Jacob's 7/31 Letters

Dearest Mother, 

I can't believe school is about to start for you again. I can tell you're just THRILLED to be going back. I hope you enjoyed your vacation thoroughly. I mean, you DID get to go to Utah for vacation recently, and from the sound of it it, it seems like y'all had an AWESOME time. So hopefully that little trip satisfied your need for a vacation. 

Mom. You know that I've ALWAYS wanted to get food from a food truck, and you choose NOW of all times to get some?? Oh well. You'll just have to take me once I get back. No big deal. 

The ride from Hurricane to Fontana is like the most relaxing, calming car ride EVER. You really can't blame us for falling asleep. My companion has gotten mad at me for these past couple of Sundays because I've been falling asleep during Sacrament meeting. You have to understand, Elder Marcum is a robot. He doesn't make mistakes. It gets sorta annoying sometimes. He's like the perfect specimen of human being. So yeah. He never falls asleep during Sacrament meeting. It's not like I'm CHOOSING to fall asleep. And it's not like I didn't get the 8 hours of sleep the night before. If my body is sleepy, I'll sleep. Sorry for the rant. But it's just amusing to me how abnormal and perfect Elder Marcum is. 

Are you feeling sad that the Knudsen are leaving?? Has it hit you yet? It's coming so quickly. Braden sent me an email and told me that leaving California and the ward was one of the hardest things he's ever done. Just the knowledge that he won't return to that same home ever again. I can't even imagine what that must be like. Please don't move while I'm gone. 

Braden has been in the MTC for 6 days now. Wow. Poor kid. I hope he survives. I'm gonna email him today. 

It's weird knowing that there's gonna be some family close to me soon. If they happen to come to the Harrisburg area, tell them to hit me up. Or not. Idk if that'd be a good idea. 

FOOTBALL SEASON IS ALMOST UPON US. I'M SO EXCITED!! I am currently wearing a Penn State University shirt right now. When I get back from my mission, I've already decided I'm gonna cheer for Penn State. They have a dang good team. They made it to a New Year's 6 Bowl last year, and are consistently in the top 10. People here in the Harrisburg area are all Penn State fans. It's not until you get closer to Pittsburgh that you see the Pitt fans. I know all of this info is irrelevant, but I've gotta get my sports fix SOMEHOW. 

You mentioned in your letter a few weeks ago that you would be receiving some test results today, on the 31st. Let me know if there's anything I should know about. 

We ate dinner at a members house on Saturday, the Kauffmans. Sister Kauffman provided us with the best dinner since I've been out here on a mission. The best part?? Her Cheesy potatoes. They tasted EXACTLY like yours. It was like a little piece of home. I told her, and she sent me home with a Tupperware container full of Cheesy potatoes. So yeah. That was cool. I miss your Cheesy potatoes. 

I'm trying to think of any other news that might be worth sharing. Our investigators couple, Tyler and Stephanie, are still set to be married and baptized on August 12th. Their baptismal interviews are tomorrow, so it'll be a stressful day. I hope everything goes okay. I seriously love them so much. Also, their ferret crawled up my pants recently. So that happened. 

Our other investigator, Carolina, is still set to be baptized on August 19th. She is honestly the PERFECT investigator. It's astonishing just how much the Lord has prepared her to receive the gospel. Like, she has no problem with tithing, the Word of Wisdom, following the Prophet, ANYTHING. She was already doing those things before we started teaching her. I'm like so excited for her. She'll be the first person I've taught all the way through to be baptized. Stephanie and Tyler already had a baptismal date before I got here. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm so blessed to be in this area. 

I've been getting these tension headaches and they're really annoying. I've had them ever since I got to Pennsylvania.  It's basically the same feeling and pain that I had before I entered the MTC. But I don't really feel sick. My ear doesn't hurt too much. It's mainly my jaw and the side of my head. The headaches themselves aren't even that bad. They're just an annoyance, like having a rock in your shoe. But over time, these annoyances build up. I'm convinced the Lord is testing me, and wants me to rely on him to get through this. So that's what I'll do. If they don't stop soon I'll contact Sister Bednar and figure out what to do. 

That's all I have for now!! The work continues!! This is gonna be a great month!! I can FEEL IT. I probably forgot to tell you something, but there's always next week. I love you Mom!! 

Elder Gonzales

JOHN THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

When I got the Roger Federer video, I was SO STOKED. But when I tried to open it, it WOULDN'T WORK for some reason!! It took the whole day for me to figure out how to get it to work. But when I finally  watched it, it was GLORIOUS. But at the same time, sorta anti climactic. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who thought that. Like, he didn't even fall to the ground or anything. He did tear up a little bit, so that was nice. I've legit watched that video like 5 times already. It just makes me happy. He deserves it. TWO MAJORS IN A YEAR. Wow. And the US open should start at the end of this month. You know what that means, right? Updates PLEASE. :) You rock. 

