8 March

Long Day

Yesterday was a long day.  We started out in the center in the morning then went to Ogden for a mission meeting, and finally a Relief Society birthday dinner back in Providence.

There were a couple reasons for going to Ogden; first and foremost was a special meeting with Elder L. Whitney Clayton who is in the Presidency of the Quorum of the 70s.  Second Sister Bews needed to pick up some prescriptions from the mission doctor.

The meeting with Elder Clayton was wonderful and uplifting, made me want to work harder at being a good missionary.  The first thing he wanted to do when he arrived was to shake every missionary's hand.  He reminded us that in our mission we have missionaries from all over the world.  We were told it matters where you serve and to be grateful we are here with the Hiers because they are a wonderful example.  It matters what we do with our calling because it impacts our families.

He shared a story about a young mission president who urged the missionaries not to be tape measure missionaries.  In other words, don't measure the path to see how wide it is and how close to the edge you can get.  Stay in the center of the path and things will be okay, follow the guidelines and keep the commandments.  This work is hard but not discouraging.  He referenced Alma 23:5-7 regarding converting people to the church and more specifically he focused on verse 7.  He challenged the missionaries to put down their weapons of rebellion:  lack of confidence, disobedience, etc.  He reminded the missionaries that when they were set apart they were also blessed with power and to follow Ammon's example.

The Ward Relief Society dinner was a celebration of the Relief Society's birthday this month.  It was a lovely meal and a nice end to a long day.

3 March

Rainy Sunday

Today it rained most of the day.  Better that than snow.  The sun is suppose to come out tomorrow.  March is suppose to be a on and off month.  Meaning, just when you think spring is coming, a snow shower pops up and the temperatures drop.  We'll see if it is in like a lion and out like a lamb.

And another one bites the dust.  Hurray, Karen has a job starting tomorrow.  She received an offer Friday, but had to do a little negotiating because they offered her a smaller salary than they had talked about in her interviews.  She negotiated a $1 more than they offered with another $1 increase in 60 days if she proves herself.  We have no doubt that she will prove herself invaluable to them because she is very good at what she does, even at 58.

We'll have a new candidate start on Monday.  Her name is Brekke and she is a chemical engineer.  She has a BA and some experience.  She worked on the TSA machines that were suppose to detect bombs.  Brekke and Michael would have been a fun team; he blows up things and she keeps them from blowing up.

The funniest part of Gospel Principles class was when Brother Watson was pulling food out from inside his jacket and putting it in his wife's tote bag.  It looked like a magic trick but it wasn't suppose to be.  He was trying to be subtle.  Sister Watson is pregnant (due March 30) and directs the choir.  We have practice right before church.  She had asked him to bring some snacks for her.  He pulled something from one inside pocket, then another item from a different inside pocket, and third item from another inside pocket.  It really looked like a slight of hand trick and made me laugh.
 

28 February--Half Way

Today I am officially half way through my mission.  I treated myself to dinner out.  We went to Cafe Sabor.  It is very similar to Casa Orozco in Livermore, but in an old train depot.

26 February

 Temple Sealings We went to the temple tonight and did sealings for our manager.  She gave us 30 daughters to seal to their parents.  It was the first time Sister Bews has done sealings since she was sealed to her deceased husband and daughter, and her living daughter.  It was a very special night.

24 February

Musical Fireside

The Utah Ogden Missionaries put on a musical fireside at the Logan Tabernacle tonight.  We have a lot of very talented missionaries in our mission.  About a dozen missionaries shared their conversion story then bore their testimony in their native language.  There were several beautiful numbers, two by a choir, and several small groups.  The spirit was very strong.

23 February

More Snow

I was up by 7am this morning and skies were somewhat clear.  As I looked to the north I could see the cold front moving in.  By 9am it was snowing and it continued to snow all day.  I think we received at least 4" of snow.

I am hoping this is the last storm of the season.  In commemoration of that I built a snowman by our garage/storage unit this afternoon.  The snow off the road seemed to stick better than the snow on the grounds.  Maybe the salt in it made it a little more moist.  I had to pack the snow instead of rolling it into snowballs, so my snowman is a little unique.  The snowplow man was grading the road around the apartments while I was out.  He offered to plow around my snowman.  How nice of him.

21 February

Hurray!!!  Colleen and Terry got jobs today.  

Colleen was up early and drove down to Clearfield to apply at a temp agency there.  We are talking a 30 minute drive at least from her place.  Afterwards she came to Logan.  While she was waiting to talk to me she received a phone call.  It was the temp agency offering her a position food distributor, which is very close to her home, temp to permanent.  :-)  She starts next Wednesday.  Colleen has lots of production experience, but had been doing substitute custodial work at schools.  She enjoyed the school environment and was hoping to find something permanent there.  However, the food place pays well for the area and she would have full time work and benefits in 90 days.

Terry is still very much of a little boy at heart, he likes to tease.  I can see him sitting in a classroom pulling on the braids/ponytail of the girl in front of him just cause they are there.  He has been turning in applications for shipping or purchasing positions all over the region.  He had five interviews to do in Salt Lake within a two day period a week ago.  He even went to Idaho Falls for an interview.  At the beginning of this week he had another interview with a different company in SLC.  He was offered the job this morning and accepted.  Not only that, he has received another offer since this morning but will stick with the first one.  Terry has been in our AJS program 30 days. 

Candidates do get jobs quickly if they are willing to work the program.  I have to keep reminding myself of that fact.  Some of our candidates seem like they are in the program forever and ever.  Generally that is because they are not matching their résumé and pounding the pavement.  There are some situations that take longer to get placed, but only because it is a specialized field.