Her dream come true

Aloha,
Julie finally got her chance to swim with the Dolphins. We will post more pictures later, but Mom wanted me to put this one on here cause it is the only one that was decent of me (Jim)......lol.
and the dolphins were everywhere......they were "so cute".....Mom even got in ..... she couldn't resist either.

Great news article about the church

I thought that this article was great:

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/kathleen_flake/2008/02/how_to_bury_a_prophet.html

Doug Havens

Hello!

We had a really great chance to see the dedication of the new Rexburg Temple this past Sunday. It was exciting to see President Monson as the prophet. During the dedicatory prayer and singing of The Spirit of God, it was easy to feel the presence of heavenly beings.

Having a temple as close as Rexburg is great, but we learned today that we have to call and make a reservation to attend a session! In fact, we had to call almost a dozen times. The first session we could get was on a weeknight more than a week away. The temple asked for our phone number and said we had to call them if we weren't going to make it. We wonder what they will do if we do not make it and do not call. Raise our tithing to 15%?

Doug likes to take pictures and post them on the the internet. All of you are certainly welcome to view them. Here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/suzanneanddoug .

Suzanne and Doug

Here's the picture of our birthday party!

[Photo] Hi Family,
Last Sunday, Feb 3, we Salt Lake Faerbers got together at Thompsons' house to celebrate three the three February birthdays--Grandma, Kristine, and Alma. Here's the whole gang patiently smiling for the picture before we dig into the big vanilla Costco cream-filled cake. It was fun to visit with everyone. Thanks to everyone for your wonderful cards, telephone calls, and good wishes. Brittany and Clint are aceing out school this semester and both working full-time, too. Heather and Cameron braved the snow, ice and wind to join us from BYU. Cameron tanked up on the rolls so he'd have enough strength to get back to Provo and try out for a percussion group he wants to join. Heather keeps busy with her piano students and classes and all the guys who keep asking her out. Not to mention Stephanie and all her dates (poor guys, they don't stand a chance against Elder Jeremy.) And Nicole! Have the DC guys discovered you yet? I can't believe I have all these shrine-worthy goddesses of unequaled coolness and unbearably enviable youthful gorgeousness.How can one Grandma be so lucky? I love everyone of you so much. Not to mention Aubrey, who has gathered together a group of her friends into a chorus and is teaching them some fun songs so they can perform during Francine's stake's Valentine dance next week. They were practicing during our party and really sound good (and loud! haha). Spencer took the airport bus to Rexburg yesterday so he could attend the dedication of their new LDS temple this weekend with Suzanne and Doug and family. The Havens' have five feet of snow in their yard. They wrote that it has been declared a disaster area because of the snow. What a riot! Spencer can help them shovel out. I'll try to get a photo of their yard onto the blog if I can do it. Grandpa and I are excited to be flying out to warmer parts next Tuesday. And--wow! David is arriving here tonight! Now that IS GREAT. We'll have a Dentist sleeping downstairs. I can't believe it. How do we rate??? My cavities are almost aching for attention. Yuk. I love you all. The gospel if true!! Remember the Savior in all you do. From - Grandma

Picasa Web Albums - Suzanne and Douglas - Havens Family - 2008-1-19 Che...

Picasa Web Albums - Suzanne and Douglas - Havens Family - 2008-1-19 Che...

The lord works in mysterious ways!

Well here I am! We did indeed have the Dave and Kim family over for dinner a few weeks ago- it was great!! My roommate Tiff and I had a lot of fun seeing some sights in DC with them too :)

Things have turned out so much better than I could have ever hoped for! The lord truly does watch out for us.

When I started thinking about coming to DC, I applied for an internship through an interpreting agency out here. I didn't get accepted to the internship and was devastated! I almost didn't come at all. After much prayer and fasting, I felt that I was still supposed to come. So- with no place to live and no job, I started preparing for my new adventure! Soon, my roommate's dad offered to pay for us to fly out in Dec. to go apartment hunting. Now that I had a place to live, I just had to find a way to pay for it... $1,275 a month between the two of us, and that was a cheaper one!

After a wonderful Christmas with Grandma, Grandpa, and Alma in St. George, my dad and I headed out on December 26. We had an amazing road trip together! We stopped in Ohio to see my cousin's beautiful wedding as well as my Uncle Ken's mission. Kirtland is now one of my favorite places in the world! We also stopped in Pittsburgh and were graciously hosted by Dave and Kim on New Years. My dad and I have never spent so much quality time together. We really enjoyed that trip and dropping him off at the airport was a tearful event! December 2 I moved into my new apartment.

The first week I was here was hard. Tiff hadn't come out yet, I didn't know anyone, and my only contact for interpreting work options wasn't answering her phone or emails! A few days in an empty apartment by yourself with absolutely nothing to do can get pretty lonely. My contact eventually called me back and I started learning about Free Lance interpreting here in DC.
I sent out my information to several places and have since had several Free lance jobs doing company staff meetings, conferences, and even some work with the county park authority interpreting fitness classes. I have also landed some more consistent work with Northern Virginia Community College and George Washington University.

When I didn't get the internship, I felt that moving out here would be impossible and impractical. I have since found out some interesting information:

This internship is very competitive to get in to... but once you're in, it's not all it's talked up to be.

I have met three people who have done the internship and have all had negetive experiences. Their mentors were never available, they earned a terrible wage, and felt taken advantage of. The company keeps you on the clock (not always working, quite often just simply "on call") 40 hours a week and pays you $10 an hour.

I am now guaranteed 28 hours a week with the college and university for $25 an hour and have plenty of time to pick up freelance work (meetings, conferences, etc.) where I receive $45 an hour. I have also been blessed to have excellent team interpreters that have taken on the role of un-official mentors for me. Three of these teams are graduate students attending Gallaudet University (the Deaf University) working towards their PhD degrees in Linguistics. So they are excellent mentors!! During assignments they take notes on my work and afterwards we discuss things I did well, could have done better, and solutions to any problems we may have faced. I also have an official mentor who had been mentoring at Salt Lake Community College for several years and decided to move out to DC at the same time that Tiff and I did. She agreed to mentor me this semester to satisfy my requirements for my practicum classes. She and I interpret together often and at least once a week sit down together to talk about my work. We set up monthly goals and plans for how to achieve them. I have only been here a month and already I have learned SO MUCH!!

I know that I would never have been able to financially support myself, nor would I have been able to learn as much had I been accepted to the internship program. What seemed at first to be a terrible thing has turned out to be such a blessing!

The lord loves each of us and I am so grateful for his guiding influence. I love and miss you all.

Nicole