3 December

As the saying goes, it never rains, but it pours.  Today we have new AJS candidates, nine to be exact.  We will be very busy getting them ready to go job searching.

We have also been assigned one DI associate each to work with.  DI has a program similar to AJS called APP.  One big difference in the programs is the DI people get paid to do their job search.  They only have one coach who teleconferences with them.  We've been asked to supplement their coach by working with the participants on their "Me in 30," Power Statements, and résumés.  The DI coach has several DI's he works with.  When he is not telelconferencing, he is expected to find job leads for the associates hew work with.  This is a paid position, so he needs to find leads.

6 December

Utah Ogden Mission Conference

Wow, what a day.  Our Utah Ogden Mission met in Ogden for an all day conference.  Elder and Sister Cook were visiting our mission conference and have just been called by President Uchtdorf to serve as a Mission President.  They have no idea where they will be going, but all of their mission material is in French.

Roomful of Missionaries

The morning was a round robin training session.  Since we are not proselyting missionaries, we helped set up the lunch.  We had the entire mission there, 240 Elders and Sisters.  If they get any more missionaries, they will need a bigger building.  The Mission office is in a Stake Center and that is where the conference was held.  Lunch was ham, baked potatoes, and salad with lots of apple and pumpkin pie for dessert. 

After lunch there was a talent show put on by the missionaries.  Even the office staff did a creative rendition of The 12 Days of Christmas.  A fun rap video started out the talent show.  We have some Polynesians serving in our mission.  The girls did a couple dances, then the guys did their presentation.  There was a cute and funny skit around teaching the first lesson.  We had guitarists, pianists, an accordion player and a harmonica play besides dancers and singers.  The show last almost three hours, lots of talent.  It was 4:45pm when everything was over. 

We had been there since 9:00am.  It was about a 50 minute drive home.  We had driven there in the fog, but most of it was gone when we left.  Some still hung in parts of the area.  When we past by Brigham City on our way out we couldn't see the Temple and it was still hidden in the fog when we went home.  Generally the Brigham City Temple looks like a palace at the base of the Wellsville Mountains when you drive along I-15.

 Relief Society Activity

 Our day wasn't over when we arrived home.  We still had a Relief Society Christmas activity to go to that evening.  We had arranged to meet one of our visit teaching sisters there.  The activity was a presentation of the Nativity creche with traditions suggested for each member of the Nativity.  It was a spiritual way to end the day.

7 December - Employment Center Mission Conference

Another Mission Conference, this time we had the opportunity to sleep in as it didn't start until 10am and we only had to travel to North Logan.  Becky shared thoughts of 2012.  She started with the last verse of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," "For lo! the days are hast’ning on, By prophets seen of old,  When with the ever-circling years Shall come the time foretold, When the new heav’n and earth shall own The Prince of Peace their King, And the whole world send back the song Which now the angels sing."  She said compared how the "days are hast'ning on" to the events that we see going on in the world now.  The US Employment Centers are now united with the efforts of Deseret Industries.  Becky referred to Elder Scott's talk that nothing is temporal, it is all spiritual.  We have a new focus of helping members to become self-reliant.  Self-reliance is prerequisite to giving service which results in giving back to.  In the Center we can see the Lord's hand in the work we do.  President Monson said "The Lord is in the details of our lives."  Miracles are happening at the ERC and we get to pray for more. 

Our theme for 2013 is "Extending the Reach"  Logan's ERS mission goal is to place 2860 members this; so far we have placed 2776.  We are only reaching 10% of the members registered at the LDSjobs.org.  60% of people who register on the site do it from home.  Some come in or call the center for assistance.  The Church wants us to increase our reach from 10% to 15%.  There are a variety of ways we can do this, including contacting Ward and Stake leaders to share what we can do to assist them.  We will be learning more at our next mission conference in January.

Our lunch was provided by Church headquarters.  It was Chicken Cordon Bleu catered by The Bluebird Restaurant in Logan.  This is a historic restaurant in Logan and considered one of the finer establishments.  The food and service was very good.

After lunch, Becky's son Jonathan spoke to us.  He just returned home from his mission in Florida Fort Lauderdale on Thursday (yesterday).  He shared how his mission had been challenged to increase their numbers.  He told how he had set goals that seemed difficult and had achieved  them.  The key is to set goals, pray, and expect answers.  He quoted Proverbs 29:18:  "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."

9 December - Driving on Snow

My car is on the right of the open spot.

I had my first real test of driving in the snow this morning.  It was a light snow, not a wet snow, but it packed down pretty good.  (I could hear it creak under my feet when I walked to the car. :->)  The roads were not plowed when we made our trip to the chapel for choir practice and church.  Now was the time for me to put into practice everything I had read or heard.  It went well until I turned onto the main street when I felt the car slide a little--turn into the slide not away went through my mind.  I don't know that Sister Bews noticed it because I was going slow and it was a little slide, but I felt the car do a short glide on the pavement. 

