I was finally able to get into the 2nd ward's council meeting. I presented to them the proposal of an Institute in the daytime for any adults that would like to attend. They were quite cool to the idea. However, we held our first Thursday morning Institute and it was a success. We had fourteen attend and 11 of those were from the 2nd ward. We gave the introduction and discussed the history of Palestine in the 730 years prior to the birth of the Savior. We discussed who Christ was in the Pre-existence. There really was a wide range in the ages of those who attended. We had couples and stay at home mothers and grandparents. I am really going to enjoy these people.
Afterwards we all dug into the potluck dinner they had brought. I had my first taste of black deer sausage. It was very good. The Rosenbrooks were there. He is a hunting and fishing guide. I understand that he has taken out President Monson and President Uchtdorf for some salmon fishing.
Wednesday evening was a wonderful Institute with our YSA members. We are into the final week of the Savior's ministry prior to being crucified. We did a lot of reading out loud from Matthew and John. I'm learning as I read, that John had a very wonderful understanding of the relationship the Savior and the Father had with one another. He understood the mission of the Savior and was able to express that understanding in a very spiritual way. It is no wonder he was one who was loved.
Today we just finished our missionary preparation class. We actually had a couple of 15 year old boys show up. That's a bit early but we welcomed them. Matt and Heather stayed afterwards and chatted with us while we snacked on Diane's snacks. The 15 year old boys went to clean the church. Matt stayed for a couple of hours just chatting. He expressed the trials of being in the world but not of the world while he is in his freshman year of school. He gets tired of the profanity and the low moral standards of the students in his dorm. It is no wonder he likes to hang around. 
Allison Holtkamp, a student of mine from Brighton, is in a production of "Oklahoma" here in Juneau. She is playing Ado Annie. We went to watch he performance. The production people really did a good job with the small theater. The singing and dancing was very good. The actors were worth the price of the tickets. Allison's parents flew up to Alaska for the weekend but only got as far as Sitka the first day. The Juneau airport was socked in. The finally arrived a day later. We had the three of them over for supper last evening. We had a wonderful visit with three wonderful people. Jim Holtkamp is the bishop of a Hispanic ward in SLC.
We have had lots of snow this week. The temperatures have dipped into the teens when the skies clear.
Allison has to be the granddaughter of CJ Holtkamp, reknowned and retired electrical engineer who worked for the engineering firm next door to my work. We used his expertise many times on our projects. He is getting old but still likes to go "hot dogging" (Wienerschnitzel's) with one of our employees.
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