I've been praying every night for you and your library job. Hopefully I receive good news soon. It'd be legit if I had a brother who was a librarian. You should read the book Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians. That'd give you a good indication of what you're getting yourselves into. Librarians are EVIL. 

Wait, what?? Sarah Rebecca is moving to Fontana next month to be with you?? Things must be getting pretty serious. Where is she gonna live?? How old is she? What does she do? What is her LIFE? Does she like football?? Tennis??  Movies?? You may have told me all of this before, but I can't remember any of it. So please enlighten me. 

More pics of Roger Federer would be cool, if you're feeling up to it. Or like an article describing his Wimbledon journey and how he's making history and how he's the best player EVER. You could just copy paste it or something. It doesn't really matter. 

John. I love you. I need to start writing down the things that I want to tell you every week. I'm always walking around, and I think to myself "I should tell John about this." but then I always forget. Sorry my emails are always super lame. 

Keep on keeping on. 

Elder Gonzales

Hello Everybody!! 

It has been QUITE the week. The month of August is going to be AWESOME. 

We have been teaching this woman named Carolina. She recently moved here to the United States from Angola, yet her English is SUPERB. She was referred to us from a man in our ward named Marcelo. I have NEVER met anyone so prepared to receive the gospel. We talked to her about the Word of Wisdom, Tithing, Following the Prophet, and she has no concerns about any of it. In fact, she already doesn't drink tea, and when she came to church on Sunday, she asked how she could pay tithing. This was before we had even taught it to her. We started teaching her 3 weeks ago, and she's been to church all three weeks since.  Like WHAT?? I don't know what Elder Marcum and I did to deserve her, but she is amazing. She's going to be baptized on August 19th.

The moral of the story?? If you have somebody you think is ready to receive the gospel, tell the missionaries!! We can only do so much knocking on doors every day. You know your city and town better then we do. When we are baptized, we promise to stand as a witness of God at all times, in all things, and in all places. That means being a missionary too. So yeah. Hopefully while you've been reading this paragraph, you thought of somebody. PUHLEASE make our job as missionaries a little bit easier. Talk to the missionaries. 

I hope all of you have had an awesome week!! Thanks for everything you do!! 

Elder Gonzales

1) First zone conference. Try to see if you can find me. I'll give you a hint. I'm the scrawny kid in the back. 

2) just a bunch of well dressed teenagers going bowling. I wonder what people think when they see a massive group of missionaries. 

3) Yup. We're starving missionaries. And by starving, I mean we have WAY too much food. Serving in the States has its benefits. 

7/31 Low Blood Pressure and Service Projects

I wanted to go to the gym today, but I made the mistake of eating half a box of green Tabasco sauce Cheez-its last night. I almost died a couple of times last night. I texted Sarah Rebecca at those times to let her know I was thinking about her so late at night, when I was dying.

Today was Mom's last day off. She had an early doctors appointment this morning with her Leukemia doctor. They let her know that yes, she does have leukemia, but it is in Stage Zero, where it is hard to treat it. She went to Walmart to buy snacks for her lunches and had a flash of blurriness and sweated profusely. For a bit, she thought she might call me to help her home. But then she was fine, well, as fine as you can be after something like that happens. She checked her glucose levels and they were the same so she checked her blood pressure and it was very low, like 80/60. She, and I, was concerned, so we called the doctor about it and they didn't really get back to her. I gave mom a blessing and she rested the rest of the day.

I went to Family Home Evening and said hi to everyone that was there. A girl named Noel taught the lesson and I talked with her about her new mission call to Brazil. She leaves in November. I told her about Briana and getting her Visa as soon as possible. I had Hailey Daker put my name down to go the temple on Wednesday for Endowments. Now that I think about it, I should probably do some more family history.

For the activity tonight, we did a service project. There were two projects, one a fleece blanket cutting and tying station, and the other was a fill a toilet paper roll with candy and wrap it in wrapping paper as a Christmas project project. I was in charge of cutting the wrapping paper by myself for the longest time, and after a while, a new 18 year old girl named Cara Clonts helped me cut the paper. We had a nice get to know you chat after we were all done. She asked me if my girlfriend was the end game and I said I think so, and then yes. I worked mostly with the adults tonight, and Sister Harris was trying to micromanage me and the adults were like leave John alone, he's doing alright. It was fun working with everyone and getting the projects done.

Jacob's letters were pretty nice. The video of Roger winning Wimbledon went through alright, so much that he told me to do it again the same way, except I don't remember how I did it the first time. So, hopefully, everything works out alright.

Wow, goodbye JULY!

