21 March 2010

21 March 2010
Missionary Journal

Things I have learned this week…………
~ People are blessed by coming to the Employment Center.
A friend of the church came into the center, Elder Nelson was helping her. After helping her for abt 45 minutes she received a phone call giving her a job interview. She was not expecting this phone call and was so ecstatic about it. She commented that it must be because she was at the LDS building and was being blessed. We all thought – you are absolutely right – go with that thought!

~ Two new Sister missionaries, the older version, but younger than us, will be joining us next month at the Center. We are excited to have more help.

~ The greater the challenges, the greater the blessings.
One day I was sitting at the front desk greeting people and answering phones. A lady called who wanted to speak with someone about her employment needs. As usual I tried to find out a little more information about her situation, what type of job she was looking for and her experience. She said she had many degrees and qualifications and it wouldn’t do her any good to talk to some ‘retired’ person, she needed to speak to someone who had qualifications. I told her when our managers would be in and tried to visit with her a little more, she insisted that it would do her no good to talk with me and she slammed down the phone.
I would say only about 1 in a hundred or two are rude but you have to come across that person every once in a while. It usually happens when I am at the front desk. Interesting how some people feel like a secretary is a lower class citizen. The interesting thing is we all take a turn at the front desk at one time or another. Usually some time during our working with these people they need to be taught how to treat all the people in an office – IF they want to get hired.
However the next person who came through the door I worked with happened to be a young lady who had just moved here from Las Vegas. She had moved to Texas to be with her brother and to make a change in her life from the bar tending jobs she had in LV. She was very pleasant and we enjoyed visiting about the 2 places AND of course about preparing for the next job opportunity.
We talked about the fact that the pace here in Texas is much slower, people are more relaxed and not always rushing and hurrying about. We had both noticed this and it was interesting for both of us to discuss it.
Afterwards she was so grateful and appreciative of all the help she had received.

~ Ladies from Vietnam enjoy and appreciate the freedoms of America, but they sure like to cut your hair short!

~ The sun comes up and the sun goes down about 45 minutes later in Texas than it does in Nevada.

~ In a given week you can enjoy beautiful spring weather, hard rains AND cold snow-y days and nights. The word Spring has no meaning here in Texas. Saturday was VERY cold. Thursday on our P-day I had put away some of my winter clothes. Saturday, the first day of Spring, I had to get them back out. It was so cold again. Sunday, this morning we woke up to several inches of snow on the ground and another cold day.

~ The freeway stacks have their own weather systems, similar to the Rocky Mountains in the West. On top of them you encounter fog and frozen icy roads – drivers beware.

~ It is nice to have friends to enjoy bike rides with and play music. It’s wonderful when that friend is also your husband. It’s also nice to have people like Charlie and Carla Morell to share these common interests with.

~ I have a great missionary companion.
Because Scott Edgeworth has got a job in LV and moved there this week. Because Chris Bott was called as a Bishop and Elder Lawler is going to Arlington Stake on Tuesdays, Elder Nelson is teaching/leading the discussions at the Fast Start Networking Class at the Carrollton Stake Center on Tuesday mornings.
Jack was sick for a day or two this week but back on top of things now. He wasn’t able to make it into the Center on Wednesday so I did my first solo driving. There are no freeways involved so it was not a big deal.

~ That the employment services at the LDS Employment Services are as good as and even better than what the community, state and local governments offer.
The Ward Employment Specialist in the Dallas 6th Ward (Brother Mahana) said he talked to a nonmember in the ward boundaries that had come into the Center for help. Elder Nelson has been working with this person and they also attended the Networking Class several times. This person reported to Brother Mahana that there were some really great things going on over there and what great help he had received. He had been to many such places in the community and none of them rivaled the help he got at the Center. Way to go Elder!

~ It is easier to stay out of trouble rather than to get of trouble.
Saturday Donna and I went to a meeting open to the community at a huge Baptist Church in Dallas. It was regarding ‘Expunging your criminal record.’ Very interesting to say the least. It was held in a room about the size of a school classroom. It was so crowded that there was not even any standing room left. We waited for 10-15 minutes and there were people who began to leave so we eventually got in. At first just standing and eventually sitting.
It was presented by a lawyer who it sounds like works for one of the State Senators. He helps write the bills etc. He was a young (30’s) black man who was very intelligent and from the crowd that had assembled was presenting some very needed information for a lot of people. Donna and I were definitely the minority, for all the people excepting maybe 2 or 3 other white ladies, were black people.
I believe the ones who left early were people who had serious criminal offenses and there is no way around having this felonies on their record. However there were a lot of people who stayed who have some recourse.
Some of these people had done just silly stupid things when they were in college but had been arrested for them. Now 10, 20 and even 30 years later they are still having these things hang over their heads. Some have been wrongfully charged, have even been cleared but it still shows on their background checks. The bottom line is – they can’t get a job – they want to work, but no one will hire them. They have tried to stay clean and do nothing wrong for 5-10 years but still they can’t get a job.
This fellow offered a lot of help and advice and we also got several names of different agencies and companies that help people who have a criminal background. Good information for us to have. We also met a lady from DARS (a government agency that does a lot to help people who are down and out) with whom we exchanged information.
Part way thru this meeting I became aware of my missionary tag, me being one of the very few white people in the room and THE only one with a tag on. I tried to bravely, if even quietly, represent the church. Donna and I left a few minutes before the meeting broke up, when it was question and answer time and things were winding down.
As I was leaving a young (20’s) black lady asked if I had a card that I could share with her. I had to grab Donna and get one from her. I’m not used to carrying business card around with me. I don’t know if she was a member or had some type of recognition about the church or could just tell that we were with an agency that helped people. Maybe she will come in sometime and I’ll find out more.

~ We need to carry business cards everywhere we go.
Today at church I sat by one of my favorite people in the ward. A humble elderly Spanish lady (at least 10 years older than me). She is the only member in her family but one of her sons will be out of work shortly. She wanted our information to pass on to him in hopes that he would come and visit us. I wrote down our information and told her to tell him we would love to see him and help him.

That wraps up another week here in Texas. Always interesting and always more things to learn. We hope and pray that we are serving and putting our efforts into the things the Lord would have us do. We pray for his continued help and guidance, that is the only way we can and will be effective.
We are grateful for your continued support and daily prayers. We so depend on them to bless us and sustain us. We also pray for you too. You are in our thoughts continually, but we try not to have you consume our thoughts so we can do the service the Lord needs us to do. We pray that he will bless you with an extra measure of blessings while we are away.
Our Love,
Dad & Mom, Grandpa & Grandma, Jack & Gaye
Elder & Sister Nelson
Jack n Gaye