New Job for Dad

Well, I finally got a new job this week. I am now working for Leads by Fone based in Snellville. Their website is leadsbyfone.com. My title is VP of Sales but I am pretty much the only sales guy in the office. We do plan to grow by the end of the year so I will be hiring more sales people and will have more to do. All of my work is on the phone so I get to work out of the house with Jack at my feet. I have to keep my finger close to the mute button when we have someone visit the house and Jack starts barking but so far, it has not been a problem. The work we do is generate leads for companies who service water damage restoration. We do this by creating a website that gets to the top of a Google search so that someone who has a water problem in their house will call them. The customer only pays when there is a qualified lead. The way we know that is we record and listen to every call and determine if it is a lead or just a junk call. Right now, we have about 180 customers and hope to get around 500 around the country by the end of the year. As we go forward, we will add more vertical markets. The next vertical we will be adding is back pain so we will be calling all the chiropractors in the country which will keep us busy for a while. We look for markets where there is an immediate need and the revenue generated for the customer is substantial.

I am excited to be with a young company like this and have the opportunity to help them grow and establish a solid base of business. It should be fun. We will see.

My New Job

I started working 2 weeks ago at Aramark Uniforms as a customer service rep. My first week was pretty uneventful and I just had to look over everyone's shoulder to see what they were doing because my computer was not up yet. Last week, however, was a little more eventful. I went out on the routes with the truck drivers! All week I had to be in Gainsville, Ga. early in the morning. (5:30-6:00). I had to get up at 4:00 a.m some mornings 4:30 other mornings. It was so cold last week that there was still ice everywhere. I knew I was in trouble when I got to the depot and all of them but one were smoking and talking with some pretty foul language! I went with a different driver everyday and when we were on the truck together, they were such nice gentlemen and we had a lot of fun! I insisted on getting right in and working with them so I could understand that side of the company and so we could get done sooner. Well, I can tell you this, those guys earn their money and some of them make really good money! I was so dead the first night I think I went to bed by 8:30 p.m. Tuesday was hard as well, but by Wed. I was starting to get use to it and did fine the rest of the week. By Friday, the weather was nice and didn't mind it at all. Of course Friday was the day I got the non-smoker and it would not have been cold with the window down. The rest of the week when it was in the 30's that's when I had the smokers that would open their widows to smoke! The scariest to ride with was the 23 year old that smoked and text messaged at the same time while he was driving!

Today I worked at my office and got my computer up! The rest of the week I will be working at the downtown Atlanta location in accounting for two days and then at the plant for 2 days, sorting and doing laundry (or at least observing). I haven't decided yet if I will join in.

I do love the fact that Aramark wants us to know the whole company so we can do our jobs better. It's been an adventure!

It's been great having John home! I loved having all of the kids home and hated to see them all leave! I missed Spencer, but am thankful for the service he is giving our country!

John's Email 14 Dec 2009 [last one from the mission!]

Well this is pretty crazy… i will be seeing yall this week! Im pretty excited. Last week was pretty cool, we had a conference with Elder Gavarret from the 70. It was pretty good and I talked to him for a little bit after and he thanked me for all the serviced I have done and made me feel really good. Yesterday was cool to see some of the families I baptized giving there testimonies. All the kids talked about me in there testimonies. I think they are sadder than anyone. But I have some good bye lunches and dinners with them as well. Wednesday im going to santa cruz, and Thursday is at the mission home. So today and tomorrow are my last work days, most of it is to teach new members to make them stay active. Friday im getting there around 1130 in the morning. I leave here at like midnight. Im doing pretty well of working until the last day. Its kinda of hard though. Im thinking of the things I want to do when I get back but it seems like too many things. As for the roast I am find with that. as long as it doesn’t have rice. I know it would be amazing with rice but I think im 30 percent rice now I have eaten so much. Im not picky anymore. About my clothes, I think I only have that huge box, I don’t think I have anything else. Im actually pretty nervous to come back. I got culture shock going to santa cruz I cant imagine America. I realized that I cant decide on anything anymore. There is a place there like wal mart, and I couldn’t deside on anything to buy because there were a lot of options. Riberalta is a little different. You don’t have any choices, there is one kind of everything. So we always get the same. Which made me bad at decision making. Im excited that everyone is staying home for a while when I get back. It will be a lot nicer though calling instead of waiting every week to write a bunch to everyone. Im trying to update my journal. I haven’t done too good at doing it but I think it will be enough. Well I guess I have a talk next week, but you didn’t tell me a subject. Just Christmas stories? Well I guess you will just answer that in the airport. Its sad to say bye to everyone here especially being here for so long. Im not too excited though about there way to say goodbye. The culture is here is to either, through water on the person, smash an egg on there head, or through flower on the person who has a birthday or is leaving. I don’t enjoy it too much but I cant really do much. But that’s all im going to write because I want to be able to have stories for Friday! Im pretty pumped for that. well see you this week! Love yall
Elder Cheesman

