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.