12 December 2010
Hello Family and Loved Ones,
We hope you have had a pleasant week. The work is moving along here. We’ve had some people get jobs, but I’m afraid others have lost ones. This time of year has reflections of last year at this time. There are those companies that rather than give Christmas bonuses give them the letter that their job is terminated. Such a hard time of year to go through that, well I don’t know if there is a better of year, not if it happens to you for sure.
Jack was still sick on Monday and Tuesday but fortunately by Wednesday he was doing better. It was good to see some life back in him.
There was one lady that came in that was actually very excited that she had gotten ‘the letter.’ Very unusual for sure. She had been in several months ago and had begun working on her resume etc. because she knew that the company was not doing well and she didn’t like where she was at. She has a couple of months and a severance package after that so I guess she’s relieved that the inevitable happened and she can really focus on getting a new job now.
Roberto was in yesterday, he is a regular for almost a year now. He is homeless but lives in his truck, one of our ‘friends.’ After all this time I was finally able to get him to work on his profile at ldsjobs and get him a resume going. I ended up doing the typing but insisted he help with what into it. He has many qualifications about what he will do and what time of day he will do so I don’t know if he’ll be able to get hired. I at least feel like he has made a big step forward. He is only able to do entry level jobs so there are not that many options for him.
He kept calling me Donna so after several times I pointed to Donna T. and said that’s Donna, I’m Sister Nelson. I corrected him a couple of times but he said he liked the name Donna better. After a couple of hours he left for a break. He called back in and Sister Phelps took a phone call from Roberto for Donna, so I took the call, I reminded him that I’m Sister Nelson. The next time he called he asked for Donna Nelson. It wouldn’t be so funny if I didn’t have a sister Donna and growing up I was often called by her name.
I have mentioned before that I have worked with several people who have had criminal records. One man had gotten out of prison after 24 years. He had upheld his innocence the entire time and worked and worked to get out. He has been out for several months now but we read in this week’s paper that he had finally pled guilty to murder. Such experiences!
One day I was working with a lady who is trying to get a job as a paralegal. She has some disabilities where it is difficult for her to interact with people. She likes to do the research end of the work. I had talked with her about a few things. She seemed quite discouraged so I really tried to encourage her and did what I could to help. Shortly thereafter a man came in with whom we have been working with, especially Jack, who is an attorney. This day he came into do some volunteer work, for his Stake had the assignment for this month. I asked him if he would spend a little time with this lady and explained to him what she was qualified to do. He was so good with her, he knew the ins and outs of the business and was able to give her some good advice and direction. He knew of some websites that were helpful and before they were finished he had found a job for her to apply for. I just really felt like the Lord was watching out for her and provided someone who could give her the assistance she needed.
Our evenings this week were spent doing a variety of activities. One evening we went with Charlie and Carla Morell and the book club friends out to dinner at a little local Italian Restaurant. One of the men is battling cancer. Seven years ago they told him he would only live a year or so longer. He has something like 25 active tumors in his body. When he gets tired he’s done! We all went to pay our bills but he and his wife kind of moved up to the head of the line, all of us assuming that he needed to leave quickly; which he did pay his bill and leave quickly. However we were all surprised when we went to pay our bills that they had all been paid. Such a generous nature they have. He is also serving as the Stake Executive Secretary in the Plano Stake.
We went out to the Grapevine Mall one evening and bought the last few gifts to mail for the grandkids. We wouldn’t want them to forget us!!
One evening we had our ERC (
We went to a Christmas Concert by ‘Evening Song.’ The director is LDS and most, if not all of the members of the choir are LDS too, but they are not a really a church choir. They gave several concerts this week but the one on Thursday evening fit into our schedule so we went to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church to hear them. It is a beautiful church, with huge high ceilings, wonderful acoustics. They have a beautiful pipe organ also. It was a very good concert, they sing a lot of a cappella music by composers that I’m familiar with.
The morning of our P-day we spent doing things around the apartment, grocery shopping etc. It was pretty low key. In the afternoon we rode out to the Gaylord Texan Resort and looked at their Christmas decorations. We did that last year too so I guess it’s a tradition now, soon to be broken. We then went to the Grapevine Downtown Historic District. We parked and walked along the street. They really decorate for Christmas. It’s like a rule that all the shops have to have outside decorations. We really had fun walking along and looking at the decorations.
Friday night we took Gloria out with us to dinner at a Mexican restaurant that she had heard about. It was yummy authentic food. Afterwards we drove to the Farmer’s Branch Historical District, the City Hall area and then to the home that has the light show synchronized to music. You tune into a radio station and listen and watch, very fun. We enjoy her company and friendship.
Jack gave the lesson in Priesthood Meeting today in the
We send our love, we hope you can feel it across the many miles that separate us. We hope you have good week and are able to enjoy this holiday season of the year.
Mom & Dad, Grandpa & Grandma, Jack & Gaye
Elder and Sister Nelson
Jack n Gaye
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