHE.
On the 15th Kent had an appointment to get new hearing aids at CostCo. After quite a bit of research he discovered he could get a good hearing aid there at 1/2 the cost of a private hearing aid place.
On the 16th, Elder Bell, the Mission Housing Director, brought up beds etc. for a new set of Sisters coming into the 1st Ward. The Zone Leaders helped with getting things into the cute little cottage Sister Gordon is offering free of rent to the mission.
On the 17th there was no Friday Forum but we had a bonfire sponsored by the Sister Missionaries. There were almost 30 in attendance. When it's fun and games we always have a great turnout.
We had Redding Stake Conference on the 18th and 19th. Elder Baxter of the 70's was the visiting authority. He was from Scotland. As he spoke of the Scottish people Kent was transported back 45+ years to his time as a young missionary there.
There was no school on Monday, the 20th, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. but we met the missionaries from the Redding Zone at the Institute building and had hotdogs and pop then stayed to play games.
Institute classes started again on the 21st when Kent began the second semester of his Book of Mormon class. Nan started her Old Testament class on Wednesday the 22nd. We also began the Family History Class at the Stake FH Library. Only 5 came this first night but on the 29th there were 8 there. This should be a good class but we will probably have only 6-7 there each week.
There was Friday Forum on the 24th and we had 25 there. We accompanied Cody Ohlau to the temple in Sacramento on the 25th when he received his endowments prior to leaving for his mission in March. There were a good number who attended the session with him.
On the 28th we had an interview with President Weston and he renewed our temple recommends. He told Nan, "This is the only recommend you will ever have that only has one leader signature." Of course that might happen again if we go on another mission.
Our institute classes are great and larger than they ever have been. Nan has 12 in her Old Testament class on Monday and Wednesday and Kent teaches 7 on Tuesday and Thursday and another 3 in a 90 minute class on Friday afternoons. Discussions are fantastic because we have a very good foundation of students in all the classes.
Until next month - keep the faith and carry on.
Kent and Nan
Elder and Sister Barlow
Thursday the 2nd was Pat's birthday and he took us, with his wife, to Kobe Japanese Steak House restaurant. The food was excellent and cooked in front of us like at Beni Hanna of Japan. We had a great time and a good visit.
For Break-the-Fast on the 5th Nan made a fresh fruit salad which was a real hit.
On Monday for FHE the Branch kids took down the Christmas Tree and put it away for another year.
Wednesday the 8th we inspected all the apartments in Redding Zone. Nan had lunch with the wives in the Branch Presidency at Marcia Lopman's home.
On Thursday the 9th we took lunch to the Anderson Zone. We served 10 pizzas; a bag of oranges; bananas; 2 boxes of mini donuts and pop to drink. There were 22 missionaries there.
On the 10th we inspected the Red Bluff apartments and then on Friday the 11th we inspected the apartments from Cottonwood north to Redding. Following the inspections we used the gift card from Tyson and Karlee to eat out at the Olive Garden. A very full morning.
Nan was asked to teach lesson #2 in R.S. on Sunday the 12th.
We were back to Institute on Monday the 13th as classes started at Shasta College. That evening we showed the CES Broadcast of Tad Callister. A wonderful talk on following Christ's blueprint. We had a good crowd at FHE.
On the 15th Kent had an appointment to get new hearing aids at CostCo. After quite a bit of research he discovered he could get a good hearing aid there at 1/2 the cost of a private hearing aid place.
On the 16th, Elder Bell, the Mission Housing Director, brought up beds etc. for a new set of Sisters coming into the 1st Ward. The Zone Leaders helped with getting things into the cute little cottage Sister Gordon is offering free of rent to the mission.
On the 17th there was no Friday Forum but we had a bonfire sponsored by the Sister Missionaries. There were almost 30 in attendance. When it's fun and games we always have a great turnout.
We had Redding Stake Conference on the 18th and 19th. Elder Baxter of the 70's was the visiting authority. He was from Scotland. As he spoke of the Scottish people Kent was transported back 45+ years to his time as a young missionary there.
There was no school on Monday, the 20th, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. but we met the missionaries from the Redding Zone at the Institute building and had hotdogs and pop then stayed to play games.
Institute classes started again on the 21st when Kent began the second semester of his Book of Mormon class. Nan started her Old Testament class on Wednesday the 22nd. We also began the Family History Class at the Stake FH Library. Only 5 came this first night but on the 29th there were 8 there. This should be a good class but we will probably have only 6-7 there each week.
There was Friday Forum on the 24th and we had 25 there. We accompanied Cody Ohlau to the temple in Sacramento on the 25th when he received his endowments prior to leaving for his mission in March. There were a good number who attended the session with him.
