Week 31...7 months!

It is hard to believe I have only been on my mission for seven months, but at the same time, everything feels new. I know the routine of work, most of the people, the building, and a good portion of the jargon (some of it has become so natural I forget and mom and dad have to ask for explanations)...And then someone e-mails me with a strange request and I wonder what on earth I'm doing in a business. Still don't know what a midpoint is...

I have also been called as one of two Sister Assistant leaders. Until this point we've never had Sister leaders, so I'm not exactly sure what this is going to look like. However, I did pray about it, and although I am very scared about pushing my body too far, I did feel like I should follow my desire to minister to the other sisters. I am praying for courage. I would be grateful for your prayers as well.

This week's activities included:

• E-mailing Area office managers throughout the world to set up phone calls with the Managing Director.
• Getting a phone call from New Zealand
• Being severely tempted by a job opening in Self-Reliance Services to teach in the Chuuk islands for a year. (Chuuk is a set of little itty-bitty but beautiful islands south-east of Guam). I googled it. =) Too bad I need to finish up school.
• Transferring employees
• Terminating employees
• Fussing with spreadsheets. I swear, we just keep making it more complicated. Green for this kind of request, blue for the other. Yellow for 'starting to take too long,' orange for 'you're really pushing it guys' and red for 'this is way late and someone is going to decide you don't really need more employees.'
• Assigning building access.
• Submitting paperwork for job changes.
• Lots of driving through snow. Fun fact, if it's sunny and clear at home, then as soon as I hit Parley's Summit, the weather will be snowy. If it's horribly icy at home, then the weather will be clear from the moment I hit Parley's Summit. That's the dividing line, without fail. If I want to know the driving conditions I have to check both sides of the mountain. On Thursday they even switched so it was clear when I left home and icy in Salt Lake, then when I came home it was sunny in Salt Lake and icy at home. What is this madness?
• Set up meetings.
• Ask (again) if our main software was down or if it was just me. Thankfully it was the software this time. It can process a ton of information, but it's really not user friendly. You know that scene in Finding Nemo where the fish shakes his fist and shouts, "Curse you, AquaScum!" ?Well, that's how I feel about this software. Just picture me using that exact same tone of voice (a.k.a. desperate) and shaking my fists as I cry "Curse you, PeopleSoft!" into the quiet of our office.
• I learned how to play Chinese checkers. One of the sisters brings the game board to lunch every day. I've been watching for a while, so I decided it was time to try it out. I did quite well for never having played before and it was really fun. The other sister dominated the game though. It's pretty fun just to watch everyone trying to block her.
• Worked on an article that's due to be published in March.
• Played Joseph in Egypt with the cat....Merlin pounced on me while I was putting my contacts in. Since I was temporarily blind as well as allergic to the cat, I had to leave my coat (bathrobe) behind in the cat's claws and find mom to remove said furry creature. Thankfully, the cat can't speak to defend himself or I might have been the one tossed out in the cold. =) At least it wasn't my fault that time... A few weeks ago I was teasing the cat through the crack in the door with the strings on my sweatpants. I won't make that mistake again. He wouldn't let go and I couldn't get around the door since I was attached to him by my own pants. I had to shout for someone to come and rescue me. That was just a tad embarrassing. Just a tad.
• I Finally sorted out the education reimbursement for the guy who pretty much vomited all his school records into my inbox. Seriously man, couldn't you at least sort out the relevant information for me?
• Try not to feel bad for pestering my managers with questions. As Andrew says, they like when I ask questions, because if I go all day without questions then they know I'm just making things up. Which is actually a pretty accurate description of how I function. At work and in life. Alan said that it made them feel good because otherwise they would feel unnecessary. Ha. Just HA.

The weather finally has cleared up for a moment and I was able to see the mountains "for the first time in forever." They were so beautiful, reflecting the golden sunrise. It reminded me why I love living here. Even when it is cold.

That's about it for this week. 

-Sister Ward

P.S. I love you.

Week 30

This week I've mostly just focused on staying on top of my work and making it to physical therapy.

