20 March 2010

The Lake Dallas Bike Trail that we love to ride!

This Lake joins with Lake Lewisville

20 March 2010

News from the DFW Metroplex

WOW, can you believe it – less than a month from today, April 20^th is our release date!! It’s hard to believe we are to that point in time. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since we left good ol’ Moapa Valley, November 2009.

We are staying busy here at the Employment Center. We continue to see, hear and get calls for companies who are hiring new employees. Our bell is ringing now more than it ever has. The downside of that is that we there are still new people coming in who have just lost their jobs and some that have been looking for quite some time.

As we try to remain focused on our work here at the same time we get assignments to get the new Sisters trained to take over our work. For example I was asked to help Sister Burgess print the new daily calendars for April. It felt very strange to be taking our names off of the calendar on the 21^st and following days. The Phelps leave on March 30^th, their replacement couple will arrive here sometime around April 11^th. The apartment complex likes to have a little time in between to prepare for the next renters. It doesn’t appear that there will be anyone to replace us. However, there will still be 2 sets here, which I think works out the best. It will be nice that there is a little time crossover time when the new couple arrives for them to get their feet on the ground. I haven’t forgotten how overwhelming it was in the beginning!

We’ve had a couple of days when there has been a lot of people in seeking help but for the most part its just been a steady flow that we could keep up with. I worked with one young lady this week that is staying in a Women’s Shelter for abused and battered women. She is 5 months pregnant with her first child and really needs to be able to get a job. She is having difficulty mustering the courage and confidence to move forward. She is definitely in a tough spot. I helped her get a couple of resumes put together and tried to help her see some of the positive things that she has done in her life and how to talk about them with others in networking or interviewing. I think she will be back several more days this week to keep working on things. Between Elder and Nelson and I we were able to give her the names of several companies who have been looking to hire in the past couple of weeks.

This is Andy Luke’s last week of training at Southwest Airlines before taking to the skies. It has been a real treat for us to have him here, we get a little news from home and enjoy hearing about his experiences he’s having in Dallas. He seems to enjoy a ride to church and a home cooked meal – so we’re all winners.

I’m so glad that we are experiencing one more spring here in Texas. We’ve seen some beautiful wisteria blossoms and the azaleas are starting to bloom too. We went out to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens with the Morells on our P-Day this week, it was a beautiful day. While there we grabbed a bite to eat down at the Stockyards.

We’ve had the opportunity to go to a couple of concerts also this week. One was the Dallas Bach Society. They did Brandenberg Concertos No. 2 & 4. These are for recorder, strings, trumpet, oboe and harpsichord. Jennifer Carpenter was the guest recorder soloist, she is the leader/director of the Dallas Recorder Society that have been able to attend several times. She is really great! They also performed Bach’s Magnificat. The big, bright moon was beautiful that evening too. We also attended an organ - flute husband/wife team concert that was excellent. Many of the old churches in downtown Dallas have these magnificent organs that have been a pleasure to hear.

One thing I will not miss about being in Texas is the people who want to argue with you about how to say Nevada. I find it most interesting that they want to correct us, even when they learn that we are from there. There are not too many of them, most Texans are very friendly and kind.

This was Spring Break for all of the schools in Texas so we didn’t have piano class this past week.

Each Spring Carolyn Sassi from the Storehouse likes to organize a ‘picnic’ for everyone in the building - Storehouse, Employment and Family Services. We really have it indoors in the conference room but it’s more fun to call it a picnic. She is such a sweet lady, we just love her!! I was able to spend several hours helping her get things ready Wednesday morning. It felt so good to put meat and cheese trays together, wash and prepare fruits and vegetables, set tables, etc., etc. I haven’t done anything like that for a very long time. Art made some of his famous homemade ice cream and everyone brought a salad or dessert. We have made some great friends with this group of people who serve in the Welfare facility here.

We were able to get out to Lake Lewisville one evening to take a bike ride. The longer evenings and pleasant weather make it really nice.

We’ve got a ‘bucket list’ going now, things we want to do before we leave, people we want to see one more time etc.

We appreciate the notes and letters that some have been able to send, they are like manna to a hungry soul. We received a short note from Elder Chandler Whipple, sounds like he is doing well and settling into the work in New Zealand.

We pray for the Lord’s blessings to be with you this week and always. Keep the faith.

Our love,

Grandpa & Grandma, Mom & Dad, Jack & Gaye

Elder & Sister Nelson

Wonderful Harpsichord music

Jack n Gaye