On the 28th we had an interview with President Weston and he renewed our temple recommends. He told Nan, "This is the only recommend you will ever have that only has one leader signature." Of course that might happen again if we go on another mission.
Our institute classes are great and larger than they ever have been. Nan has 12 in her Old Testament class on Monday and Wednesday and Kent teaches 7 on Tuesday and Thursday and another 3 in a 90 minute class on Friday afternoons. Discussions are fantastic because we have a very good foundation of students in all the classes.
Until next month - keep the faith and carry on.
Kent and Nan
Elder and Sister Barlow
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
December 2nd - December 31th, 2013
2013 is almost gone. Wow!
We started the month off by attending the Anderson and Cottonwood Wards on the 1st. We're still trying to make our presence known - encouraging YSAs to attend the Singles Branch.
We had a fun night at FHE on the 2nd playing Banana Grams. Kind of like scrabble but a few different rules. We played this with 8.5 X 11 sheets of paper with letters on it. We spelled our words out on the floor. We had good participation.
3rd - Nan is still not feeling very well but is up and going and prepared a Power Point presentation of interesting facts about temples for the Wednesday night institute class.
6th - Took Elder Jones to his follow-up doctor appointment. He is doing much better. His lungs are completely recovered. We had beef stew for Friday forum. Turned out great. We had a heavy snow of about 6 inches, which is very very unusual for Redding. We had intended to attend "Journey to Bethlehem" presented by the Anderson Stake. The heavy snowfall didn't deter us but the many, many cars slipping and sliding all over the streets did. Since it hardly ever snows here and when it does it's not 4-6 inches, the folks here just don't know how to drive in the snow. We got about 4 blocks from our apartment and decided to just turn around and go home. We would go to the performance Saturday.
7th - Barlow family ginger-bread house and dinner at Pam's. All the families in Utah County were there. Pam made all the gingerbread and had the houses put together before everyone got there. Then, just the decorating had to be done. Even the little people decorated houses made of graham crackers. We went to Anderson (about 10 miles from Redding) to attend the Stake presentation of "Journey to Bethlehem." Every other year the Anderson Stake puts on this depiction of the events leading up to the birth of Christ. Attendees go from area to area and listen to live actors tell the various stories associated with Christ's birth. It was very well done - we enjoyed it immensely.
8th - listened to and watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.
9th - both of us had our review for final exams in our day classes. They seemed to go quite well. The Branch met at the Sumsions to make ginger bread houses, which turned out to be a lot of fun. Granddaughter Brittnee gave us a great idea for the houses - use frosted mini-wheats for the roofs and stick pretzels to make the sides look like logs.
10th - Went shopping for the Christmas gift we gave to all 42 missionaries in the Redding and Anderson Zones. In a little Christmas sack we put a couple of packets of hot chocolate, a couple of scoops of miniature marshmallows and a peppermint stick, which they would use to stir then sip the hot chocolate through. Turned out really cute.
11th - We both gave our final exams.
12th - Kent went to both the Anderson and Redding Zone meetings and gave out the little hot chocolate gifts. All seemed pleased. Kent also needed to go inspect an apartment Elders moved out of and Sisters moved into in Anderson. We had reports it was "trashed." It was nice for Kent to discover it was not "trashed," just not as clean as the Sisters through it should be. It needed some additional cleaning to the bathroom floors, tub and stool, which the Elders took care of right away. Sisters are now happy.
Also on the 12th - Nan's Thursday class took the final exam. After Kent got back from Anderson, he became quite sick and went home around noon.
13th - Kent was still feeling so badly the next morning he didn't even go to the Institute. Nan and Sister Lowther took care of the last Friday Forum until January. They made waffles with all the trimmings.
14th - Hannah Mikulecky, one of Nan's students, danced in the Redding City Performance Company's Nutcracker at the Cascade Theater. We went to the performance which made it impossible to attend a Senior Luncheon in Sacramento. We discovered there were numerous cast members from the local wards. We personally know several of those families and the Company Director was in the old branch presidency.
15th - Had dinner at the McEuen's. Pat is a member of the branch presidency and we enjoy each others company very much.
17th - Nan had dinner with the Branch presidency wives at Cheesecakes Unlimited. The problems of the world were solved and numerous thoughts on how to improve the YSA Branch were discussed - at length.
18th - It was Nan's turn to catch the flu bug going around. It put her right down and she was still not feeling well through the end of the week. She stayed in bed on the 18th but forced herself up on the 19th and 20th.