11 December - :-) Mutual Admiration Society

DI proved us with a wonderful lunch, sandwich fixings from Kneaders. Kneaders is kind of like Togo, but much better; they make their own bread.  If I remember correctly, they started in Provo.  I learned about Kneaders when daughter and son-in-law were attending BYU.  It was very delicious lunch.  

Deseret Industries appreciate us for helping their associates and we appreciate them for sharing the building with us. We have a mutual admiration society thing going on here.

13 December

12 Days of Christmas

What fun!  I have gotten a box from my family with fun little packages for the 12 Days of Christmas.  The first one is mix for making a dozen Peanut Butter Cookies.  I put on The Nutcracker and went to work.  It was quick and easy; I like quick and easy.  Now I have cookies to munch on (I squeezed out more than a dozen cookies).

Also in the box were new colored pictures for my bedroom walls.  :-)

Santa Visit

 










Santa came to the Center to visit the AJS missionaries.  Jana's husband dropped in on her invite.  He likes doing Santa Claus and is built for it.  She made the outfit.  Jana was one of our candidates and now works for DI.

14 December - A Job!

Hurray, Elizabeth has a job!.  She has been in AJS just barely two weeks.  It helped that Elder Humphreys had connections.  The Payless Shoe store manager is in his ward and told Elder Humphreys that he had an opening for a full time person.  We sent Elizabeth and Dawn in to interview.  Elizabeth was asked to come back for a second interview.  She did her second interview this afternoon and felt she had done well.  We had done a mock interview and I suggested that she try to get more background information about Payless.  Elizabeth did her homework and wowed them with what she knew.  However she felt her age would be against her because she noticed that they had younger people working in the store.  Then she received the call with the job offer.

15 December

Ward Christmas Breakfast

I must be getting old because The Ward Christmas Breakfast was nice, but nothing special.  The Bishop started the occasion out by reading a few verses from Luke 2 about the birth of Christ.  The Polar Express was the theme they chose to go with including a visit from Santa.  The children were told they could come in their pajamas if they wanted to. The food was good: fruit, juice & milk, blueberry muffins, and a shredded potato casserole.  We had lots and lots of left overs some of which was taken to Providence Place. It was just missing the reverence I would want for the occasion or the place. 

We were asked to help on the Ward Christmas Breakfast committee.  Our job was to be at the Stake Center by 7am to help set up, and then serve.  There was snow on the ground when I awoke at 5:30am and it continued to fall during the morning. There were quite a few people who showed up to help prepare and set up for the party.  A couple of the men shoveled the snow off on the sidewalks and cleared the parking lot.  Everything ran smoothly including clean up.  Most of the attendees helped clean up which made it go faster.  That is one of the impressive things about church; everyone pitches in at the end of an activity to put things away and clean up.   

Dinner and Theatre

This evening we attended a show at the Eccles Theatre, the Bar J Wranglers.  It was highly recommended by several of the missionaries at the Center.  They said it was good, clean, fun entertainment.  I wasn't disappointed.  If you remember Roy Rogers or The Sons of the Pioneers, the Bar J Wranglers play that kind of music.  They poke fun at each which brings in the comedy.  Some of the songs were Christmas and some of the songs were Western.  One of my favorite parts was when they sang "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" to the tune of "Ghost Riders in the Sky."  It was good!

The Bar J Wranglers have a place called the Bar J Chuckwagon in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where they serve food and entertain.  I guess they do that from May through September close the restaurant then tour the rest of the year.  I think their entertainment would do well in North Platte.
http://www.barjchuckwagon.com/Wranglers.htm  

We went out to dinner at the Coppermill on Main Street and parked behind their building.  The Eccles Theatre doesn't really have parking.  It wasn't more than a two block walk which some locals think is a long ways to go for parking.  The Coppermill is one of the nicer places in town to eat--nice atmosphere, decent food, and a little pricey.  Now we can say we have been there.  (Still partial to the Sizzler salad bar.)

16 December

Another snowy Sunday.  The streets were clear this morning when we headed out for choir and church.  It is not a heavy snow; it is just drifting down in feathery flakes.

Boy am I glad that I keep a spare set of glasses in the car.  I put my glasses on this morning and the lens fell followed by the screw.  Luckily I found the screw, but didn't have the means to put it back in my glasses.  I went the to car to retrieve my extra pair of glasses.  The last time I order new glasses my prescription had only changed minutely, so it is just adjusting to a different frame.

18 December

Yesterday at lunch it was raining; by late afternoon it was snowing.  We had a trip planned to Ogden today and I was getting nervous about the drive.  Sister Bews needed to get her flu shot from the mission doctor and her health insurance card from the Mission Office.

This morning our driveway was ice, but it wasn't snowing or raining.  The morning stayed dry so the main roads were dry and the side roads wet.  We took off for Ogden at lunch time.  The drive went smoothly and the roads dry.  After we crossed over the Wellsville Mountains into Brigham City and down I-15 the snow started to become sparse.  The storm we were expecting had stayed south of I-80 and we weren't driving that far south.  First we stopped at the doctor's home then went to the Mission Office.  It was fun to touch bases with everyone in the Mission Office.  President Hiers and his wife were in Salt Lake going to the temple with the newly arrived missionaries.  I guess he takes the new ones through the Salt Lake Temple when they arrive.  He also takes the departing Missionaries through the temple too.  They go on a different day.

