Starting the New Year with a Bang

        I suppose that being in horse country we should say that 2014 started off with a bell, like in the Derby, but for these purposes we'll say it started with a bang, meaning with great excitement.
        The January Mission Leadership Council was held at the Mission Home on January 7th, and revealed a lot of new faces  and changes. It was the first time for new Zone Leaders Elder Crichton, Elder Loser, Elder Tuttle, and Elder Knudsen and for new Sister Training Leaders Sister Baldwin, Sister Egbert, Sister Bayles, and Hermana Marsden. Elder Dopp and Elder Allen moved to head-up different Zones and Elder Evans changed from Zone Leader.
        Happily, the traditional doorbell serenade occurred in temperature a good thirty degrees warmer than they would have been three days earlier.

        As is the norm, between calendaring, announcements, directives and Tune-Ups from the President, and presentations from each duo of Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders, the affairs of the GKLM kingdom, so to speak, were addressed in the morning.
        A tasty "breakfast for lunch" followed where mountains of hot Belgian waffles, smothered in strawberries and whipped cream, egg and ham casserole, and fruit and yogurt parfaits were devoured before heading back downstairs for the afternoon.

        The afternoon consisted of the Assistants to the President, Elder Hicken and Elder Evans, leading various trainings to be taken back to the Zones, and some wrap-up tidbits from President Woodbury.

Back row: Elder Stohel, Elder Dopp, Elder Hicken, Elder Sizelove, Elder Tuttle, Elder Blauer, President Woodbury
Third row: Hermana Marsden, Hermana Hansen, Sister Dickerson, Sister Blauer, Sister Munk, Sister Egbert, Sister Woodbury
Second row: Elder Carly, Elder Evans, Elder Allen, Elder Loser, Elder C. Anderson
Front: Elder Carson, Elder Whitehead, Elder Crichton, Elder Knudsen

...With the number of  more meaty Elders now in the Council, they begged to try a pyramid. Thankfully even the middle Elders on the bottom were able to straighten up and walk afterward.