August 15-22 2010

15 August 2010

Dear Family and Friends,
Time to report yet another week from Texas. It has been a very busy week. We have had some very busy days at the Center, there have been a lot of people in the Center pretty much every day. Sister Lyle, who runs our front desk, had foot surgery a month ago expected she would be out for 4 days is now going on her 4th week. She wants to return as badly as we want her to return, but the surgery was more extensive and she is not healing as fast as she would like. We talk to her a couple of times a week, she is a sweet lady, we love her lots.
Monday was my first day back after the Dalley family left. We were too busy to worry about them being gone too much. There was a week of emails for me to check, mostly to go thru and pull off any job notifications that we had received. Other than that it was just busy with the day’s work.
Tuesday was about the same, a very busy day! I spent as much time as possible preparing for the upcoming Career Workshop in the Hurst Stake. Planning, organizing, preparing materials etc etc. Our manager, Julie, is such a great help and support, she makes every effort to help us be successful.
Jack worked with several candidates for their initial interview. One in particular had some difficult circumstances. He had spent most of his time in the West, even Nevada and Utah. He had made a pretty good fortune, due circumstances moved to Texas, and has now lost everything and is virtually penniless. Tough circumstances to be sure. When you ask that question, ‘tell me a little bit about yourself’, sometimes they are in a stage where they need to unload. We don’t encourage that, but sometimes that’s just where they are and we need to listen.
We’ve had a couple of people take the time to tell us thanks this week, which is very nice. We don’t expect it and don’t feel like we should be getting it, but it’s nice when it comes. I share them here because I want them to be a part of our journal of memories.

Dear Elder Jack,

Thank you for taking the time out of your life to serve a mission for the Lord and for your brothers and sisters. I feel blessed to have been able to meet you, your wife, and the wonderful people with whom you work each day. The words of encouragement you gave me helped me, I don't have a job yet, but I am still smiling!!! :)

I spoke with Bro ______ at UHS about the customer service job and he has passed on my resume, but was candid with me that they would not be offering enough money in that particular position to keep me for long. He was very nice and I appreciated his candor.

I am rewriting my resume, but found and applied for some Property management positions with Compass Bank on the LDS website, and the jobs offered sounded like they are right up my alley. I continually pray for the Lords help as I try and get my life back. Again, I need to thank you for your smile and assistance, and hope to meet with you soon.

Best Regards,
___________ ________
May the Lord bless you and those around you.

If a person that I work with needs help with a LinkedIn account I always pass them on to Elder Nelson. I worked with one such candidate one day. He too took the time to write a little note.
“Thanks Bro. Nelson, And please thank Sis. Nelson for her help this afternoon. She gave me a lot of great ideas and I'm going to follow through on every one of them.”
This man was the finance person in a company and so was not too surprised when he received notice that his job was being terminated. He kept a positive, bright countenance, but every once in a while you could catch a glimmer of the fear and tears behind his courage.

Tuesday morning Sister Groch and I went to University of North Texas, about 30 miles away, and met with a lady about the University and their special programs, what they are known for, what kind of scholarships they offer etc etc. We gleaned some great information and the gal we met with was very knowledgeable and friendly. By the way they have one of the premier music programs of the State there. By the time we were finished I was ready to sign up.
We left her office and then toured their Career Center. They offer much the same kind of services that the LDS Employment Center does. It was another positive experience.
From there we went to one of the Denton Trade High Schools. We learned about another great program. Students attend their regular High School but sign up for classes at this school for part of their day. For example, they have a cosmetology program that you can take that by the time you graduate from High School you have your license. There are many other programs in mechanics, aeronautics, etc etc. We didn’t have an appointment here, we just dropped by. The ladies we spoke with were a bit suspicious of us at first, they couldn’t take their eyes off our badges. We explained to them who we were and what our purpose was and they eventually warmed up to us.
Wednesday we had an appointment to another College but we were so busy at the Center that we cancelled and will reschedule for another time.
Wednesday evening was Piano Class at the Spanish Branch. We have a few that are really taking it seriously even through out the summer. We only had 4 come this last week but they are really interested and progressing. Several of which have had some prior experience. Some don’t speak much English so I practice the few words I know and I’m getting quite practiced in Charades. Sister Groch works along with me. I usually begin the session with some warm ups, Circle of 5ths kinds of things. Do some review, present new material and then we listen to each student individual as they practice. During this time I heard Sister Groch mention that those numbers by the notes didn’t really mean anything and they could ignore them. Whoa!!! did I ever pick up on that fast. I had a great teaching moment to teach about the importance of fingering. Sister Groch is such a sweet lady and said she was grateful to learn this and felt like it would really help her playing.
We were able to get together with the Morell’s one evening for dinner and some music. Duane Bryner came also so we had the recorder, cello and harpsichord ensemble happening. Each time we get together I have such a tremendous sense that the Lord knows me personally. I think the chance of this happening anywhere else is very, very slim. I’m also very grateful for Jack and his continued willingness to support.
We enjoyed our P-day, it was good to have a little break after such busy days. We traveled out to Paris, TX. They have a mini Eiffel Tower with a big cowboy hat on top and is quite the little city. There is a unique old district but then also have a newer area of town. We didn’t stay there very long but enjoyed the ride out. There is a lot of agriculture area between here and there, I always enjoy getting out of the city and seeing the more rural countryside.
In the afternoon we continued to work on our presentation for Fri/Sat. and was able to get it ready to go.
Brother Mark Van Cott is the Stake Employment Specialist in Hurst, he is a great man that really cares about what he is doing. He really pays attention to the details and had the advertising and organization end of it well taken care of. There were 52 people that signed up for the workshop. Not all were able to attend the entire time but we usually had about 40 people there at any one time. It was definitely a challenge to prepare presentations, activities and materials to keep that many people interested and engaged for that length of time. We met for 3 hours Friday evening (6-9:00) and then 8 hours on Saturday (8-4:00).
A little side note – we planned to get there early enough to help Brother Van Cott set up tables and chairs but he ended up setting up at 6 am before his day at work. We were able to get our things set up and had a little extra so that I was able to go in and play their pipe organ for a few minutes. My first opportunity to play a pipe organ – very nice.
We met some great people. Some of the Ward Employment Specialists were able to attend also, about 4 of them. It was great to get to know them better and they were a great help and support. We did quite a few activities, so each table of about 5, were able to work together, practice and share the things they learned.
Once again, Jack and I enjoyed the opportunity to teach together. It’s nice to trade back and forth in our presentations, and the people get a little change with different personalities. Jack is such a natural, he is very good at getting discussions going and teaching information. His years of experience really shine through. Every couple of hours we would have a little break and let people walk around and get a drink. During those times there was always someone who had a personal question or wanted a few more details. It was good to have a little one on one but not much down time for us. Which of course is perfectly fine but at the end of the day we were certainly tired! It was a good tired however. Even with all of those hours to teach it is still a struggle to get all of the information covered. We gave some handouts for further details and clarification on several of the subjects. They were all very gracious and grateful for our time spent with them.
Brother Van Cott sent a letter to Employment Specialists, Bishops and a few Stake Employment Specialist in surrounding stakes that I will share.