Things I did during my mission assignment:

• Lead a discussion on the talk "The Love of God" by President Uchtdorf. This is a must read. Studying this talk has really strengthened my testimony of Heavenly Father's love for us and the love that I want to have for others.
• Attempted to sort through all sorts of ridiculous charges on someone's tuition receipts.
• Asked lots of questions.
• Tracked down mystery employees and then terminated their records when they proved to no longer exist.
• Restocked the NOB workrooms with just about everything (hand sanitizer, 5 different kinds of pens, 2 kinds of pencil, notepads (2 colors), highlighters (assorted colors), sticky notes (If they want fancy colors they can go find their own), tape, paper clips, binder clips and elastics. The only thing they don't seem to run out of regularly are staples and folders. At least I didn't have to order more tissues. Seriously, how can they go through so many tissues?
• Tried again to convince managers that they have to submit a Workfront request to have an employee terminated instead of forwarding me an old e-mail. We have a process for a reason... so I don't have to e-mail you five times to get all the information I need and then forward it all to five different people.
• Attend a meeting to discuss how we get new employees set up with everything. Apparently we all thought someone else was doing it when the managers were having to call all the departments individually. Whoops.
• Added up the years of work for temporary employees. Temps or Contingents can only work for two years and then they have to quit for 6 months. (Otherwise the Divison of Labor comes down hard on us for not providing the same benefits we would a full-time employee.) But certain managers (cough, cough) keep trying to move their employees around so that it looks like they haven't been here two years. Which 1) does not work, 2)means that we can't help them or the employees much when the suddenly all their temps have to leave, and 3) makes my job a lot harder.
• Worked on an article.
• Attempted to sort through hiring rubrics that declined to provide either a) the number of the empty position or b) the name of the person who once had the job. Oh I'm sorry, you wanted a new language designer because someone is retiring? I'll just guess out of your fifty employees which job it is... (In case you were wondering, the phrases "That's so helpful," while dripping with sarcasm; "why would you do that?" "what were they thinking?" and "No." are very popular in our little portion of HR. Even if we don't say it to anyone else).
• Make emergency phone calls because someone's phone was not set up on time, and oh the horror! Turns out the guy has a cell-phone anyway and totally could have done without a desk-phone for a while. Why do I always get the weird assignments?

I did get two great quotes out of lunch this week.

1) When I asked an elder about his blood-sugar-tester-device another Elder exclaimed suspiciously, "It's a vampire in a box!"

2) In answer to a question, Sister Gowans explained, in the most perfect terms I've ever heard, that "

Roots Tech is like ComicCon for Family History nerds." All they need to do now is come dressed up as their favorite ancestor...

Week 29...I think

I'm beginning to lose count of how many weeks I've been on my mission. Let's just go with 6 months and some change. I hadn't meant to go this long without writing on my blog, but I've been sick, and writing takes more brain power than reading. My tension headaches have come back, and my immune system has taken a hit, but I'm beginning to do better and I got to Salt Lake twice this week.

I did pick up a writing assignment for a writer that quit, and I managed to get that done before I got too sick. You can read it by following this link here: Choosing Mindfulness

I'm also teaching the CTR 5 class now. I miss my sweet eight-year-olds, but I'm sure this new class will be fun too. I'm still learning how to teach them, but I'm sure it will get easier as I get to know them better.

Lately, my missionary assignments have included:

• Creating instructions (with screenshots) to teach directors how to add items to the agenda in a meeting software called DecisionPoint. 
• Create a powerpoint template for managers and directors to fill out when they want a new employee. In case you're wondering, they use your tithing very well. Managers have to give a lot of proof that there is absolutely no other way to accomplish the work without another employee.
• I submitted lots and lots of educational reimbursements. My teenage self used to complain that I would never use the math I used in class. I was right. I add up the tuition and times by 75%. And I get a calculator. Take that, math tests!
• Fixed reporting lines
• Tried to explain to Church Security that we did not want to create HR accounts for over 500 volunteer interpreters... 
• Arranged for desk space and a phone for a visiting employee from Europe.
• Writing short articles.

