Thanksgiving week

Friday we attended a party for the volunteers who work at the Employment Office. You know what party animals we are...not. So Grandpa and I were not very excited about going but I am glad we were there and I learned some important things I want to share with you. First I'll explain that one of the purposes was to help the volunteers to get to know each other better. Rosanna made up a game where every person had a secret identity. Grandpa was Oscar de la Renta (the fashion designer-Bet you didn't know he was born and raised in the Dominican Republic.) I was Angelina Jolie. I had to look her up on the internet to remember who she was but you probably know. I'm sure it is our good looks that we have in common rather than our net worth. We were each given a question and a key word. My question was "en el nemesis" which is not a question in either language. No one answered "Canta conmigo"/"Sing with me". We were to ask everyone our question and find out who gave us the key phrase. Grandpa and I failed miserably in finding our counterpart, but we laughed at all of the nonsense conversations I didn't understand. I felt better when I found out that not all of the Spanish speakers understood the game either. But we all had brought a card and a chocolate candy bar to exchange and everyone enjoyed that interaction.

Rosanna, the one who suggested and organized and carried out the party is a special person. She came to the Employment Office looking for work not long after we got here. She is from the north part of the country, joined the church in her young adult years and married a member. A few years years later he became mentally ill and beat her very badly once. When it happened again, she left. She had to leave her family, her friends and come to the big city to escape him, continue to hide from him, and attempt to build a life for herself. She served as a volunteer until she found a job. A couple of months later the business she was working for closed their doors and she returned to the Employment Center to volunteer again. She has been doing anything and everything to be helpful and has spent far more than 40 hours a week doing all she can to further the purposes of the Employment Center. She has just recently learned that the headaches she has suffered from for the last three months are from a brain tumor! Rosanna has been cleaning our apartment for about six months. We pay her well for her time and I guess she has been living on only that income recently. She is getting some sort of treatment with X rays directed at the tumor. We pray that she will be blessed. It looks to me like she has been doing all she can to serve and contribute to the good in the world. She has received one treatment and says that she feels better since she received it (except for the vomiting and fever that evening). But she was at work bright and early the next morning. She is scheduled to do one treatment a week for two months.

President Viñas was invited to speak to our little group of about 17 people at the party. He is a member of the First Quorum of Seventy and the first counselor in the Area Presidency. He is a Spaniard and his wife is from Uruguay. They last served in the Area Presidency of Western Europe and lived in England. They both speak English. He spoke in Spanish of course but I will report what I think he said. Do not quote me. First he told us that work is a basic ingredient of happiness. He said that 2 Nephi 5:10 speaks of obedience, verses 11 and 15 talk about work, verse 26 is about the temple and verse 27 explains that they lived after the manner of happiness. He also spoke of the parable of the olive trees in the Book of Mormon. That parable points out the danger of the branches overtaking the roots and the Employment Center has the possibility of doing that and must take care to remain a help to the priesthood rather than try to fulfill the proper responsibility of the priesthood. He said that the Area Presidency is working diligently to train and help the priesthood leaders to understand and carry out their far reaching responsibilities. He said that the nourishment for the tree must come from the roots of the priesthood. He explained that everyone in the church is a member of a quorum. And the Relief Society is an essential auxiliary to the priesthood quorums. He likened the home teachers and visiting teachers to the circulatory system in the body or in a tree. They are the means so that nourishment can reach every part of the tree. Their job is to carry that nourishment out and report back to the quorums the needs of those they nourish. When there is a need beyond what the home teacher/visiting teacher can provide it goes up the line until there are resources to help the individual to become capable of meeting his own needs. He said that ideally, no member would come to the employment office unless he was unable to meet his needs through his ward or stake and his bishop sent him to the Employment office with a specific recommendation that this member was in good standing and a worthy representative of what the church stands for so he would represent our values when he obtained a job. (If every placement became a highly valued employee there would be an even greater demand for people recommended by the LDS Employment Center.) Then the employment office could spend the bulk of their time assisting the local leaders, advising as to what skills were needed in the marketplace and how to best obtain them, creating relationships with potential employers and provide specialized help where needed. He said that it is important that everyone understands the vision of the future we are reaching for so that we can all help to bring it to pass.

Another thing he spoke of was the culture of independence we teach in the gospel. He said that the natural tendency is to want to get something for nothing but that is contrary to the principles of the gospel. The world at large is fostering dependence and promising security but that road can deprive us of our agency which we must have to fulfill our purpose here in this life. He said we must individually and collectively promote independence, self-sufficiency and responsibility.

I loved the comparison of the home teachers and visiting teachers functioning to bring the nourishment available from priesthood leadership into the homes of the individuals. What a challenge to bring the strength currently needed by a particular family or individual. And won't it be wonderful when we get to the point where the needs of our fellow ward members become our own opportunity to help and share. "If ye are not one, ye are not mine." I've often tried to figure out how this really works and this example helps me see more clearly how we can be more unified. I also can see how important this is because when you focus only on just one area, like employment, or PEF, or family history, or food storage, or music or whatever--it is easy to see the gospel through only that lens instead of focusing on Jesus Christ. He is the source of power and motivation and salvation. The many, many other areas just help us to become self-sufficient and capable of sustaining ourselves and our families and serving others while we learn and grow and progress into our best selves--all of us together (instead of trying to get ahead of others and counting how many are below and how few are above).

We are proud of you, our family, because you each demonstrate self-sufficiency and also kindness and concern for others in your everyday actions. Our society too often teaches us to focus on ourselves and meet all of our own needs first. That is not the path to happiness. We are delighted to be related to you and hope to set a good example and continue to learn from each of you. We are thankful for you!

I haven't yet told you about our Thanksgiving. We got together with all of the senior missionaries. We each brought food which was served from the apartment of the CES Area Administrator who lives across the hall from the Area President where we all ate. Their apartments are large and lovely and had Christmas decorations just like home. We all had room to sit down and enjoy a lovely dinner. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, vegetables, fruit salads, jello salads, rolls and homemade pies with whipped cream. President Johnson spoke briefly and said nice things about all of us. The only thing we missed was each of you. But even if we were at home it is next to impossible to get our whole group together at one time in one place. But we will work on it. That would be my best wish--for all of us to be together and enjoy each other's company (with a big safe place for the younger kids to go play so we could both talk and hear each other).
Some day....
Love,
Jeri,/Mom/Grandma