August 22 2010

22 August 2010

Dear Loved Ones,
I hope you have had a good week. I know that we are all anxiously awaiting some cooler weather. It’s times like these that we are thankful to be doing our service indoors.
We have had another busy week, helping people who come into the Center and also making phone calls to those who have signed on to the site.
One of the Stake’s that we work with has a dynamite Stake Employment Specialist, he does many great things. In talking with him this past week I realized that he likes to do many great things from the computer. The Ward Employment Specialists are often the ones that have that one on one contact with job seekers… BUT sometimes that doesn’t always happen. Besides it’s not a bad idea for people to know there are others out there ready and willing to help. He is busy working his own job and was agreeable to me making some phone contacts with people in the Stake to see how people are doing. So I’ve been making quite a few phone calls within this Stake this week. I’ve had some good conversations with quite a few people. I’ve found about 5 that are now working. We are all very happy when we hear this kind of news but no one happier than our Manager. It’s getting near the end of the month and we are trying to reach our goal of job placements. As mentioned in previous letters, we usually have to call them, only occasionally does someone call us back and let us know – that’s okay, we’re glad they are busy with a new job. It would save us a lot of time however.
I wish we had more opportunity to talk with people who are currently working. I’ve talked with several people who are now in their 50’s or even 60’s, have gotten laid off from their job and find that they do not have the current qualifications to get hired back into their same job with a different company. They don’t feel like they can go back to school and get any kind of return on their money to qualify them for the career they’ve been in or even a different career. I recommend anyone currently working (or not) to read the article ‘Advancing Within Your Company’, found at ldsjobs.org -- go Site Map, about the 6th article down.
I’ve also spoken with several Employers this week who have called in a job and have not heard back from anyone. We post the jobs on the website under ‘Stake Jobs’ but I’m afraid not all job seekers are taking advantage of the site and do not check back very often. So I went to work for both the Employers and the job seekers and did searches and made phone calls to candidates that I thought would be interested in those positions.
Connie from Colorado has been in again this week interviewing candidates for her company, we have made a room available for her to meet with them and go through the interview process. Jack gave her a tour of the facility one afternoon when she had a break. She was very impressed with the entire operation from Employment Services to the Bishop Storehouse, grain silos etc.
There is another person that has actually been hired part time to help go out and work and meet with companies to get them signed onto the site. This person is hired short term, a couple of months, so that during this time he can also continue in his job search. The young man hired we have known for several months and he is a great on the ball guy. He is working with Jack quite a bit as Jack gets him up to par on what is happening in this area and where we’re trying to go with it. This is another pilot program that they are testing in this office.
These two went to a BYU Management Networking Luncheon on Friday and heard some great thoughts given by one of the successful employers with PepsiCo – Frito-Lay Corporation.
On of the Stake leaders wanted to know how many people were signed on in each ward of their Stake, if they were actively seeking, casually, looking or networking. There is no real easy way to do this – we can organize according to each Stake but you have to go through each person individually to see what ward they belong to and what their status is. Of course I was happy to do the project but it did take a bit of time when you have almost 200 candidates in the Stake.
Another Ward Employment Specialist was needing some help working with a person who has a criminal background so I was able to gather some information for her and send it to her, via email.
Jack has made good friends with Brother and Sister Moala, who are local service missionaries that run the Bishop’s Store House. Brother Moala brought a copy of the first Bible translated into Tongan in 1893 and showed it to Jack. He shared with him some of his personal stories about the Tongan people and some his faith promoting experiences.
It’s been another busy week at the Center, we keep hoping for the economy to improve, as I know all of you have these same hopes but the news doesn’t sound very good. However, we continue to see people leave with a little lighter step as we discuss some of the things that they CAN do to help get themselves ready for that next job opportunity, how to get their personal advertisement ready and how to go about their job search. In the end Networking is the best way – finding someone to put in a good word for you somewhere.
We’ve done some interesting and fun things in our evening and P-day activities. One evening we met Paul and Katey Leatham for ice cream. It was fun to visit with them and hear how their new life in Dallas is going. They are a cute couple and seem very happy here.
We had another week of our Spanish piano class. We are making progress, some who have had some previous experience will be ready to play from the simplified hymn book soon I believe. The keyboards are not the greatest and the tables are too high and the chairs are too low but we are making progress.
We went to the ‘Bodies’ exhibit in down town Dallas on Thursday. There are people who have donated their bodies to science. They have taken some of these and embalmed them, dehydrated them, then infused them with some type of plastic substance. They have skinned them, showing muscles, organs etc. etc. etc. They don’t really seem like real people but rather just plastic models. It was interesting and okay to do once.
Elsie Whitney Banks 80th birthday was this past week so we went out to Burleson and took Dan & Elsie out to lunch. We all had a great time. I think they enjoy having someone to talk with about Nevada people and places. They have both been sick the past month but are doing much better now.
Charlie was able to set up the 2 harpsichords together in his living room so we were able to get together and play some 2 harpsichord/piano duets – a very fun time. There is really not the space to keep two of them in there so that was probably a one time experience, but a good one to have.
Sister Phelps, of the other missionary couple, really loves theater. She was an elementary school teacher but did some community theater in the towns where she taught in Washington. So Friday evening the four of us went out to the Artisan Theater and saw ‘South Pacific.’ It was done in the round, quite well done and we all really enjoyed it. The Artisan Theater is an old theater now run by an LDS family. They produce different amateur plays, appealing to families throughout the year. The first time we went out to the Artisan Theater was for the Sing-a-long Messiah at Christmas time.
Tony Enrique, a Spanish fellow who comes in to the Center and helps the Spanish people quite a bit especially if they only speak Spanish, brought in lunch for all of us Saturday. What a treat that was. As soon as we were finished with that someone else we had been working with brought in some Blue Bell ice cream, so we really had a feast.
Jack & I usually get to swim a few laps at the pool here at the apartment each day. It really helps to get some exercise, it especially helps to keep his knee moving, he notices a big difference. Several times a week I will go for a walk around the apartment building and nearby park around 6:30 am. This is the same time the young sister missionaries do their morning exercise so I get to have a little update on how they are doing. They seem to be keeping busy and are doing a lot of teaching.
By the time Saturday afternoon came around we were quite tired from the busy days and evenings. It was time to get some grocery shopping done and then we had some time to relax a bit and get rested up. Jack noted that his parents had their 60th wedding anniversary today.
This morning (Sunday) we got up early and went out to the Weatherford Stake and visited the Azle Ward at 9:00. We decided we had just enough time to get to Weatherford and attended the Young Single Adult Branch there at 11:00. It happened to be there Ward Conference so we got to hear from their Branch President and Stake Leaders. It’s always good to get out and meet people and see the Employment Specialists in person.
We love each of you dearly and miss you all. We pray the Lord to watch over you and bless and protect you in all you do. Thank you for your continued support and prayers.
Mom & Dad, Grandpa & Grandma, Jack & Gaye
Elder & Sister Nelson




Jack n Gaye