Flexible Travel Plans
Dear Family and Friends,
Welcome to this week's "Thoughtlet."
These words are my personal diary and a weekly review of ideas,
beliefs, thoughts, or words that will hopefully be of some
benefit to you: my children, my family, and my friends.
"This was the week I was scheduled to make reservations for a trip to China. However, the company could not make up their mind as to when I should go. Rachel and Andrea were going to go with me. And when we could not get the dates tied down, Rachel just decided to stay in Cedar City for Spring Break and to work at Burger King. I've learned over the years to be very flexible when it comes to travel plans. It was sad to see Rachel dig her heals in, and give up a trip I knew she would enjoy. Oh well! As it turned out Andrea and I went to Cuidad Del Carmen, Mexico for a Pemex conference over Spring Break (0612.html. We invited Rachel to join us, and she had already committed to be at Burger King for the week, and so turned down the trip.
The week started on Monday with announcements in the paper about the man accused of killing Todd and Michelle Staheli. A link to the first article came from an e-mail from Dr. Lin Bothwell, Todd's uncle, which said:
<![CDATA['January 20, 2004
Brazil cops baffled by `hideous crime'
Full story: Chicago Tribune
Barra de Tijuca is an affluent suburb of gated $700,000 condos, beachfront
high-rises, palm trees and so many American expatriates that the locals call
the neighborhood Miami Beach. But the full weight of how extraordinarily
different this homicide was from the estimated 4,000 murders that occur each
year in Rio became jarringly clear on Nov. 30 when detectives entered the
second-floor bedroom of a luxurious condo. A Utah executive, Todd Staheli, lay
dead in his bed alongside his wife, Michelle, who was fatally wounded. Their
bodies were mutilated by repeated blows from what appeared to be an ax or meat
cleaver. Detectives noticed Todd Staheli's gold Rolex watch on a bureau, a few
feet from the bodies. From the window they could see the couple's Land Rover in
the driveway. This, the detectives quickly concluded, was no robbery, according
to Brazilian authorities who provided extensive details on the case. This was
rage. Seven weeks after the grotesque slayings, the investigation of the
killings remains inconclusive. No arrests have been made, no charges filed, and
Brazilian and American officials have traded criticism over differences in the
way they deal with criminal investigations.
Posted by stupefied
09:27 PM
Utah couple's killer sentenced to 25 years in Brazil prison
The Associated Press
Salt Lake Tribune, 06 March 2006
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - A 22-year-old handyman has been convicted and
sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 2003 killing of an American couple,
authorities said Sunday.
Jossiel Conceicao dos Santos was found guilty of killing Shell oil executive
Todd Staheli, 39, and his wife, Michelle, 36, in a ruling late Friday night,
said Luis Carlos Puglialli, a spokesman with Rio's justice department.
Defense attorneys planned to appeal the conviction, Puglialli said. Dos Santos,
jailed for the trial, was expected to be transferred to a maximum-security
prison in the coming days.
The Stahelis, originally from Spanish Fork, Utah, were bludgeoned to death in
bed at home in Rio de Janeiro on Nov. 30, 2003. The couple, survived by four
young children, had been in Brazil for three months.
Judge Maria Tereza Donatti said during sentencing that she took in
consideration the fact that the children - ranging in ages between 3 and 13 at
the time of the crime - were left without parents because of dos Santos'
actions, the Agencia Estado news service reported.
She also ruled that dos Santos will have to remain in prison if an appeal trial
takes place.
With nothing robbed and no signs of forced entry, the case stumped police for
months before dos Santos was arrested in April 2004, after allegedly trying to
break into another home in the complex where the Stahelis lived.
Dos Santos confessed to the killings but later recanted, and a judge at one
point released him without charges, citing a lack of physical evidence.
Initial DNA tests failed to link dos Santos to the crime, but further tests on
clothing turned up traces of blood belonging to both victims.
In his confession, dos Santos said he killed Todd Staheli first, hitting him in
the head with a crowbar. He then hit Michelle Staheli with the crowbar when he
realized she was awake. She died in a hospital four days later.']]>
There was an article in the Deseret News 060306_Staheli_Killer_sentanced.jpg, and also an article in The Salt Lake Tribune 060307_SL_Tribute_Staheli.jpg. This tragedy still tears my heart out. And attempting to put a bit of humor around it within this week's theme, we all need to have flexible travel plans when it comes to going to heaven. We never know when our ride is going to arrive. It is certain Todd and Michelle nor their children were expecting the travel plans they ended up taking. I know I currently have no flexibility in my travel plans, when it comes to even the thought of revisiting Brazil, based on the Staheli tragedy.