John 12-7-09

Congrats mom on the job. What is it exactly that you will be doing? Kinda crazy that next week I will be back, it still hasn’t hit me that big yet though. I don’t think it will till im on a plane. The zone leader conference was really good actually. I had to give my testimony in front of everyone which felt really weird because for 2 years I have seen other missionaries do that. And we came all the way back on the famous bus ride and plane. But it’s the last of those buses finally. The plane flights were pretty miserable actually because it was raining and really humid. So it got really hot in the plane and was moving around a lot. So im ready for being done with those. I really don’t like them that much anymore. Im not sending anything home because I don’t trust too much in the postal system. Im just going to leave a lot of clothes that are ruined now and I will have some room. Im just worried about if im allowed to take 2 carry ons and my guitar to santa cruz. I will figure it out some how, they are my friends in the airport now. Yesterday were the elections for Bolivia. And evo morales won, again. So we are all praying that we don’t have to leave again. But tomorrow another exciting thing is happening. We are going to Trinidad to have a conference with a 70. Elder Gavarett is coming. He is pretty new but I hear he is a really cool guy. And then next Tuesday or Monday we are having a regular zone conference. So I don’t have that many work days left. I have a feeling that they are going to ask me to do all the practices and stuff in front of the 70 because im one of the only people going home. Well elder Vandyke from my group will be there as well. Yesterday for the elections we didn’t leave the house allllll day. Because its against the law to do anything on elections day. You can only vote. So me and elder annis played a lot of cards, chess, checkers and I read some as well. I finished the book of mormon again. That’s my 2nd time in Spanish. So that was pretty awesome. I learned a lot more this time as well. I don’t think I will have a baptism before I leave but there is a lot for when I leave. Its not that hot today but always right at noon it gets really hot here. But I love the rain because there is no dust and it makes the day a lot cooler. Im kind of jealous you guys got to go to a concert. The masquerade is a pretty gross place as well. Funny to imagine mom and dad there actually. But I bet it was fun having them at home. Brooke I am pretty excited to see mason, apparently he will be talking in Spanish when I get home huh? And is it expected to snow this year in Georgia? Or just like ice and sleet? I don’t know how I will react to the humid cold of Georgia. But im excited either way. Well anyway have a good week everyone. And mom how long is everyone staying for when I get back? I love you all and see yall next week!Elder Cheesman

John 11-30-09

Well thanks everyone for the letters this week. Today we are heading off to santa cruz for the zone leader council again. Its pretty weird because its my last one! So im pretty excited about that. Sounds like last week was a pretty exciting for everyone. I bet the BYU game was pretty sweet. About which room I want I think I would like the basement again. I do kind of miss that room. Not that I don’t want to be close to yall or anything but I did like that room. I will keep it cleaner this time…I hope. Im trying to look at the pictures everyone sent me but they talk a long time to open. Next week by the way are eleccions here and we aren’t allowed to leave the house all day Sunday. There isn’t going to be church in the whole country. Crazy huh? O ya by the way mom I would like a little bit of ..¨dinero¨… cause im going to be buying some stuff today. And in the next few weeks. Maybe for some Christmas presents. Brooke cooking turkey sounds like an adventure. I don’t know if I have ever eaten food cooked by brooke. Last week that couple did get married and the husband was baptized. It was a pretty crazy baptism as well. Because people would show up late and stuff. But the worst part of it was that the church didn’t have any water to fill up the Baptismal Fount. So we figured out there is a tank of water below the church and we heard that it was little dirty which we didn’t care too much. It didn’t look that bad when it was filling up…..but…. when it filled up it looked bad. It was pure river water and really really dark green. You couldn’t even see the ground, so that was pretty funny, but there were no other option. So we asked the people that were going to get baptized if it was alright to get baptized in that water and they said it was fine. We made a joke out of it that Jesus was baptized in a river just as dirty as this and now your following his example even more. But everything turned out fine. What I was happy about is that he showed up the church the next day with a tie on. He had never wore one before. So that was cool. For a person to wear a tie here is a lot more difficult then you think. And for thanksgiving, we went to the cool looking restaurant and it was awesome. They made really really good food. We invited two other missionaries to come as well. And we ate a lot. It was pretty expensive but worth it. Well for bolivan money it was really expensive. It was like 30 dollars in total. I shared a filet mignon with my companion which was very good. The coolest thing about the place is that it has tiger skins everywhere and anaconda skins that are 25 feet long. So I enjoyed myself. Its weird to think im only going to church here one more time before im back home. Im kind of nervous to get back actually cause im not use to the life back at home. It will be a little weird at first like not inviting 140 people a week to church. But I don’t have anyone on my mind for the little home coming party I would invite. I think most of my friends will be home for Christmas so im happy about that. I got to start thinking of where to work as well while im back. Um but so a little bit of money as soon as possible would be nice….maybe today? Because I wanted to buy a few things while I was in santa cruz. O ya I didn’t tell what we sold for a fund raiser. We sold empanadas to the missionaries. And I made them eat a lot. It was funny. But they got enough money. Anyway im staying pretty happy, just a little worried about the baptisms for December. Anyway i got to go. Everyone have a good week. Love yallElder Cheesman