7/30 Children, one more week, and Fifth Sundays

Today was just another regular 5th Sunday. Woke up early to check in. Brother Harris told me it sounded like I had just woken up (which was true, and usually which is always true) and that I was sorta quiet, as well. Picked him up and had a nice chat with him on our ride to church. That's the best thing about picking him up, the long conversations that we have, and I think that is why he likes getting rides from me in the morning. Bishopric was nice and bishop asked me about the time in Utah and I showed him the pictures of me and Sarah Rebecca. It was nice to be back in my home ward again with the many people that I have learned to love. I talked to Maddie Scott, who had returned from her mission 3 months ago but hasn't been coming. She's really nice and pretty and it looks like she and Greg Obi were getting chummy. Spencer Ellsworth was there as well and I asked him if he could give a prayer. We sang together. I also said hi to the Hudrlik's, who were there for Savannah's early farewell talk. And brother Haven was there as well.

I went to Chris Michael Acosta's house for like 20 minutes. I had to get out of there because he was watching a rated-R movie. I told him I couldn't watch it, but he didn't turn it off. I also told him about not eating out on Sunday. I told him that it was a personal decision that I had made, both of them.

Had a nice conversation with Sarah about possibly how many kids we could have. She likes 8. I've said four. So I said maybe 6. Obviously, that is something we'd discuss more as the time got closer and once we are married. We also talked about bridesmaids and groomsmen. I said Jacob if he were here. Tyler Hudrlik, Tau Hoching, Ryan Lauritzen, and Gus Falcon could possibly be other groomsmen I have.

Mom made roast beef. It was good. I have tomorrow to myself, because mom starts work tomorrow. One more week!

Letter #28

Hey man!

So, life has been nice since last time we talked. Monday was a family day. We went to Pioneer Park in Provo. They had food trucks set up all around to get food. Mom and I got Navajo Tacos and the kids got hamburgers. Mom was getting so hot, so I got her water from the Rec Center. After that, we headed up to Bridal Veil Falls. The hike was a bit difficult for Mom, so I stayed back with her and we made it at our own pace. We made it, though. We put our feet in the water of Bridal Veils and believe me, they almost fell off with how cold it was. We even had a "who can leave their feet in the water longest" contest. I beat Sarah and the rest of the family, so I felt good. We then went to Bahama Bucks, and I got the Funky Munky. It was extremely good. I was wondering why they didn't have these in Cali. We played "Loaded Questions." Which was a funny game. The Air BnB that we were staying at was really really nice. My only complaint is they didn't have a DVD player available. They did have and iHome, so we ordered Lego Batman off of Tony and Briana's iAccount.

Mom and I traveled to Hurricane, where we stayed for two days before I had to get back to Cali. Mom and I made room for all the tools and table for the Peruvians and dad. Fortunately, I was told to bring the van, so we had just enough room for everything. One thing more, and we would have needed another car. I played a lot of Wii games with Jade and Thomas. I was the Wii tennis champion, of course. I love Wii tennis, haha. Jade and I tied at bowling.

We went out to Springdale with the Adults, it was a nice restaurant called MeMe's. The last day we stayed there we went out to Lupitas with Granny and Aunt Susan. It was nice to chat and I got the king size burrito. It was humongous! I couldn't even finish it as well because I had it for breakfast the day we left. So I left the rest for Granny. I slept pretty much the whole car ride home, unfortunately.

My interview was on Friday. It went well. I think I made an impression. However, they told me there were at least 10 applicants. They gave me the questions 10 minutes ahead of time to look over. All the questions were about having experience in a library, OBVIOUSLY, but you know I don't have any experience really, so I had to think outside the box with those questions. I even talked about my eagle project of handling and cleaning books that were donated. So we shall see. I noticed on EdJoin, that there is another librarian opening, so I'll probably apply for that one as well, and keep looking for other types of jobs, like Special Ed TA.

Mom and I have just been hanging out the last couple of days. She starts work again tomorrow, kids on Friday, i think. I've been chatting it up with Sarah Rebecca. She's planning on moving to Fontana next month in September, crazy. I really do love her and I'm looking forward to her moving here. Plus, she'll get to meet dad for the first time and watch BYU football games which is less than a month away.

I mowed the lawn on Friday at Mom's request. It really needed it. I still need to trim the bushes, though. I'm looking forward to starting to go to the gym again, tomorrow.

I hope you are doing well with everything. Let me know if you need anything. Maybe we could get in an email chat, like last week, haha.

Love you,
John

7/29 B&N and Hometown Buffet

I woke up to a nice long message from Sarah Rebecca and a call from her. She is so amazing. She supports me throughout all of my different weaknesses. We are definitely equally yoked in our different things.

Mom and I went to Hometown Buffet for lunch this afternoon. Mom has been really careful these last couple of days ever since she found out she has diabetes. I've been asking her about different foods. The hardest ones to avoid are all those foods that have carbs, and it's all the good stuff like breads and noodles. I bet you that I'm next in line to find out that I have diabetes. Probably not now, but sometime in the near future, and I'll have to prick my finger with a needle and do glucose tests. Recently, before the trip, mom and I bought frozen raspberries from Target, and we've been making smoothies out of it, with bananas and when we didn't have bananas, we made it with orange juice. No sugar. It's been really nice to drink. So we had Hometown Buffet, and our second burritos from Miguel's that we got last night. We're going to have two hour roast tomorrow for dinner (or at least when I get home).

