6 February 2011

A nice blanket of snow Thursday Feb 3rd
6 February 2011

Greetings from Texas,
This has been a most unusual week with a lot of storms and cold, cold weather. Monday at the Center was rather slow, a storm was forecast for that night and the dark clouds were moving in so most people stayed at home. Monday night/Tuesday morning we had an ice storm. It was very odd to us out-of-staters, it was like frozen rain, very different from hail. Tuesday morning we woke up to several inches of ice. About 6:00 a.m. the power went off, we closed the bedroom door and piled on some extra blankets to keep warm. It was off for about 20-30 minutes and then came back on. About an hour later it went off again, this pattern repeated until the afternoon. We eventually learned that they were having rolling blackouts. Due to the storm several power plants were down and so there was not enough power to go around so they took turns shutting off power in different areas. We bundled up for the day and were able to keep pretty warm. We were actually very fortunate; there were some areas where power was off all day. The high temperature for that day was 20 degrees! We also learned that Texas is not on the power grid with the rest of the United States, it is only tied in with itself and Mexico. However by Wednesday Mexico was having there own cold weather so they didn’t have any power available to spare.
We knew to check email Tuesday morning to see if the Employment Center would be open, of course we were closed. Tuesday morning we really noticed the silence. It was so quiet. No traffic noise, no airplanes coming and going, not even neighbors getting ready to leave for work, very still.
The young missionaries are grounded when there is snow or icy roads, they can only go somewhere if a member takes them. Tuesday evening they called Elder Nelson for a ride to a dinner appointment. He offered to feed them but they said it was a teaching/dinner appointment. He drove them out to the home and then they called later for a ride home. He did well but it was very icy and slick out. The brave soul that I am, I stayed at the apartment.
The weather conditions were no better on Wednesday so once again the Center was closed. Thursday we went into the Center from 9:30 to 1:00. Elder Nelson had gone out to get the truck warmed up but while driving in our parking lot the truck slid around and came within a few feet of another vehicle. He wasn’t sure what to do, afraid that if he tried to move he wouldn’t have control and would run into the other car. The young Elders saw what was going on and ran down to help out. They brought some salt and were able to guide and help push the truck in the direction it needed to go.
Thursday night we had at least 4” of snow so Friday the Center was closed also. The snow itself wasn’t bad but it was the sheet of ice underneath that made travel difficult. The locals said that they usually get some ice storms but the weather usually warms and by the afternoon it has melted. This year there was more than 100 hours with temperatures well below freezing. Because it is unusual they don’t have any road equipment to deal with it. Actually no one even has snow shovels, including the stores. So with the exception of 3 hours on Thursday, we have spent 4 days in the apartment. We had lots of time for reading, playing cribbage, and more reading. We are so grateful that we have some of our musical instruments with us, we enjoyed many hours of playing music together too. I also did a lot of indexing work at Family Search. Each night Elder Nelson called on the young Elders to check on them and make sure they had some dinner. We did really quite good as far as food went. We on our conserved our milk and even though we don’t have a lot of food on hand we had plenty to make it through. I had more time for preparation (that’s an understatement) so did more cooking and preparing of meals than I’ve done for a looong time.
Saturday was forecast to warm up so even though it was still cold and icy at 8:00 am we were ready to return to our work at the Center. The first couple of hours we didn’t have any one come in so we were able to catch up on phone messages, emails, post jobs and make phone calls to new people who had signed on to the site. By 11:00 the ice was melting and the roads were much safer so people ventured out. We kept busy until closing time at 2:00.
Donna T, Sister Phelps and I, were scheduled to go out to the Colleyville Stake and help them for the day. They had made arrangements with an abused and battered women’s shelter to have the women come to the stake center and they would host a day for them where they just did nice things for them, nice lunch and enjoyable things for them to do. They had asked us if we would set up in a room to visit with them and help them prepare for getting jobs, where to look, prepare resumes etc., according to their needs. We were all looking forward to this opportunity to serve but due to weather conditions the shelter canceled. We haven’t heard if they will try to reschedule or not.