I did learn the names of some interesting languages while discussing interpreter badges. I had to look up where some (read "most") of them were from. The world is so much bigger than I ever could have imagined. It makes me realize how much there is to learn and see in this life. The list included interpreters for:

Amheric (spoken in Ethiopia), Apache, Arabic, ASL, Armenian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian, Cantonese, Cebuano, Chuukese (from the Chuuk islands in Micronesia), Croatian, Efik (southeastern Nigerian ethnic group), Farsi, Fijian, French, German, Hatian, Hiligaynon (central Philippines), Hindi, Hmong (So. China, Northern SE Asia), Igbo (Nigerian ethnic group), Ilokano (Filipino language), Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Kosraean (Kosrae Island in Micronesia), Laotian, Lingala (Bantu language in Congo and DCR), Malay, Mandarin, Marshallese (Marshall Islands in Micronesia), Mongolian, Navajo, Palauan (Micronesian language in Guam, Mariana Islands, and Palau), Papiamento (One of my old Spanish teachers is a translator for them. Used in the So. Caribbean, it's a mix of Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese), Pohnpeian (Caroline Islands in Micronesia), Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Samoan, Serbian, Sinhala (people from No. India and Sri Lanka), Slovak, Spanish, Swahili, Tahitian, Tamil (a people in So. India and Sri Lanka), Telugu (India), Thai, Tongan, Turkish, Twi (Akan language in Ghana and Ivory Coast), Urdu (variation of Hindi) Vietnamese, Yapese (Yap Island in Micronesia), Yoruba (an ethnic group living in Nigeria and nearby countries). 

It's a crazy, beautiful world out there.

Week 26 - Because We Need Pictures

This is my desk. I get it all to myself even though there are people way higher up the totem pole than I am who have to share a desk. 

There are a couple of monitors to the left that were used by NewMommy (who I'm replacing). Funny story about those monitors... 

When someone leaves Church employment, the computer people come and collect their equipment to re-image for the new person. Well, Lute told these guys that someone else works at that desk now (in case they didn't read the plaque or notice that it is still lived in), but clearly they weren't paying attention. Instead they came and took everything except a mouse, a keyboard, and the dust bunnies. This means they took my laptop. I freaked out when I came back from lunch and found it gone. Thankfully, Lute was a fast thinker and got them on the phone right away. They brought my laptop back, telling me I was lucky because they were only a minute away from wiping it. 

I was happier not knowing. 

Actually, I was feeling downright cranky about it. Seriously, they didn't think there was anything off about a lived in cubicle with both Dell display screens and an Apple laptop?

However, as I was saying my prayers that night, God reminded me how blessed I really was. I kind of got the feeling he was laughing but gently chiding me. They were so close to wiping my computer, and they didn't. Instead of grouching about the close call, I could laugh about it and be very, very grateful that it was saved in time. So thank you, God, for saving my computer. I'm sorry I was a grouch.

Part of the program from our Christmas Devotional.

My supervisor gave me this beautiful little nativity.

Temple Square had all of these lovely Nativities from around the world. I really enjoy seeing these when I step outside for fresh air. They aren't labeled, so your guess is as good as mine when it comes to their origins.

This picture makes me smile just because of where it is set up. I'm pretty sure they don't get a lot of snow or evergreens in in Kenya or wherever this might be... It is beautiful though.

P.S. I love you.

Acronym Joy

So if you've been in the Church for any length of time you will quickly realize that we love acronyms. We just can't seem to stay away. Well, add in business and you get a whole new world to label. It's taken me a while, but I'm pretty fluent in them now. Shall we have a try?

I am YCSM serving as an HR assistant in LDS PSD. PSD used to be called AVD, but now it is a huge combination including DM, F&V, B&E, and several others. I also help HR with OCS and PA. I don't help S&I in CES, but one of my friends does. She reports to the same CSMs as me.

Sometimes I write for FC and I'm learning to improve my SEO. Part of my duties include using DP to set up for MDC and adding ESGs and FTE's to DLs. I also set up HBDI meetings and I even scheduled a VR tour this week. I regularly organize open FTEs and submit EAFs using PNs and EmpIDs. Sometimes I have to change their location from COB to NOB, ROB, JSMB, or MPS which is by BYU. I also have to redirect mail to the GSC and FWS in the WOB or to the CHL. Today we even had mail for ICS. I've never needed to take things to the CAB, but I wouldn't mind going to see some GAs. I have seen some of the PB. Sometimes I get help with projects from the SJS, and they help me avoid any IP issues. I also help maintain the CDOL. Luckily, as a YCSM I don't have to us GHRIS to log hours, but I do use WF to record tasks.