John 11-23-09

This week actually went better for us as a zone and area. We had more people in the church this week as well. So I am a little happier this week. And I don’t walk under too many trees anymore so I wont get attacked by snakes. Im trying better to take some good pictures of Bolivia. Im not going to lie there are some really cool places. It hits me that im in the middle of a jungle when I see a couple things like…. Naked kids running free in the street, kid with a monkey on his head, when everyone invites us bananas, and the other day it was funny because we heard like a screeching animal noise and my companion and I both knew it was a monkey. So we even know how every amazonic animal sounds. But its crazy how time is flying by. Only like 3 weeks left. And on the 6th there is no church and we stay in house. But I don’t think there will be as many problems as last year. There are a few problems with some candidate stuff with like teenagers coming and throwing rocks at them but that’s about it. And mom I haven’t been gone for that long.. I do remember what pie night was. Haha but im thinking of doing my own kind of pie night here. I don’t know what I will do but I know thanksgiving we are going to a cool restaurant here. So im pretty excited about that. O ya lately I have been learning how to cook some stuff here as well. I learned how to make some really good cheese empanadas and as well a side dish called Rice with Cheese. It is really really good. I hope I will be able to cook it at home. But I don’t know much else to cook. Because we rarely ever cook here. This Saturday we have a baptism of a couple, the wife is already member and we need to get them married first before we baptize him. Today we are doing a little fundraiser so that they have money to get married. So im pretty excited about that. But there isn’t much else going on, im staying pretty happy and still trying to work hard. My last zone leader thing is the first week of December, and the zone meeting will be like the 11th but I will be here in riberalta till like the 16th I think. That’s if I don’t have a change on the 3rd. but I don’t think I will. But anyway that’s about all that’s going on. Lisa im not really sure on my waist size but I do fit in all my clothes still. So I don’t think I have changed too much. Im trying to keep myself disciplined on what to eat but there isn’t much choice for me out here. Well I love yall and I will be writing again next week!Elder Cheesman

John

Well i got a couple stories for this week, yesterday was the most exciting… after the first branch in the morning we went and talked to a member to plan to pick up and investigator. So we were talking outside under a mango tree, and something fell on my shoulder then to the ground. I didnt think much of it but my companion kind of yelled and i looked. It was definitely, a snake! Haha it was hunting a tree frog and they both fell down. The member was freaking out telling us to kill it. Me and my companion just wanted to watch it. It was like 3 feet long and pretty skinny. It looked like a long garden snake, so it didnt look to dangerous, but apparently its one of the most venomous snakes in the area. But the story doesnt end there...while we looked for something to kill it, it got away from us. So once it was gone we got back to talking like normal. My companion was about to lean against the fence and screamed (like a little girl) there it is! It was on the top of the fence sneaking up to bite my companion. It was the first animal i have seen that has come back for vengeance. So at the end of everything we got a huge log and we killed it. And it was an awesome adrenaline rush. Also last week we had zone conference with president maynes. And it was funny when he flew in because the same day a senator running for elections was coming in as well the same day. So we are walking to the airport and there are a million people in the streets, as well in the airport. I think there were at least 5,000 people there. And president maynes gets there and sees all the people and just laughs. We told him it was all for his arrival. But we were stuck there till the senator actually got there and everyone went crazy like it was a celebrity. Stormed the airplane and everything. I got a good laugh out of that. And president did a really good conference this time again. It was really weird though thinking the next one is my last one. This week I will only have a month left. President told me I will still be here probly when I finish. I will be going back to santa cruz like the 16th and have the dinner and interview. So that should be pretty fun. As a zone we are doing pretty well. Our area is kind of going down. The people that were going to get married and baptized are having some problems and the members are not getting animated. There was a problem with some new member kids watching some movies that are against our church and doubted there testimonies. But i think we helped them out some. Last Monday we went as a zone to Tumi Chuckua which is a big lake. I have gone before but the whole zone is new so we went again. And we played a little bit of soccer. And of course the Americans beat the latins again. So we are always making sure that they remember that. The cool thing was at our half time we just went around picking up mangos on the ground for a snack. I forgot to tell dad that. Its mango season and for the past month there has been a ton of mangos everywhere. And all types of mangos. Bolivian, rose, Japanese, grape, papaya, pineapple, all sorts of mangos. I think the best are the Japanese mangos. Had some mango juice that was really good. I filled myself up on it and didn’t eat much lunch. But don’t be jealous dad. It hasn’t rained too much lately but it was cloudy a couple days and then it gets really really hot and goes back to a little cloudy. This morning started out pretty cool, but its already getting hotter. Here in riberalta there isn’t really seasons. The people say seasons like, the rainy season and dry season and maybe a dust season. Nothing else. There is only a time for the south winds to come in like may when it gets cold but for only like 2 days. But im kind of use to getting home really really wet from sweat and filthy from the seats people give us from all the dirt here. Um but there isn’t much else to tell. Sounds like it was a good fireside you had from that guy. There was a saying that president maynes used that is close to what he said. He said ¨good is excellent´s worst enemy¨ just to not settle for being good. But that’s about all that’s been going on. O ya james gosling is going to the mission of an elder in my zone. He said its amazing there and he will have a good time. And that’s cool that bj is going to long beach. That would be an interesting mission as well.Elder Cheesman