We had another job seeker get baptized 2 Saturdays ago. We went to the baptism, which was especially nice. His mother was there to support him even though she is not a member. I thought that was extra special that she would be willing to do that. 

While we were at the baptism, we visited with a lady there and found out that she taught Spanish for 35 years in high school. We asked her if she would be willing to teach at the English Connect classes and she said that she would love to. So she has come to the last two classes and is helping teach another Level 1 class. She and her husband are also helping a Venezuelan family that I met about 2 months ago. He has his legal work permit and SS# so her husband is having Luis help him with work projects that he has as a handyman. This is a picture of her. She has to use a walker but still gets around quite well.

Her name is Sister Saldaña. She is going to be a big help to us at English Connect. 

I had a man come into the Employment Center that is from Costa Rica. He was born in the US but his parents took him to Costa Rica when he was a baby, so he never did learn to speak English. However, his English was very good and he had only been in the US for 4 months! He has been studying on his own and has become quite fluent in that short of a time. He is a legal citizen and speaks good enough English now that he should be able to get a good job. He has a degree in Industrial Engineering. His story though, is quite sad. His wife decided that she wanted someone else in her life so she wanted a divorce. This man, had a huge business, a home, nice car, etc., and he signed it all over to his X-wife in exchange for full custody of his 7 year old daughter. So now he is starting all over from scratch, but he has his daughter which is the most important thing.

I had another man from Argentina that moved to the US to work as a petroleum engineer for a company that opened a business in the US.  After 2 years, they decided that there was too much competition and closed their office here in Houston. This poor guy has been trying for over a year to find a job. He speaks excellent English, but is 61 years old and it is very difficult to find any company willing to hire someone in their 60's. He has held many positions that are high up on the food chain in several different petroleum companies, but he has sent in his resume to apply for over 100 different jobs and no bites. I am working with him to see what we can do to make him more hirable at this point in his career.

Part of our responsibilities is to help the people working at Deseret Industries to learn how to obtain a good job after they are finished there. This last week, I did a mock job interview with one of the DI employees. I could tell that he was having a hard time so I asked him if he was under a lot of stress. It turns out that his wife had a nervous breakdown and is pretty much non-responsive in the hospital at this time. He said that they expect her to be in the hospital for another 10 days. On top of that, his grandmother that he was very close to passed away 2 weeks ago. Then he told me that the police think that someone pushed her down the stairs, probably her boyfriend. He completely broke down in my office.  We talked for a long time about life after death, being able to be with loved ones on the other side, and the hope that that gives us. We had a prayer together before he left, and he seemed like he was doing better. I will need to follow up with him each day and see how he is doing. He also has the stress of needing to find a good job to support his family.

I did a mock interview with another DI employee that I have worked with a lot in the past.  We have developed a good relationship together. However, after his mock interview, it was obvious that if it came down to an interview to determine if he would get a job or not, it was not going to happen. He has a more serious learning disability than I had previously thought. He is an extremely hard worker and is always on time for his job at DI. He would make an excellent employee as a warehouse worker if someone would just give him a chance.

Well, now that I have gotten everyone sufficiently depressed, I just want to say that each day of our mission is very rewarding to us.  In both our mission calling at the Employment Services Center and in teaching the English Connect classes, we are rewarded by being able to help our brothers and sisters. We certainly don't have any extra time, but I wouldn't want it any other way. We are so grateful to have been called on our Mission here, and for the things that we are able to do. I can promise you, that if you ever feel down or depressed, if you can do something for someone else that is in need, those feelings of depression will be replaced with joy.