19th - The Institute students cooked spaghetti for anyone who was around and made cookies. The cookies were great but it took them a long time to clean up the mess they made in the kitchen.
20th - 1/2 Mission conference was held in Chico about 1 1/2 hours south of us. Nan was still not feeling well but we went down. This was 3 hours of musical numbers and talks. Was nice but with Nan having chills one minute then sweats the next and Kent's concern for her we did not enjoy it as much as we could have.
23rd - Bought a Spirngbok 1000 piece puzzle. This is turning out to be quite a challenge. It's a beautiful picture of several different types of birds sitting on a feeder surrounded by pine needles. Not the wisest choice since the pine needles all look the same.
24th - Christmas Eve - Had dinner with the Lopemans - the other counselor in the Branch presidency. One of their sons and a grandson, his girl friend and her brother were also invited. It was a very nice afternoon and the dinner was wonderful.
25th - Merry Christmas. We made a Breakfast Casserole and quick and easy cinnamon rolls like we use to make when the children were still all at home. Had a very quiet but very nice Christmas day. FaceTimed a few of the kids and talked to the rest. Facetime is almost as good as being there. We found out that Sister Powell and Sister Watters (assigned to the 4th Ward here in Redding) were very ill. Took them some chicken noodle soup, chicken broth, ginger ale, bananas, canned peaches and pears and a few other things to help them mend. Saw them today (the 30th) and they are doing much better. Sister Powell is pretty much recovered and Sister Watters is holding done food but is still very weak.
26th - Took Sisters Neilson and Sister Kimura to lunch at Mary's Pizza Shack. Our initial plan was to take all companionships to lunch during our holiday break but when we saw the bill for just 4 of us, we decided to go to plan B.
30th - Initiated Plan B - Took pizza, fruit, donuts and pop to the stake center and met all the zone there for lunch. This worked out very well. We stayed for a while and visited with everyone and watched them play BBall and dodgeball for a while. All the missionaries in our Zone have Church ipads so it was fun to be with them as they received their weekly emails. They even shared photos sent to them.
Nan went with Vivi McEuen and purchased stuff for the Branch New Year's Eve party.
31st - Went with the McEuen's this afternoon to set up for tonight's party. Pat and Vivi are expecting about 20 YSAs. Hope we don't have too much food left over.
We had a great turnout for the party but still had way too much food. It was interesting to hear the young people say they were having a good time just hanging out, playing games and eating good food. Pat and Vivi had all the fixin's and everyone made their own individualized pizza. There was other finger-food and several sweet treats. Ice cream Sundaes topped off the evening. We all counted down at 10 seconds to midnight and then welcomed 2014.
We look forward to the adventures we will encounter in 2014 and being home again with our family. Happy New Year to all,
We started the month off by attending the Anderson and Cottonwood Wards on the 1st. We're still trying to make our presence known - encouraging YSAs to attend the Singles Branch.
We had a fun night at FHE on the 2nd playing Banana Grams. Kind of like scrabble but a few different rules. We played this with 8.5 X 11 sheets of paper with letters on it. We spelled our words out on the floor. We had good participation.
3rd - Nan is still not feeling very well but is up and going and prepared a Power Point presentation of interesting facts about temples for the Wednesday night institute class.
6th - Took Elder Jones to his follow-up doctor appointment. He is doing much better. His lungs are completely recovered. We had beef stew for Friday forum. Turned out great. We had a heavy snow of about 6 inches, which is very very unusual for Redding. We had intended to attend "Journey to Bethlehem" presented by the Anderson Stake. The heavy snowfall didn't deter us but the many, many cars slipping and sliding all over the streets did. Since it hardly ever snows here and when it does it's not 4-6 inches, the folks here just don't know how to drive in the snow. We got about 4 blocks from our apartment and decided to just turn around and go home. We would go to the performance Saturday.
7th - Barlow family ginger-bread house and dinner at Pam's. All the families in Utah County were there. Pam made all the gingerbread and had the houses put together before everyone got there. Then, just the decorating had to be done. Even the little people decorated houses made of graham crackers. We went to Anderson (about 10 miles from Redding) to attend the Stake presentation of "Journey to Bethlehem." Every other year the Anderson Stake puts on this depiction of the events leading up to the birth of Christ. Attendees go from area to area and listen to live actors tell the various stories associated with Christ's birth. It was very well done - we enjoyed it immensely.
8th - listened to and watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.
9th - both of us had our review for final exams in our day classes. They seemed to go quite well. The Branch met at the Sumsions to make ginger bread houses, which turned out to be a lot of fun. Granddaughter Brittnee gave us a great idea for the houses - use frosted mini-wheats for the roofs and stick pretzels to make the sides look like logs.
