Hello Family and Friends,
I guess you can tell that we had some visitors this past week – due to the lack of our weekly letter. What a treat to have some family here. We were expecting Donna & Dennis’ arrival Wednesday evening at DFW Airport however we were VERY pleasantly surprised Wednesday afternoon while at the Employment Center I looked up to see who was looking for Elder Nelson -- low and behold there was Jim and June Ann. We were so excited to see them!
The adventures of that week follows.
17 October 2010
In preparation for the Career Fair coming up next week Donna T. did an extra effort with Resume Workshop. She invited many to come and prepare resumes for the Career Fair plus an extra session in the evening. She had to hold them over at the Stake Center because our Conference room can only hold about 15. Between the 2 sessions she had almost 50 people attend. Jack & I got a call early Tuesday morning from Julie to go directly to the Stake Center and help Donna set up, which of course we were happy to do.
Most of our energy besides helping those people who came into the center, was focused on preparations for the Career Fair. Sending out notices to Stake & Ward Employment Specialists, etc etc….
Tuesday evening we went to a concert with the Morells at the Lord of Life Lutheran Church. We heard the Dallas Renaissance Consort, made up of Renaissance instruments, sackbuts, harp, lute and other instruments of the time period. Their skill level was moderate but very interesting to hear and see the instruments of that time period.
Afterwards we went with Charlie and Carla to the last few games of their granddaughter’s volleyball game. She is a Sophomore but plays on the varsity team. Unfortunately her team lost by 2 point in an over time. We both enjoyed seeing a volley game this season.
Wednesday we were able to leave a few minutes early and go have dinner with Jim and June Ann at La Hacienda. Some great TexMex food where you can eat Mexican food and listen to country music all at the same time – I know some people who really like that.
Jack, Jim & June Ann were able to visit for the evening while I went over to the Carrollton Stake building to teach piano classes. We never know who may or may not show up and we are in the process of starting some additional classes. With this we are trying to become more organized and making an effort to get those attending to become more committed. I think/hope we are getting there. Farrah Caranza is helping me with so many things. She arrives early and sets up the tables, chairs and keyboards. She has contact with the Branch for any and all announcements that need to be made – she is wonderful to have be involved!
SO, this is our plan, 6:00 – those who have been coming and have had some past experience (adults) 6:30 – Beginners – ages 11 thru Young Women’s (They need to be available at 7:00 for activity day and Young Women’s activities.) 7:00 Beginners ages 8 to 10 with me, at the same time in a different area 6 and 7 year olds with Farrah. 7:30 All other adults. This new schedule will start the first week of November, except for those who have heard about and are coming already.
We are trying to do this with 5 keyboards – some of which come with the adults in the first session and then of course they want to leave but we still need the keyboards for the remaining students. I called the music department in Salt Lake this past week about what we have going on, the music grant is going to send us some more Keyboard Course books. They will also send some more grant applications for those students who are progressing in the program and are serious about it. They can apply to have their own keyboards sent to them for their own personal use for them to keep.
If we see that there are more students willing and consistent in coming, we can request more keyboards to be sent through the grant money. So we’ll see what happens. In the mean time we some of the mothers and some helping have suggested that the children’s families buy small keyboards at Wal-Mart for $20 so they will have something to practice on during the week – a novel idea! We are also asking them to bring $10 for supplemental music. I will purchase the music and they can reimburse me. (Some things never change) The people are so appreciative of this opportunity, they thank me with tears in their eyes that their children will have this opportunity. Those that don’t speak much English just smile and nod in agreement. Very sweet people.
After class I made it back to the apartment so we could leave to pick up Donna & Dennis at the airport. They had let us know that their plane was an hour late in leaving Salt Lake City. However we arrived about 9:30 pm and they texted saying they were on the ground. We only waited for them about 5 minutes. I’m not sure how you can leave an hour late and arrive only 5 minutes late. It was so very good to see them!!
Thursday was our P-day so the six of us loaded up in our pick-up and headed out to see the city. The boys in the front and the girls in the back. I always spoke for the middle – it was nice to have sisters on either side. It’s so great being Senior missionaries and have family come and visit.
We went out to Fort Worth and visited the Stock Yards. We enjoyed the cattle drive, Donna and I even rode the ‘quarter’ horses. We visited the museum and went to some of the stores to buy some souvenirs for grandchildren.
Next we went to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful day and this time of year was so pretty at the gardens, the fall flowers were in bloom, including the roses. We had stopped and got some tacos and had a picnic out in the park. We also went to the Japanese Gardens. The last time we went to that was in the winter so we enjoyed all the greenry, another beautiful spot.
We had other plans for the evening but what we ended up doing was going to Farmer’s Branch Historical Village. There was a young lady working there that afternoon and she took us on a tour of the inside of the houses, church and school building. Going inside the buildings was another first that we enjoyed. They had a Bluegrass Festival scheduled for the weekend and that night there was an informal jam session. We decided to go get a hamburger at ‘Steak and Shakes’ (yumm), then we decided that we were so close to the Mustang statues that we could stop by and see them. then we went back for the jam session. However, only one person showed up for the session so that didn’t happen.
