Dear Family & Friends,
My, it’s getting late Texas time, I better get started!
I have been rehearsing with the Carrollton Stake Choir on Sunday evenings, one more week of rehearsal and then it performance time. It is coming together nicely. We will be singing with an accompaniment orchestra CD. It sounds good but it’s difficult to work out all the timing. I heard one of the soloists talking to someone tonight saying that he is a ‘professional caroler.’ Now that would be a great job.
The news is telling us that the economy is improving – we all hope that is true for sure. They say that unemployment lags behind an improvement because businesses are cautious about hiring until they really see a change. It seems that we have not seen so many people coming in that have lost their jobs recently. Most of the people that we have seen this week are those that are returning to continue to work on their job search. So there is reason for hope.
In the past week or two I have called several people about jobs that we had heard of, people calling into the Center wanting to hire. Friday it was reported to us that they were hired. That was some exciting news – it’s always fun when we get to ring the bell for someone. In fact we rang the bell about 10 times on Friday.
This week we had the new Development Specialist begin work. On Tuesday the 2 men from Salt Lake came and did training with him and evaluations on the Center. We didn’t see too much of them but kept things going while the Managers met with them. We had a luncheon on Wednesday with and for them. Anyone who is in the Center gets to eat with us too. There is one lady who moved to the area the end of the summer. She and her son are trying to get settled here and she really needs a job. She is originally from Brazil but has been in the States about 10 years. As we ate she commented on how much she appreciated us. She said because she is new to the area that she doesn't have anyone else, that we are the only ones that she has to help her and talk to her about her situation. We hope that something will open up for her soon.
Some of the things are becoming more routine, an evening out to the Morell’s and Spanish Branch piano classes. We continue to enjoy these opportunities. This past week I had to leave on time after the piano class due to a web-i-nar at the Center. Donna T. gave the presentation this time, having Jack make quite a few comments throughout. We have an Annual Career Fair coming up in a couple of weeks so they are telling people about it and getting the word out.
By the time Thursday P-day came around this week we were so tired and behind on things at the apartment we decided to have a more low key day. We got some cleaning and shopping done and then went on a little trip out to the Rockwall area. There are a couple of lakes out there that were quite pretty. We took our bikes along with us. The problem we found however is that all the property around the lakes is private property so there is hardly any access to them. We did finally find a marina where we were able to eat our lunch and go for a little ride.
This week was ‘Time Out For Women,’ here in Plano. Sister Lyle especially wanted to go to it and got Sister Phelps and I interested in going too. However, Sister Lyle’s mother-in-law passed away a week or so ago so she ended up going to California for the service and then spending a little time with family and friends there. She won’t be back until the middle of this week – and she was going to be our driver.
I figured out a route that I could drive and not have to worry about the freeways so I picked up Sister Phelps and away we went. It was very enjoyable and we had a good time. Donna T and Julie P., our managers, were both out on Saturday doing other assignments so that left Elder Nelson and Elder Phelps taking care of things at the Center. Of course they did great.
The overall theme for the Women’s mtg was ‘Hope,’ as ‘we hope all things’ from the 13th Article of Faith. The points that seemed to be emphasized over and over was that we are okay. If you’re a young Mom with children or a mother of teenagers – or at any age, don’t be so hard on yourself, you’re doing okay. The Lord loves you, enjoy the little things, have an attitude of gratefulness, be happy and enjoy life.
They had a humanitarian project going on of making hygiene kits also. A young lady, about 28 shared her story. She is from West Africa and came from and area of war. She shared some of the horrible things that she endured, when if you woke up in the morning that was a great blessing; if you made it through the day, you felt another great blessing. Food was not even considered, you may or may not have anything to eat, but being alive was enough.
She told of her conversion, a family she met that had nothing to offer except an invitation to church and shared with her that is where they went to find courage and strength to survive. She eventually was able to go on a mission and was called to Temple Square. She had no clothes to bring with her but many people helped her make it and make it happen for her.
When in Africa she had been the recipient of a Hygiene Kit from the latter-day Saints. In fact that one little kit was shared by many people, even sharing tooth brushes. Her little brother was able to get a school kit. He was the only one that had any school supplies so he took the papers from his notebook and shared them with the rest of the class. They took the pencil and broke it into many pieces so more would have something to write with. Each day they used the same piece of paper, erasing the writing each day in order to use the paper again, until after many days there was nothing but shreds of the paper left.
It’s hard to imagine that such conditions still exist in the world today – it was pretty stirring to hear her speak.
That brings me to another observation. When I teach the Career development portion of the Career Workshop, one of the activities I do you first consider what kind of a job you would look for if you needed to get a job quickly. Where would your experience, education and training allow you to get a job the soonest. 2. Consider, where would you get a job next if those jobs were no longer available, another area you are interested in or could transfer your skills from one occupation to another. 3. If nothing mattered and you could have any job you desired, what would be your dream job. When we get to #3, those people who have come to the United States from other countries, often poorer countries or third world countries, I see a complete blank look. I don’t think they have even ever been able to seriously think such thoughts. I think their lives are more concerned with survival than……..than what? Than being personally fulfilled?
Saturday evening Jack and I did a session at the Dallas Temple. We enjoyed the beautiful spirit that is always there.
This morning we went out to Cleburne to a Sacrament Meeting. It is quite a small ward. They were having Fast Sunday today and it was great to hear testimonies there. An investigator and missionary shared some of their experiences of faith. The church is strong here in Texas but at the same time it’s not a very high percentage of the people so their seems to be a lot of missionary work and new converts. It’s always great to hear of these conversion stories.
We like to visit other wards a couple of times a month. It’s good to meet the Employment Specialists and other people. Also in this ward is Corey’s cousin, Sean Dalley. We were able to visit with him a few minutes. He commented on how much they enjoyed seeing the Corey Dalley family when they were here to visit last August.
Well it must be time to wrap this up and get some rest. Thank you for your love, prayers and support. We love each of you so much. Our prayers are with you too. It is our hope and our faith that our Heavenly Father will bless and sustain us all as we each go forward in our paths of life.
Our Love,
Grandpa & Grandma Nelson, Mom & Dad, Jack & Gaye
Elder & Sister Nelson
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