707 Leahy St. #127-C Redwood City, CA 94061 December 17, 1995 Dear Friends and Family, "His compassions never fail; they are new every morning." Lam. 3:22-23 Not much is new in my life this year, so this letter won't be long. Yet one thing is new and fresh every morning: God's mercy and love, given to us who need it so much and deserve it so little. This Christmas I hope that you rejoice with me as we remember the birth of our Savior, God's great gift to us. His perfect life and innocent death atoned for our sin, bringing reconciliation with God to all who believe. For the first time I can remember, I spent a year without leaving California (so far). My first trip out of state in 1995 will be my Christmas visit to my family in Milwaukee. I'll be staying with my mother from December 19-31. You can phone me there at 414- 466-3082. I did make a few trips in-state. I went cross-country skiing in the Sierra twice last winter, once with the 20-Something Bible study group at Raccoon Rendezvous, and once with my then-roommate Ken Fischer at Yosemite. Ken finally checked out Yosemite just before moving to Pittsburgh, and after seeing it was kicking himself for waiting so long! At Thanksgiving I was privileged to be a groomsman for Ken's wedding to Sandie Nell. Once again I spent a week at Bible camp as songleader. I also served as assistant camp director and camp treasurer. Camp is always a high point of the year. It's a joy to be able to play my guitar and lead some 150 children and grownups in song every evening. This year I had a few folks in front helping lead and sometimes singing harmony, adding a real touch of beauty. At church I am still treasurer, singing in the choir, and playing guitar for Sunday school opening. Unfortunately, the Bible class that meets at my apartment has dwindled in size, and it's not clear whether we'll be able to resume after our Advent break. Work is going well. My current project (Vesta) is lasting longer than expected, but research projects have a way of doing that. We have a lot of code running now, with my part the farthest along. My part is demo-able, but I still need to implement some missing pieces. More and more of my old friends seem to be getting email addresses and World Wide Web access. Via email, I'm mann@pa.dec.com. If you have Web access, check out http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/personal/Tim_Mann/home.html ! Love and Joy in Jesus Christ, Tim Mann