We drove home along US 89 which follows along closer to the mountains than I-15.  US 89 is the slower and older route, but there is more to see.  When we looked to the west we could see how close I-15 gets to the the Great Salt Lake.  You don't realize it when you travel along that freeway.

It was after 4pm when we arrived back in Providence, so we didn't go into work.  Instead, we went to the temple.  Going to the temple is always such a good feeling.

I am having so much fun opening my 12 Days of Christmas from Jeanne and the kids (Carolyn helped too).  Today was the 7th day and I received a Bath and Body Works bath wash.  They all come with fun stories too. 

Thanksgiving 2012

Pumpkin Turkey

We were invited to join several families for dinner at the church.  One of the sister's we visit teach invited us.  There were four or five families there, 23 people.  Two other families had been invited as guests also.  It was a melding of two wards, Providence 1st and Cobblestone 1st.  They use to be in the same ward before it was split.  There was lots of good food and great company.  We had 12 pies.  Obviously, there were lots of left overs.

In the evening we went over to Sister Nielsen's and Sister Jensen's for desert, pumpkin pie.  I had brought a punch to the dinner and had leftovers, so I brought it to go with the pie.  It was excellent pie.  We ended up taking half of it home.

It was a very good day with special people.

Visitor :->

12 November 2012

My good friend and "Relief Society President" Kristen East came to visit me.  What fun! Her husband is in Salt Lake for business this week and they are staying next week to have Thanksgiving with family. She came up to Logan to visit with me and her sister. I enjoyed hearing about what is going on in the ward lately. After lunch I gave her a tour of our office (not much there) and took her over to DI to see what goes on there. She revealed that it was her first time in a DI Store.  They are easy to get to in Utah, but few and far between in California.

We no longer have any AJS candidates for our program. There are quite a few people who come through wanting to look for jobs online, but just aren't ready to make the commitment we ask in AJS. If they will do what we ask, the candidate could find a job in about 30 days.

Veterans Day -- Thank You for your Sacrafice

11 November 2012

DI pilgrims

Thanksgiving means pilgrims to me and I have been having a heck of time finding pilgrims to display (I have several in storage in Livermore).  I can find pumpkins, scarecrows, and cornucopias, but no pilgrims.  I finally found some figurines at DI.  Then yesterday I received a care package from North Platte.  I had been complaining to Jeanne about my struggles to find pilgrims.  I guess she and the kids had gone looking for some pilgrims without much luck.  They printed off pilgrim pictures from the internet and colored them for me.  I was so touched I wanted to cry.

Pilgrim pictures

Pilgrim tea towel

Thanksgiving pictures

Sad News :-(

21 October 2012 - Sunday

Sister Bews learned this past week that the wife of her oldest brother is in the hospital.  She had cancer and was sent to the hospital for treatment, but had a couple strokes while there.  It put her in a coma and she is not responding, although she is breathing on her own.  They will have to make a decision about what happens next tomorrow.

28 October 2012 - Sunday

Sister Bews has to fly out next Thursday.  Her sister-in-law died last Tuesday and the funeral is Saturday in Edmonton, Alberta.

1 November 2012 - Thursday

We were up by 5am and on the road by 6am so Sister Bews could catch her flight.  She went to Edmonton, Alberta for her sister-in-law's funeral.  I spent the last half of the day at the ERC.  I was very tired come the end of the day; I was in bed by 8:30pm.

5 November 2012 - Monday

I spent half a day in the center.  I had some personal business to take care of before I headed off to Salt Lake to pick up my companion at the airport.  Her flight arrived at 4pm, just when people were heading home from work.  We went to dinner in Salt Lake in hopes of avoiding some of the traffic.  We ate at the Garden Restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith building.  I've eaten there a couple times before, but didn't remember it costing so much.  It finally dawned on me that I had always eaten lunch there which is less expensive.  The meal was good and worth the price.  We still encountered some traffic on the way home, but nothing like the Bay Area.


 

Halloween

31 October 2012

Utah Ogden Mission Conference

This was our first opportunity to attend a Mission Conference.  Besides, President Hiers, Elder Falabella from the Quorum of the 70 was there to speak and teach. 

President Hiers started the conference.  Emphasized looking for the Holy Ghost in the Book of Mormon.  He mentioned it might not always be in the words, but in the spirit.  We were asked to think about and share "I have felt the most love from someone when _____."  Consequently, it is showing love to others that we find and feel love.  President Hiers referred to President Monson's talk about the sweet experience of feeling a prompting, acting on it, and being the answer to someone's prayer.  We were encourage to do likewise.

Sister Falabella spoke next.  She spoke in Spanish and one of the missionaries translated for her.  She shared the conversion story of Elder Falabella's father.  Two ministers had come to his door in Guatemala and told him that he was living in darkness.  Two elders from the Church came shortly after that and were inspired to tell him that "they were bringing him some light."  He was curious about this light and invited the missionaries in to explain.

