January 10

Mission Journal 10 January 2010

Wow, it has been 2 months since we entered the MTC. We have had learned so much and experienced so much since that day, hard to believe. After writing this weekly letter I always think, surely things will settle in become more routine and there won’t be quite so much to record. Another week has past and that has not happened yet. I suppose as long as you work with so many different people each day we will continue to have different experiences. In the month of December we had 302 people come into the center for help. There’s an experience and story to go along with each one. Of course those are spread out among all of us at the Center.
This week has been a very cold one. Texans don’t even know what to think about it. We feel blessed to be able to work in a nice building where we are neither too cold nor too hot. Aside from going from the truck to the Center and then back we don’t have to deal with it a whole lot.
We notice that the weather has a great impact on how slow or busy we are on any given day. However, if we have a slow morning because it’s so cold, the afternoon will usually be super busy. Or if one day is slower, you make up for it the next day.
We both decided earlier this week that we would just have to complete some of our work at our apartment, such as recording notes on the computer of people that we help, Jack entering information on businesses, making calls to Ward and Stake leaders. At the Center there are so many people to help that it doesn’t seem like you can keep up on all of it. Besides meeting and working with the people that come in we also like to make follow up phone calls to see how they are doing.
We’ve also had a couple of late nights. Tuesday the 2 Elders – Nelson & Phelps - worked the late shift until 8:00 pm and Sister Phelps and I went with Julie (manager) to a Relief Society mtg where she gave a presentation. Wednesday we had a web-i-nar at the Center until 9:00. This is where they get Ward & Stake Specialist hooked up on their speaker phones and on their computers and we have a training mtg without everyone having to drive here. Thursday we spent the evening calling some of the Ward leaders and catching up on the computer work until 9:30. Friday we realized that we are going to have to pace ourselves, that scripture of not running faster than you have strength -- comes to mind.
A new couple missionary from this area has been called to work in the Center with us also. This was their first week, they will come in 2 days a week, unless we can convince them to do more. Right now they will come in on Wednesday/Thursday. Then the Phelps and us can have our P-days without putting undue burden on the rest of the crew. Our P-day this week was going to be Thursday but then it got moved to Friday, and then it got moved to Saturday so they wouldn’t be short handed. The Phelps is having a few physical problems and they have needed to go to some doctors appointments. Saturday they were have a big regional training for new leaders so we went to that until noon -- just to see how it’s done and have an opportunity to meet people. Following that we went out on a drive out to the Weatherford Stake area. It is west of Forth Worth – we just loved it out in this area. There are a lot of ranches and cattle, horses, dairies etc. There were even some hills!!
The new missionary couple, the McPherson’s have recently returned from a CES mission to Australia. They are a wonderful couple, very capable yet very humble people. As I visited with them the first day and got to know them they mentioned that they had a wonderful experience while on their mission of hearing Elder Bednar talk. Well of course I had to spill the beans and share with them that we were related. So we had a fun visit about that. They said that he had told the people of his ancestral connections to Australia – it was fun to hear about this because I had helped Donna prepare this history for him, at his request, when he was going over there. But I had never heard if he had an opportunity to use it. She said that he told all about it, she knew the story as well as I did I think, and that the people really responded in a positive way to him, knowing that he had personal connections to Australia.
There was also another young man who is out of work who came in this week that I met with. He was quite discouraged at first but as we talked and shared information we discovered that he went on his mission to Las Vegas. He never was out in Logandale but knew where it was. Jack joined us and we enjoyed sharing experiences about LV area. We found it interesting that we had swapped mission spots. By the time he left there was a little more sparkle in his eyes. Hopefully we helped him on his job search too.
We are grateful for the church members who come in and give service and volunteer their time in the Employment Center and/or the Bishop’s storehouse. It is wonderful to meet them and talk with them a little and see their genuine goodness and love for the Lord as they come in willing to do whatever needs done that day. Sometimes it’s entering information on the computer, answering phones, making phone calls and telling people about jobs that we’ve heard of or cleaning out the supply closet, whatever the task they are so willing to help out.
It seems like we are starting to get a little better handle on what we are supposed to be doing at the Center. Now with the New Year another aspect of our calling is coming into focus. That is helping the Stake and Ward Employment specialists. Jack made some phone calls to some of the leaders in the Weatherford Stake. They are a ways out there, about 80+ miles, depending. Before his visit was over we had been invited to go out to a ward and give a presentation during Priesthood/Relief Society mtgs. Then shortly after that the Young Single Adult Branch President called and asked us if we could also do a presentation for them that day, since we would be in the area. Of course we told them we would be happy to do so. So Jack has been busy getting things ready for that the past couple of days.
That’s why we chose to go out that direction yesterday, we tried to find all of the Ward chapels so we would know how far and how long it would take to get there and also just get a feel for the area.
We will also visit a Stake Auxiliary Mtg this week and just be introduced and maybe take one or two minutes time.
A letter will be coming out this month from the Presiding Bishopric about the new ldsjobs.org web site, making it the official web site for church employment, saying good bye to the old Legacy site. So we are trying to be ready to help and ‘strike while the iron’s hot’ so to speak.
Also Jack has been asked to help with another aspect of the Employment web site. This is in regards to the companies and businesses that want to be registered on the site and post job listings. Most of these are quite large companies, business and firms – some are even world-wide businesses. This week he has been trained on this and has had several opportunities to actually do this just this week.