I went to Barnes and Noble while mom went to Old Navy. I originally wanted to get a yoga book that was in the front doorway, but it wasn't there. Granted, it's been more than probably a month since I visited the Rancho B&N. So, I searched out the Health and Fitness books. Instead of a yoga book, I got a workout book with pictures of how to different fitness exercises. I'm really looking forward to using it. I also got the 2nd Anne of Green Gables book. I spent a good amount of money. But I'll use it and read it.

Came home and took a nap, then did the Ward Council agenda, and searched for apartments for Sarah, and sent her 4 options, all under $700. Mom and I watched some Parks and Rec, and she wanted me to watch Madam Secretary, but she started from the 2nd episode so I wasn't fully invested, plus, I wasn't fully invested to begin with.

Sarah Rebecca is going to a Harry Potter party. When I was at B&N, I read a magazine about how HP is now 20 years old. Crazy! Grandpa bought it for me for Christmas the year it came out. Little did he know what kind of a phenomenon it was going to create. I love Grandpa. And thinking about that makes me miss him a bit.

7/28 Library interview and Wings

I woke up early enough to get ready to go to my interview at Wilson Elementary. I actually got there about 20 minutes early. The secretary told me to sit and wait. For some reason, the lights were turned off in the main office, but obviously not in the rooms they interviewed me in. The secretary, Carmen, gave me a list of the ten questions they were going to ask me. I read through them about 3 times before they called me in. I could tell by the questions that I needed more experience in the field of libraries that I didn't have. Fortunately, I had some experience with kids and friends that were librarians. I even brought up my Eagle Scout project that I did, collecting books to be donated to a church. Two of the questions asked me about my experience with computers, and some more asked me questions about helping children research. I got asked what I would do to make my library a nice place for kids to enter. One question that I couldn't answer was what I would do with textbooks because I had no experience with that. Also, what I would do with books that we got that were new. I could have done a more personal personal statement. It was the principal and the vice principal that interviewed me. They let me know that they would be choosing a person on Monday and that if I got it HR would let me know after that.

I went to help out mom in her classroom. I helped pull a wagon of books to her classroom. Then we put the books on the children's desks. Ms. Eitelman was nice to me. Then we ate at Wing Stop. Mom got BBQ wings and garlic parmessan wings. I got mild wings and garlic parmessan wings. It was nice to eat with Mom, even though they had us waiting like 25 minutes for our food. I came home, mowed the lawn in the heat of the day, took a shower and started my Mandated Reporter research and slides for becoming a substitute.

It took me a while, but I passed the test with a 80%, thankfully. Emailed it off to Valerie MacDougall, head of substitute services. Then I registered for the new subfinder system.

While this was happening, Brother Mourrish, from our home ward, Oleander, came over so he could help us with our air conditioning. We watched 2 episodes of Parks and Rec, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, some Harry Potter 2, then I decided to write in here.

I also wanted to write about something that happened the Saturday of the Wedding with Sarah Rebecca. We had been finished going to the wedding and Sarah took me to the Draper temple. We wheeled ourselves up, walking around. Finally, we sat down and she did a visualization with me on the temple bench. She had me imagine being in a sacred place, with Christ, and saying things I would say to Stephanie as if she was there. Anything that I would say to her, like apologizing or crying, etc. It was interesting, and helpful, to say the least. At first when she said that I would be visualizing a girl with Blonde hair, that it would be her, Sarah. I was tricked. But it was nice to get stuff off my chest in front of the girl of my dreams.

7/27 Dad's low-key birthday and a Drive

Today is Dad's 56th birthday! He's in Peru as we speak, probably eating good Peruvian food. He tried contacting us but we finally had to use a phone card to call him because Facebook messenger was not working for us. He's doing good.

We traveled from Hurricane, Utah to our home here in Fontana this morning. Well, mom drove and I pretty much slept the whole way home, so I guess it was boring for her. We unloaded the tools that we brought for dad on the side of the house. I also unloaded the car inside the house, like luggage and bags of stuff, etc.

I then had like a 2 hour conversation with Sarah Rebecca. In the conversation, we discussed possible jobs I could do that involve children. I also told her about the incident with the lost child that I went through at Zimmerman. She told me that I need to let it go and stop blaming myself for those things. It was really hard to tell her because it made me emotional, but I didn't cry.

Mom and I went with Jesus to El Super, to drop off $500 worth of cash to a place that would send it to Peru, like a moneygram. Granny gave $600 to Dad for his birthday and to help him out with Mamamama's funeral costs. We also dropped off the table that Aunt Kristen gave Lucy and Jesus.

Then mom and i went to DI but I didn't get anything. Then mom got a protein burger from In N Out.

7/26 Lupitas with Aunt Susan and Tools plus Cemetery Visit

I had a good day today. Sarah Rebecca gave me a call early this morning. I was pretty out of it. She gave me a call later on in the day and she could tell that I was definitely more awake than before. I went to play Wii Sports today with Jade and Thomas with Zayne in the background. It was pretty fun.

