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