10th - Went shopping for the Christmas gift we gave to all 42 missionaries in the Redding and Anderson Zones. In a little Christmas sack we put a couple of packets of hot chocolate, a couple of scoops of miniature marshmallows and a peppermint stick, which they would use to stir then sip the hot chocolate through. Turned out really cute.
11th - We both gave our final exams.
12th - Kent went to both the Anderson and Redding Zone meetings and gave out the little hot chocolate gifts. All seemed pleased. Kent also needed to go inspect an apartment Elders moved out of and Sisters moved into in Anderson. We had reports it was "trashed." It was nice for Kent to discover it was not "trashed," just not as clean as the Sisters through it should be. It needed some additional cleaning to the bathroom floors, tub and stool, which the Elders took care of right away. Sisters are now happy.
Also on the 12th - Nan's Thursday class took the final exam. After Kent got back from Anderson, he became quite sick and went home around noon.
13th - Kent was still feeling so badly the next morning he didn't even go to the Institute. Nan and Sister Lowther took care of the last Friday Forum until January. They made waffles with all the trimmings.
14th - Hannah Mikulecky, one of Nan's students, danced in the Redding City Performance Company's Nutcracker at the Cascade Theater. We went to the performance which made it impossible to attend a Senior Luncheon in Sacramento. We discovered there were numerous cast members from the local wards. We personally know several of those families and the Company Director was in the old branch presidency.
15th - Had dinner at the McEuen's. Pat is a member of the branch presidency and we enjoy each others company very much.
17th - Nan had dinner with the Branch presidency wives at Cheesecakes Unlimited. The problems of the world were solved and numerous thoughts on how to improve the YSA Branch were discussed - at length.
18th - It was Nan's turn to catch the flu bug going around. It put her right down and she was still not feeling well through the end of the week. She stayed in bed on the 18th but forced herself up on the 19th and 20th.
19th - The Institute students cooked spaghetti for anyone who was around and made cookies. The cookies were great but it took them a long time to clean up the mess they made in the kitchen.
20th - 1/2 Mission conference was held in Chico about 1 1/2 hours south of us. Nan was still not feeling well but we went down. This was 3 hours of musical numbers and talks. Was nice but with Nan having chills one minute then sweats the next and Kent's concern for her we did not enjoy it as much as we could have.
23rd - Bought a Spirngbok 1000 piece puzzle. This is turning out to be quite a challenge. It's a beautiful picture of several different types of birds sitting on a feeder surrounded by pine needles. Not the wisest choice since the pine needles all look the same.
24th - Christmas Eve - Had dinner with the Lopemans - the other counselor in the Branch presidency. One of their sons and a grandson, his girl friend and her brother were also invited. It was a very nice afternoon and the dinner was wonderful.
25th - Merry Christmas. We made a Breakfast Casserole and quick and easy cinnamon rolls like we use to make when the children were still all at home. Had a very quiet but very nice Christmas day. FaceTimed a few of the kids and talked to the rest. Facetime is almost as good as being there. We found out that Sister Powell and Sister Watters (assigned to the 4th Ward here in Redding) were very ill. Took them some chicken noodle soup, chicken broth, ginger ale, bananas, canned peaches and pears and a few other things to help them mend. Saw them today (the 30th) and they are doing much better. Sister Powell is pretty much recovered and Sister Watters is holding done food but is still very weak.
26th - Took Sisters Neilson and Sister Kimura to lunch at Mary's Pizza Shack. Our initial plan was to take all companionships to lunch during our holiday break but when we saw the bill for just 4 of us, we decided to go to plan B.
30th - Initiated Plan B - Took pizza, fruit, donuts and pop to the stake center and met all the zone there for lunch. This worked out very well. We stayed for a while and visited with everyone and watched them play BBall and dodgeball for a while. All the missionaries in our Zone have Church ipads so it was fun to be with them as they received their weekly emails. They even shared photos sent to them.
Nan went with Vivi McEuen and purchased stuff for the Branch New Year's Eve party.
31st - Went with the McEuen's this afternoon to set up for tonight's party. Pat and Vivi are expecting about 20 YSAs. Hope we don't have too much food left over.
We had a great turnout for the party but still had way too much food. It was interesting to hear the young people say they were having a good time just hanging out, playing games and eating good food. Pat and Vivi had all the fixin's and everyone made their own individualized pizza. There was other finger-food and several sweet treats. Ice cream Sundaes topped off the evening. We all counted down at 10 seconds to midnight and then welcomed 2014.
We look forward to the adventures we will encounter in 2014 and being home again with our family. Happy New Year to all,
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