Elder Falabella asked what the missionaries had expected from him and had it written on a chalkboard, then asked what questions they had come with and put those on the chalkboard also.  He explained that he would use this information to guide what he would share.  He had us looking up quite a few scriptures and talked about what they meant.  In Moses 1:4, 6-7 Moses is repeated called "my son" by Heavenly Father.  In Moses 1:12 Satan refers to Moses as "son of man" trying to confuse his thinking.  Satan is trying to confuse our thinking so that we forget we are children of Heavenly Father.  We are being "proved."  In D&C 124:15, 20 we are to have integrity of heart.  We are a "covenant" people that are being tempted by Satan.  2 Nephi 2:14 speaks of agency.  We have a choice.  Things can act upon us or we can act upon everything.  Satan has limited agency because he is only a spirit.

Sister Hiers was the first speaker after a wonderful lunch of taco soup.  She had chosen for her topic "Sharing Faith."  Many stories in the scripture talk of faith:  brother of Jared, woman who touches the hem of Christ.

Elder Falabella spoke last.  He spoke to how to baptize more people.  He used the example of Ammon.  First give service; second teach the father first; third teach the mother.  The father and mother will teach children, family and friends.  Invite family, friends, neighbors, co-workers of investigator, ward members, and missionaries' neighbors to the baptism.  And ask for referrals from everyone.  He also said that doing temple work for ancestors will help to retain new members because it is a special spiritual experience.

The Mission Conference was very fulfilling.

Happy Birthday Bekah

It was Bekah's 6th birthday.  We did a video chat and she showed me how she dressed for Halloween and some of her presents.  I just love being able to video chat with my grandchildren! :-)

Boise, Idaho, Temple Open House

28 October 2012

Friday we left for Boise about 10:00am. It was a bit on the cold outside, but the sun was out. There were some clouds floating across the sky and some were even down on the ground at the base of the Wellsville mountains. As we travelled closer to Idaho the skies filled with up more with clouds.  It looked like we might get rained on but it never happened.  We stayed on 84 all the way out of Logan into Idaho.  We didn't stop until we reached Twin Falls about 12:30pm.  We ate a quick lunch at McDonalds then continued on to Boise.

Our first stop was the Employment Center.  I wanted to touch bases with Sister Lee and Sister Remnet, my MTC companions.  It was about 3pm when we walked into the ERC.  We compared notes on our two AJS programs.  Our next stop was the Boise Temple Open House.  Unlike the Brigham City Temple Open House, they had guided tours with explanations until we arrived at the Celestial level, then it is was silent.

I took Sister Bews to her family's place which wasn't more than 20 minutes away then headed over to Sister Lee's and Sister Remnet's apartment.  We went to Sizzler to enjoy their salad bar (I'm becoming a fan of the Sizzler salad bar), then back to their apartment to talk and catch up.  I stayed the night with them.  Sister Bews went Trunk or Treating with her family and spent the night with them.

Our trip home was much longer.  I wanted to go through Preston, Idaho, to see what the area looked like.  Our mission and ERC serves all the way to Preston.  We stopped again at Twin Falls for a bite and took pictures.  Sister Bews has been past Twin Falls but never stopped there to see the sights.  We only stopped for gas in Pocatello then headed down I-15 and took the Downy/Preseton exit to 91.  The rest of our trip was along 91.  It is pretty country and farmland along that route.  Most of the cities are less than 1000 in population until you get to Preston which is just over 5000.  Highway 91 is two lanes until you get to Preston then it goes to four lanes through Logan and Brigham City until it hits I-15 again.  We left Boise around noon and arrived in Logan at 6pm (I thought it would be 6:30pm).  We ate dinner at Sizzler then went to the apartment and crashed.

Snake River

SNOW !!!

6:30 AM

23 October 2012

I looked out the window this morning to see the ground covered in snow.  It was still falling from the sky.  How fun!  Later today it rained, but the ground was still pretty white in Providence.

Noon

19 October 2012

Nathan has had his own way of doing the AJS program.  At first he spent a lot of time on the computer.  About the first part of September we got him out networking a bit.  He went to Salt Lake City to attend the Networking meeting they had there.  He also started making contacts with headhunters on line.  He has had several interviews over the past few weeks.  Yesterday he had a third interview with EMC in Draper and they offered him a job.  He took a day to consider it, then said yes.  He will move his family to the Salt Lake area because he doesn't want the two hour commute from Logan--I don't blame him.

At the afternoon meeting, Nathan presented the tie he received from Michael to Randy.  He had worn it to the temple which was one of Michael's conditions.  He actually wore it to several interviews including EMC.

16 October 2012

I feel like I haven't succeeded when our candidates don't get jobs or settle for something different than what they originally aimed for.  I realized today that I am focusing on the temporal more than the spiritual side of this calling.  During a staff meeting today we were talking about our candidates and the difference in their demeanor when they first come in compared to where they are later on, especially after taking the Career Workshop.  They walk in feeling beaten down and leave with hope.