Monday I also received a weird e-mail from India:
<![CDATA[To: dynamic@walden3d.com
Subject: Walden CLP for India : RFIs
May we solicit your kind help in completing RFIs
URGENTLY with sales and technical ppt, indicative prices,
customer success stories etc.']]>
I ignored it. Again, this time because of bad experiences when I attempted to get a contract in India for Landmark and was cut out of the process by a bribe from Horizon Geophysical in England, I currently have no flexibility in my lack of travel plans when it comes to working in India.
On Tuesday there were discussions with Jialin about going to China on Tuesday. I think this was the day we decided we were not going to China and Rachel decided to stay in Cedar City. Then Andrea and I talked about going to California to visit Ben and Sarah and Ethan. What is really sad is that there was only one time when I visited them in California, and that was only over a couple of hour layover at the airport. Then Luis Vertiel asked me to support him at a Pemex Conference in Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico. He told me there were three ruins about 1 to 2 hours away from the city: Edzna, Calakmul, and Uxmul. I believed him. It's a good thing I typically have flexible travel plans, because it was about 4 or 5 hours to Edzna and Calakmul, and we never made it to Uxmul (0612.html). However, we did go to Palenque. But the description of these trips is in next week's Thoughtlet.
Thursday I received the following note from Trey Sibley of The Rudman Partnership regarding my Red Cove proposal:
<![CDATA['Thanks for thinking of us but I do not think this is our cup of tea.
Trey']]>
I responded with:
<![CDATA['Trey,
Thanks for the note. Some day you are going to want to work with me.
I look forward to that day.
Best Regards,
Roice']]>
Thursday night was our Ward Temple Night. It is so nice to be able to go to the temple regularly. It is especially nice to be able to go to the temple when there is a significant disappointment, like the response to my Red Cove Proposal. I feel so sorry for anyone who does not include a regular trip through the story of creation and why we are on planet earth in their flexible travel plans.
Friday I was asked to visit Hong Kong and an oil and gas investor by my friend Bob Mishler. I told him I expected to be able to visit his friend the next time I went to China, which is described in thoughtlet 0615.html. Another example of the need to have flexible travel plans. Friday I also received a note from Ben regarding my plans for Red Cove. It simply said: “I thought this might be somewhat relevant to your Red Cove project, at least from one angle. Pizza Magnate Modifies Plans for Fla. Town - Yahoo! News, which link refers to the problems this development is getting into because deed restrictions are tied to specific religious beliefs. Interesting.
Saturday I have two notes, '16 blocks,' and 'Randy Shirts,' neither of which have any meaning to me 25 weeks later. Oh well! Maybe after the resurrection, when all things are restored, like my memory, this week will be one of the places I can revisit to see what my notes were intended to recall to mind. And again, maybe not. After all, it is to have flexible travel plans. And it turns out I was switching channels on TV and say a Pay-for-View Channel was playing a movie called '16 blocks,' and I recalled Andrea and I going to see this movie. It was a reasonable action movie, and not for little kids. So maybe the resurrection is coming sooner than I thought! Or at least my memory was restored on this one little thing.
Sunday I wrote a possible stanza for Prime Words based on the talk by our High Council Representative, Merv Swan, in the Nottingham Country Ward on 12 March 2006:
<![CDATA['Families are windows into heaven
Which allow us to take moments of fun
And turn them into happiness
Eternal joy, the reason for life's run']]>
And based on the theme of this week, I would add, life's run needs to always include flexible travel plans."
Since the 38th week of 1996 I have written a weekly "Thoughtlet"
(little statements of big thoughts which mean a lot to me).
Until the 43rd week of 2004 I sent these out as an e-mail. They
were intended to be big thoughts which mean a lot to me.
Over time the process evolved into a personal diary. These notes
were shared with my family because I know how important the
written word can be. Concerned about how easy it is to drift and
forget our roots and our potential among all of distractions of
daily life, I thought this was a good way to reach those I love.
It no longer feels right to send out an e-mail and "force" my kids
and my family to be aware of my life and struggles.
Everyone has their own life to lead, and their own struggles to
work through. I will continue this effort, and will continue to
make my notes publicly accessible (unless I learn of
misuse by someone who finds out about them, and then will
aggressively
pursue a legal remedy to copyright infringement and I will put the Thoughtlets
behind a password).
The index to download any of these Thoughtlets is at
http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets,
or you can e-mail me with
questions or requests at
rnelson@walden3d.com
(note if you are not on my e-mail "whitelist" you must send 2 e-mails
within 24 hours of each other in order for your e-mail to not be trashed).
With all my love,
Dad
(H. Roice Nelson, Jr.)