Then we decided to go to St. George to go to a strip mall where mom bought sandals and Aunt Kristen bought some t-shirts from the Levi Outlet. I walked around by myself looking around but not getting anything. I asked if we could go to Deseret Industries, and we did and I bought myself several books for the road tomorrow.

We then went to see Aunt Susan and Uncle Dana's new house which is inland in St. George. She met us there later but we walked around the house looking through windows to see what we could see before she came. Their house is on the golf course but out of the way of golfers. Aunt Susan arrived and gave us a tour of her house. It was funny because I noticed that she had a Christmas closet. It was funny because I had helped her many times with Christmas decorations when I went to their house for Christmas in Provo. We invited her to eat with us later.

We went to Lupitas for dinner, but I wasn't that hungry, I ate half of my burrito grande, it was really big. Aunt Ann didn't want to come because she had already eaten Mexican earlier for lunch. It was nice to chat with Aunt Susan. I really do love her. She asked me about Sarah. Aunt Kristen earlier said that Sarah looks like Stephanie, which I replied, then it must mean I have a type.

Before Lupitas, Mom and I worked on taking apart the tools dad wanted from Grandpa's shed. We later added a table to the mix from the Fawcett's place. We fit it all back there.

We went to see Grandpa's grave site in the Hurricane cemetery. I asked mom where she wanted to be buried, but she didn't know. It looked like McKennah had decorated it a bit with a patriotic star for Pioneer Day. Her little daughter's grave also had a star.

Jacob's 7/24 letters

Well goodness gracious...!! 

Sounds to me like y'all had the time of your life this last week!! I'm so happy that you were able to spend time together and just HANG OUT. It's too bad that Dad couldn't be there, but it sounds to me like he's where he needs to be right now.  And OBVIOUSLY my presence was going to be missed. I mean, who else was going to spontaneously release a monstrous burp at the dinner table?? That role will ALWAYS belong to me. Briana can get pretty dang close to matching my intensity, but she'll never have the HEART that I do. 

I honestly have no idea what I'm talking about. It's still early here in New Cumberland, so perhaps my mind still isn't totally awake. This is gonna be a strange letter lol.

 You guys did SO MUCH this week, I don't even know where to begin. I wish I could have been there to see Britt Maynard and her new husband. Mom, you're right. Their family is LEGIT. I'll always have a special place in my heart for them. 

It's so weird to think that you're all in Utah right now, chilling around my old stomping grounds in Provo. Have you gotten used to my absence yet?? I mean, it's been a month and a half already. I wonder at what point on my mission NOT having me around will become second nature. Or maybe you're already there and you're just pretending to miss me for my benefit. Haha either way, I miss you plenty. I think about you every day and I absolutely LOVE receiving emails from you, telling me about your life. 

I know I say this every week, but I can't believe Braden is almost in the MTC. It hit me like a truck past night at dinner. Only two more days, and he'll be doing much of the same thing that I'm doing, with a few minor differences. I wish I could be there to watch how he reacts to various things. He's gonna have his work cut out for him, that's for dang sure. 

This week has been full of ups and downs, as usual. Story of my life. But lots of great things have happened, and I'm legit so blessed to have Lewisberry be my first area. This area is buzzing, hopefully due to my hard work, but also through the efforts of Elder Marcum before I came here. 

We talked to an awesome girl named Brittany on the street on Tuesday, and had a lesson with her on Wednesday. We taught her the restoration, and in the most humble way possible, I thought I did pretty good!! Probably the best lesson I've taught since I've been out on my mission. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and plan on visiting her again this week to follow up. So yeah. Hopefully she actually reads!! 

I had my first companion exchange this last Thursday, and I was paired with Elder Cowan in the Camp Hill area. Let me tell you, it was SO NICE to not have to bike everywhere. It was a great day. We got to visit TONS of members, and had TONS of members present in each of those lessons. One of the lessons was with the Ramirez's, a Mexican  family that has a daughter being baptized soon. I felt right at home. Everyone here is white, so it was nice to interact with a good old fashion Latino family. They reminded me of the Mondragons quite a bit. 

On exchanges, I met an investigator named Kerry Williams. Except he's a dude. And has a serious weed and drinking problem. And is kinda crazy. So yeah. Nothing like Aunt Kerry. But it was still sorta weird. 

Got to go my first zone conference on Friday!! Great things to be learned all around. President Bednar is going to be so awesome. My favorite thing I learned?? "Faith isn't believing that everything is going to be okay. Faith is knowing that everything is already okay." - Elder Waterbury. 

Stephanie and Tyler are still progressing nicely, and we will be figuring out the logistics of their baptism during our next visit. I'm like SO stoked. 

Carolina is doing AWESOME as well. She's golden. There's no other word for it. She seems so excited to be baptized, and LOVES learning about the gospel. So yeah. August 19th can't come quick enough. 