Friday morning Jack & I went to the Employment Center. It turned out to be quite busy. Jack had things to do for the upcoming Career Fair, getting in touch with Employers who would be presenting etc. I had my portion of the Career Workshop to teach. Plus there were quite a few candidates that came in that morning. By 1:00 things had settled down and we were able to get away. Dennis and Donna came to the Center and Jack was able to introduce them to our co-workers and take them on a tour of the facilities. The Errors, a local church service missionary couple who normally come in on Tuesdays came in an extra day on Friday so we could leave.
We picked up Jim & June Ann and headed to downtown Dallas. We visited Chase Bank, the building with the ‘hole’ at the top and where you can go up to the top floors and see the view of the city. It’s so high you get a little dizzy up there.
We also went to Dealy Plaza and took the tour of Kennedy’s assassination. We walked on the grassy knoll and speculated as to whether it was a single person or a conspiracy.
We also took them by the longhorn cattle drive sculptures. They asked if we were getting tired of going to these same place and showing visitors but we noted that we only took people to the places where we enjoyed going, the other places were never part of our agenda.
For Friday evening we had previously bought tickets for Elder & Sister Phelps, Donna & Dennis and us to go to the play ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ at the Artisan theater.
We enjoyed the play and the company.
Saturday morning Jim & June Ann had to leave to head back to Utah. We so enjoyed seeing them and spending time with them. It was so nice of them to spend the time and money to make that effort. It actually worked out very nicely that they were all here at the same time. If they had been here on differing days we wouldn’t have been able to spend as much time with them.
Saturday Sister Gloria Lyle, who usually doesn’t work on Saturday, came in so we could take the day off and they wouldn’t be short handed. She is such a sweetheart – we just love her. We went out to Bass Pro Shop, the boys of course loved it. Then we went to the National Boy Scout office, store and museum. Dennis and Donna went through the museum – we’re so glad they did, Dennis is such a life scout-er it would have been a shame not for him to do this.
Next on our agenda was a visit to the Morells. We had a great time visiting. Charlie showed us his organ, pump or reed organs and the harpsichord. Donna took a turn playing the harpsichord while I played the recorder, so much fun.
Saturday BYU was playing TCU here in Texas. Donna & Dennis were amazing, they could spot the ‘Y’ emblem from a far distance. They met and spoke with the BYU camera crew on the grassy knoll and visited with other fans at the Boy Scout store. Unfortunately BYU didn’t do so well in the game – but it didn’t seem to come as a surprise.
We went to the Dallas 6th Ward on Sunday. People could easily recognize that Donna was my sister. That evening I had a choir practice so Donna & Dennis visited with their friends from Pleasant Grove who had moved to Dallas many years ago, Paul & Pier Larsen. Oh that reminds me of a story…. When Donna met Donna T at the Center they got visiting and Donna T knows the Larsen and knew that she taught school at the high school right across the street from our apartments. However, when they went to find her there they found out that she had just moved this year to different location.
The Larsen’s had to pick up and bring back Dennis & Donna, being that we only have one vehicle. They came in to meet us and we enjoyed a late night visit.
Too soon Monday morning arrived and it was time to take them back to the airport. We had them delivered early and we were back to the Center before we opened. We had such an enjoyable week with family here – thanks to the Pattens also for making the sacrifice to come and visit us.
Visiting with family I realized how entrenched we are becoming in what we are doing, noticing who is hiring, this company is hiring, BSA had contacted us to help them find a person to work part time as a cashier in the store, this company has registered with us, so & so works at that company, etc., etc. Funny how our perspective changes.
Monday we did a lot of work in preparation for the Career Fair the next day. That evening we had dinner with the Morells. They had a gift card and invited us to share it with them. We went to Macaroni Grill and enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner. However when he got his card out to pay it was really for the Olive Garden. It was pretty funny.
Tuesday was the Career Fair at 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm So we had a busy, busy day – making posters about dossiers, and companies that are on the website and how many jobs are available through those companies (by the way its in the thousands) copies, but then no copies because the copy machine was out of toner and the ordered toner was lost somewhere in the mail. Making name tags for participants, presenters, volunteers, making lists of sandwich orders, who want what kind of this and that, lists of Ward & Stake employment specialists who would be available to help etc., etc. The first hours Julie supervised and approved some of the activity but by the afternoon she just had us make our best judgments and get it done.
Finally it all started coming together. We went over to the Stake Center and began with the preparations that were going on there. By 6:00 we were ready to greet the presenters, get them their box lunches. At 6:30 we had the keynote speaker, at 7:00 they broke into sessions of different careers or industries. These were all geared to the Professional Career job seeker.
There were close to 400 hundred people in attendance. It was like a Stake Conference of all job seekers. Really an amazing event. We helped people find their way, both volunteers and job seekers. I helped for a time at the tables to help people sign on to the website. We had several laptops there with wireless to have a live connection. I worked with a Ward Employment Specialist who was wanting more information about the website, how to help people in his ward and also how to post jobs.