Hi, Ward Employment Specialists of the Hurst Stake! (BCC Bishops and others, including ERC staff, SES's in 4 other stakes!) A MILLION THANKS to all of you for your efforts promoting the Career Workshop held last night and all day today in the Hurst Stake Center!! It was a tremendous success, as some of you WES's who attended know first hand (Thanks especially for that!). We had the most attendees we've ever had - about 58 people signed up, some for different parts depending on their schedule, so we had about 40 Friday night and about 40 Saturday, but not the same 40 each time. Several from surrounding Stakes! Sister and Elder Nelson, the missionary couple at the ERC in Carrollton, conducted it, and did a wonderful job. They are both professional teachers, Sister Nelson ran a private Piano Studio with ~ 30 students, and Elder Nelson taught 30+ years in public and private secondary schools. I acted as background servant, providing logistics, doing setup, managing food, (snacks, breakfast/lunch Saturday), etc. It was just a great time, and I wanted to tell each one of you WES's and Bishops and all others bcc'd how much I and Sister and Elder Nelson appreciated your help and support in securing such a great attendance. I'm confident the experience was a great energizer for everyone who attended!! Thank you all again so very much!!
Mark Van Cott
Hurst Texas Stake Employment Specialist.

It was a nice time to receive some positive feedback this week because there has also been a tear or two for the special family times that we have missed this weekend. Congratulations to Clint on his wedding. We are so happy and excited for this new couple as they begin their lives together.
Today Brian and Jill’s new little Anna Isabel was blessed. What a wonderful blessing to have another little one in our family. We welcome them whenever the Lord in his wisdom sends them. We sure miss not being there to share in the joy and being able to help tired Moms and Dads make their path a little lighter. We continue to put our faith and trust in the Lord and know that he will bless us all and qualify us to do WHAT needs to be done, WHEN it needs to be done and WHERE it needs to be done, even when it’s in Texas.
May the Lord bless and keep you today and always,
Our Love,
Grandpa & Grandma, Dad & Mom
Jack & Gaye
Elder & Sister Nelson

Some thoughts I shared this week in our morning devotional:
I’ve long been impressed with the faith of the early pioneers. Such as the story of the early pioneers in Panguitch and the story of the quilt walk (which I was reminded a couple of weeks ago, as a brief version was given on ‘Music and the Spoken Word.’) In a recent talk Elder Bednar said that every generation has their trials and have the opportunity to prove ‘who’s on the Lords side.’
I’ve been reading some of the teachings of Joseph Smith and he teaches the importance of faith. We often think of faith in a spiritual way but he teaches that it also is the first element of our temporal welfare. When you think of it, it really has such an important part to play. We must have faith in ourselves and a knowledge and faith that we are doing what the Lord wants us to do. We must have faith that the Lords will bless us, in his own way and in his own time.
I think that all comes together in the work that we are doing here. In our generation we must have the faith as the early pioneers as we work through the trials given to us. For some that is un-employment, others will face other trials. But whether they be temporal or spiritual in nature, faith is the first principle that we must exercise in seeing our way through.


Jack n Gaye