WAMU Failure

On September 26th, I was privileged to switch banks to JP Morgan.  It is no secret that the financial banking industry was struggling, and Washington Mutual was no exception.  After a run on the bank the previous few days, the bank's assets were seized and immediately sold to JP Morgan Chase.  Not only are they my bank, but they are also a very large company in Seattle, and one of the largest clients of my company, Deloitte.

Typically, during a sale, an audit would continue through the end of the year, and that give the audit firm a chance to react to such a loss; however, due to the nature of this transaction, audit services through the end of the year, were not needed, and Deloitte needed to react sooner than they initially thought.  They announced to us in mid-October that they were trying to staff the other audit appropriately, and expedite some transfers to other offices, but eventually, they expected to separate about 8-10 people from the firm.

8-10 people in a firm of 135 or so is a big number, and I was preparing myself to be separated if need be.  Currently, the job market is not great, and is seems like a bunch of companies are laying off people left and right.  Overall, they decided to let 8 people go, and I was not included in those 8 people.  So for now, my job is secure, but I will miss those people whom I have previously worked with and hope the best for them.

Welcome to Primary

Out with the old and in with the new.  After spending about 2.5 years as the Young Women's Secretary, I have been released, and called to serve as a primary worker.  I have been assigned the 9 and 10 year old class.  It is a great class with about 8 kids who have lots of energy, and are excited to learn.  This year, we are studying the Book of Mormon.

I had forgotten how much of a foundation primary lays in teaching the gospel.  I have to remember that many of these kids are learning the stories for the first time, and beginning to understand the concepts.  The kids in my class are so smart, and ask as lot of questions out of curiosity (many that I can't even answer).  I am really enjoying the class, and Dusty gets to come with me to help with the kids.

General Conference

This weekend, we had the great opportunity to watch General Conference.  It is always great to hear the prophet and the apostles speak to us.  We watched the Saturday sessions, and Sunday Morning online, and then ventured over to Maple Valley to watch the Sunday afternoon session with the Sants.  Mom was also there with David, and Grandma and Grandpa also came over for a visit.  It was great to visit with them and share in the conference experience.