Hey Jacob!
M. Night Shyamalan must be from a small town in Pennsylvania because Sarah and I watched Signs the other day (she liked it) and it turns out that family lives right by Philadelphia. So once again, if you start noticing the crops in your town being bent out of shape making a crop circle, you know that you must preach the gospel to those aliens that come and invade. Although, I don't know how much they'll take to it because, as you know, their greatest weakness is water. Oh Well, no baptisms among that alien race, but maybe they have cousins that don't have that imperviousness.
So, I told you about the primary Easter activity that we had yesterday. It was right after two children baptisms. One of the Elders in my ward, Elder Brower, got to baptize and also the Bishop of our ward. The primary asked Sarah to give the talk on Baptism, and she did a really good job. It was all in Spanish. Many people came up to her to tell her she did a good job, but not only that, they complimented her on her singing. She has really good pipes. She gets complimented on that a lot, actually. She sings to her full capacity, unless of course, the song touches her to tears, which happens more than you think. Sarah is amazing at memorizing song lyrics. She practically, and literally, knows most of the lyrics to all the English hymns. You know, I can't get the lyrics right at all times and it's annoying; well, she gets them right and can tell you the meaning of any song.
Another example of her lyric knowledge prowess: we went to an Easter Kenneth Cope fireside where they sang all the songs from his Greater Than Us All cantata this evening. She knew all the songs and was mouthing the words. Several people noticed this from the choir, and they kept asking us why we didn't join the choir as well. We had our reasons, like busy Sundays and other commitments. But, like most church music, these songs were touching Sarah's heart, and she got a bit teary eyed at some moments. The song I knew was His Hands...which is a very touching piece about the Crucifixion of the Savior.
I was telling you about the primary activity. There were a lot of unknowns...like who was going to be present (like parents) which there were like more parents than kids, and where it was going to be held. It was held outside, in the Stake Center picnic tables and field. I also didn't know if I was going to share at the beginning or the end of the activity. Also, I was in church getup because we didn't know that we should bring a change of clothes. But it's okay. I knew that it was suppose to be 10 minutes in English. I was a bit nervous and I for sure didn't take 10 minutes. Oh Well. My favorite thing that I learned (or already knew) in preparing this talk was the scripture about in 1 Corinthians 15:56 where it talks about how the grave cannot have victory and the death loses its sting because of the atonement of Jesus Christ. I thought about Grandpa. How, when he died, it stung a little, but not nearly as bad if I didn't know that he would live again, because of Christ. I am so thankful for everything Christ has done for me, and for my family.
It's been a great week. Most of my days were spent with Sarah getting things done. We made up a vision board in the which we put up our immediate and long-term goals. One of them which we have together, is that we want to go to Disneyland. We've been looking at prices, of course...and of course, it's a bit expensive, not to mention, we need all the spare change we can get (you know, for laundry and stuff). Well, 103.5 FM is giving away free tickets, but ain't nobody got time for that listening business. So we've been looking around for how we can get discounted or free tickets. Well, amazingly, we were on date night, and we had a waitress in training and guess what?, she works at Disneyland and told us she can get 3 people in for free 20 times a year and to text her near the date we wanted to go, and she'll let us in. Her name is Tyra, BTW, but that's what I call a miracle. MIRACLE, as they would say in HIMYM. So, we're planning on going in April some time in the middle of the month. And it is also a manifestation of when we are looking for something to come into our lives, God will make it possible if it is a righteous desire.
Sarah's birthday is this Tuesday. Sarah's Aunt Carol sent her a birthday card this last week, and in it was a $50 to Red Lobster. So that is where we went for date night where we met Tyra. We spent it all with the tip. We felt like we should tip nicely with the revelation that our waitress in training is giving us free admission to Disneyland out of the kindness of our hearts. I tried Lobster tail for the first time. It was actually pretty good. But the best thing we got was shrimp in this awesome butter sauce and herbs. I was practically licking that stuff off the plate at the end of the night, it was so good. Probably the last time I go there, though, not because of the food but because of the price. Seafood is so expensive. So, so expensive. All the lobsters in the tank said hi!
Sarah finished the 3rd season of The Flash! Did you finish that season? I can't remember. It has Savitar in it, the God of Speed. However, she wants to catch up with me in the season that is going on right now. They're like in the 16th episode, so she has a lot to catch up to. We might have a way to catch up, though, through an amazon account that Sarah's dad has. Hopefully it works. This season is pretty good. I have no idea what's going to happen though, but there are a lot of elements about this season that I like (such as, Flashtime). Sarah and I got pretty emotional at the end of this season, though. Getting emotional for a comic book show, crazy.
We've befriended a homeless man that lives on the corner of Cedar and Valley. Actually, Sarah met him at the gas station on the corner. His name is Colin. Long story short, he's a nice guy and we've been helping him out a bit, like inviting him for lunch and stuff.
Well, so many other things have happened that I cannot remember all the awesome things that have happened. Well, one thing you should probably know (not!) is that they had bacon/onion/and every other topping hot dogs at the primary activity that were really good. But you probably didn't want to know that.
Well, I hope you are doing well and converting all those villagers and aliens.
Love you,
John