Friday the Detroit Employment office called asking for our manager, seeking help on how to register companies. Julie was out of the office that day so they passed the call on to Jack. In Detroit they put him on speaker phone so everyone in their office could hear how to do it. He especially had fun doing this because Tony Terry was a part of the Detroit group and they had some fun conversation as the training took place.
Also this week they have asked me to be a part of the new Development Pilot Program that they are trying in this area. They have a full time local missionary couple called to work on this in the Dallas area and for now they would like me to work with the Stakes in the Fort Worth Area. The only problem is, is that there is no program yet but the other full time employee in our Center has a lot of background working with special needs and she is coming up with a program. What the church is wondering about is this – can regularly called missionaries, like ourselves, be used to implement the program or do they need to hire people with specialized training. If they can use regular full-time missionaries, what do they need to look for in the background of these missionaries to be able to do the job.
So Donna will devise the program and then I am to see if I can make it work (sort of a guinea pig, I think). As people come into our Center with these kinds of special needs I will be called on to work with them, seeing if the outline and approach can and will work. We actually see quite a few people that fit into this category, they may have handicaps or learning disabilities, needing GEDs, generational poverty etc etc.
I am both excited about working on this project and also a little nervous, feeling a great responsibility. So PLEASE continue to keep us in your prayers as we take on these new responsibilities and challenges.
One thing that always sounds so good to me about this however is – “Donna and Gaye” will be working together on a project. I love the sound of that – even if it isn’t actually my sister.
For several weeks now there has been a lady coming in from Costa Rica, maybe I’ve mentioned her before. She has a masters degree in Psychology from Costa Rica and is now here in the United States. She has done quite a bit of work here, working with another Psychologist who is licensed here in the States. But the man she has been working with is retiring and she needs to find a new place to work. She only speaks moderately good English so I help her with her English and coming up with vocabulary that sounds professional (we have to do research to come up with it) and she lets me practice my Spanish on her. She has gotten to the point where she won’t work with anyone else, if she comes in and I’m not there she will leave and come back another day even. But we actually completed her profile at ldsjobs on Friday. We were both so excited, it has taken us many weeks. Now to help with applications and getting a job!
The other morning first thing we had a young man come in, a Spanish fellow. He said he was just driving by and saw our sign. He looked a little unkempt and of course we welcomed him in. He wanted to know what kind of services we provided and if we would be able to help him. Just Jack and I and Donna were there that morning so we introduced ourselves of course as Sister Nelson and Elder Nelson. He surely wanted to know where our black clothes and my habit were. We explained that we weren’t Catholics but a different religion…….. He first started out by telling us that he lived in a condominium and needed some more work. As we continued visiting and we gained his trust he confessed that really he was living out of his car. We asked if he was hungry, which he said he wasn’t, but if he had been we would have gone to the storehouse and fixed him some breakfast. We told him we would be able to help him but he wasn’t able to stay right then and said he would be back later. We discussed what our approach would need to be in helping him, such as filling out applications, having an address would be a problem, also we may need to provide him with a razor and a place to clean up before an interview.
He didn’t return that day but yesterday as I was passing thru the Center after our meeting I saw that he had come back. It will be interesting to hear how things are going with him.
We are grateful to have so many experiences and opportunities to help our Heavenly Father’s children. And what is so amazing about it is, they come to us, we don’t have to go out searching for them.
Today at church a lady spoke in our ward whom I had helped a couple of weeks ago. At that time she was so discouraged. It was great to hear her speak today and share her testimony and feel of her courage and strength.
I find myself missing children , fortunately not many children are looking for jobs, occasionally one will come in with a parent but not too often. So today I went into nursery and asked if I could help them for the day. They were glad to have an extra hand. There was one little girl who really wanted to be with her mother. She sat on my lap and told so continuously for about 15 minutes. Finally after trying many things I was able to get her distracted and involved in some other things. After another 15 minutes she was calling me ‘grandma’. It was fun to sit on the floor and do puzzles, play with dollies, build with legos and play ring-a-round the rosies.
We love you all and miss you terrifically some days. We miss our beautiful valley and surrounding area where you can enjoy the beauties of nature so easily on a daily basis BUT we are so grateful for this opportunity.! What unique experiences we are having, they are challenging, but we know with the Lord’s help and guidance and with your continued faith and prayers we can accomplish what we were sent here to do. It has been wonderful for Jack and I to serve together, to be involved in the same projects and work. As we share the same kinds of experiences each day we have greater understanding of each other and for each other. We appreciate each others abilities and see that our strengths compliment each other and our weaknesses are diminished because we can work together. We also enjoy our time off, when we can relax and see new country and visit new places. We’re glad we brought along a few of our instruments, we find that a relaxing and enjoyable thing to do together in the evenings.
We hope this finds all of you well and happy. We appreciate it so very much when you send a note or letter and let us know how things are going in your part of the world. We love to hear about those everyday things that seem so distant right now. It’s good to know that the wonderful life that we’ve stepped away from for a short while still continues.
May the Lord continue to bless us all,
Grandpa & Grandma, Dad & Mom, son & daughter, brother & sister, aunt & uncle, Elder & Sister, friend,
Jack & Gaye
Jack n Gaye