Feel like I'm exaggerating? Check out our home page:

Week 25 - Christmas is Coming! Also, Thanks is Due.

This blog post is brought to you by: Mike and Stephanie Ward and the miracles of heaven.

Friday was an interesting day, but I was very blessed, so I feel like thanks is due to a great many people.

-Thank you to Andrew who ordered me to leave early in order to try to beat the storm.

Andrew got this message from his son, but we had no idea how fast the storm would come in. Unfortunately, the blizzard hit between my getting on I-15 and I-80. Drivers were encouraged to avoid Parleys if they didn't have 4 wheel drive or chains, so I had to pull off I-80 in the middle of I had no idea. I parked in an empty church parking lot in the freezing cold and called Mom.

-Thank you Mom for finding me phone numbers since I never thought to program some into my phone for emergencies.

If mom hadn't helped me I would have probably ended up going to my best friend's grandparent's in-law. (Yes, I know where they live. Mandy and I are that kind of friends). The Brosnahans are super nice and offered to let me stay at their house last Christmas, but I still would have felt very uncomfortable showing up on their porch and asking if they remembered their grandson's wife's best friend and could I maybe wait out the storm on their couch?

-Thank you Uncle Mike, for sacrificing an hour of your busy work day at the hospital to kindly rescue your stranded and clueless niece.

Mike spent about an hour on the phone with me, helping me figure out where the heck I was (Millcreek, as it turns out) and giving me step-by-step instructions to his house in Cottonwood Heights and telling me how to get in through the garage. He even offered to take me home in his truck if the roads didn't get better. I ended up taking a nap on the couch for a couple of hours, and was very relieved to be out of the storm.

-Thank you to Aunt Stephanie for welcoming me into her home when she had four kids to care for.

Even though they were late for their anniversary date that night, Steph found me a pillow, blankets, and a tooth brush in case I couldn't make it home that night. She and Mike also made sure I was well fed and felt comfortable. They are angels.

-Thank you to the Highway Patrol and all people who drive the snowplows for working so hard to help everyone get home.

-Thank you to Heavenly Father and the angels that protected me and made me feel safe.

I felt very blessed on Friday. Even though I stress out over everything, I felt calm and safe even when I was cold and lost and couldn't see through the snow. When I was set apart as a missionary, I was promised that I would be alert as I commuted and that I would be protected. I definitely felt that protection on Friday. Lots of drivers got stuck or crashed that day, but I was able to drive home safely that night when the canyon was mostly cleared. Even more, I felt completely safe as I drove, if a bit worried. I was home before 8 and able to sleep in my own bed. Thank you to everyone who helped me and prayed for me. It made a big difference.

Side note: it is probably faster to take a sled down Parley's when it is snowing. Traffic was at a measly 15 mph, but I'm pretty sure with the lane that hadn't been plowed I could easily have gotten 80 on a sled.

...

And just for my own record's sake, here are the things I did this week:

• Watch the BYU Special, Winter Thaw, for FHE. Maybe it's because I haven't seen a movie in six months, but I thought it was very good. You'll have to watch it.
• Set up for a surprise baby-shower for Enchantment. It was a complete success and they even found a bakery that make dairy/egg/gluten free cake. Even more amazing, it was really good!
• Explain to someone that I can't transfer an employee that was never hired by the Church in the first place (sometimes managers get sneaky and hire another temp without telling us).
• Fuss with a different spreadsheet (purple is done, green is transferred, orange means the manager messed up and has some explaining to do)...
• Explain that re-hiring people is not my job.
• Terminate and transfer employees.
• Update spreadsheets. Actually, it's just THE spreadsheet. I create a new version every week.
• Add people to e-mail list.
• Add agenda items.
• Recycle a lot of boxes (My office has been the temporary storage unit for the employee Christmas presents). I don't even feel like complaining, I love my desk so much.
• Approve parking requests. Apparently this is part of my job? I'll assume I have that power since it worked.
• Create a powerpoint.
• Lead the music at our PSD Christmas Devotional. Bishop Waddell was presiding, but I was surprisingly calm.
• Attempt to find somewhere you can get a Swiss Legend watch repaired.

