RE: How did it go?

I dislike change. I see that as both a strength and weakness. I understand what you mean. Julie, the girls and I all knelt down and prayed that all would go well for you. Julie said the prayer and reminded Heavenly Father that you were a good man with many strengths. She asked that our Father bless you so that the best thing would happen for you and for your family. I concur and am still praying that the best will happen. Love, M

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From: STrauntvein@sa.utah.edu
To: mandlht@msn.com; trauntvein@relia.net
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:56:15 -0700
Subject: RE: How did it go?

Well, the manager that is hiring for the position said they had three good candidates, each of which has different strengths, and that those created different exciting possibilities. He said they would make a decision in a couple of days. The more technical person on the interview committee, was asked by the manager if he had any more questions, and he said "no". I then asked if he had a question about any of my answers to his questions, and he said that as far as he was concerned I had "hit them all out of the park".

I hate change, though, when I am not the one in control. This position would not have any management aspect, and I worry about whether I need to keep working on my management skills in case some future employment change is needed. I also worry about having to buy a new home, and about real estate being higher priced in the Provo area. I am 46, we only have ten-to-twelve years to finish paying off our house, even with the second mortgage. I cannot get into a new 30 year mortgage, or I will be 77 before I finish paying it off.  I was hoping Kimberly and I could go on a mission by then, although I don't have much of a retirement account anymore, and when I looked at mission prices a couple of months ago (for different places around the world) I was not sure how I would be able to afford them.

I am kind of tired though. I have only been getting four-to-five hours of sleep a night (although last night I got six). I have so many things going on, and I seem to wake up early in the morning worrying. I also may need surgery on my hemorrhoids, and do not want to carry a pre-existing condition into my next employment. I have youth that I feel I need to work with, and I worry about leaving before I finish what I felt I should have been doing. Kimberly's Grandma Nonie was also diagnosed with breast cancer, and she has an upcoming surgery. There is so much going on.

How Did It Go?

That story should have impressed them. It impressed me. Love, M

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From: STrauntvein@sa.utah.edu
To: mandlht@msn.com; trauntvein@relia.net
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:55:41 -0700
Subject: RE: How did it go?

By the way, I told a "hunting" from when I was twelve during my interview. They asked if I was big picture oriented, or detail oriented. I told them that I leaned towards the big picture side. They asked me why, I said "it is because you can get bogged down in details if you only deal with details, and can come out completely wrong." I continued by telling the following experience (although I did not say I was hunting pheasants, or that we were out by the bogs):

"When I was young I was hiking with my father, and he told me to cross through a big area of willows, and come out on the other side. I started through the willows and would keep having to decide which way was best to go to get around a clump of willows, I would go around the one, get to the next and go around it, and all the time I thought I was still going the right direction, but in the end I ended up coming out on the wrong side. Because I had no external 'big picture' reference, I got lost in the details."

From: L H TRAUNTVEIN [mailto:mandlht@msn.com] 
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2008 9:25 AM
To: Shawn and Kimberly Trauntvein; Shawn Trauntvein
Subject: How did it go?

Dad and I went home teaching last night. I wondered if you knew how you had done on the interview or if you felt good about it. Love, M