14 October 2012

The Relief Society President stopped by this evening and gave us a list of five ladies who desperately need reliable visiting teachers/friends.  Two of them of moms (one a single mom), one just became a widow, and two live in an extended care facility.  The two in the extended care facility rarely have family come to visit them.  One comes out regularly to church, one occasionally attends the sacrament meeting they hold at the facility.  Guess we will be kept busy.

13 October 2012

Belated Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October.   They  don't have pilgrims, but they do celebrate the harvest.  If they waited until November, like we do, there would be snow on the ground and the harvest past.

We were invited to the Bigelow's to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving.  Sister Bigelow is a Canadian also.  They had invited everyone from the ERC to dinner.  I think close to 30 people came.  They had put together the whole works for everyone. I learned that some Canadians put mashed potatoes in their stuffing mix, besides having them as part of the main course.

11 October 2012

Today President and Sister Hiers of the Utah Ogden Mission came to visit us at the Employment Resource Services center.  Janea, one of the director of Deseret Industries, gave them a tour of Deseret Industries.  They were able to meet both Becky and Paul, our manager and assistant manager.  President Hiers invited Becky to join us for lunch.  There were a total of seven of us:  the Eubanks, Becky, Sister Bews, the Hiers, and me.  We went to the Sizzler and enjoyed their salad bar.  (I would like to go back there again.)  The Hiers are such a sweet couple.

7 October 2012

General Conference, Sunday session

This morning I put up the rest of my window gels. I guess I am still an elementary teacher at heart. I like having some kind of seasonal decoration up. The window gels are fun. Jeanne sent me some after I first moved here and I have just been adding to them.

Today during General Conference I made a fleece, tied blanket.  I remember Jeanne doing that with the kids during one conference.  I thought it would be fun to do while I listened to the talks.  It would also be nice to have a warm blanket as the weather gets colder.  It turned out to be a lot of hard work, however.  I thought the scissors in our drawer were pretty sharp.  I guess for paper, but not for cutting fleece.

President Monson's, Elder Holland's, and Elder Hales' inspired me.  President Monson advised us to be sure to go back and read the the talks when they come out in the Ensign and Liahona for more depth and meaning.  Elder Holland's talk about John 21 impressed me. When I heard him quote versus 15-17, I immediately thought of the song I have sung in choir "Feed My Sheep."  This time around the story seemed to have more meaning for me.  Elder Hales also went John 21 but took a different  approach.  He focused on the role of the Holy Ghost. 

6 October 2012

Sister Bews and I decided to check out the Deseret Book store sale during Priesthood session. They do this every General Conference, but this is the first time I have been close enough to a bookstore to take advantage of it. They have a 20% off sale during the two hours of Priesthood. The place was packed with women and children. They had lots of chairs out for sitting around in. They do a drawing about every 15 minutes and lots of women hang around for it. Sister Bews found a great bargain, a lovely painting priced at $75 on sale for 80% off. The frame alone was probably worth more than the $15 she paid for it. We have decided that we won't need to go to another one of these special events.  Too many people for our taste; great place for others to socialize.

SEPTEMBER

10 September 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Had a wonderful birthday.  This morning seemed to drag a bit, but the afternoon was full. To celebrate my birthday we went the Brigham City Temple Open House.  It is a lovely temple, but I still like Oakland best.

As we were getting ready to get on the shuttle bus back to the parking lot, I met a older lady with the last name of Frahm  She and her husband came over from Germany in 1952 to be sealed together.  She is from the same part of Germany that my grandfather was from.

After the temple tour we came back to Logan to eat dinner at Chuck-A-Rama.  It is a buffet and they had some great choices.  I tried to eat just a little, but I still came away feeling stuffed.


17 September 2012

Job Offer!!!

One of our candidates received a job offer today and it is for a job placement she has wanted.  She had interviewed for an HR position at USU a couple weeks ago and didn't get the position.  They called her today for another HR position that had just opened.  She was second in line for the job offer on the first interview, so they decided to offer her this one.  Hurray, there are success stories!  It just takes patience.

19 September 2012

Job Fair/Tech Expo

Today there was a Job Fair at Bridgerland Applied Technology College (BATC).  LDS Employment Resource Services and Department of Workforce Services (DWS) worked together with BATC to present it. I guess it has been ongoing for a number of years.  Sister Bews and I were able to attend it this afternoon.  The center wasn't very busy because a lot of people were at the Job Fair.  It was fun and enlightening.  I have a better understanding of what some of the businesses do (not that I'll remember that tomorrow) and some ideas for DI associates.  We ran into our AJS candidates and they were dressed for success with résumés in hand.  

22 September 2012

Road Trip again

The other day I was searching around the apartment to find what was burning.  It kind of smelt like potatoes had boiled over on the stove.  It turns out it was just some of the smoke drifting down from all the fires in Idaho.  I think I heard they had at least nine fires going up there.

