14 February 2010

Happy Valentine’s Day
I hope this finds you all well and happy. We have had record snows here in the Dallas area. The most snow on record was 7.5 inches, on Thursday there was 10 inches and in some areas there was as much as 12 inches. We went out to Weatherford again this last Wednesday. We had planned to stay the night there and then poke around in a few places in that area on our Thursday P-day. However we decided with the storm forecast to just come back to our apartment and save that for another time. We were glad we did. Thursday it snowed ALL day long and into the night. Most schools were open on Thursday but they closed them on Friday because the ice becomes more of a problem than the snow. They even called and told us not to go into the Center until noon. That worked out good for us, giving us some time to work on some upcoming presentations.
In Weatherford we had a training for Ward/Stake Leaders and Specialist. There was a good group of people there including the Stake President and his counselor and a Bishop and some of his Welfare Committee.
Tuesday I went with Donna out to Hurst and met with the Ward Employment Specialist and Bishop. They have a person they are working with that could use some of the Development Resources. We had a good meeting and they are excited about the new ideas and ways to help this sister in their ward. Our meeting didn’t begin until 8:30 and it went till 9:45 pm. (Hurst is abt 30 minutes away) So it was a good late night. Jack had been feeling a bit under the weather that day so he was glad for a quiet evening at home to rest. He felt much better the next day so I think it really helped.
On our Thursday P-day we decided to just stay at the apartment and not venture out in the snowy weather. (Minus a brief trip to Wal-mart, which is only abt a mile away from our apt.) We cleaned, played some music and games together. I even cooked up some homemade chicken noodle soup. I seldom have time for such a project. We were getting all settled in for the evening when at 8:00 the two sister missionaries in the building next door called. The mission president had grounded or put all the sister missionaries on lock-down with no driving out in the snow. (The elders are all on bikes but the sisters have cars.) The only way they were allowed to go out was if they could find other members to drive them. They had an appointment set up and they really wanted to be able to keep it – so they called us to see if we could drive them over to it. Elder Nelson was happy to oblige so we bundled up and headed out. It was like being in Utah -. The roads were slushy and wet but thankfully no ice. So another 10:00 night but we were happy to help them and hear their excitement as they shared their experiences in teaching the gospel. We just dropped them off because they were meeting with a teenage girl and the elders were also there. We thought 6 missionaries in on the visit would be a big overwhelming for anyone. So we just drove around in the snow for a while.
There was a Stake Conference in Colleyville this weekend. We are trying to go to the Stake Conferences in the Fort Worth area. We called ahead and set up a time to visit with the Stake Employment Specialist on Saturday between meetings. It was good to meet with him and have him share what’s going on with his wards. He is doing a lot with his people so it was great to visit with him.
They were changing the Stake Presidency so they had visiting General Authorities there too. Elder Walker from the 1st Quorum of the Seventy and also Elder Pickard, an area authority. Donna, could this Elder Walker, be your Elder Walker?
We hoped to be able to meet with President and Sister Thurston of the Fort Worth Mission. We arrived early for the meetings and we were just walking down the hallway and they found us! Elder and I were actually at different ends of the hallway and Sister saw me and President saw Elder Nelson. They noticed our missionary badges right away and were anxious to meet us – they thought they knew all of the missionaries in their area and wondered if they had some how missed us. We explained who and why we were there. They took our name and phone # and said they would call us if they had anything special come up that we might be interested in.
This is the Stake that Kim Marshall Heaton and her family is in so we sat by them today in the conference and then they had us over for dinner and some visiting. It is so nice to have her here and they are so gracious and welcoming to us.
Jack said it was the best conference he’s ever been to, but I’ve noticed that he says that about all of them.
A couple of interesting people that we’ve worked with this week -- Jack helped a man who came in from Nigeria. He wanted to know if he could use the computers and send an email to his family & wife who are still living there. Jack helped him set up an email account and even help with the typing. It was a Valentine type note so he even added a graphic for him. The brother was so excited about it and grateful for the help.
I helped a doctor earlier in the week. Due to some circumstances it is going to be a year before he can get his license here in Texas. I just kept praying that I would be able to help guide him in some way. I felt pretty good that I could even follow his line of speaking as he told me about his circumstances. He in an OBGYN doctor and has given speeches at national mtgs etc. And here I am trying to help him. He said he had been applying at Home Depot and places like that, I think when they see he’s a doctor they don’t give him a second look. After visiting with him for a couple of hours I came to the conclusion, that we are there to help guide the discussion and help them find their own answers. He came up with some other alternatives that he might be able to do in this interim period. I had also seen some teaching positions come open at one of the colleges here and was able to give him some information on a couple of them that he felt he would be qualified for.
Jack had a person call in wanting to register his company on the web site. It turned out to be President McKee (sp?) who was a past mission president in our Las Vegas-Logandale area.
With the stormy weather this week we haven’t had a lot of people coming in. It’s given us an opportunity to catch up and do some follow-up on people we’ve met with before, so its been a good week for that.
We are looking forward to spring – there are many trees and grassy spots here that will all be so beautiful I’m sure when the trees leaf out.
We hope everyone is keeping up with life. If you get a moment we would love to hear from you.
Our love,
Mom & Dad, Jack & Gaye, Grandpa & Grandma, friend,
Elder & Sister Nelson

Jack n Gaye