There are some interesting people who come into the office. One brother we worked with is John Lawrence. He wanted help deciding what kind of work was best suited to his abilities. He also brought his wife, Hilma. Hilma is a caregiver who has to travel by bus to her place of employment. It's a long commute so she would like something closer to home.
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| John and Hilma Lawrence |
We had a self-employment workshop with John alone because he wanted to learn how to go about starting his own business. We had encouraged him in an earlier visit to start as a math tutor, since he said he was very good at teaching struggling students how to understand complex math problems.
And, as a tutor he would have little or no overhead because he could go to the schools or to the homes of students who wanted to hire a tutor.
So. We sat down in the media room in the SRC. (Self Reliance Centre) Elder Jolley on one side of John and Sister Jolley on the other. We went through the material taught in the self-employment workshop, which includes filling out a 'mock' business plan. John was to decide on the kind of business he wanted to start and we would help him with it. If only we had the capability to video the class! It was hilarious. Sister Jolley got a bit hysterical. It was ok because John was also amusing
himself with his mind-boggling wealth of ideas.
Instead of opting for something "do-able" John wanted to go straight to the top. He wanted to open an internet cafe. He would acquire computers and train people in math and English, as well as providing therapy to get their heads on straight. Then he would help them find a job. He can't find a job himself so that would be a good trick! He was going every direction at once - kind of like the Zode Elder Jolley spoke about in his farewell talk.
We tried to be the voice of reason. Where would he get the funds? (from the government) How would he do it all himself when he got busy? How would he get the training for all the services that he wanted to provide? What if he got sick? Who would run the shop? He had an answer for everything. Of course, when it's all hypothetical - it's easy! (He had enrolled in a class that trains people in getting work and helps them find a job, so he thought he could start the same type of business...they also get their money from the government.) It's very difficult to lead people away from that concept...the government will pay for everything, including paying people to care for their own handicapped family members!
John is now working on a pyramid scheme...hoping to get rich quick with very little research, planning, or effort. It's obvious why some people don't have jobs. They don't focus on one concept and work through it until they reach their goal.
Now...at the opposite end of the scale, we have met an amazing brother from Pakistan. He was a banker by profession and then started his own charity in his country. We're working with him to help he and his family get their own business going in the UK. Pray for them! And us!
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| Stephen Anjum |
When Brother Anjum was a young man in Pakistan, he had a friend who told him about a really disgusting book that his dad, a preacher, had picked up in London. He was telling everyone that it was the worst book ever. So that made Stephen curious. He asked the preacher about the book and if he had ever read it. "Oh No!" He said that he would never read such a book! He was warning people to stay away from it. So Brother Anjum asked if he could borrow the book. It was called the Book of Mormon. As Brother Anjum continued to read the book, he felt the Spirit and gained a testimony simply from reading it.
This was in the 80s when we "saints" in the west were writing our testimonies in the BOM to be sent out all over the world. The preacher who was bashing the BOM had been in London where he somehow came into possession of the book.
When the preacher heard that Stephen liked the book and thought it was from God, he told his son he needed to get the book back from him. Stephen returned the book but first he copied the address of the young man who had put his testimony in the back and then he wrote to him. He asked him if he could please get his own copy of the BOM because he knew that it was a book from God and it taught only about Jesus Christ and that he knew Joseph Smith was a prophet. He said he was a Christian Pakistani (Catholic) and he wanted his own BOM.
Well, you can guess the stir that caused when the young man, Sean Dixon, of Spanish Fork, received a letter from Pakistan. His mother asked, "Who do you know in Pakistan?"
After reading Stephen's letter, Sean and his mother got the ball rolling. They managed to ship a whole case of the BOM to the bank in Pakistan where Stephen's father was the bank president. That was the only way they got Christian materials into the country. They assumed they were bank materials.
Through Stephen's efforts, the church grew in Pakistan. They said there were 5000 members there when they left the country 5 years ago. Stephen and his wife, Thomsena were able to go to the London temple to be sealed a few years after they were baptized into the church. That's another story in itself. To make a long story short, the Anjum family had to seek asylum out of their country because they became targets for trying to get the church recognized. (Joseph Smith is a prophet but in the Muslim religion there have been no prophets since Mohammed. You see the problem? It's blasphemy.) Their sons were beat up at school and Thomsena was shot at in her car.
The original plan was to get them to America but it didn't work out. That's
another story! The agents in Pakistan would not even look at the papers Stephen had that were supposed to get them to the U.S. Instead they were sent to the U.K. They waited 3 years for the asylum period to be over before they could apply for citizenship. During that time, they were not allowed to work. They are living on government benefits and they barely subsist....this is humiliating for them after having a good job and a good life in Pakistan. They walked away from all they owned in their own country.
It would be nice if he could publish a book to tell his story and have it published in Deseret Book, but it would put his family in danger as well as those LDS who are still in Pakistan.
Elder Jolley is helping Stephen make a business plan and hopefully they will be able to start a business that will support their family financially and help them earn the respect they deserve.
We hope this is one of the reasons the Lord wanted us to come to England - so that we can help these people who have been so valiant in their testimony - to the point of putting their lives in danger.
We will keep you posted as the "rest of the story" unfolds!
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Summer Birthday Bulletin Board:
We're a little bit late but Sam, Ava and Luke celebrated their birthdays in June. Sam had his special #12. Congrats to Sam who is the newest Jolley man to receive the Priesthood! Ava turned 6 years old on June 5th! And Luke celebrated #7 on the 11th...oh thank heaven for 7/11! ha!
Rachel had another birthday on July 31st...15 years old already? And Bella Mae who shares the same birth date as Ray, celebrated her 6th birthday...
Happy 2nd Birthday to Meg last Friday, August 1st, and Aly who will be 8 years old on Tuesday, the 5th! Her baptism will take place at the family reunion in Aspen Grove next week! Congrats to Aly!!! And their new baby sister, Skylar Rose, born April 15th, will have her blessing day there as well. The family (cousins) will be together already so that works out great!
And Kimball DEAN Jolley is turning 6 on the 15th... :-) A big happy birthday to Kimball!
Interesting Trivia: In the summer of 2008, our Jolley family had three new babies born - Ava, Bella and Kimball. It's hard to believe that was 6 years ago already!
Kayla Ray Jolley was born in 2007. She will be 7 years old August 28th! Happy birthday cute KK!
To whom it may concern: Please give all the summer birthday kids a birthday hug and spanking when you see them at Aspen Grove! :-)
We love you all,
Gramps and Grams