Today we went to see the autumn leaves in Logan Canyon.  They are suppose to be very beautiful.  There is color there, but not as much as I had expected.  Maybe we can check again in three weeks.  The drive was interesting and fun.  It filled our afternoon.  I think I wore out Sister Bews.

 23 September 2012

Brigham City Temple Dedication

Today church was the dedication of the Brigham City Temple.  There were three services:  9am, Noon, and 3pm.  We went to the noon service.  They were showing temples, inside and out, before the services started.  I was getting teary-eyed while watching then I realized I was homesick for the Oakland Temple.  Who knew you could be homesick for a temple.

The service we went to was very nice.  President Boyd K. Packer presided; he also presided over the ground breaking for the temple.  He and his wife were born and raised in the Brigham City area so they have special feelings for this temple.  Elder Russell M. Nelson conducted and spoke. 

Brother Steed, 1st Counselor in the Temple Presidency, spoke about entering the temple with an attitude to be taught and learn and go for the personal blessings you receive.  His wife spoke of making service in the temple be a priority. 

Elder Allan F. Packer (son of President Packer), a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, spoke of doing family history and ordinance work.  He said they go together and quoted President Howard W. Hunter regarding everyone being temple worthy. 

Elder Whitney Clayton, President of the Quorum of the Seventy, importance of baptism and the joy it brings of feeling clean.  He went to say that temples provide an opportunity for all of God's children to be baptized and in the temple we can find peace from the world. 

Elder Nelson said that temples were only for the living before Jesus was born and for the dead too after his death.  He went on to say that temples are essential to the restoration of the gospel.  He said that Joseph Smith epistle to the Saints in Doctrine and Covenants 128 about temple work, in particular verse 15 where it says our salvation is tied to the salvation of our dead.  He also referred to Doctrine and Covenants 138 reemphasizing the importance of temple work by President Joseph F. Smith.

President Packer spoke next. He shared that he was born and raised in Brigham City and met his wife there who was also from Brigham City.  He said the purpose of the temple is the purpose of the celestial kingdom.

Elder L. Tom Perry gave the dedication prayer.  The whole service took just under 90 minutes.


29 September 2012

Busy Saturday 

 We started the day out going to the Providence Stake Center for a Humanitarian aid day activity.  They had a continental breakfast and quite a few projects going on.  We could chose between making file folder games, tying a quilt, sewing baby nightgowns, stuffing fabric ball toys for babies, or sewing t-shirt dresses.  There might have been more, but I can't remember.  I worked on the t-shirt dresses and learned some new sewing techniques, besides how to sew a t-shirt dress.  I learned an easy way to gather is to sew a zigzag laying cotton crochet thread down the middle.  Instead of pulling thread and having break, you pull the cotton thread.  I also learned the it is easier to sew on the inside of circle rather than the outside.  This is especially nice when sewing gathering with the gather on the inside.

We were at the the stake center from 8:30 to noon.  We rushed back to the apartment, ate a quick lunch, and headed to Salt Lake for the Relief Society's General Women's Conference.  I wanted to be sure we were able to find parking because I had been told it was harder to find the closer to the start it became.  We actually found a parking lot on So Temple and N 300 W that was free for the day.  We had time to do some sightseeing before heading over to the Conference Center.  We arrived in SLC about 2:45pm.  We toured the South Visitor's Center and the Beehive House, then went over to City Creek Mall for an early dinner.  We had to be in our seats by 5:30pm.  I was worried about crowds so we were there by 4:45pm.  We had an assigned section, but not seats.  We were able to get seats close down in our section (Terrace) and I had an isle seat.  We were just a couple rows up from the reserved section for the deaf; I could actually see the screen with the text on it.  If I missed something I would look  at it, but it went pretty fast.

Needless to say, there were lots of cars and people and traffic when it was time to leave. We decided we weren't in a hurry so we brought up the rear leaving the conference center. I used the restroom before leaving. It was a huge restroom with lots of stalls. No waiting! We stopped in Brigham City for cheap gas and a treat at Sonics on our way home.  I'm tired!

While getting gas in Brigham City, we met Harry Potter.  His name is actually Harry Potter.  He works with young adults and has fun doing Firesides with the aid robes and broom stick.

Football Season

Thursday, August 30, BYU, UofU, and Utah State had their first football game of the season.  Go figure.  Logan is the home of Utah State, so they are not very partial to BYU fans.  There are, however, quite a few BYU grads in Logan. 

The women in my family are the football fans: Grandma Mutt, Mom, me, and Jeanne.  My Grandpa Bjorgum was a coach at Eastern Montana (now Montana State, Billings) and had played football.  He coached everything at Eastern; consequently, Grandma Bjorgum became familiar with sports.  She loved following professional football, especially Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts.  

My mother was a fan of the University of Washington Huskies when they were called the "heart attack" team.  They were called that, at least in our in house, because they always seem to come from behind to win in the last moments of the game.  Mom became a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs and Lenny Dawson when she and Dad lived in Kansas City.  She continued to support them when she and Dad moved to the Bay Area in California.  Then she also adopted the Oakland Raiders.  Grandma and Mom had their football rivalries.  