Well. There's so much more I could tell you, but for the sake of my thumbs, I'll stop now. I'm typing all of this on my dang tablet. We're to lazy to go to the library, even though it's just down the street. Having access to xfinity is a curse and blessing, I guess. 

I trust everything is going okay with you, and that you don't have any more bombs to drop on me. Love you Mom. Keep on keeping on. 

Elder Gonzales

Woah dude. You gave me so much info. I'm so grateful for that. I'll undoubtedly read your email several times to process it all. But you FORGOT TO SEND ME A VIDEO OF ROGER FEDERER WINNING WIMBLEDON. I'm dying here. I went to Buffalo Wild wings the other day, but they didn't show his celebration on any of the TV's. And also maybe an extensive article about his Wimbledon journey??  Help me obi Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope. 

I could not be more excited for you and Sarah Rebecca. I'm glad that everything went okay, and that you hit it off so well!! I wish I could meet her, but if she's anything like how you've been describing her, I'm sure I'll probably get the chance when you get back. But make sure that it's a matter of prayer. Remember, we're supposed to counsel with the Lord in all our doings, and lean not unto our own understandings. 

It's so weird to think that you guys went to the duck pond on South campus. I went on MANY walks there, mainly with Kylie. I tried to jump from one side of the river to the other, and failed miserably. Gosh dang. I miss BYU. But it'll be there when I get back. 

I was wondering about the library job and how that was working out. I'll be praying for you!! Love you bro.

Elder Gonzales

Hey everybody!! 

So much happens in a week as a missionary. Like, I do more in a single DAY then I would do in a week back home. Maybe that's an indication that I was just extremely lazy while I was at home, but STILL. I hope everybody is doing awesome, and that you're enjoying your summer. Don't let the heat get you down. You could be in humid Pennsylvania. You'll understand what I'm talking about when you see one of the pictures below. 

I love you guys!! Remember that you have a Savior who knows and loves you!! Thanks so much for the continual support and love. It helps more than you know. 

Elder Gonzales

1) Sometimes, it's the small things. We saw this beautiful sunset as we were biking around on a difficult day. Doesn't it just look like Heaven?? I used to think that's legit what heaven looked like. 

2)Elder Marcum and I at Zone conference. Yes, we're matching ties. Yes, we're adorable. 

3) Like I said, it's SO HUMID here right now. This is my arm after a light bike ride outside. Sorry for the disgusting sweaty picture. 

4) We got to go to a local baseball game this past Saturday. Baseball ain't my favorite, but it sure was nice to get a little break. And who doesn't love a bunch of old men dressed as superheroes?? 

5) I got to try some famous Sheetz frozen hot chocolate for the first time this week. 10/10 would recommend. 

6) Harrisburg Zone at the baseball game. 

7/25 Concerns and Good Dinosaur

We dropped Sarah off at her apartment after we all left the Air BnB. She was nice enough to give me two toasted chocolate cinnamon Pop Tarts.

We drove to Fillmore, got Quesadillas at Carl's Jr./Green Burrito for the road and travelled the rest of the way down to Hurricane. We made good timing, besides the 20 minutes we were waiting in line for our food.

We snook up on Granny and by that time Sarah Rebecca had a new cell phone which she called me from. She was in dire need of some encouraging loving words and I did my best to quell her anxieties. I had told her about my conversation with mom on the ride to Hurricane. She said that we need to do some more courting. She also told me all of the things that bugged her about Sarah Rebecca which she had discussed with Sarah. One was she was egging Sarah on too much, when Sarah needed some space. Another was acting as if she knew almost everything. I think that it upset her because the next time we talked she was really overwhelmed. But all is well now.

We went to a restaurant in Springdale called MeMe's which Aunt Kristen had heard was really good. The food was good to eat once. I got a  Grilled cheese Sandwich with Jalapeno Poppers and cream cheese called the Grilled "Sami." I also ate an onion ring, fries, and two buffalo wings. There was a nice looking cloud formation in the sky.

I then went with Jade and Zayne to watch The Good Dinosaur at his apartment. The cutest thing happened when we were watching. It was at a part where Spot, the boy, meets his new family. Zayne says, "Dad." and Jade says what and he says, "I love you." It was so cute. He stayed awake to watch the whole thing with questions. Jade did inform me of his girlfriend that is new named Cayden. She sounds like a nice girl, reaching out to her through Snap Chat. I got the facebook app on my phone.

7/24 Food trucks, Bridal Veils, and Loaded Questions

Well today was a day with the fam.

We first went to Pioneer Park in Provo to go to the food trucks that were there for Pioneer Day. The kids got hamburgers that were spectacular, and Mom and I got these really good tacos. Mom was hot, so I got out of line to get her water from the Provo Rec Center. They didn't have vending machines but they did have a concession stand. So I bought mom some water.

