Weekly Letter for 3 January 2010

3 January 2010

Dear loved ones, We hope you have had the beginning of a great New Year. I’m sure there are many blessings ahead for us all. I mustn’t think of the fact that we will be gone the entire year of 2010, if I do I may feel a little homesick.
The Employment Center was closed both Friday and Saturday so we had some time off. The sister missionaries that live in the next apartment building are not sure what to think about all these days off. They’ve never heard of such a thing. They are amazed at the flexibility we have, such as no specific time to get up in the morning, (be at work by 8:00 however), flexibility for evenings etc. etc. I am not complaining mind you!!!
January 1st we drove out in the Fort Worth area, to see Denton and Decatur etc. Even though these are not in the Dallas Mission we will be working with these Stakes. It was nice to see the area and know something about the area and how far away it is (abt 45 miles). Denton is something like Provo/Orem area and Decatur something like Cedar City. Our goal was to get out of the city, it is still city by our standards but at least there is a little more open space and that seemed very nice. We even saw some fields and bales of hay. Growing up as farm kids who would have ever thought we would be so glad to see a bale of hay.
On Saturday we went to downtown Dallas and visited the old Court House/Museum and the mall. It was interesting to learn some more facts about the area. Did you know that the first 7/11 began in this area? Also the first prepaid health insurance – there were many other things, I should have written them all down.
We continue to maneuver the city traffic and roads better all the time. Jack didn’t even turn on the GPS to get to church today – in the 20 miles to get there we wind our way on and off 3 major freeways – he’s getting GOOD.
There has been one fellow that has come in very regular to work on the computers in his job search, he is a driller in the oil and gas field. He was there when we got here and Jack got to be quite good friends with him. We hadn’t seen him for about a week and learned this week that he got a job. We are very happy for him but now we won’t be seeing him anymore. Jack has also gotten to be good friends with another fellow who is great on computers, he is living out of his van. He is an expert on the public transportation in the area for sure. Some times he does work for himself on the computers and then part of the time he does volunteer work on the computers for us.
We visited with another couple during a quick lunch break one day, they were volunteering at the bishop’s Store House. It turns out that she lived in San Leandro, California many years ago and knew Aunt Lovina. She also knew the children but David was just ‘a punk kid’ during the years she was there. Probably just about 4 or 5 years old. She said ‘Bednar’ the way that we are used to saying it.
Tuesday morning started out slow but we made up for it later on. By early afternoon we had every computer busy and people backed up waiting for help. One thing about it, you notice that people are not in a hurry. They are very gracious if they have to wait for a while. We find that most Texans are this way, but particularly the ones that come into the Center. It’s not like they have a work schedule to work around.
On this particular morning because it was slow I decided that I would go to the computer and go thru some of the web sites that we direct people to in their job search. It
would only help if I knew what they were about and what you could find where. My search took me to a BYU site and because I had helped a lady the previous day who was in marketing, I decided to do a job search on marketing.
This was a lady (30’s or early 40’s) whose husband had left her, a cancer survivor with 3 children and now has lost her job. She was really struggling and needed a lot of encouragement.
So anyway on Tuesday morning I’m doing a job search on marketing and found several positions open in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Just then a young man, (prob abt 30) came in and wanted to see Donna for some help on his resume. She was teaching a workshop so he said he could come back later in the afternoon. After he left I got thinking about him, maybe he would want to join the workshop. So I ran outside and hailed him down in the parking lot just as he was getting into his car. As I talked with him for a few minutes I could tell that he was very distraught and upset. I then asked him what kind of job he was looking for – that’s right, marketing. I shared with him what I had just found and told him I would have the information printed up ready for him when he returned. I hope that he will find hope in knowing there are some jobs out there in his field.
Also this week, it must have been Tuesday because the Bishop’s storehouse is open that day, a man and a woman came in who were both deaf. They were early to go to the Storehouse and I was able to use some of my sign language skills and communicate with them a little bit.
I’ve also been working with a lady from Costa Rica. She has a degree in Psychology in Costa Rica and has quite a bit of experience (15+ years) but needs help in getting her license here and help with English vocabulary. We have spent many hours together getting her ‘Me in 30 Seconds’ and Power statements prepared. We are making progress.
Because of the New Year, it seemed that many of the people out of work had a more difficult time. I think this week there was a little more discouragement shown. You heard comments that they hoped this year would be better than what last year brought to them. Reviewing the past year and the uncertainty of the new year is difficult. The first article in the Ensign by Pres. Uchtdorf brings a great and timely message to us all! In fact the RS message on becoming self-reliant is wonderful too.
Before coming out on our mission and the first few weeks here I was concerned what skills I had that would be of benefit – the answer I’m finding is – ALL of them. What little Spanish I know, what little sign language I know, have all been of use. But particularly the teaching experience and working with people in general is something that we rely on every moment. We use our computer skills a lot, a lot. I spend time on the main computer everyday checking emails and responding to them. We both help all the candidates get registered on the computer at ldsjobs.org and then use it in many different ways as people do their job searches. Jack is becoming the go-to guy for any thing on the computer besides the very basics that we help people with. His skills are so helpful to us all.
When I first went to college my major was in Sociology. For many years I thought those years of classes that I took were almost a waste of time (even though I believe all learning and knowledge is beneficial no matter what the category). Now I am very much reminded of those desires I had to help others improve their lives and indeed have the opportunity to do that daily. What a blessing serving a mission is in our lives. It’s wonderful to be in the Lord’s service where he helps guide you and others.
One of the brother’s that Jack worked with last week was named Brother Tergerson. He was a Sr. Systems Analyst Developer. He was a graduate of Stanford University. He had worked with Raytheon Co. for 27 years. He was making $165,000 when the shake up ensued last week. To go from that life style to job searching is just hard to place into words. He, however, had faith in the Lord and faith that events in his life were happening for a reason. Part of the process with our candidates is just to listen and let them share their story and their grief before we start a CAP(career action plan)
We encourage everyone to go to www.ldsjobs.org and register. If you have an lds account set up already you use that name and password. If not you put in your member # (if a ‘friend’ of the church we have a different code – let me know if you need it.) and set up your account. If you are not looking for a job you can sign up as ‘networking’. We work from this site many hours everyday. It is a great tool in helping people get jobs and priesthood leaders (and women leaders) help people who need jobs.
We are so grateful to be a part of the Lord’s inspired church, with prophets and leaders who have that vision of the future to help us today so that tomorrow will be better. I am enjoying studying the scriptures, Ensigns and conference talks with a new perspective and insight. What great words of wisdom and advice we gain from these sources.
We love each of you and we are so very grateful for your sustaining love and prayers. You are in our thoughts and prayers everyday too.
May the Lord continue to keep us in his watchful and protecting care.
Elder & Sister Nelson
Mom & Dad, Grandpa & Grandma, brother & sister, aunt & uncle and friend
Texas Tip - If you squeeze a little fresh lemon in your Texas water it helps the flavor a whole lot!
PS We have our first dinner invitation this evening with the Labrum’s – Beth Nelson’s brother. They have been so great in welcoming us into the Ward.

Jack n Gaye