I liked football in monsoons.  It was so fun watching the guys slide down the field when they were tackled in the rain at Clark Air Base in the Philippines.  When I was back in the States I followed the Chiefs when I lived in Jeff City, Missouri, then the Raiders when I moved to Fremont, California.  I became a 49ers fan when Joe Montana and Steve Young were their quarterbacks.  I haven't kept up with professional football since the 1990s

Jeanne is not into professional football, but she loves BYU football.  She knows more about what is going on with that team then I ever did when I was following football.  

I think the only men in our lives that enjoyed sports were my grandfather and now Jeanne's husband, Jared.

Labor Day

No. 119 coming up the track.

September 3 was Labor Day so the LDS Employment Resource Center was closed.  We used the day off as an opportunity to go on a road trip.  We went to Promontory Utah where the East meets the West; the place the transcontinental railroad was completed.  It was about a 90 minute drive, approximately 60 miles on local highways.  We arrived there around 11am and left about 1:30pm.  We had our choice of parking places when we arrived, but there weren't any spaces available when we left.  For being in the middle of nowhere, it was very popular. 

Driving the last spike.

They do a reenactment of the "Last Spike" ceremony several times during the day in the summer with some history about activities leading up to the ceremony.  The last spike ceremony was suppose to have happened on May 8, 1869, but the No. 119 was two days late due to weather and a labor dispute.  The No. 119 was the Union Pacific locomotive from Omaha and the Jupiter was the Central Pacific locomotive from Sacramento.  The trains at the Golden Spike Historic Park are replicas and actually function; however, they don't let people on board.  The Jupiter burns wood so it blows white smoke from its stack.  The No. 119 burns coal so its smoke is black.  One of the rangers gave a little history of why the trains met at Promontory Utah in the auditorium of the Visitors' Center.  There was as much political maneuvering back in the 1860s as there is now. 

The cast.

Okay, here is something you don't see very often in California.

If you can't read the sign (sorry that it is blurry), it says:  FREQUENT CATTLE CROSSING NEXT 1/2 MILE.  Luckily we didn't come across any on our trip.  Too bad!  That might have been fun too.

23 August 2012

Truth be told, I miss starting school.  We saw several children on their way to school today with their backpacks slung on there shoulders or carried by mom.  What fun and excitement!  Catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.  The first days of school are nervous for the teachers as well.  The children bring so many interesting talents and persoalities to the classroom.  Each child is so amazing in their own special way.

25 August 2012

Box Elder Tabernacle

We drove to Brigham City today for a Culture and Brotherhood celebration at the Tabernacle; however, we couldn't find it.  We walked around the Tabernacle there and saw lots of people going to the Temple open house.   The Box Elder Tabernacle is across the street from the new temple.  (I've been calling it the Brigham City Tabernacle and now realize that it is the Box Elder Tabernacle.  Brigham City is on the eastrn edge of Box Elder County.)

Brigham City Temple

Just on a chance that we had it wrong, we went back to the Logan Tabernacle.  Sure enough, they were having the cultural fair there.  It was mostly Hispanic culture. I was expecting a little more diversity.  I guess I have been spoiled by the Provo multi-cultural celebration.

pioneer family

On the grounds outside the Logan Tabernacle there is a statue of a pioneer family.  If you stand behind the statue you can see that the family is looking towards the Logan Temple.  If you look at my picture you can see the spires of the temple between the man and the woman. 


The Logan Tabernacle was giving tours.  (They give tours six days a week anyhow.)  I learned a few things I didn't know before about tabernacles.  Until I arrived at Logan, I thought the only tabernacle was the one in Salt Lake City.  Wrong.  There are over eighty in Utah and eight in the Cache Valley area.  The tabernacles were built as a place for the community to gather.  It wasn't just a meeting house for church services.

The organ pipes to the right in the picture are the actual pipes of the organ; the rest are a facade.  The smallest pipe is the size of a #2 pencil; the largest is 17 feet long.

27 August 2012

My companion thinks she knows why there is a flag on the fire hydrants ... so they can find them when it snows.  I don't relish seeing that much snow.  That means I will have to drive in it!

Sunset in Providence, UT

The past week or so the sky has been very hazy.  Being a Californian, I think of it as smog, but there isn't the traffic around here like the Bay area or LA to create that kind of haze.  This morning I woke up to find it smelled strongly of smoke.  I learned that it is smoke from all the fires burning in the states around us.  The smell permeates through the walls.  It seemed like I could smell all day in the office and now it seems to fill the room.  We have kept our windows and doors closed today.

Everyone in the Cache Valley area is excited for the Brigham City Temple Open House which begins tomorrow, August 18.  It is interesting to note that all the young sister missionaries from our mission have been pulled into Brigham City to help with the open house; the elders will have to cover the sisters' area for the next month.  Because it is a small temple, everyone is required to have tickets to attend the open house; the tickets are at no cost.  They will only be able to accommodate 300,000 people.  We have tickets for the afternoon of September 10.  The last day of the open house is September 15.  The temple will then be closed until September 23 on which day they will dedicate it.  After that only members with temple recommends will be able to go into the temple.