Today is the Super Bowl here in Arlington. There has been a lot of attention given to the weather in the area because of this. There were hundreds of flights canceled, many of the weeks activities were canceled, or poorly attended due to the weather conditions. The teams was able to make it in Tuesday, I believe it was, with a police escort AND sand truck escorts as well. Tickets for the game have been selling for $1500. a piece. The tickets that were being scalped were going for $3500 but due to all the weather troubles they have been reduced to $2500. Hotels in the Arlington area are extremely high, Super 8 rooms going for $700 each. People have offers to have their homes rent out for the weekend, we don’t know of anyone who has taken them up on the offer however. Even parking spaces any where near the stadium are being sold for hundreds of dollars a space for the game today.
Last night we had our Saturday evening session of Stake Conference at the Carrollton Stake building. It was very good, the theme being Spiritual and Temporal Preparedness. We have a great Stake Presidency, we always enjoy hearing their words of counsel.
This morning at 10:00 we gathered with the rest of Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico for a satellite broadcast Stake Conference from Salt Lake City. This was a great conference. We first heard from Elder Marlin K. Jensen. He gave a very good talk about the fact that most of us know what we ‘ought’ to be doing. However there is a critical relationship between knowing and doing. We must connect our beliefs with our behaviors. Nephi stated this when he said, “I will go and DO the things the Lord has commanded. He told the story of Karl G. Maesser who founded BYU. He has said that you could place him in a prison with walls strong and tall and he may be able to escape. However if you drew a ring around him with chalk and had him give you his word he would die before he stepped outside it. Emphasizing the need for honor.
Sister Ann M. Dibb, President Monson’s daughter spoke also. She gave a wonderful talk on virtue. Ask yourself the question, What are you known for, what will you be remembered for? How do we strengthen virtue? Remember PROS. PRAY night and morning, READ from the Book of Mormon every day (at least 5 minutes), OBEY the commandments, and SMILE, we have every reason to be happy.
Elder M. Russell Ballard spoke about keeping the doctrine simple. Spoke of faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end. Also the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin and there are many who need to be rescued by those of us who are anchored in the gospel and the importance of having our homes be a refuge from the world.
Then we were able to hear from our beloved prophet, President Monson. He spoke and taught us with his stories for nearly 30 minutes. He spoke of the need to rescue, rescue those who feel doubt and despair, those who are aged, widowed, sick, lonely or feeling isolated. Called on the active members to awaken and rescue those in need. Become fishers of men and women and provide whatever help we can. Be ye doers of the word. Love is the catalyst. Of course he had stories to go along to demonstrate each of these ideas. He even told about a Ward Employment Specialist who had been able to help 12 people in the past year find new and/or improved jobs and helped restore their human dignity, helped others open doors that they did not know how to open themselves. He closed reemphasizing the thought once again to ‘reach out to rescue’ the aged, sick, widow, handicapped, the less active – reach out with compassion. It was a great conference and a wonderful opportunity to hear from our prophet and leaders.
Saturday afternoon and this morning it felt so good to have some sunshine. Much of the snow and ice are melted now. There is a cold front moving in again but hopefully it won’t be as intense as this past week.
Now aren’t you amazed!!! We have been apartment bound for 4 entire days and I can still write 3 pages of letter. I’m getting so I can talk about nothing for a long time.
Once again we send our love to you with this letter. Life can certainly have its challenges, we know that our Heavenly Father watches over us and strengthens and helps us as we turn to Him. We are so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for his sacrifice and love for us. We are so grateful for our family, parents, brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren, what a blessing you all are to us. We appreciate your prayers, love and support. We pray for you too and trust in the Lord as we continue to serve Him.
Our Love,
Grandpa & Grandma, Mom & Dad, Jack & Gaye
Elder & Sister Nelson

Card Player: I didn't know you were the Sundance Kid when I said you were cheating. If I draw on you, you'll kill me.
Sundance Kid: There's that possibility.


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Jack n Gaye