As I walked about I watched for people who didn’t seem to be engaged in any activity and asked them how they were doing, if they needed help. One such man was concerned because his Bishop has wanted him to come, but on the way he had gotten lost and used more gas than planned. He was concerned that he would have enough to make it back home. I asked him to watch for people in his ward that might be able to assist him and to go a head and get what he could from the evening. At the end of the night I saw him again and he hadn’t found anyone and was still very concerned. I told him to hold on for a minute. I checked my purse but I didn’t even have a dollar so I found Jack. I had to interrupt him while he was visiting with one of the presenters, when I told them what I needed it was amazing how quickly those wallets opened up. The man was so grateful for the assistance.
One of the great things about the Career Fair is the opportunity for people to network – talk to other people in their profession, share information with each other etc. Therefore at the end – 9:00, there was still a lot of talking and visiting going on. Our managers don’t like to cut people short on this experience so it was almost a quarter to 10:00 before we began much of any clean up. Every room in the building had been opened up and packed full of as many chairs possible to accommodate the crowd. As usual set up doesn’t seem nearly as difficult as cleaning up. We had some people stay and help but at 10:30 we were some pretty tired folks heading for apartments and homes.
Julie told us we could sleep in the next morning if we needed to. When I woke up I was still so exhausted that I decided to stay at the apartment till noon. I wasn’t in bed but it was nice to be in slow gear and get some washing done etc. Jack is tough and he was there by 9:00. I must say however that it’s the first time that we have ever seen Julie fall asleep in front of her computer. It was a lot of work and effort but I think it was considered a big success by all.
This week has been the Ranger games. Lots of talk and excitement over the games by many loyal Texan game fans. There was a game going on Tuesday evening during the Career Fair – every so often an announcement would be made on the score.
Thursday Jack & I went out to Mineral Wells to the Clark BOOtanical Gardens. It is such beautiful weather this time of year. Again we enjoyed the beautiful weather and the fall flowers and colors. We packed our lunch and ate out on one of the picnic tables, very enjoyable.
Friday and Saturday evenings was the presentation of ‘Joseph Smith, the Prophet’, a cantata by Rob Gardner. We have been practicing this each Sunday evening since the end of August. You had to audition to be in the choir and if you missed more than two rehearsals you had to defend yourself if you wanted to continue (I observed this with others). Right at the first I became acquainted with Alise McCauley, wife of Timmy, our neighbors in Logandale. She also is an alto so we were able to sit by each other. She is such a lovely girl, I really enjoyed getting to know her. She also sings beautifully. A couple of weeks ago she shared that she is expecting a baby in April, her and Tim are very excited.
Jack went to the Friday evening performance and quite enjoyed it I believe. However, I believe that Saturday night was the better of the two. It really went smoothly and there was a beautiful spirit there. Saturday was the book club meeting at the Morells so Jack went to that. I took a book with me and told him I was content to read until it was over and he could get back over to pick me up but he was there right when it was over. Timmy went on Saturday night so the four of us were able to visit for a few minutes at the end.
Yesterday afternoon, Saturday, Jack and I left the Center for 30 minutes to run to the music store to get some books for the piano classes and we heard that there was a tornado watch issued. Back at the Center we bring up weather.com and keep track of the weather when there are bad weather forecasts. We can help candidates know what’s ahead if they need to get home and…… it’s interesting. It soon turned to a tornado warning. A couple of people in the store house became very nervous and were wanting us to all gather – I’m not sure why. However you learn to keep your eye on the local people and what their reaction is. Donna (whose husband works for the County emergency response team) told us that it was really not at the point to be concerned, that the sirens were not even sounding. Another commented that he waits until he hears the freight train sound, then he knows its time to move. In another few minutes the sirens began blaring, which means that all the conditions are there for a possible tornado. But all we saw was a lot of rain, thank goodness.
We’ve heard that Las Vegas unemployment is now at 15%, still getting worse. Here in Texas I think we reflect what you are hearing about the economy rebounding. Employment is always slower to recover but it seems we are seeing an increase in people finding employment. There seems to be more people getting interviews and wanting help with stage of the job search. I also see companies that are starting to hire, some of them seem to be moving ahead cautiously, saying that at the first of the year they will be hiring part time positions that may develop into full time positions. So we see some hope on the horizon. Hopefully it won’t take very long for Nevada and Utah to feel some of these effects too.
We continue to feel so blessed to be serving here – in Texas – at the Employment Center. We had no idea of what it was all about but we are enjoying our service together and learning so much about Self-Reliance and the inspired programs of the gospel. I heard a person training the volunteers yesterday in the Store House. There have been more than 5,000 orders filled so far this year, most of them the equivalent of $250 worth of commodities, all of this funded by fast offerings. Then of course the help that we offer through Employment Services to help people get back on their feet. What a wonderful church.
We are grateful for your prayers in our behalf that help to sustain us each day. We love and miss you so very much. We pray for you each day. We put our hope, faith and trust in the Lord that he will bless us to do the work that he needs us to do and that he will also bless, protect and watch over you and keep you in his watchful care.
Our love,
Dad & Mom, Grandma & Grandpa, Jack & Gaye
Elder & Sister Nelson
Jack n Gaye
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