This is only the second open house that I have been able to attend.  The first one was for the Billings Temple.  I don't think we needed tickets for that one.  I remember taking my dad and step-mother to the Billings Open House.  I had made a special trip to Billings to see them and go through the temple.  It was fun to show them how beautiful the temple looks on the inside.  My step-mother really appreciated all the richness of it.  I always enjoy being able to attend the temple in Billings. 

We have two more missionaries on-board for the Accelerated Job Search (AJS) program.  They are residents of Logan and have been called to serve a full time mission in the employment center.  After some confusion over paperwork, it was decided that they didn't need to attend the MTC in Provo because Becky does her own MTC.  I am sorry they didn't get to go to Provo because that is a very special experience.  Becky's MTC focuses on the employment center services, no Preach My Gospel.

We now have 11 candidates participating in the program.  Part of our objective is to get the candidate ready to go out to do intensive job hunting after one week of preparation.  We spend a week building a résumé for their number one targeted job, practice interviewing, developing skills for networking, and being sure they know how to dress for success.  At the end of the week they hit the streets.  Every morning they come in to review how their job search went and do networking with each other, the missionaries, and on the internet besides following up on any leads they have received.  The first résumé for each individual is the hardest one to put together, generally, after that the résumés for their second and third targeted jobs go together faster.

We have a great group of candidates that are hard workers.  They are very supportive of each other and share leads to jobs that even they are considering.  It is amazing to watch how they boost each other up in the down times and help hone each other skills.  The candidates care about each individual and are concerned about each person's welfare.

The AJS  candidates are asked to spend eight hours a day, five days a week job searching.  Job search authorities say that if you want a 40 hour a week job, you spend 40 hours a week looking for it. Statistics show that those who do this will get a job much more quickly.  It is a lot of hard work! 

Job hunting is not like it use to be when I first started looking 40 plus years ago.  At that time you had one résumé that you passed out to everyone.  In today's world you make a specific résumé for each job that you are interested in.  Occasionally you can tweak a résumé that you already have, other times you have to create a new one.  The job of the résumé is to get you the interview.  In the interview you show that you are the best candidate for the position.  Résumés don't get you jobs, they get you interviews; you get the job.

Companion has arrived!!!

Yesterday I arose at 6am so I could exercise before heading out to pick up my companion at the MTC.  My plan was to leave by 7am so I would have time to get lost or stuck in traffic and still arrived by 10am.  Well, it was 7:30am when I was walking out the door.  Getting started in the mornings is a challenge for me.  As luck would have it, I arrived at the MTC by 9:30am.  I am confusing Bay area travel issues with Salt Lake City travel issues.  They have their problems, but still have a way to go before they can match the Bay area.  As a result, it took me only two hours instead of three.  To my daughters, I stayed within the speed limit all the way.  

in the Mission Office

When I walked into the lobby, I saw a lady sitting in a chair busy with her iPod.  The only other people there were behind the counter, so I walked over and sure enough her badge said "Sister Bews."  Elder Lloyd came through about the time we were gathering Sister Bews' things, so we got to say goodbye to him and his wife, again.  He found information about "This is the Place" we could visit it in Salt Lake on our way out.  As we were heading north on I-15 in the HOV lane (since there was two of us we could use it), we decided that we just wanted to get to Ogden without any stops along the way.

With the Mission President and his wife.

The first time I was in Ogden President Olsen was transitioning out and President Hiers had not arrived yet.  This time President Hiers and his wife were there and available to meet with us.  What a wonderful couple they are.  I really wanted to meet with them because I wanted clarification about what Senior Missionaries can do.  (My personality needs some guidelines.)  He said it was pretty much up to us to follow the spirit in deciding what we can do.  If we felt a movie was okay, then we could go to it.  If we needed to take a break from each other, it was okay; we don't have to stay within sight of each other.  If we want to watch TV or swim, it was our decision.  He encouraged us to go out with sister missionaries if we have time and attend baptisms.  We are welcomed to join them at zone conference in our area and the dinners they have with senior missionaries in various areas.  It is nice to feel accepted and included.

We ate lunch at the Greenery Restaurant at Rainbow Gardens which is located at the mouth of Ogden Canyon.  It had started out as a mineral springs resort in 1895, but had its ups and downs.  At one time, there was a huge ballroom, indoor and outdoor pool, and 18 bowling lanes.  I was told the old indoor swimming pool is a sunken gift shop and solarium, but we didn't make it there.  The food was good and reasonably prices.  

We arrived back in town in time to stop off at the employment center so Becky and Paul could meet Sister Bews.  

I've been experimenting with my Cannon settings.  Finally a sunset picture that I like.  I still need to do some more practicing.  Maybe I should read the instruction book.  Now were did I put it???????

Next blog I promise to give more details about what my work entails at the LDS Employment Center.  Hint:  I haven't strayed too far from my previous occupation.