Week 24

Dear Friends and Family,

This week I:

• Ordered flowers
• Looked up addresses
• Converted another armadillo load of employees from one kind of temp worker to another. This time it required some investigation as half the fields I needed were not on the spreadsheet.
• Attended a writers Christmas party where we exchanged books and I got to cuddle the most adorable little 2 month-old baby. We're pals now. He just doesn't know it.
• Attended a few minutes of the missionary Christmas party (it started as it was time for me to leave) and ate a lot of treats.
• Trained a 5th person to do the mail. Five. Ridiculous.
• Went to the 28th floor to deliver mail. They just recently turned this into office space. It has a bit of a Hogwarts aspect to it. If you don't want to climb 58 flights of stairs you have to take the high speed elevator (skips 2-13) up to 26, go around a few corners, and take the hidden mini elevator up the last two floors. 
• Made lots of agenda updates.
• Scheduled some meetings.
• Got people lots of strange building accesses. (The access, not the buildings).
• Explained that something was a finance problem, not a HR problem.
• Submitted another Education Reimbursement.
• Did about 3 minutes of transcription work.
• Requested guest parking.
• Calendared all the different director's vacations so we don't schedule meetings then.
• Terminated employees. Mwhahaha. No, actually I just do the paperwork when they resign, but termination makes it sound much worse.
• Attended Ryan's choir concert.
• Attended Carter's band concert.
• Visited Sally, my friend and former flute teacher. She was a bit disappointed though, to find out that since I'm on a mission she couldn't set me up with her nephew...
• Found 10 minutes to practice my flute. Probably should invest in a little more since Mom signed me up to play for the Relief Society...

And now, our weekly segment on Primary Stories:

For our ward Christmas party last week we had a luau, complete with pit-roasted pig. I thought this was cool even if I wasn't interested in eating it. And then I saw Suzie with her face buried in her mothers stomach. I'd forgotten that pigs were one of her favorite animals, and she was quite upset at its fate. Now I would like to say that I said something nice and comforting, but of course what came out of my mouth was, "Well, at least it isn't a whale." Which, whales being her favorite animal, is not one of the most comforting thing I could have said. Good one, Sister Ward.

On Sunday I taught a lesson on the resurrection. While they were particularly squirmy this week, it was actually a very good lesson as they had lots of questions. To review, we watched some scenes from the bible videos, beginning when Christ was already on the cross. It was sweet to see how concerned they were for Jesus. Despite their wiggles, the Spirit was there.

At the beginning of this same lesson, Jimmy told me (out of the blue) "Don't say the word 'blood,' it makes me sick." Every little head in the room turned to him in disbelief. "No it doesn't!" the other kids exclaimed. "All you do is tell gross stories full of blood!" I had to smother a laugh. It's true, most of his stories involve blood. Anyone who can spend five minutes describing the changing colors of his cold sore is not in any danger of losing their breakfast over the word "blood." He's just the ultimate drama king. Kid's brains are so funny.


I also had a neat experience while reading my scriptures last week that I forgot to record. I was struggling with not being a proselyting missionary again. I love my mission, and I do feel like the work I do is important. However, it is hard sometimes when I see proselyting missionaries and read talks about bringing souls unto Christ. When I originally put in my papers, I thought I would have that chance to testify of Christ and share the joy of the gospel directly. So last week I was reading my scriptures and praying that I would find understanding or satisfaction with the work I do instead. I was reading in Mosiah, I think, when I came across the scripture that says "how beautiful upon the mount are the feet of him who publisheth peace." I just had this immediate sense that the Lord was aware of me personally and valued the work I do. After all, what more perfect scripture for a missionary working in Church Publishing Services to stumble across than one about publishing the Lord's peace?

I am so grateful for the Gospel and my Savior. I know the Church is true and that our Heavenly Father loves us. He's right there, you just have to look for him. I haven't always seen the Lord's hand in my life, but looking back, his fingerprints are all over the place. I am so glad that he has been there for me and guided me to where I need to be today.

Love,

Sister Ward