After we were done waiting and eating our food, we decided to go to Bridal Veil Falls. When you park, there is a small hike that you make to the falls, and it is uphill, so mom was having a hard time, just getting a bit winded. So I stayed back with her. It wasn't too far so we made it. The water was extremely cold. Sarah and I were the ones that could hold our feet in the water the longest, but I won the cake. Don't know why? It is definitely pretty up there.

We went to a shaved ice and smoothie place were I got a Funky Monkey, with chocolate, pineapple juice and coconut milk and bananas. It was extremely good. We played Apples to Apples at the place and I won the three green cards. While we were there, Sarah called. At the end of the conversation, I told her I loved her in front of Sarah my sister, and family. She asked, "You Love her?" and I said yes, kinda blushing.

We were tired after that so we came back to the Air BnB and just chillaxed. I read my scriptures. And finished the Book of Mormon today. I decided that I'm going to take the Book slowly in the upcoming months, even though that might mean I won't finish it twice this year. I just need to glean more from the book than I have been reading a chapter or more a day.

Mom asked me to get food. We decided on Arctic Circle. However, they didn't give us the right amount of burgers so I had to go all the way back to tell them they gave us our order wrong. The girl was sure she packed three burgers, but was nice enough to give us another one. We watched the Amazing Race. I Facebook chatted with Sarah. She is amazing. I love that girl. She took and takes the time to read my blog. Who does that?

We played a game called "Loaded Questions." It was really fun and Mom cracked up to the point of cry laughing.

It's been a good day.

Letter #27

Man!

Where do I even begin???????????

This has been a really full week. I've been on the road since Monday, and I got to meet Sarah Rebecca on Tuesday, and boy did we hit it off. I am 100% sure that she is the one and that I will marry her in the upcoming months. Crazy, right? But she is just that good...she's kind, considerate and compassionate, loving, witty, smart, etc. And she loves me and that is really special. She is moving to Fontana in a little over a month. I will see her then and there we go.

The ride to Hurricane was rather dull. I had to stop like five times to rest and like twice to get gas. Granny and Aunt Ann and I went to TJ's and we got good stuff there. Funny thing was is that the waitress, who was like 20 was really helpful but she kept on coming to our table, interupting us and asking us about dessert and other stuff. Aunt Ann was getting a little ticked off with her, although her feelings didn't reflect in the tip, which was nice. But it was rather annoying after a while.

The trip to Provo was really nice because Kathrine Fawcett asked for a ride up to Provo for a job interview. So it was great because for most of the ride I had a nice friend to talk to. Kathrine really is great, our personalities click, so all was well there. She got a ride home the next day from a friend.

So, we met, Sarah Rebecca and I! It was crazy how wonderfully nice it was to be with her. Nothing holding back, we were comfortable with each other, no awkwardness. We were afraid, but, but our fears were quelled the instance we laid eyes on each other. And throughout this week up until now, Sunday night, we have just meshed and I love her and I want to be with her forever. So let me tell you what we did Tuesday and Wednesday:

I did it again, but it worked perfectly because it was with someone that appreciated me and my thoughtfulness. We ate Sushi at a Sushi burrito place. It was good. The thing I did again was take her to Barnes and Noble for a book scavenger hunt. Then we went to get her a new phone at Walmart, and then I took her to the duck pond where we sat and read from Lectures on Faith. It was funny, because we set a curfew of 10:30pm, becuase I  needed to be at Uncle David's house at around 11. But when we got to the duck pond we thought it was earlier so we were surprised when the cell phone said a later time because we were looking at Cali time.

The following day, we went to the Provo City Center temple. It was pretty and beautiful and nice. Shy and I did the prayer circle together, even though she was in a wheel chair. I met two of her friends, gave them rides places, and we ate fetucinne alfredo. Then we went to institute, where I saw Sarah G.'s boss. Then we visited Sarah and called it a night because of curfew.

I picked up Mom on Thursday morning. Uncle David was really accommodating. Mom and I went to visit Sarah first in the morning, ate a Carl's Jr. hamburger. Mom and I went to the BYU bookstore as you can see in the picture. We also went to the Provo City Center Temple to visit the grounds. I then took the FrontRunner to Sandy to meet Sarah Rebecca because of our car situation. We met Tyler Hudrlik and Sharon and went to an Indian Restaurant. First time food. Then we went to the This Is the Place Monument.

This is getting Lengthy, so I'll give Highlights:
Friday: Beehive Lunch and hillarious lego batman movie in the Air BnB
Saturday: I went to the Aquarium and Zoo for free, and then we went to Britney's wedding
Sunday: Went to Sarah's 9am ward, sang in choir, a SOLO even, met Sarah's friends and said goodbye.

All fun stuff...and it is still not over. We are going to go to Provo for Pioneer day tomorrow, and then we'll be in Hurricane Tuesday and Wednesday. Home on Thursday.

ALSO, I have a job interview with the Library at Wilson Elementary next friday. They were flexible to change it from Tuesday to Friday, so I can't complain. Cross your fingers and pray for me.

Love you man,

John

7/23 Long but nice full Sunday with Sarah, Our last

I stayed up way late last night watching amazing trailers for the superhero movies and shows that are coming out like Thor:Ragnarok, Justice League, Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and Stranger Things. It caused me to have to rush this morning because I didn't get up with my alarm. I was about 8 minutes late. We went to the Benson Building for church. We had choir practice this morning. Sabina asked me to DO A SOLO. We were sing America the Beautiful and during the third verse Justin Lehman relinquished a solo to me with Sabina's direction. I literally had 1 and a half practices before the actual performance. Sarah played the piano really well for us including adding awesome chords in between the final last measures. It wasn't really that scary and Sabina was happy with our performance. I got to meet the choir people. I also got to meet Sarah's bishop and his counselors.

However, I was super tired and was falling asleep during all three hours, Priesthood being my worst hour. But then again, church sleeps is the best of all sleeps. I did make a comment in Sunday School. And I did hear Justin's story relating to knife trails. I followed Sarah to Ward Council and just slept on a bench while Sarah was in Ward Council. On our way to the car, I bumped into Yeri Flores and Lalo from Hampton, Iowa. Go figure! We drove by the Provo Temple and kissed for a little bit.

Then we ate Lentils before ward choir practice at Sarah's apartment. I joined in their song, and it was I Believe in Christ. So many choir friendly jokes were told. Sabina was doing great at directing us, even though she said that she has a 100 degree fever. The men sang the first verse parts a capella and it sounded angelic. Then Justin sang a descant at the end of the piece.

Anthony Armstrong, the missionary from meet the mormons came by to talk to Sarah and receive feedback from her about what he should do about his feelings for a girl that had rejected him. It was a stimulating conversation and then he invited us over for dinner.

Amy and Bret, a married couple, came over after Anthony to meet me and talk with us. They were a pretty cool couple. I enjoyed talking to them. We went to get ice cream at Sarah's stake President's house. We ate with them and Brittany.

Dinner at Anthony's was spectacular. Fried chicken with mash potatoes and gravy and rolls and salad. It was nice to meet his roommates. Cool non member guys who were interning. We had to get up three flights of stairs to get to his house though. It was nasty. On our way back to Old Mill, Sarah was feeling down because her friend Justin was not making the time to see us. I just had to comfort her by listening to her reason why she thought Justin was being flaky. But at ward prayer, they talked and had a good conversation and he saw us off.

I said bye to Melanie, Sabina, and Justin and we talked for a bit. I honestly was sad to say bye to them after everything that had happened. Getting to know them and all. Sarah and I had a really good last face to face in a car conversation. It was hard to say goodbye. But this time I told her that I loved her and that yes, I want to get married to her, no take backsies, 100%. Now I have to tell my family this news and see how they react.

Great day.

7/22 Aquarium, Zoo, and a wedding

7/21 Beehive lunch and Lego Batman

Today was a good long day. First, Mom got me up for the continental breakfast at sleep inn. The bacon was probably the best if not only part of the meal. Okay, I got a waffle and yogurt, too. When we got back to the room, I fell asleep until mom got me up for a new day and also to not sleep the day away. We picked up Sarah and decided to go to the outlet mall in Lehi. We split up, me by myself. I dropped by a sports store and several department stores but didn't get anything.

While we were there, I got a call from Colton!!!! They said they wanted me to have an interview next Tuesday. I told them I was out of town til Thursday afternoon. Carmen, the lady on the phone sympathized with me and said she'd see what she could do. So she called back while we were driving and she made it happen. I have an interview with Wilson Elementary on Friday next week at 11:30am. I'm soooooo happy. I didn't think they would reach out to me, but they did and now I have been blessed. Sarah was like why do my interview prayers from her get answered and not her's.

We went to see Mom's grandma's old house in south Salt Lake City. She said it had changed and a yard that was always immaculate, was not. Then we headed to Temple Square and headed to the Beehive house for lunch. It was nice. I got the Salmon while mom and Sarah got some ribs. I licked the plate clean. Took a couple of pictures of the Salt Lake temple.

We drove to the Air BnB and met Sarah Rebecca there. It's a nice set up. Huge TV. Small kitchen, three bedrooms. When Briana and Tony got here we picked up Pizza from Papa Murphy's which turned out really good and picked up the Lego Batman Movie at Redbox. Sarah asked me if I could grab some gas. So I did, while she went in to get some stuff.

While I was gone, she must have gotten my phone because she took a couple of pictures of herself and hacked my Facebook and said that I was the coolest guy I know. It was funny to see the responses. I definitely would not put something like that on my facebook, haha.

We ate pizza and watched the Lego Batman Movie, which was hilarious. We decided to buy it from iTunes, through Briana and Tony's account instead because there was no DVD player or HDMI cord.

So, tomorrow, I go to the aquarium and Hogle Zoo with Sarah Rebecca. Then we are going to get dressed and go to the wedding reception. Then I'm spending the night at Andrew Wheeler's apartment to go to church with Sarah, and spend our last day together.